Author: admin

This is a list of cars. It isn’t really a blog, because it is simply page after page after page of cars and a list of their components and their stats. There is no real “about us” page so we have no idea as readers who is behind the blog, from where it originates. The blog itself is easy on the eyes… but huge pictures of cars with a list of their cylinders and horsepower is virtually useless. There is no review about the cars, no reviews, nothing.

Because there is absolutely no substance here, but the pictures are nice, I give this “blog” a 1.0 rating.

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The title of this blog gives away the contents. I knew that this would be a blog about weddings, and I really didn’t have my hopes up for something that great. After all I have been married for 5 years and never really saw the need to have an extravagant wedding like some of my friends have had.

But this blog surprised me. It wasn’t about having the best of the best. Instead it was about all the little things that you either forget or remember last second and how to plan them correctly. This blog covers it all from wedding planning software to how to pick out shoes to the men’s ring. And it does it in a way that is entertaining and captivating.

I half expected to see advertisements all over the place so this guy could make some money. But there weren’t any. Then I checked the outbound links in each post and again, they were direct links, no referral bonuses coming his way. With such great content I am very surprised that he isn’t making money off of this blog.

The design of the site is simple and elegant, just like you would expect a wedding to be. I am not sure if it is a default template that has been modified or not, but whatever it is, it works great. A standard two-column layout with the main content on the right and taking up most of the screen. The navigation column is clean and clutter free. It really is a great design.

Overall I cannot find a fault in this website. I went in thinking I wasn’t going to gain much, but I did enjoy it. I have this bookmarked as a site to give to my friends who are all about to get engaged (it is the holiday season after all) and I am sure they will find it to be a great resource.NULL

The blog we find ourselves reviewing this morning is called “Gifts” in the submission area, but it is really called “Ano’s blog on how to make money online.” It is a standard blogger template in basic web-happy colors of blue, yellow and green. Ano’s profile page shows nine other blogs, most of which are money-making blogs as well.

There are only two entries on this blog’s front page, a July 2007 and November 2007 entry. To find other blog entries in the archives (those date back to April 2007) you have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page. Archives and profile information should really be more accessible, and neither were listed towards the top of the page.

The MoneyOnline widget crashed my Firefox browser and forced a restart of my computer. Thanks. I love visiting blogs that crash my system. After logging back in with Internet Explorer, I found there is really no substance to this blog at all. Because the blog only shows two entries of the possible 40 for the year, the right side panel banner ads are all that there is to look at. They’re smooshed over into the more narrow side panel, and to see them all, you have to scroll down the page until your finger hurts from spinning the mouse wheel.

There are ads for everything from chocolate to how to get bigger boobies by wearing the right bra, to gay and lesbian fashion and “whale friends.” A lot of the ads are too large/horizontally designed and don’t fit in the side panel. They end up chopped in half or cropped off, due to being bigger in pixel width than the navigation area allows. Look specifically at the horizontally designed banner ad for “Steganos Internet Anon” and realize that about half of that ad is lost because it isn’t designed for that space. Horizontal Vs. Vertical. It’s key to know what to do with graphics, where to put them, and how they work best on the web.

Just slapping up banner ads and not really caring what they look like on a blog, or what they do to the layout of a page, shows a real lack of caring about the blog itself. Let’s join as many affiliate programs as possible and hope we get a buck or two out of it. Horray! It’s a blog!

Best part of this blog is when I scrolled all the way down, alllll the way down to the bottom, there is a giant glittery graphic of a fairy sitting on the moon. Incredibly random.

I’ve said it before. Everyone wants to make it big, make it rich and I can’t fault Ano for trying. A few bucks here, a few bucks there — and pretty soon you’ve got a lot of money coming in. The more advertisements, the more revenue… right? That’s the philosophy here. But without interesting, informed, entertaining content, there is no reason on earth to visit Ano’s blog. I give this blog a 1.0 rating. NULL

“Awakening Sense” has the subtitle describing the blog as being “about waking up to our awakening process…sensing its pull.” Who awakens? Not us — but our inner selves. What is this awakening? Spiritual mostly, and more of a consciousness of being. Delving into the blog one can learn more about what our author believes “awakening” means, and how folks can reach for this greater sense of being.

The blog itself consists of a very basic layout. A large red banner with no graphic adorns the top of the page, and the title of the blog hyperlinks back to the home page at all times. The background of the blog is white, with two columns. Navigation on the far right and content on the left. Archives go back to September 2007, which isn’t that long ago, but there is plenty to read here as our author has posted frequently through the months.

There is very little in the navigation area as our author does not use blog apps or ads by Google. The site is refreshingly non-commercial and very uncluttered. And that is a beautiful thing.

My only criticism of the blog, even though I do love the basic simplicity, is that I find it lacking in a way. The web is a big, wonderful, interesting place… and I would love if the author provided links and resources and information outside of their own little realm on the web. Not sales information through ads by google or whathaveyou, but links to resources he/she finds help nurture his/her philosophy.

You will notice that I am using his/her and he/she as I refer to our author here. On the About page, our blog author outlines why he or she has decided to write anonymously. And in that anonymity, there is no detail as to whether the voice behind the blog is male or female. Not that it matters, it just makes it hard to point to the author with a proper pronoun so I’ll have to be forgiven for using the he/she kind of notation.

It is a little disappointing, this anonymity, because I would like to be informed more about who the individual is behind the thoughts and philosophy here. But I have to honor the decision, and thank the author for not creating a false persona behind which he/she hides. So many people either lie about who they are or create false identities to hide behind, so I have to give credit to the honesty shown here on the About page.

The content of the blog is very spiritual and reflective, but more of a guide to the reader than the author’s experience with the concepts of awakening him/herself. There are references to the many forms that god has taken across the realms of religious consciousness through history. I would recommend this blog to people who are interested in expanding their concepts of their inner self, their core being, and developing a stronger spiritual base.

I give the blog a 3.75 and am changing the category from “creative writing” to “personal.” I didn’t find any of the content to be of a “creative writing” kind of vibe, because I found it to be more of a self-help and personal feel, and we don’t have a religious/spiritual/self-help/philosophy kind of category. So personal it is. NULL

First of all, there’s no way to fit a site like Kottke.org into a category. It’s one of those sites that takes as its subject matter anything that crosses the radar of its creator, in this case Jason Kottke. Blogs like this remind me in a way of newspaper columns by nationally syndicated writers like Thomas Friedman, Nicholas Kristof, Art Buchwald, et al. The blog format means that the articles are usually much shorter, posted several times a day with topics that are much more wide ranging and often only comprised of a few sentences of commentary and a pointer to something of interest anywhere on the Internet.

The strength of columns and the best blogs like these isn’t necessarily any inside information or even particularly highbrow sensibilities or writing ability. Their strength is that they had a unique voice, and a sustained definable perspective that you enjoyed Revisiting regularly. Lucky for us that RSS feeds mean we don’t even have to go to the front door to pickup the newspaper, much less pay for a subscription.NULL