Author: admin

A name of Guilty Secret implies to me that this could be an adult oriented website. And it is, just not in the sense of it being a non safe for work site. The site is actually about a relationship and one person’s side of what is going on.

The design of the site is a basic two column layout with the main content on the left and a sidebar on the right. There is a custom header which is a little nice considering that it is an old style image of a woman whispering to a man. The colors are a soothing cream and brown that works well for the site.

The blog, as I said, is about one side of a couple’s relationship. They have recently entered therapy and my best guess is that this is just a way for the author to get her thoughts in order before sessions. The posts are long and well written and bring you in very quickly and easily.

The author has gone the nickname route for everyone she mentions which is a good thing. I find it kind of amusing that all of her siblings are given numbers and that her boyfriend is given the nickname of N or Baddie depending on her mood.

This blog has the potential to be either one of those fairy tail happy ending or be a sad story. Right now it is still on the fence. For the author’s sake, I hope for the fairy tail as that is what she wants.

I think this is a great blog. There is a lot of emotion that is poured into it and it gushes emotion to the reader. Most people will be able to relate to the author because who hasn’t had a relationship that was on the rocks at some point? I look forward to more from this site, and I think you should check it out too.NULL

Thanks to my typical habit of going back to the very first entry of a site when I review it, I was able to immediately find out the purpose behind this blog. To quote one of the authors of this two-writer blog: “The purpose for this blog is to inform you the reader how we as Christians have allowed Satan to distort our understanding of these institutions and how we can seek God’s face to reclaim them as tools for building His kingdom.”

The Two Institutions Mike Hall (the author of the previous quote) mentions are Family and Church, and their the basis of this blog that’s been up and running since April of this year. The authors average about a dozen lengthy posts a month on this topic, which often feature links or quotes that back up the general idea of the a particular point. I kept getting tripped up by the “Read More” links at the bottom of each entry, because there was never anything additional to read when clicking on it in each entry.

The layout looks like a typical Blogger-style design, even though it’s hosted on its own domain. It’s a two-column layout, with the bigger of the two columns containing the blog entries. The sidebar, like nearly every other blog in the world, is full of archive links, other blogs, bible study tools, and other various external websites the authors wanted to share.

Blogs like Two Institutions are tricky to review. Not everyone will agree with what’s being written and some will have very adverse opinions about each topic. Both of those phrases describe my feelings towards this blog. Posts with subjects like “Bad Girls Come From Bad Dad’s” (punctuation not altered from text on blog) did nothing but infuriate me and assure me that the Constitution lists “freedom of religion” for a reason.

The 3.5 rating isn’t because I disagreed with the content of the site, but because the site is just better than average. It doesn’t engage readers, but informs them. This blog has the potential to involve random readers that might come across it on accident, but the entries, in my opinion, take on too much of a lecturing tone to encourage any feedback.NULL

I figured out that iT Right Say would be an IT blog right away. It just seemed like the perfect name for an IT type blog.

Unfortunately all I can gather from itrightsay is that there is no real purpose behind it. The posts are just the technical details of any item they can find. And as such I can only assume that the purpose of this blog is to generate income from all the google ads.

This is not worth reading or even looking at. Don’t waste your time.NULL

Ian is from Malta, and is a skilled graphics and web designer. In addition, he is a superb photographer and world traveler. The aptly titled “Ian’s Travels” is a photojournal/blog outlining his recent trips to places like Sicily, Cambodia, Tanzania and Morocco.

The site is slick and verygood looking. The navigation in the top bar and side bar is flash driven, and the slideshows are Flickr-based (I presume from the pink and blue dancing circles on the loading photo screen).

The site is refreshing to behold after looking at countless blogs built with blogging tools instead of sites built the old-fashioned, hand-designed way of yore. Ian has a great eye for layout and user interface and this comes from the vocational information outlined on his About me page..

The bulk of the site is photography-driven, and his photography is quite stellar. I spent an hour just walking through his overviews, Sicily, the stunt photography… everything. But here is my criticism: With photoblogs, there is something lacking. Supporting narrative or simple captioning so we know what we’re looking at or what Ian was experiencing during his trips.

I know a picture can say a thousand words, but a few more words flowing from the hand of the artist himself would augment the site in wonderful ways. I think for example of a recently weblog reviewed photo blog by Massachusetts based photographer Tom Sheehan (see http://www.theweblogreview.com/review/3374/ for the review and link to his site) who photographs locations mostly within his own neighborhood, but explains why he framed a particular picture the way he did, or what drew him to the spot to photograph.

In Ian’s News section, there are a handful of short articles, including a nice “to do” list that really gives an idea of where he wants to head in life. The About me page is very informative but talks more about his vocational life than his passion for travel and photography.

I enjoyed my visit here, but left feeling like I didn’t get the “full picture,” to throw out a bad pun. I would love to hear more from Ian… in addition to seeing where his eyes fall across the vast landscapes of this world.

I am giving the site a 2.75 rating for right now, because it is a very young blog, and I think Ian shows a lot of promise. Perhaps a re-review in a year, with some more content and some more narrative will boost that rating.

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The Petsumer Report Blog is an interesting blog. Prior to reading I felt it would be a site to complain about the pet food recalls, but after reading the blog the author actually presents “decent” information about the pet food that has and has not been recalled. The author Susan Thixton appears to know what she is talking about, but I am hesitant to take her words as the bible for I could not find any academic or educational training or background that would make me believe her words. For instance, anyone who reads the law and stays current with the law can tell and state their opinion about it, but if the same individual did not go to law school and pass a bar exam then that person is not considered a lawyer. If the person who just reads the law practices, they are considered practicing without a license.

This blog claims to put forward the truth about pet food and how the companies create such food, but I as an individual pet owner feel that some of the things she says hold no merit, especially without credentials to back up her statements. She states much coincidental evidence towards why certain foods are good or bad for your pets. For instance, she discusses a specific chemical that is harmful to animals and “has invoked cancer” in some animals, and claims in a negative tone that it is acceptable for pet food manufacturers to use this product. She proceeds on stating how this chemical should not be used in the foods, but, correct me if I am wrong, there are numerous products that are approved for use in human food that cause the same effects by themselves or in high doses. I think that her blog could be better if she stepped back from the problem, and working through both the good and bad effects of the food she is reviewing. If you start with a bad opinion of a product, a bad opinion is what you have in the end.

The design of the site is very simple; it did take a little longer to load. The site is still too new to say too much about. It began in May of 2007 and has a total of 7 articles on the whole site. It has a simple orange and white background with red and black text. Each article is backed by a light shade of blue for easy distinguishing of what is the blog and what is extra. I feel the blog does have potential.

I would make the following recommendations. If Susan does have credentials to support analyzing chemistry or psychology, she should post her credentials to the site. She does state that she has created a video for how home owners can train their dogs. This does not make you a subject matter expert in how a dog thinks or how food is produced. The next thing is cite your sources better so that readers can hold the claims at a higher standard than just, “I said so!” If this is going to hit 20/20 or Good Morning America I feel these credentials need to be met. Plus it will make your argument stronger. Keep up the good work and continue on your quest to find out the truth. Just do me a favor and prove it rather than state a hypothesis with the appearance of truth.
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