Category: Uncategorized

There’s no easy way to review a site like zeldman.com. The eponymous writer is perhaps the best known of all webloggers; he is champion of web standards, involved in independents day and the ultimate designer resource ALA, and his weblog is a portal into the underbelly of the web programming world.



And yet that isn’t all there is to a site that adds to the inherent value of the web. His glamourous life (here with the correct English spelling), perhaps named with a hint of irony, is some of the most beautiful and touching writing outside of bluishorange.



Outsiders might overlook this site, as I first did when I stumbled upon it four or so years ago. It looks simple, with graphics employed sparingly. A lot of the posts really only cater for those with a real zest for web design. But this is a good thing; like the need for web standards, Jeffrey Zeldman’s daily report proves irresistible.Jeffrey Zeldman Presents

First and foremost, the design is painful. (And those damn pop-ups get old in a hurry.) The colors don’t go together, and table cells are fluid and unrestricted (they adjust to the browser window, no matter how big that is), making the main text columns WAY to wide for easy reading. In the same vein as easy reading comes the extraordinary length of the blog entries. Some readers are into this, and some blog authors do it well. I am not that kind of reader, but John does have a style that makes the mass of text easier to get through. A better solution would be using Greymatter or Movable Type–putting “more” text on a separate page, thereby making the front page less daunting. That, however, is a throwback to my initial comment on the poor design.


Beyond a design that would give Jacob Nielsen seizures, the writing is good. Intelligent, structured, and solid–a little biased, but hey, what are blogs for? The blog is aimed at 15 years and older–I’d probably bump that to 18-20. Most 15-year-olds aren’t going to process discussions about government very well.


Obviously this is an outlet for a guy who likes to write, and for the most part, he writes well.

dende a web journal

Perhaps my melancholy mood at the time of this review is what caused me to take such a liking to this site. Perhaps I’m just a darn good judge of incredible writing. I’d like to think it’s the latter. I invite you to judge for yourself.



Billy is 21, yet writes with the heart and soul of a person who’s years his senior. His isn’t a collection of daily today-I-did-this tidbits. Billy shares his feelings and experiences in a kind of lyrical prose that leaves you with goosebumps on your arms:



I’d like to walk down that crowded beach, the three AM winds and the sand at my feet. If only I could share the feeling with more than tiresome words and passing dreams, it’d be the majestic serenade.



You won’t find any entries before February 1, 2002, but the entries available are all thoughtful and articulate.



Lost By an Echo has a very clean, basic, and simple layout that compliments the more complex writing. Having only one image, the loading time is down to a few seconds on a dialup connection. Though a complete archives section is not yet available, one can travel through this site via a “previous” link at the end of each post. The site is searchable and also has a healthy links page.



This journal is the perfect balance of visual ease and mental and emotional stimulation. Visit this site when you have some quiet time to take in everything that’s been shared, and be sure to check back for the archives.

Lost By An Echo

Bright. Cheery. Friendly. Those are three words that easily describe this weblog.



Sandee writes about her personal life – the good and the bad – in her very appropriately titled blog, “I Will Survive”.



The author is a cancer survivor, and the majority of the weblog deals with that specific topic. To give an example of how Sandee keeps things as upbeat as possible, she ends each entry with something or someone that she is grateful for.



Since the induction of this weblog at it’s current location, Sandee keeps the reader updated about the daily happenings in her life, and has a crowd of return visitors that regularly comment on each entry.



Sure, unfortunate circumstances have waltzed into Sandee’s life, but just from her writing, she’s managed to find the strength to turn things into as positive of an experience as possible. And that makes reading this weblog uplifting to anyone.I Will Survive-Sandee

Care for some Snyder Cider? While the bottle portrays a ‘poison’ logo and to anyone with reasonable sense would warn them not to drink — I enjoyed the ‘cider’ quite a bit anyway.



Meet Snyder Mahler, the webmaster of Snyder Cider and the main character of this web log. He’s an interesting guy with lots to say. With a seemingly good personality and large charisma, it isn’t difficult to read his web log and enjoy every bit of it.



The design of Snyder Cider is simple and he seems to make the best of the Blog*Spot template that he uses.



This web log, in short, is a good read. While Mr. Snyder leaves quite a bit, off on some new task of his, he does provide good reading while he’s there. And in his absence, he has a few friends that fill in for him … they’re not bad either.



So this web log gets a 4.0 — and rightfully so.Snyder Cider