Category: Uncategorized

This is the fourth review to date of “The Art of Rhy-isms” and, having read the previous three reviews I am not sure if I really have anything new to add. However, I will see what I can do.

Now although this is a Blogspot blog complete with adverts, the author has clearly put a lot of work in to his site. He has his own template which is good (though not outstanding it has to be said) and ALOT of sidebar paraphernalia. It took me a good half hour or so to plough through the “About Me” stuff, his own online dictionary and the games he has written himself. He has also put up his favourite posts on to a separate page, which is a nice touch really and as there is alot of content in the blog, this is a good way of getting a feel for it and seeing the edited highlights.

As I think the scores reflect so far (ranging from 2 to 4.5) this is probably the kind of blog people will either love or hate. The author (very proudly) does not go in for the big issues of life, especially politics, but instead comments on his own life, the laughs he has with his mates and a few games/ movie reviews. Deep this blog isn’t.

However, there are some (fairly) amusing posts and like I say, if you do get on with the style of writing and content there is plenty to keep you occupied. However, the subject matter can get a bit repetitive (i.e. drinking, socialising, foortball and “funny things I said”, with the occasional reference to the college course he is doing). If you want to get an idea of what the average twenty year old gets up to in the UK then this cannot be faulted – he obviously enjoys the weblog as do his friends and regular readers. There are a lot of photos throughout the posts too, which also add a visual element. His slightly arrogant attitude gets a bit wearing after a while though and the rants he occasionally has are often merely resentful, vitriolic and poorly argued.

I have given this weblog 4 out of 5 for the shear effort which has been put in to it. However, due to the occasionally self centred nature of the content (whether it is meant to be taken tongue in cheek or not) and the rather limited subject matter, he still hasn’t got that all elusive 5 out of 5 I am afraid. Keep trying Rhys!The Art of Rhys-isms

My first impressions of “Spinning” were good. Typepad blogs tend to be pretty well put together as a rule and this one is no exception. There is a title bar with detailed description of the blog (which is basically about writing) and some nice graphics. An “About Me” page reveals more on the writing theme, though it was not as in depth or informative as maybe it could have been. Browsing the two sidebars, I found the usual suspects – many links to other sites and blogs (mostly literature based), a webring and archives of various descriptions. The overall look of the site is pretty tasteful and there are a few graphics too which enhance things still further.

The weblog itself has only been going since October 2003 but there is more than enough content here to keep readers busy for sometime. Being a writer, the weblog is updated daily, often more than once. So what is written about exactly in this weblog? Well after reading through the archives for some time, I found that the key to accessing the content really lies in the different categories. The blog is helpful in this respect because each post title specifies which category it belongs to. Not all the category titles are clear at first, but I soon discovered that “Edgar and I” for example refers to the author’s relationship with Edgar Allen Poe, who she considers to be a major influence, “Reality?” is fairly obviously the day- to- day life stuff and so on.

Unfortunately I found the writing itself to be fairly inaccessible though, even once I started paying attention to the categories. Now I hold my hands up at this point and say that it may well have been me that was the problem here- I will be interested to see what the other reviewers have to say about it. The thing is, writing, literature, education and blogging (the main themes of the site) are all things which usually interest me, but somehow I couldn’t penetrate the wordy style of the author and found the posts a bit dry. This detailed and analytical style of prose is (I’m sure) very good practice for “proper” writing, but I think a more chatty, informal style might be more appropriate for a weblog and make it more accessible.

Overall then, this weblog would (I would think) appeal to other writers as there are loads of tips here about how to write and what to write, with some good examples of work by the author. My inability to connect with the writing style meant I found it a hard site to penetrate though, which is a shame.Spinning

First thing I notice at WorldWarBush Sortapundit is that the title has changed, and the format has turned into a standard Blogger template. Needless to say, neither really made sense. With a URL like www.worldwarbush.com, a name having nothing to do with the actual URL is a big awkward. And, well, Blogger templates are always awkward, no matter how you look at them.

There are some parts of the site that I definitely found funny – The Journal of the President’s Personal Aide, made on October 3, 2003, being one of them. The next post, published on November 11, 2003, was an extensive writing piece still dwelling on the topic of President Bush not rightfully winning the 2000 election. The site is not updated again until February 11, 2004.

There’s no explanation for this huge gap in updating until you visit the FAQ section of the site, where readers find out the reason this weblog was started was because “Taylor” had so much to write about once the invasion of Iraq. The reason he stopped for six months was to search for a job, but he now claims he’s back for good now.

The last time I read this site was in August 2003, when the site had been submitted for an earlier review. I hadn’t visited the site again for a reason and that reason being the only thing “Taylor” wrote about was his extreme abhorrence towards George W. Bush. It got old reading the same subject matter for every single entry, written by someone who can’t even vote for in a United States election, because he lives in England.

The content of the site has changed since the weblog’s been “back on track” after its six month hiatus. Now, instead of focusing solely on bashing the President and his actions, Taylor has resorted to overall news related political entries. Unfortunately, instead of writing original content of his own, the majority of the last week’s worth of posts relies on bits of text that have been copied and pasted from other websites.

It may sound picky, but I think there’s got to be a happy medium for this site. The combination of links from around the web and personal content is a wonderful thing. In my opinion, if Taylor would combine his writing and opinion sharing along with the different information he finds while cruising the ‘net, this weblog could have even more potential then it already does. I raised the score on it this time around simply because he has avoided sticking straight to the GWB criticisms and expanded the content of the site a bit more.
WorldWarBush

The B-Zone has a clean, attractive layout — the format is pretty standard, with a main column for entries and a sidebar for ‘extras’ (like a tagboard, blogroll, and links to the archives). But the author, Bjoern, has done some work to give his site a personal touch, with a menu tab, photo ‘buttons’, and wallpaper that looks like… well, wallpaper, actually. The overall effect lends the site an inviting, professional feel.

So, on to the content. From Bjoern’s About Me page, I learned — among other things — that he’s an IT consultant living in Hamburg, Germany. I dug into the archives for a look at his life. Much of the content centers around his job, his musical loves, and significant events in his personal life. It’s pretty standard fare for a personal weblog, but Bjoern manages to spice up many of his entries with interesting photos and links to local sites and people. Some of his recent entries read and look more like magazine features; he appears to be experimenting with using photos and commentary to augment his personal stories, with considerable success.

In addition to the blog itself, Bjoern offers a few extras of note — several pages of original photo art, a guestbook, links to songs that he’s written, even a page of his own downloadable freeware. Some of the sections (those on ‘Coding’ and ‘Music’, for instance) are still under construction and light on content, but I appreciate his commitment to offering a variety of content on the site. It’s a nice touch.

All in all, ‘The B-Zone’ is a very attractive and interesting personal site. Those of us not familiar with Germany can gain a glimpse into the life of a young professional there, while Bjoern’s friends, music fans, and technophiles may also find something of interest. If you’re looking for ‘bits, bytes, birds, bollocks and booze’, as the tagline says, then check out ‘The B-Zone’. It’s well worth the visit. I rate the site 4.5 out of 5.The B-Zone

Between the Hedges was not what I was hoping it would be. It was not about gardening. Nor was it about hedgehogs. Nor was it about anything along the lines of a normal news/link blog.

Does the stock market interest you at all? Wall Street perhaps? Do you own shares in a multimillion dollar company? Have you lost money due to an incompetent stock broker. Does seeing “NASDAQ” send shivers of delight down your spine? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you would find Between the Hedges interesting.

For the rest of the common blogosphere, it’s utterly boring. It’s obvious this blogger is writing for a specific audience, that being people with a very particular interest in trading shares and wanting opinions on the goings-on therein.

Out of morbid curiosity I took a peek at the first entry and found the following disclaimer which mentions amongst other things “…The positions and strategies discussed on Between the Hedges are offered for entertainment purposes and are in no way intended to serve as personal investing advice…” I’d personally like to know where the entertainment lies. I read a handful of entries and found exactly the same thing in each one – nothing that interested me – and I gave up in frustration. There are no links to anything newsworthy, no political statements, no fart jokes, nothing. Very dull. Purposeful, but dull.

Anyway, the layout of the blog isn’t offensive in the slightest, a lovely shade of murky “greenback” green and easy to read (if one can understand the jargon) though I was particularly annoyed by the millions of pop-ups generated from all the java applets on display.

Now, whilst I didn’t like this blog at all, I am aware that there are people out there who would like it and find it interesting and even a helpful resource. I will give it a 2.5/5 because it does what it sets out to do, which is providing information about the stock exchange in a coherent manner, but that’s about it.Between the Hedges