Archives for April 2007

Take a look at Douglas Adams Technology Blog. This is a blog about the latest technology developments. I really liked this site because it also is a handy reference tool for technology for dummies, me being one of them. This site represents itself as a good source of information for consumers looking to purchase or upgrade anything technology related. Recent posts include “The Zune vs. Ipod Debate”, “Noise Canceling Headphones – Pros and Cons”, “How to buy an Ipod”, and “Hard Drive Size – Why It’s Important” (apparently size DOES matter!). For those of you that find it difficult to understand the difference between gigs and pods and bits and zunes, this site comes recommended as a good foundation when you are in the market for a new product. Stop in here before your next visit to Best Buy or Future Shop, and you will find a very comprehensive and easy to follow guide to your technology related questions.

Navigation on this site was fairly straightforward. The most recent post is “Computer Keyboard Cleaning – A Quick Guide”. I couldn’t help but look down at my own keyboard when reading this site and noticing the effect of a writer’s life on it. Now I know how to get some of those coffee marks out safely, as I had been avoiding the task for fear of damaging my equipment. The font is a great size and is easy to read, and the posts clearly list out the steps necessary to make the move the post is referring to. i.e. cleaning your keyboard or buying that iPod. On the left hand side is the blog’s navigation bars where you will find a list of links on a variety of topics – book reviews, alternative health information, technology related links, politics, and even weight loss and survey blogs. You will find very little advertising or pictures on this site but you will find a lot of archived information. This comes useful if you have a specific question that isn’t contained in the recent posts. I put in a search for “hard drive” and got a very comprehensive list in return so the site is well informed.

I am going to go and give this a 2.8 for a rating, but I am still bookmarking the site for my own reference. I think this site needs just a few tweaks to become fairly useful to any computer or technology user. The content rates the highest marks as it is a very user friendly guide to just about anything technology related. The uniqueness marks go down a bit, but only because technology blogs are a dime a dozen nowadays and this one needs some work to stand out. There are no pictures at all on the site, and adding them would certainly spice it up considerably. Activity needs some work as well with posts coming in every four days or so. The appearance will be helped with some graphics and maybe some more advertising on the site. For now, the site is completely text-driven which makes it come across as a little boring, and that fact overshadows the usefulness of the blog.

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Open up the Spork Fashion Blog and you will be greeted with the exact times in New York, London, LA, and Tokyo. The commonality here clearly being the fashion Mecca’s of the world. The owner of this Blog is Alyse Wax, who established this Blog in her dedication to giving up and coming designers some exposure. She features the newest pieces from what she terms “hi-lo” designers. In the fashion world, hi-lo means couture at K-Mart pricing. Spork is a 27 year old L.A. native who is a television producer with credits such as Big Brother, Hell’s Kitchen, and Penn and Teller. In her down time she shops, knits, plays video games, and reads. Don’t let knowing this information up front give you a false impression of her. She is quirky, hip, whimsical, and has an outstanding fashion sense. She also has the know on where to get it on a budget.

The site itself navigates very easily and contains a wealth of great features. If you are an up and coming “hi-lo” designer, she is looking for you. Add your link to her list of additional fashion blogs, and send her some samples to be featured on her site. If you are simply a fashionista with champagne tastes and a beer budget, check out her featured designers and fashion lines. From Calvin Klein to Kenneth Cole, you will find everything to feed your fashion appetite on this site. Check out her personal pieces (that she has acquired, not designed) and get up-to date information on where to get low-end pricing on that Kate Spade bag you have been eyeing. You can also stop in simply to read her whimsical “Coutorture” which is a series of news articles on industry headlines. A sample headline reads, “Fall into the Gap, again, and again, and again…..”

If you are a fashion conscious woman, you will enjoy this site. I am going to give it a 4.7 out of 5. The content is current, comprehensive, and drool-worthy. She earns appearance scores with her layout of time zone clocks and her opening slogan, “Complainte des Landes Perdue” which translates into “Land of the Lost Moors”. I find the Blog on the high end of uniqueness as well. You get a lot of personal stuff in there without it hitting you over the head, and you get information on the latest pieces hitting the runways. Navigation is extremely simple as well. If you want to look at Prada, it will only take a minute to find it. Likewise if you want to add your designer information. The layout is very straightforward with no uncertainties. I give perfect scores for activity when I see posts daily, and this site is updated about every 3 days. The only comments I would add is to see more posts, and ** gasp** add some advertising. Also she should have changed her permalinks to search engine friendly terms such as /kenneth-cole-fashion-etc instead of just numeric /=?234; it would make her blog ALOT easier to find via search engines. I think if this Blog got some decent exposure the traffic would substantially and she could make a killing.

– Chrissie

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Take a minute to pop into PLOOP. As I type this my text editor keeps re-formatting it to say plop, so I have had to actually add the word to my dictionary, or, as ploop would call it, my plooptionary. What is ploop? Well for starters, points on creativity are huge, and at this point I have only spent a few minutes on the site. I could never adequately explain them differently than they have, “The quest for nonsense in the world of business, politics, TV and life is never-ending for ploop, we will leave no stone unturned in exposing the flim-flam, **ploop bleep** and the smokes and mirrors…..We may be cynical but we’re not without vanity.” The opening line on the blog header is “Unearthing idiocy in the world of business, politics, and TV – the glass is never half full”. So now I’ve riddled the first section of my review with quotes, but there is no more accurate means to convey the message of ploop and what it really is. It is drivel (self-proclaimed I must add), idiocy, and really, it is just ploop. It is exactly what it claims to be, and although a little weird at first, I think anyone can be drawn to it if you are looking for some well-written fluff.

When you first get onto the site, recent bloggeries will bring you first to a review of
Paris Hilton’s behind. Scrolling down you find graphic representations on the relationships between a short skirt and the relevancy of your mind on your boyfriends appreciation radar. By that I mean graphic, as in, both an x and a y axis. You will then be drawn to a drawing of a series of Venn Diagrams trying to indicate relationships on uh….rodents? I think? The blog then takes you to a review on the current debate hitting the Internet waves about bloggers making nice in cyberspace. On the right side you will find their archives, or what they call “Past Drivel”, a series of other blogs they qualify as “decent” and a list of links you might find interesting such as Answers needed, great quotes, and a slew of other ploopism links.

I am going with almost 5 here, my nearest to perfect review thus far. Content is spectacular, the writing is very well done. For a site that is self-proclaimed idiocy, it really is, but as I have mentioned you are drawn to it. The site does what it purports to. Uniqueness, well, just take a look at those Venn’s again. WEIRD but cool. Activity points are large as well with as many as 2 posts a day, which I have yet to come across in my reviews. The appearance is good, it looks very bloggy but in this case I think it merits that as it really is just a rambling of many things and that is the traditional use of the blog. The graphics are very very well done and fit in well with the overall theme of the blog. The only appearance comments I would have is to fill up more of the bottom right hand side of the page with – something – maybe ad sense or article links as the site warrants more content. Currently the space is blank and as I was drawn to the site, I would further be drawn to other links if they were added. This could monetize the blog a little bit more. Otherwise what can I say, it’s Ploop! You have to see it to believe, and appreciate ploop for what it really is. Visit it once and I bet you’ll be visiting it again!

– Chrissie

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