Bloggeries

Review of ~da greyscale world

Rated 2 at Bloggeries

~da greyscale world: when da real one waznt good enuf. Along with this less than articulate block of text, visitors are greeted by an impressive custom black and white header. As I looked through this blog, I realized that it’s only strong point were the integration of pictures and graphics. Other than that, I wasn’t very pleased with it.

To begin with, the blog has a dark background with white text. Although this color scheme can work for certain web sites, I don’t ever believe it’s good for blogs (way too hard on the eyes). However, in the case of this blog, it almost works out, due to the lack of content. When it comes to blogs, there is one thing that can make them or break them: content. Now it’s not necessary to update a blog four times a day, but any respectable blog should be updated daily (even if it’s only with a picture, video or news story). In the case of ~da greyscale world, although it has been online since February 2006, it only contains nineteen posts.

Of these nineteen posts, most read like a giant run-on sentence. Most blogs don’t need to have flawless grammar, but it is a little ridiculous to try and read an entire post that is the equivalent of a text message. As I said earlier, the only redeeming quality of the posts are that they have quite a few pictures integrated (although a few of the pictures are missing due to uploading errors).

I wish I could right more, but honestly there is not a lot that caught my attention. Overall, ~da greyscale world is a good example of a personal blog that started out with good potential, but slowly fizzled away due to lack of motivation. Creating a blog is not an easy task, but if you are willing to invest the time and effort, you will be very pleased with the end product.

-Tyler Banfield
A Day in the Life

Jun 30 2006

Blog Review – Chinstraps and Happy Endings

Rated 3 at Bloggeries I guess after reading this blog, I am still not quite sure what to make of it. The writer of this blog is obviously conveying his daily thoughts, rants, ideas, and just general chatter. However, I read the entire blog, and am still asking myself one question. Why?

Most bloggers blog, or start blogging, for a reason. Either they are talented writers and are trying to show off their work. They may be business people with something to sell, or give advice on. Or, they may just be very worldly people that have a great deal of interest or experience in a certain subject, and they would like to share their experiences and knowledge with us. This blog is a bit different. Although, I believe the person writing the blog has a great deal of programming knowledge, he does not share much of it. Nor does he really have any certain topic, or present anything of real value.

I have seen and read many blogs of this type. Most of which are usually just people writing because they are bored. However, I sort of feel this one may be a bit different. My gut feeling is that this may be a blog to pay attention to in the future. This blog is new, and therefore, I do not feel the author has quite found his niche yet. But, trust me on something. The author of this blog has something that I just cannot put my finger on.

Perhaps it is his quirky poetry. Or perhaps it is his love of gardening and vegetables. Maybe he will eventually show us his talents as a programmer, other than a little js code to make fun of those of us interested in vanilla Ice tours. In any case, I think that this blogger will eventually find his way into blogging society. He is obviously diligent about his blog, and writes to it frequently, and he seems to be one of those types of people that can pull something of interest out of almost anything.

The design of the blog is very simple and plain. However, I think that as he becomes more passionate about his blog, he will spice it up a bit more. Take stroll through this young blog, and be the first to leave a comment for him. Although I cannot give a better review of this blog right now, I think this one might be one worth book marking and coming back to in a couple of months. At least he has not made a point of covering his blog with ads, and worthless attempts at profiting. That in itself is a very good sign.

3 Chinstraps!

Jun 16 2006

Review of Hong Kong Digital Vision

Rated 4 at Bloggeries

Hong Kong Digital Vision: Looking Around Hong Kong by Digital Camera offers readers a photographic chronicle of life and events happening in Hong Kong daily. Chris Lee, founder and creator of the blog gets up close and personal with the people, places and things that make up one of the world’s largest cities.

The blog offers an entertaining and unique perspective on Asian culture from a person who has witnessed these things first hand. An IT professional, Lee’s photography hobby translates beautifully into the blogging medium, allowing readers to understand his point of view regarding the culture of Hong Kong.

The photographs are excellent, truly capturing the spirit of the subject or event being photographed. Lee documents interesting information about the country, such as the Floating Classroom picture. In it, a young girl sits in the back of an open van at a plastic child’s table, studiously working on her latest homework assignment. Surrounding her are all sorts of various items, including a bicycle, a pair of tan boots and multiple rubber balls perched precariously atop the bike.

His photographs of the 17th Anniversary of Tiananmen Square Massacre offer up a stunning display of lights, held by those citizens attending the memorial. It’s beautiful, and evoked feelings in me that only good photography can.

While the blog itself has a relatively simple design, it’s quite easy to navigate. You won’t find yourself aimlessly clicking on link after link, hoping to be taken to where you need to go. Additionally, the way the layout is designed meshes well with the overall tone of the blog. One minor detail I have a bit of a gripe with involves a lack of in-depth descriptions regarding the subjects of the photographs. While Lee offers brief captions underneath each photo, I’m a little disappointed at the lack of detail for each description.

Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed reading through this photographic adventure. If you’re interested in gaining a different perspective on another culture through the eyes of someone who has already been there, I would highly recommend this blog. It has enough archives to keep you busy for awhile, and tons of links on the sidebar to keep you interested.

If you have some time to spare, check out Hong Kong Digital Vision. You’ll be inspired, awestruck and entertained by this unique first person perspective on Hong Kong daily life.