chrissie

Many people that enjoy blogging enjoy reading blogs as well and the two past-times often go hand in hand. If you are looking for something fun to add to your reading list, you may want to check out the latest personal blog that Bloggeries is reviewing – the Irrelevant Title. That is to say, the name of the blog is The Title is Irrelevant… Or is it?. The blogger asks in his header, ‘The title is irrelevant…or is it?’ I am sure readers of the blog each have their own opinion to that answer as this is a blog on a little bit of everything, and some of nothing, but is very well done nonetheless. The blogger’s name is Gary, his purpose in life is to make people laugh and here he says you will find some of the most hilarious pieces of modern literature ever written. Or – the most awful piece of garbage. Gary doesn’t really care how you opine on his blogging, he’s going to do it anyway. Get a feel for the nothingness of this blog through any of his recent bloggeries: How Cool are You? Take This survey and find out!, Weird Phobias, Classmate Speech Evaluation, Words of Consolation, Nothing but Stupid…., My crazy story Pt.2, Why I Hate Making Phone Calls, If You Could Interview God…., Global Warming – The Silent Killer, and Some Toilet Humor.

Navigation on the blog is very simple and straightforward. Posts are left marginalized and there is a right navigation bar. Bloggeries are black text on white background with blue border and various shades of blue color theme with corresponding links in blue. In the right navigation system you will find an About page, Links menu, Previous Posts menu, and Archives Menu going back to September 2007. Bloggeries are written in essay format in the sense that each bloggery is fairly lengthy, it is clear this blogger is very dedicated to his writing. Some of the bloggeries contain relevant pictures, though the blog is more text than it is visual material. The content is well done, and appears in a strong personal voice matching the personal blog niche of this site. And overall the blog is a good read, you will smile, chuckle, and enjoy the tone of the blog. For me, it reminded me of a running series of Seinfeld episodes – humorous tales of pretty much nothing but you laugh nonetheless.

I will go with a 4 for this one, the blogger seems to be doing well on all counts. The content is well written and speaks to the audience, and the blog is fairly active as well. Currently bloggeries are coming in almost every day or every couple of days at most. Navigation on this blog is very easy. I might suggest a categories menu, but it may be difficult with the nature of this blog. However categories in keyword friendly terms may bring the blogger more traffic if he labels each of his posts with keywords. The blog is definitely unique, and definitely sustains the readers attention. I would suggest perhaps adding more pictures to the blog to make it more aesthetically pleasing, or to shorten up some of the posts. The bloggeries are fairly lengthy and it gives the blog a very texty look to it and for Internet readers, it may be difficult to stay on board with some of the posts. However, overall, this is a very good blog for one that has only been around for a few months and is well worth a coffee breaks read if you are looking for a good chuckle.

-Chrissie

If you are looking for another site or blog that can offer you additional insight on how to make your blog even better than it already is, then you may want to check out Blog Duck. This site is a blog that provides blogging tips and ideas and is geared towards helping people become better bloggers. You will find here ideas, articles, and information perfect for either the novice or the expert blogger. The owner, CEO, and webmaster of Blog Duck is Brian Alrdich, and he has been around the blogging block for awhile and can offer you some know-hows on what has and has not worked for him. An example of this would be in his anecdote on how using the likeness of Blog mogul John Chow backfired on him. While Brian has some contributing authors working for him at Blog Duck, you can still get a true sense for his personal voice, and his involvement at Blog Duck through any of the recent bloggeries: Is Your Blog Worth it?, When I Used to Think It Was OK to Use John Chow’s Likeness, Get Blog Rushed Already, A Quick Review of RevieWOW, Think and Don’t Drink and Blog, Why Being a Cow is Better Than Being a Chow, and When Hardware Held Me Back.

Blog Duck offers a clean design and layout making it very easy to navigate. Bloggeries are left marginalized and are black text on white background and links highlighted in blue. Though I have yet to understand the meaning of the duck theme, or the name of the blog, I think it’s cute and provides a unique feel to the blog. The header is in large bold lettering and includes a duck motif. Blog Duck contains two navigation systems, one in the right navigation bar, and a top navigation menu as well. In the top navigation menu you will find the Home link, About Blog Duck, Become an Author link, and a Contact Me section. In the right navigation system you find subscription buttons, a list of the 5 current blog authors that takes you to their own blogs or websites, a Categories Menu, Blogroll, Recent Readers widget, Recent Comments menu, and sponsors and ads. The categories menu is comprehensive and contains everything you would expect in a blog advice blog such as Alexa info, Google info, blogging, make money online, increase traffic, ideas, social bookmarks, reviews, speed linking, and many more.

I am going with a 4/5 on this one. I really enjoyed reading this blog and the blogger is definitely a credible source when it comes to advice and tips on blogging. I think the content has a unique personal voice that fellow bloggers will enjoy reading. The blog contains both sound advice with anecdotal speak so it is not only informative, but an enjoyable read. Blog Duck also scores well on navigation, appearance, and uniqueness criteria as all of these aspects make the blog a very easy read. My only complaint would be that there is not enough activity, and this is not to say I am complaining, but serves as a compliment to Blog Duck. The blog is well done, and would be much more successful with more frequent activity. This is the kind of blog that could retain a healthy readership, and would be more successful at that with more activity. Currently the last bloggery noted is October 19, and the bloggeries prior to that are coming in once every week or so. Simply put, we want more Blog Duck! The tips and advice are certainly well worth it.

-Chrissie

We are taking a look at another political blog, and this one is called Phronesisaical. This blog is about politics, philosophy, international affairs, and fruit. There are two main contributors to this blog, Helmut and Barba de Chiva. Helmut is a Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs and is located out of Washington D.C. Barba de Chiva is an English Professor writing out of Texas. Both of these bloggers offer a unique appeal and excellent writing as can be seen in any of their recent bloggeries: Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov at Columbia; Friday Dinner Party Conversation Stopper; Noncombatant Immunity, Blackwater, and the State Department; $1 Billion vs. $1.2 Trillion; Seas and Genes; Ian Hacking on Creationism; Brazil vs. Germany; La Franqueza; and William Faulkner.

The blog is fairly simple to navigate and offers a clean well-organized design. Bloggeries are left-marginalized and are black text on a light green background and links are highlighted in dark green. In the right navigation system you will find the contributors profile pages, ‘Phronesisaicality’ Menu, Bloggery Menu (perhaps a blog roll?), News and Commentary Menu, Magazines, Philosophy, Ethics, Policy, Policy Information and News, Development and Environment, Photography, Fruit Photography, mp3 Blogs, Miscellaneous, Previous Posts Menu, Archives going back to June 2005 and Blog Widgets. What I don’t see in blog navigation is a categories menu or labels attached to the posts, so I don’t think the blog is organized by category. I think this may help the blog given its healthy nature of topics and issues that it covers.

I will give this blog a 3.4/5. The blog is very well written and is updated almost daily, so it scores well for content and activity. I would suggest working with the length on some of the posts as they are currently very lengthy and can get difficult to read. I would either break these up into more frequent posts or perhaps adding pictures to each post to break up the length a little and make the reading go a little smoother. I also think the current location of the recent posts menu is not doing this menu any service. It is currently located at the very bottom of the right navigation system and would be very difficult to find if you didn’t spend a lot of time with the blog. I also think a deeper connection with the readership could be established if the contributors expanded on the purpose of the blog in the About Pages, or even define the term ‘Phronesisaical’ a little deeper. I don’t see any comments or hit counters, so I am not certain what the readership of the blog is. But I think this blog could reach a larger audience with these simple changes and I wish it the best of luck.

-Chrissie