Recycling Bin

If you are looking for a weird site, well, then I sure as heck have one for ya. It is called HodgedUp and they are calling themselves the coolest community. Of what, you ask? Hmmm….I am still trying to figure that one out. The blog is described as a collection of unique and funny articles, videos, and funny pictures. They were self-described as something different or twisted to laugh at. Well, I wasn’t really laughing when I was going through here, and seemingly, I wasn’t reading any articles either. In fact, this website does not even look like a blog at all. Some blogs disguise their blog status well, however this one was very strange. It has all the looks of a major online community, but lists only 3 members. Perhaps you have to register to take full advantage of the blog, but then, is it really a blog if that is the case? At any rate, I didn’t register, the few tidbits I got on the page were not enough to make me go that length. I did see some odd videos though, odd is a better word for me than twisted, but again, twisted is in the eye of the beholder. These videos included: “Kelly Clarkson joins Metal Skool with her friend Jack Daniels, David Hasselhoff – Hooked on a Feeling, Dave the Hoff Hasselhoff – Jump in my Car, and Chris Daughtry Singing Plush.

What can I say about Navigation? I just flat out did not understand this site. When you are browsing the videos you will see a browse links menu, and here you will find links such as “Zodler the Virtual Sim Baby”, and Free Online Games. The Top navigation bar contained links to My Desktop (AKA Home), My Contacts (the 3 members of the community), Search Blogs, Inkspot, Media, Login, Register, and a Help button. I don’t really know how recent the blog is, or if it is even used, the front page seemed to change while I was in the process of roaming and navigating, so I am going to guess it is pretty recent. The right navigation bar has a login section for members, as well as some AdSense code. In the bottom navigation bar there are pics of the blog members listed as “random members” but you will notice they are the same ones that appear in the “My Contacts” link. There is a search bar for members here, and also a menu for “Important References” such as Tell/Invite a Friend, Contact Us, Report Abuse, Bookmark Us, and their Privacy Policy as well as Terms of Use. It is links such as this that lead me to wonder how big this site may be behind the registration, but again, I just could not be bothered as they did not give me enough to whet my appetite.

I am going with a 1.4 here, and I think this is fairly generous. Bloggeries has never given a 1 before but I can’t give them a 2.  I just did not know what was going on with this site outside of a collection of assorted celebrity videos. I did not see much “twisted” humor or articles, or bloggeries – this leaves the content marks in the dust. Navigation WOULD be simple I think if I knew what this blog was about. It is certainly unique, but I can’t even give anything activity marks as nothing has date stamps on it. If this site is expecting a high registration, it really needs to fix these major issues, or I think it is just going to keep floating around aimlessly in cyberspace. Until it does, that is probably just as well.

Did you enjoy this review? Click here to get your own blog reviewed!

– Chrissie

If you would like feedback from your blog please make one of our Free Blog Poll’s!

If you are into gaming, then you may like this site, it is called Lifetime Gamer and is meant to include anything and almost everything. From first glance it is pretty difficult to determine what the true intention of this blog is about. The layout is somewhat cluttered, but I will get to that later. Reading through the posts this blog is what is says it is, a blog about gaming. The most recent posts include Ever Wondered What Games our Fellow Russian Arcade Gamers Played?; Mr. Robot Review; The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Degrees and Careers; Gromit of ‘Wallace and Gromit’ Fame is the new ‘Top Dog’ for RCA; Blogger.com riddled with malware, yep you hear it correct; and Commodore looking to dip into video gamers wallets. I like how the site covers gaming in general, and not simply the topic of online gaming which is such a huge industry in itself. The blog opens up with some discussion on arcading and great pics of a Russian model of one of those old arcade systems. The Robot review post is also an interesting one if you are into futuristic technology, and if you aren’t, it works for a great read either way.

I need to be frank about the navigation however, if you are a gamer you will have some problems with this site. The posts are centered down the page and there are two navigation bars on either side, each with an assortment of “stuff” as the author titles. The left navigation bar includes an assortment of link menus – featured games, ebay auctions, online games and stuff, arcade stuff, gamers site stuff, unsigned bands free flash games, CD’s and stuff, friends and stuff, and a LOT of advertising stuff. You will also find on the left side the handiest archive tool I have seen yet – a drop down menu that allows you to locate specific dates for posts. On the right hand navigation bar you will see links and menus for da computer stuff, mo computer stuff, science links, geek people stuff, funny stuff, and yes, more advertising stuff. The unfortunate thing about both navigation bars is that it will take you some time to find all of this ‘stuff’ simply due to the exorbitant amount of advertising. I also wouldn’t mind seeing an About Me page on the blog, as there isn’t one currently. I think a categories menu could be added as well as that will simplify the blog a bit more and make it a little more apparent what the ‘stuff’ of the blog is about. Also the bloggeries themselves should be hyperlinked to open up that individual page.

The content is well handled, this blog definitely has a personal voice and some quips in and out of posts make that obvious. The writing is well done, but this is not a very active blog. The 6 posts on the main page included all blog activity since March 5, and while there was a June entry, I think more blogging is necessary. Another glitch is one post is missing a headline, which is obviously an oversight but when posts are few, the error glares on the page. Pictures are relevant and there are enough of them, however the advertising on this blog is excessive to the point of distraction. Unfortunately however, I can’t give this blog more than a 2.4 due to the aforementioned issues. A little cleanup and some regular content however I think will give this blog much success. If it was cleaned up and alot more active it could score well.

Did you enjoy this review? Click here to get your own blog reviewed!

– Chrissie

If you would like feedback from your blog please make one of our Free Blog Poll’s!