Reviews

In this day and age, eco-friendly and global warming are very quickly becoming household terms. With that, many people will find The Conscious Earth blog very interesting particularly if they are inclined to swing politically on the matter. On this blog you will find earth-centered news for the health of air, water, habitat, and the fight against global warming. The author of this blog is 32 year old Odiyya who hails from Vancouver, British Columbia. You can read about his passion and prepare to be inspired through his most recent bloggeries: Canada faces lawsuit over Kyoto Failure; Canada to accept nuclear waste; Whale dies from ‘Old Age’; Leaders to agree to aspire to stop global warming; Think Tank calls for an end to Green Taxes; A victory over Iceland Whaling; Western States, BC and Manitoba join in Climate Goal; Think CO2 is ‘Just Plant Food”? Think Again.; The 11th Hour Opens Tomorrow; and Airplanes Automobiles and Emissions.

You will find navigation on this page very simple. Posts are right marginalized and there is a left navigation system. Posts are black text on a white background using a politically themed header from blogspot. Each post contains either a relevant picture or video to accompany it, giving the content an even greater appeal than it already has. In the left navigation system you will find the About page, a feed burner that currently holds 336 readers, Top Posts menu, Email Subscription link, Advertising Butons such as ‘Click for the Forest’ or ‘Vote for Me’, a list of great sites including ‘Inconvenient Truth’ and Real Climate, a Must Reads menu, Archives going back to May 2006, Headlines from the Blogosphere where related blogs can add their feed, Blogroll titled ‘Earth Conscious Friends’, and a series of Blog Buttons for science blogs and Top Science Blogs. I do note that there are labels on each post, but there is currently no Categories Menu associated with the blog.

I will go with a 3.5/5 for this blog and note that it is probably the activity hurting the score for the blog the most right now. Posts are currently ranging every couple of days to weekly and I think more frequent updating would make this already popular blog even more so. These posts score well for content as they all contain excellent quality writing that speaks to the readership in a moving, inspiring way. I would also recommend that the blogger maximize his About Page to connect with the readers a little bit more. I also think a Categories Menu would benefit this blog’s navigation, as this blog is such a unique niche with so many elements that Categories would organize the concept as a whole that much better. However the blog is doing very well judging by its active and full feedburner and regular comments. With this I might suggest the blogger consider monetizing the blog a little with some advertising or AdSense as I would guess he would do very well with it. Overall however I think the blog is doing very well and is available to the readership and public at a very timely season and given this, it will more than likely see continued success.

-Chrissie

Here we are taking a look at a personal blog called “Strumpet” that sates in its header ‘I will chastise this high-minded strumpet’ a quote by Henry VI.  Here you will find a collection of anything and everything as the blogger is inspired on many daily musings. Meet Ron Lyre, the blogger, though he professes this is not his real name and that is about the only true essence you can get from the blogger out of his profile page. But perhaps you can muse a little more on what this blog is about through any of its recent bloggeries: Hmm, floor pie. Stratford upon Avon Food Fayre a Success; For sale one full length crow feather cloak; Is it Me or Wot?; Peter Sellers does Laurence Olivier; Laurence Olivier does Henry; Laurence Olivier does Hamlet; Laurence Olivier does Peter Sanders; Thankfully this sort of thing goes on in Detroit and not Stratford; There was an Irishman and a Parrot; and TURNIPS (the end of summer) by Ron Lyre (a poem).

I would like to say navigation on the blog is easy, but you will find yourself spending as much time navigating this blog as you will trying to find out what it is really about. During the entire review, I found several popups through technorati tags or otherwise that just would not seem to quiet down. I tried viewing the blog in Mozilla but this did not seem to change much. Bloggeries are left marginalized and there is a right sided bar that might be called a navigation system, though there is very little blog navigation going on there. Posts are black text on white background and the blog does not have a set color scheme, but is very lively with color and activity. Each post also contains either relevant pictures or YouTube videos or these pictures or videos are the post content itself. In the right ‘navigation system’ you will find an About Page that tells you very little about the author, Pay Per Post ads, advertising and more, a Tag Cloud (that I advise you to steer from otherwise you will spend a healthy amount of time closing windows), and lists of menus such as Ron’s Reads or Ron’s Other sites. You will also find here a recent reader’s widget, auto roll widget, directories ads, subscription options, and an archive pull down menu with posts going back to August 2005.

I am going with a 2.4/5 for this blog, the only thing really saving it at this point from lower marks is its frequent activity of about 19 posts in September. I still am not quite sure what the blog is about other than ‘perhaps?’ life in Stratford. The blog was  busy with advertising and pop-ups that spending time on this blog was not enjoyed. I also found there to be very little content or writing and the blog is filled more with pictures and videos that take a long time to load. Also it’s all copyrighted to the point I couldn’t even use a graphic or give this blog a few links. I think the blogger needs to organize an about page that gives the readers a connection and perhaps a reason to stick around, and I also think the pop-up situation really needs to be controlled. Further, the navigation bar needs some cleaning up and get some actual blog elements such as a categories menu, recent posts menu, and things of this nature to make the blog look less like an advertising forum, and more like a personal blog. Other than regular content, there is not much that I can say about the blog and, given that I still really don’t know what it’s about, am finding difficulty recommending. Perhaps the blogger can make a few changes and cleanup to create a more distinct connection with a readership. Best of luck!

-Chrissie