Quick Review: londonnights.com

This post is sponsored by londonnights.com. To see our policy on sponsored entries click HERE.

London is one of the thriving tourist and economic hubs of the world. Visitors are attracted from far afield to explore the historic streets, view the famous landmarks and experience the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the city. The popularity of London makes cheap hotel rooms few and far between. Londonnights.com cuts out the stress of tracking down affordable hotel rooms in the great city. The website gives you have access to a vast choice of carefully selected and generously discounted hotels in London. When you search londonnights.com for hotels, thousands of discounted room prices are presented to you in a simple and clear format. All hotels can be booked (and cancelled) instantly - there is no waiting involved. For discount London hotels, why not give londonnights.com a try?

Quick Review: YouTube Karaoke

Those of you reading my other blog, Tom Jackson Online, a few days ago will have heard me talking about how much I like to blast out karaoke tunes, especially when slightly inebriated and surrounded by an audience of cheering (or jeering) friends. The fact that I'm a crap singer is irrelevant - it's the satisfaction of being able to raise a smile and a giggle from the unfortunates within earshot.

I mentioned the idea of posting the occasional YouTube music video and song lyrics on my other blog. It was the Girls Aloud remix of 'I Think We're Alone Now' that spurred me into this decision. The more I thought of the idea the more I liked it. After a quick Google I discovered that there is actually a gap in the market for YouTube karaoke. There is a site called YouTubeKaraoke.com but it is just a bunch of sponsored link, with no real content - certainly nothing to sing along to!

To this effect I have created a new blog called YouTube Karaoke. The tag line reads as follows: YouTube Karaoke is a collection of YouTube music videos and lyrics. The idea is that you press play, scroll to the lyrics, sing and be merry. Alcohol and an audience are optional!

So next time you've had a few drinks, a nice meal and are in the mood for a bit of a sing song, why not check out the timeless classics over at YouTube Karaoke. The site is still in development, but I'll be regularly adding to the collection. You can also submit requests by visiting the site.

Blog Review: Self-Proclaimed Supermom

Self-Proclaimed Supermom

http://selfproclaimedsupermom.typepad.com

Description of site:
Musings of a self-proclaimed Supermom. Supermom talks about her daily routine, home and family.

Appearance:
Soft pink shades, soothing and oozing with loveliness. I like the Typepad template. I know the author has considered moving to Blogger, but my advice is ‘if it isn’t broken don’t try and fix it’. I can also confirm that Blogger has certain reliability issues.

Organisation:
N/A

Navigation and Functionality:
Blog archive and sidebar links. The archive links do not extend back to the beginning of the blog, which could be confusing for some readers.

Advertising:
Directory advertising buttons on left hand sidebar. The blog doesn’t appear to be monetised at all.

Comments:
This is a requested review.

This is a well established, regularly updated blog. Just as the title implies the main content are lifestyle issues including the home, family, cookery, health and daily routine. The author talks about her children a lot which adds to the homely feel of this place.

When I review a blog one of the first things I do is go to the beginning of the archive and look at the first few posts for an introduction. The archive on the sidebar only goes back as far as February 2006, but a little deeper exploration reveals posts as far back as December 2005. Most blogs I read have an introductory post about the main characters and purpose. Sadly, Self-Proclaimed Supermom doesn’t – it’s straight down to business and not long at all until PMS and funerals are mentioned!

Despite the lack of introduction I’m sure regular readers become quite engrossed in the evolving storylines, particularly with regard to the children. The posts are well written and I think most of us can relate to the experiences of Supermom. There are names that crop up time and time again in the comments, indicative of a loyal audience hungry for the next instalment. A good mommy blog worthy of your attention.

Rating:
7/10

Reviewer:
Sam

Blog Review: Letters I Wish I'd Sent

Letters I Wish I’d Sent
http://bfwg.blogspot.com

Description of site:
Bob, the author of the site, has the urge to write letters every now and then. Mostly he writes about niggling irritations in his life, but sometimes he writes complimentary letters too. Quite often he realises there is no point in sending his letter, for fear it will simply get tied down in bureaucracy, failing to reach the intended recipient. Even if it does reach the intended recipient, there is a realisation they might just ignore his offerings. These are Bob’s thoughts on different subjects he feels strongly about.

Appearance:
One of the basic original Blogger templates. Sepia tone with background flowers. I can understand why the template has been chosen – to project an air of formality in his letters. I personally find the colour scheme slightly bland and recommend an alternative. As this is a collection of letters there are no images posted.

Organisation:
N/A

Navigation and Functionality:
Sidebar to left of page. The archive is broken down into individual days instead of months – I would change the archive format to show less detail.

Advertising:
Google AdSense ad units at the top left of sidebar. AdSense half-banner at base of page. The ads are well blended and don’t disturb the appearance of the page. A point to note is that Public Service Ads (PSAs) were showing when I viewed the site. The author will struggle to make any profit by showing PSAs. There might be a problem delivering targeted ads because of a lack of keywords in the content.

Comments:
This is a requested review.

The author has struck on a good idea here – a definite and novel theme that will run through the blog fairly timelessly. It should work well in the long term but sadly, due to the young age and limited content, it is difficult to comment in too much detail. Letters are a very personal matter and the idea of making your innermost thoughts available electronically is bound to attract a loyal audience with similar views.

The writing is of a high standard, although slightly Canadian bias – not a criticism, but it may limit the appeal of the blog outside of North America. To compliment the quality serious content there are some nuggets of humour. I particularly note the letter to Dona Highstone, commenting on how she managed to lose an election to a deceased rival and the letter to the author’s friends for asking stupid questions.

As I eluded to in the appearance comments above, I understand why the colour scheme and template were chosen – to project an air of formality in the same vain as the letters were written – but it isn’t too pleasing on the eye. I recommend migrating to Blogger in Beta for a few reasons – it has a greater range of templates, it is easier to use, has greater functionality and requires less understanding of code.

Bob, please submit this for re-review in a few months time when I can probably give a higher rating. In the meantime, at least you’ve got a little extra publicity for your work.

Rating:
5/10

Reviewer:
Tom

Blog Review: The Foo Logs

The Foo Logs
http://thefoologs.com

Description of site:
As the tag line puts it: a blog about life, technology, sport and just about everything else. From my glance over the archive The Foo Logs seems to have a particular propensity towards technology and sport related posts.

Appearance:
Attractive greens and blues with funky ‘Lost in Space’ style robots at the top of the page. I have a slight obsession with green and blue myself, so any page with this colour scheme gets off to a good start. Right hand side bar with expandable buttons.

Organisation:
Neatly organised. Generally short, bite-sized entries complimented by an image or embed.

Navigation and Functionality:
Sidebar links on expandable buttons. The expandable buttons are a good choice because of the large number of links given.

Advertising:
‘In your face’ advertising is limited to only one affiliate type button at the foot of the sidebar. The Foo Logs includes regular sponsored posts, but most of them are discreet and there are no hard-sell tactics involved. Most of them I only spotted because I dabble in sponsored posts too!

Comments:
This is a requested review.

This blog has been floating around cyberspace since May 2006. It has high quality, well-written and regular postings. The high number of comments reflects the attention it has received, and it obviously has a following of several loyal readers. The Foo Logs has been very unlucky to still have a PageRank of 0. Don’t let the low PageRank put you off – Google has obviously screwed up somewhere because The Foo Logs is a good contender. It started off slowly with half a dozen posts in the first 2 months, and it took 3 months before the first image appeared in a blog entry but since then it’s been full steam ahead. The Foo Logs is now updated nearly every day - quite often two or three times a day.

The Foo likes to weave random humour into his posts. Quite often his dry wit makes you question ‘is this or isn’t it a joke?’ and you need to think around the subject to work it out. Another key component of the blog is the use of cartoon images. He also includes educational posts – whether it’s comments about abstract art, or tricks to help your maths. The Foo is also a regular participant in ‘Wordless Wednesday’ and has posted some very thought-provoking images in that role. There are also regular YouTube embeds (the Borat and Letterman collection brought a wry smile to my face) and guest posters.

Overall this is a well-written, diverse blog which is interspersed with humour and images to keep the reader’s attention. I shall definitely be book marking it for future reference.

Rating:
7/10

Reviewer:
Tom

Quick Review: National Payday

This post is sponsored by National Payday. To see our policy on sponsored entries click HERE.

If you are short of cash leading up to Christmas you might like to visit National Payday and see what they have to offer. National Payday offer cash advances and payday loans to all sorts of people - even those with a bad credit history. As a first time borrower you can get a loan of up to USD $300, which increases up to USD $600 if you use the service again. If you complete the simple online application form you can be approved and receive your payment the next business day. If you could do with a small injection of cash National Payday could be for you.

Blog Review: Aeowolf Online

Aeowolf Online

http://aeowolf.blogspot.com

Description of site:
The author gives his personal opinions on the day’s events, art, literature, current affairs, politics and lifestyle issues. A magazine type blog with diverse content.

Appearance:
The original Blogger’s plain template with royal blue and white colour scheme. Bite size chunks of text normally accompanied by an image.

Organisation:
N/A

Navigation and Functionality:
Sidebar links and drop down blog archive. The drop down style is archive is a good choice because the side bar is already quite busy.

Advertising:
Google AdSense for search bar and ad units on right hand side bar. Adbrite ad unit at base of side bar. Various affiliate buttons confined to side bar and foot of page. In general the ads are well blended and do not interfere with reading or appearance.

Comments:
Aeowolf Online represents quite a milestone for Soapbox Jury because it is our first requested review.

One thing that instantly attracts me to this blog is the easy reading. The author concentrates on one topic per posting, usually achieving this in only one paragraph and one image. Again we are confronted by a diverse range of content covering current affairs, art, literature, religion, computing and even politics. By far the biggest contribution is personal ramblings, exactly as it says on the tin. Unlike other personal blogs I’ve read there isn’t a particular theme – posts tend to flit randomly from one extreme to the next instead of building up a slow and progressive story over successive days. The posts are well written – short, concise and if necessary well-reasoned. One minor criticism is that the author posts quite irregularly – sometimes only once or twice a week. It’s possible returning visitors are confronted by the same post on several occasions. It is always a good idea to post several times a week so that the content is fresh – a trick I have used is to keep a few pre-written short posts in reserve for days when I am too short of time. Overall, a good blog with sound presentation, well written and researched content and a steady readership.

Rating:
7/10

Reviewer:
Sam

Blog Review: Mad Baggage

Mad Baggage

http://madbaggagerambling.blogspot.com

Description of site:
Daily snippets of life from Cheryl of East Sussex in the UK. Cheryl mainly talks about general lifestyle issues and occasionally posts trivia, poetry and political comment.

Appearance:
Blogger’s standard rounders template with violet and light grey colour scheme. Small chunks of text with the odd image thrown in.

Organisation:
N/A

Navigation and Functionality:
Sidebar links and blog archive.

Advertising:
Google AdSense leaderboard at very foot of page.

Comments:
The first impression of Mad Baggage is that there is a lot of text and very few images. Cheryl’s style of writing is very thought provoking and descriptive. The main content seems to be lifestyle issues – family, health, pets and the home. When it comes to current affairs it’s a serious blog that makes mention of topical issues – however, every so often there is a real nugget of humour. There are some particularly funny YouTube embeds lurking about in here too. I also like the ‘Free Association’ series of posts – Cheryl thinks of a few random words and writes a few comments about them. Kind of word brainstorming. With a varied range of content and regular updating this is a sound blog.

Rating:
7/10

Reviewer:
Sam

TV Preview: I'm A Celebrity - Get Me Out Of Here!

Celebrity deadbeats - luckily the producers had the
presence of thought to put names to faces on the picture above.

There is a famous quote by Paul McCartney: asked something like what are the chances of the Beatles getting back together? McCartney replied "you can't reheat a souffle". Excuse the absence of the French accent above the 'e' in souffle. Never has a truer word been spoken in relation to I'm A Celebrity - Get Me Out of Here! Brain rot telly hits the screens of ITV1 tonight at 9 pm. If you're not in the UK, lucky you - you can watch the Paint Drying Channel instead with equal gusto.

The original concept was solid enough - take some celebs, strip them of all their worldly possessions then dump them in a forest somewhere with primitive equipment and basic food. Every so often make them do humiliating tasks, usually the consumption of creepy crawlies or animal testis, to earn extra food and a warm glow of satisfaction that they have fed their fellow celebs. The first series wasn't too bad either, but it's gone down hill ever since then - now in series 5 we hit rock bottom.

The show now recruits has beens who are desperate to rekindle their fame and fortune. They are less interested in the participative spirit of the programme, more interested in making unreasonable demands of the producers and hogging the limelight.

So which 'celebrities' have ITV wheeled out for the latest outback jungle adventure? Well, we have Toby Anstis, a famous TV presenter who reached his pinnacle about 10 years ago on Children's BBC; Jason Donovan, the ugly part of the Neighbours duo, former coke head and untalented singer of the late 1980s; David Gest, plastic faced Michael Jackson impersonator and ex-husband of singer/actress Liza Minelli; Jan Leeming, BBC News reader from the Frank Bough era; Lauren Booth, outspoken loony-lefty half sister of frog-faced Prime Minister's wife Cherie Blair and Myleene Klass, sex kitten of the now defunct manufactured pop group Hear Say and now classical solo singer. There's two others who I've never heard of.

Apart from Myleene Klass (possibly, but maybe I'm biased because she's hot) I don't know how any of them can be described as a celebrity - a celebrity to me is someone who is in the public spotlight, frequently in the papers and whose name and face 95% of the population will recognise.

There is far too much of this microwave TV on the airwaves nowadays. The TV companies think that if a format has worked before you can reheat it, serve it out to the public and it's a hearty meal for the viewer's hungry appetite. Actually it's a load of bollocks. The BBC and Channel 4 are doing exactly the same thing with Strictly Come Dancing and Big Brother respectively. What they should be doing is investing in novel British drama and documentaries - supporting the local up and coming television industry instead of buying prepacked tripe.

End of rant. I think you get the gist that I'll not be watching it.

Blog Review: ducking for apples

ducking for apples

http://duckingforapples.blogspot.com

Description of site:
Daily musings of Ally, a 30 something year old self-employed IT consultant from North Wales.

Appearance:
A recurring appley theme – many half eaten apple pictures. I’m sure there must be some significance to Ally although I can’t quite tell what it is apart from she likes the countryside, garden and outdoor lifestyle. Perhaps she likes eating apples too?

Organisation:
Spartan. Neat layout. Very few images in the posts, but this is compensated for by the high quality of writing.

Navigation and Functionality:
Sidebar links and blog archive.

Advertising:
None.

Comments:
This is a top blog - no mistakes about it. The first place I headed on my whistle-stop tour of ducking for apples was the first post, right back in July 2004. It is a true veteran of a blog – long-lived, hard working and dependable with a few interesting tales to tell. In her very first post Ally introduces the ‘crew’ – all those people likely to crop up in her adventures in the coming months, which is a marvellous stroke of foresight. The cast includes a Polish lodger, Polish lodger’s ex girlfriend, new Polish lodger, invisible lodger, Polish lodger’s ex-girlfriend’s cousin and several other intriguing characters. After all this Cluedo like build up I was absolutely itching to see what lurked in the depths of the archive. I wasn't disappointed.

Ally has written some absolutely side-splittingly funny posts. Most of them aren’t about subjects that are funny in themselves, but the way she interjects punchy comments, nicknames, side swipes and double entendre is hilarious. There are too many quality entries to single out any one in particular, but I like those where she recounts funny conversations she’s had earlier in the day. Ally has a real gift for holding the reader’s attention and I can’t recommend this blog highly enough.

Rating:
9/10 – the blog’s bollocks!

Reviewer:
Tom