Soapbox Jury (Temporarily) Closed

Unfortunately I'm having to close Soapbox Jury for a while. I really hope this will be a temporary measure. The problem is that completing reviews is a very time consuming process and since Sam is now unavailable they all fall on my shoulders. As readers of my main blog, Tom Jackson Online, may be aware I'm really having to cut down my blogging due to work commitments at the moment.

I hope to be able to open Soapbox Jury once again when my current workload has decreased and I can dedicate more time to it - this isn't likely before Summer 2007.

In the meantime, thanks to everyone who has supported us and we hope to see you soon.

Blog Review: Ryan's Calamity

Ryan's Calamity
http://ryanvelting.com

The completed review will appear here shortly.

Blog Review: Turning The Pages Of Life

Turning The Pages Of Life
http://sweatysocks2.blogspot.com

The completed review will appear here shortly.

Blog Review: A Little Piece Of Me

A Little Piece Of Me
http://crpitt.blogspot.com

Appearance:
Blogger standard Tic Tac template in wisps of blue.

Organisation:
Neatly organised. I like the way Claire provides a regular hello message to her new readers.

Navigation and Functionality:
Sidebar links, blog archive and tags.

Advertising:
Google AdSense and a few other directory/blogging circle advertising buttons are located in the sidebar. Nothing too garish.

Comments:
This is a requested review that has been sitting in the in tray for a few weeks now. Apologies to Claire that it has taken so long to get this thing published.

A Little Piece Of Me begins in October 2006 with a short opening post and pleasant photo of seaside panorama. The setting is a beach in Scotland and Claire's nephews splash about in the water – they must be hardy lads because the seas around Scotland in October are very, very cold! Claire also includes a photo of herself, but the background lighting is low making the detail difficult to see (although she looks kind of cute). Claire has just had a heavy session at her sister's Halloween party and judging by the gory photos in early November it seems they all entered into the spirit of things. I can't quite decide if that's a very large pumpkin or a very small kitchen table – have a look and decide for yourself. Another permanent fixture in November is Guy Fawkes night, which provides the ideal excuse for fireworks and another family get together. Claire also uses the opportunity to tell us a little more about her home life – her openness is refreshing. Claire's on a steep learning curve in mid November as she desperately tries to juggle all her future arrangements (mostly parties) and experiences her first taste of haggis. For any non-Scots readers who don’t know what haggis is, it's a mixture of ground mutton, barley, spices and seasoning traditionally encased in a pig/cow intestine, although it tends to be in a synthetic casing nowadays.

Every now and then Claire poses counselling homework questions for her readers to ponder on, which is a solid continuous theme throughout her writing although a bit cerebral for me. Something I did find very interesting was the article on Barriers to Good Listening. The Christmas period is packed full of things to do. To begin with Claire heads to Scotland to see her sister and nephews and deliver the family's presents. Next off down home for a few days before hitting London for a Hawaiian party over the new year. The new year heralds the return of some of the bloggernity's old favourites – Wordless Wednesday and Thursday Thirteen. Two other memes that are new to me – Funny Monday and Friday Feast – make their debut. January is also a very in-depth month for counselling homework, but a few light discussion points also crop up: the great Bum Bags/Fanny Packs debate springs to mind – since I'm from the UK too I side with Bum Bag because you don’t crease up with laughter quite as much when you hear the name! The final point I want to mention in Claire's journey to date is that she's a hiker and beer drinker, which rates highly with me. Her first hike in six-months takes her to the beautiful Peak District. She visits Derwent Dams, famous for the old black and white Dam Buster’s movie and Baslow.

This is a solid blog and Claire is commended for her regularity of posting, which far exceeds me at the moment. Another noteworthy point is that she has a loyal following of comment leavers, most of which are already known to Soapbox – Erika, Skittles, Ruth et al. There is a lot of counselling content which won’t appeal to everyone, but there’s also plenty of light-heartedness and vivid imagery. I wish Claire continued success with her blogging.

Rating:
8/10

Reviewer:
Tom

Blog Review: My Quest To Make Money On The Internet

My Quest To Make Money On The Internet
http://westen30.blogspot.com

Description of site:
Martin from the South East of England describes his ongoing quest to make money using a free blog.

Appearance:
One of the standard Blogger templates with a sand colour scheme and custom £20 note header. The template has been adapted to include 3 columns.

Organisation:
On the whole neatly organised.

Navigation and Functionality:
Sidebar links and blog archive. The weekly progress reports have a dedicated link on the sidebar, so you can easily keep up to date with Martin’s progress so far.

Advertising:
Lots of advertising. This blog is monetised with Google AdSense, AdBrite, Adult Friend Finder, Commission Junction, Blogsvertise, Blogitive and MyLot. Martin also completes paid surveys (Ciao) as part of his project but obviously these don't feature on the blog apart from in the earnings reports. The ads are mainly confined to the periphery of the page, but more recently they have appeared between posts too.

Comments:
This is a requested review.

I have been following My Quest To Make Money On The Internet from the very outset so was very happy to oblige when Martin asked for this review. It's taken me a few days to get around to finishing this, so apologies for the delay. The author blogs fairly regularly, but has eased off (as have I) in the past month or so. Notwithstanding this, there is a large archive of interesting content and invaluable information.

As you'd expect for a money making blog there's lots of advertising. It isn't so bad having a page stacked with adverts when you know that is the whole purpose of the blog. What is much more offensive is when someone stacks their pages full of ads in a desperate bid to monetise third-rate content. Luckily, this blog does not fall into that category because it provides a valuable 'try before you buy' type service. Martin tests out all the different monetisation strategies, receives all the dodgy spam emails, fills in all the tiresome online registrations and reports back to his readers which schemes work and which don’t. He hasn't made a fortune yet but his perseverance has earned him just over GBP £100 (about USD $195) over the past 4 months. Another thing I like about this blog is the way Martin lends a hand to his fellow bloggers by his proactive link-exchanging and participation in 'Internet Money Makers Carnival' article sharing. Looking through the archive there's also a lot of return comment leavers, me included, and a loyal audience of readers.

The design of the site isn't a work of art, but it's practical and functional. With all the different HTML type elements the site takes a few seconds to load correctly, which some people may find off-putting. In my rating I also have to consider that some people will see My Quest as simply 'another money making blog' of which there are thousands already. Overall a good blog, which I enjoy reading, but the content of which wont appeal to everyone.

Rating:
6/10

Reviewer:
Tom

Web Review: Celebrity Seats

Celebrity Seats - your one-stop shop for US theatre,
concert and sporting event tickets.

This is a requested review.

Celebrity Seats sells tickets for US theatre, concert and sporting events. They have concert tickets available for huge celebrity stars like Aerosmith, Celine Dion, Elton John, Guns N' Roses and Shakira, to name but a few. If theatre is more your thing they have tickets for popular Broadway and West End shows like The Lion King, Mamma Mia, Chicago, Les Miserables. The shows are avaiable at some of the top theatre venues in the US including St. James Theatre in New York, the Shubert Theatre in Boston and the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco. They have a wide range of sport tickets, even including the NFL Super Bowl.

Celebrity Seats, a reputable company with over 5 years experience in ticket brokering, has also negotiated special deals on airline tickets and hotel reservations for their customers, so even if you live out of town you can still enjoy the entertainment at a reasonable price.

I recommend you visit the Celebrity Seats website and check out the deals for yourself.

Blog Review: Blog-Op

Blog-Op
http://blog-op.com

Description of site:
A collection of useful resources for the small-time blogger. This site comes from Chris who also keeps the Thermal blog, which faired so well (9/10) when we reviewed it back in November 2006. It has a promising pedigree.

Appearance:
Three column WordPress template with unusual pale green colouration.

Organisation:
Neatly organised. There are ten posts displayed per page - I think this is a lot of content and may prove overwhelming for the infrequent or first time reader.

Navigation and Functionality:
Sidebar links and well hidden blog archive. I really struggled to find the archive link – always the first place I go when I do a review. It is tucked down the left hand sidebar, just above the AdSense referral buttons. It might prove difficult to find for the ad blind so I recommend more strategic positioning.

Advertising:
Left hand sidebar is an intermingle of Google AdSense ad units and referral buttons. The right hand side bar includes a few discreet directory mini banners.

Comments:
This is a requested review.

After finding the archive I hopped back two months in time to the beginning of Blog-Op. The posts quickly jump into the promised 'blogging resources' theme and we are introduced to RSS, Feedburner, pinging and Google sitemaps to name but a few. I noticed that this is a community blog and I recognise several of the contributing names – Chris has employed a sound knowledgebase here, which is reflected in the high quality of the writing. It really is insider knowledge – not canned dribble that has been cut and pasted from elsewhere. I've got quite a lot of blogging experience myself now but I never knew what a 'Favicon' was, or how to go about getting one. I'm certainly wiser having read through Blog-Op and there's not many blogs I can say that about! I draw your attention to the 'How To Set-Up A Blog' series of posts because these really do provide a brilliant overview of the process.

This may sound selfish now, but when I see a huge list of posts on the same page my heart sinks. I might be the exception because I have to read everything at one sitting, but I'm sure someone visiting Blog-Op for the first time might be overwhelmed by the huge content on a single page. I realise that Chris is trying to maximise space and navigability. I have to be critical of the colour scheme too. I'm afraid to say that I don’t find it very inspiring – it reminds me of mouldy bread, but perhaps the intention is to portray an image of new life.

In conclusion, Blog-Op is a very well written community blog which is abundant with useful blogging information. In my opinion (and I might be wrong) there are too many posts per page even though they are in the drop down format. The colour scheme and archive link positioning should also be revisited.

Rating:
7/10

Reviewer:
Tom

Blog Review: Owl & Acorn

Owl & Acorn
http://owlandacorn.blogspot.com

Description of site:
Melissa from Seattle discusses the major happenings in her life and her number 1 hobby – knitting.

Appearance:
It's our old favourite blogger template again – browning paper on top of the horrible brown and yellow flower pattern. With so many colourful templates to choose from, I can't image why anyone would choose such a dull option.

Organisation:
Short entries interweaved with photos of Melissa's handy work. Neatly organised.

Navigation and Functionality:
Sidebar links and blog archive.

Advertising:
No obvious advertising apart from a small RSS feed button and Site Meter mini banner. Certainly no monetisation. A hobby blog instead of a money spinner – nice to see.

Comments:
Melissa hasn't requested this review – I stumbled on Owl & Acorn by accident and thought it had interesting niche content. I was drawn to this blog because of the creativity of the author. When I was younger I tried some knitting myself – at school we were forced to knit scarves for Romanian orphans, but sadly I never got past the first few rows of (dodgy) stitching. My knitting skills were very poor – I just didn't have the co-ordination or the stamina to see it through to the end and, dare I say it, it wasn't particularly trendy to be good at knitting if you're male!

Luckily Melissa has the knitting bug and she seems to do it well. One of the very early entries in the archive shows a picture of her first sock. She has used the Jaywalker pattern. I imagine knitting something as complicated as a sock – especially a multicoloured sock like this one – takes considerable skill. Roll on October and we have a list of 10 interesting knitty facts about the author. By the end of the month I'm beginning to detect that Melissa likes sock yarn a lot. I can kind of see the attraction – some of these yarns are a kaleidoscope of colour and quite therapeutic to look at. I'll also draw your attention to the Squirrel and Oak mittens in early November. Melissa has family in the UK (extra rating points) and she goes over there (here) to visit the in laws in late November and early December. This provides the ideal opportunity to network with some of the UK knitting fraternity and enjoy cream teas on the Norfolk coast. It also allows them to stock up on British sweet treats like Jaffa Cakes and Quality Street. Mid December brings seriously bad weather to Seattle. The wind blows out Melissa's window and a fallen tree narrowly misses her car. On a positive note a power failure does mean she gets the day off work – every (storm) cloud has a silver lining!

This blog has captivated an audience of loyal comment leavers and return visitors. I like the raw creativity of the subject – there's no fancy technology to let you down, just commitment and skill. The author is also commended on the regularity of her blog entries. The only suggestion I make is that the template be changed to something more colourful, just like the sock yarns on display. Despite this being a specialised blog with limited appeal to most people it warms to me - this is reflected in the rating I award.

Rating:
7/10

Reviewer:
Tom

Quick Review: PartyCasino.com

This post is a sponsored post. To see our policy on sponsored entries click HERE.

PartyCasino.com claims to be the world's largest online casino. Not being a gambling man myself, I'll have to take their word for that. If you're that way inclined PartyCasino.com appear to have 6 games for you to experiment with:

• Magic Man
• European Roulette
• Super Mystic
• Blackjack
• Jacks or Better
• Caribbean Poker

If you're not too sure about how these games work you can take the 'product tour' before you part with your cash. Some people enjoy gambling as a bit of harmless occasional fun - others, however, get sucked in to losing more than they can really afford. PartyCasino.com are committed to responsible gambling and have a number of self-exclusion tools if you're getting in too deep. Before participating I seriously recommend you read our blog review of 'It's My Life' and see how Erin has been disadvantaged by her gambling addiction.

PartyCasino.com also have an affiliate scheme if you're the sort of webmaster that wants to profit from someone else's misery.

Another honest appraisal from Soapbox Jury.

Quick Review: Car Insurance.com

This is a sponsored post. To see our policy on sponsored entries click HERE.

Ah, I remember when I first passed my driving test and couldn't wait to hit the open road, wind rushing through my (sparse) hair and smell of petrol fumes and burning clutch in the air. One of the things I never had the urge to do as a new driver was take on a truck. I mean, Vauxhall Corsa (that's GM to my US readers) against 40 ton Juggernaut is not really much of a competition.

GEICO, a leading US insurer, is so concerned that young American drivers are at risk from large trucks that it has commissioned specialist research on the subject. As with all good research its findings are pretty much a statement of the obvious. It includes pearls of wisdom like:

• Stay out of a truck's blind spots
• Do not swerve in front of a truck
• Be careful when attempting to pass a truck

If you successfully manage to avoid being crushed by a truck you might be in line for a cheap car insurance quote. You might also live long enough to enjoy the saving.