BlogsWeLuv - Blog Reviews

Photos from Northern Norway - A Blog We Luv

May 12, 2008 – 12:38 am | by Amy

My husband’s mother immigrated directly from Norway when she was a young girl which means that my husband is a large part “Viking” as he laughingly puts it. That also means my daughter is also, and with my hobby of dredging up family history - I am always interested in anything Norwegian.

I’ve been visiting Photos from Northern Norway - A Photo Blog for a while now and have enjoyed some of the most beautiful photography you’ll ever see. I wish I could insert some of the photos here but because of copyright laws, I will only link to some of my favorites.

The author if this blog is Thomas Laupstad, who lives in Northern Norway. He is interested in preserving nature and so enjoys photographing his favorite subject…Norway. And it is spectacular! Some of my favorite photos are the Northern Lights, Snow covered Forest and Village, and an old Fishing Boat.

Interestingly, he also takes pictures of Norwegians insects, and other wildlife. Even pictures of flies and snails are artfully done!

I really enjoy this blog. It’s very simple, the pictures load quickly and it’s a quick browse with instant gratification. If you’re interested in any of his photography, it is for sale as well.

This is a beautiful and tasteful blog; an extraordinary little niche in the large photography blog market. Keep the beautiful art coming, Thomas!

technoNix - A Blog We Luv

May 4, 2008 – 11:22 pm | by Amy

We were recently contacted about this awesome site and how the authors would be interested in a review. Well, we’re always in search of good blogs to review, so by all means…let us know if you’d like us to feature you!

The authors of technoNix have been busy for the past year building up a great site for everything technology! And who isn’t interested in technology? If you’re currently on your computer, then this blog will apply to you!

This blog has a community feel, which is always great for a blog author. The more “at home” you can make your readers feel, the more frequently they will likely come by. The way these authors have addressed that is by creating a forum for discussions of various current technology issues. I think that’s a terrific idea and it looks like it’s been pretty popular! Way to go!

Additionally, technoNix has addressed a wide gammit of topics, and among some that piqued my curiosity were these:

Track Your Friends With Your Cellphone - for the stalker side of my aberrant personality (lol): this is a funny post about how Sprint is offering a service where it can tell you where your friends are every 15 minutes (yeah, I just don’t know how I feel about that!)

Microsoft Maps in 3D - Microsoft, via Virtual Earth, has launched, at the time of the original post, what was a beta program to show cities, along with buildings and topography in their 3D form. I’ve always been curious about what cities really look like, mainly ones I’ve never been to of course, and so this item was particularly interesting to me. IE and Firefox can view these maps but evidently only when the add-on’s been installed. Cool!

Microsoft Offers to Buy Yahoo for $44.6 Billion - this post was just representative of all of the “newsy” topics that technoNix offers about the industry.

And, if all of the above doesn’t tempt you to visit this blog, a giveaway surely will. technoNix is giving away a free game of Star Fighter! To enter the contest, go here. Good Luck!

The Art of Prank ~ a blog we luv

April 28, 2008 – 9:49 pm | by Loretta

I actually don’t remember how it was that I came upon this blog. I just remember that I completely forgot about whatever it was I was originally looking for and got lost in the humor.

Pranks.com is produced and edited by Joey Skaggs. Here you will find insights, information, news and discussions about pranks, hoaxes, culture jamming & reality hacking around the world - past, present and future - mainstream and counter culture. You are invited to contribute to its development. May your journey be filled with more than your expectations.

Just reading the “about” in the sidebar had my interest upon the first reading. Of course, a story about a zebra inside a school down in Oxford, Georgia was a pretty good attention grabber too. Not every day you see a zebra getting wrangled out of a college. No, the zebra was not hurt. It’s pranksters were careful and gentle with Bar Code, yes the zebra had a name! How cute is that?

Now that I’ve distracted you with talk of adorable zebras and funny college students let’s get back to the topic here. Which, in case you have forgotten is The Art of Prank. What makes a good Prank? Joey Skaggs has some easy to follow do’s and don’ts for all your wannabe pranksters out there. Stick to these guidelines and hopefully no one will want to hurt you!

Yes you fill find this blog funny, but there is a serious side to The Art of Prank. First Amendment Issues, ah yes, I’m sure you’ve heard of that beloved First Amendment of our United States. Just in case, here’s a refresher;

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Good stuff to know right there. And it seems that more and more every day the sanctity of this amendment is being questioned in the news, along with the rest of the top amendments that someone is always wanting to change, challenge, ban, edit or whatever. Hold this right dear to us and love it, for it allows your crazy use of pranking and keeps you from going to jail. Prank on fellow pranksters, prank on. (and don’t forget to blog about it and entertain the rest of us too!)

10 Questions with CloseOfPlay of Laddered Stocking

April 25, 2008 – 6:00 am | by Tish

10 Questions with CloseOfPlay of Laddered Stocking

1. Describe your blog in five sentences or less.
Everything you’ve never wanted to know about sex, life and the Dirty Sanchez. Via Ross Perot.

2. Link us to one post from your blog that best defines who you are.
Although Elton Liked a Good Tarmacking…

3. What sets you apart from other bloggers?
My writing style.

4. When and how did you first discover blogging?
This year, by chance. Now I’m hooked.

5. What is your biggest pet peeve related to blogging or the internet?
The number of mediocre blogs.

6. Name one plugin, blogging widget, or service that you can’t live without.
Feedburner.

7. If you could choose anyone, living or dead, to write a guest post for your blog, who would it be and why?
Osama. Or Obama. Because I’d get loads of hits.

8. How has blogging made you a better person?
No, but it’s made me a better writer.

9. What are your tips for becoming a better blogger?
Write often, but using fewer words.

10. Name one great blog that you read on a regular basis. What makes it unique?
Perez, for my sins. It’s updated very regularly, and it can break good stories. (Sorry.)

iJustine ~ a blog we luv

April 21, 2008 – 9:41 am | by Loretta

I found iJustine via Twitter, so I’ll start you off with a link to the iJustine Twitter Profile. Twitter before blog - or blog before Twitter, such a difficult decision to make. I figured I should take you through this adventure via the path that I took so I don’t get lost. Justine is what you might call a life streaming blogger right out of Pittsburgh, PA (hey, if I time travel back 4 years we’d be neighbors!) What does that mean? She streams her life right onto the internet with video, blog posts and social networking via sites like VIRB, flickr, Facebook, twitter, iminlikewithyou, groovr … well you get the point, right? She’s out there for you to see, watch, talk to, find, click, and send fan mail to. And if you’re on the internet you might have heard of Justin.tv by now, and you’ll Justine there streaming her life directly to you at at iJustine.tv. Very cool.If all that weren’t enough she’s a great blogger with fun tidbits to be found in every corner of her blog. She holds a ChatFest, and actually just had one yesterday that I missed because I am a dork. After I finish writing this I will go pout in my kitchen over my dorkiness and wonder why I didn’t mark the calendar for the ChatFest, I really meant to tune in this time. What is a ChatFest? Well, it’s chatting and festing of course. There are prizes and chatting and you get to talk to Justine and other cool folk on the net that have called in.

Personality and the ability to have fun and lighten up are definitely things that attract me to any blog and make me want to come back. Justine is lighthearted, serious, fun, and informative all at the same time. And not just fun, but uber fun. You don’t believe me? Fine, be that way. Don’t take my word for it. Check out this video from her posting, Madonna 4 Minutes iTunes Lost Spoof. And then I’ll give you a few moment to recompose yourself so we can continue.

Told you it was fun. Geesh, and you didn’t believe me. And if that wasn’t fun enough I have to show you real quick the post that distracted me for hours on end the first night I visiting iJustine’s blog not too long ago. Yes, hours. I literally was reading her blog, went to a site she linked to and was there for hours just totally distracted by …. Dinglepop. Be careful if you click that link. Just sayin’. Hours.

Have a great blogging week everybody! I’m off to scout out some breakfast in my less than perfect kitchen.

Stayin’ Silly, Livin’ Lucky - A Blog We Luv

April 21, 2008 – 12:31 am | by Amy

Hello! Meet my friend Josey, from Stayin’ Silly, Livin’ Lucky.

I met Josey a few months ago when she happened upon my blog and struck up a friendship. I have enjoyed reading her blog very much as she explores the many facets of healthy living.

Josey is a great person and I have appreciated her fun personality. She’s witty and whimsical, fun-loving and caring. Josey makes it no secret that she has endometriosis. And, that is one of her purposes for blogging: to help other women who suffer from this disease to find information and alternatives to mainstream medicine, as she has done and found good successes.

She says that her reasons for blogging are also to have a creative outlet for her thoughts, and to help others in their journey for health. She also has a health journal where you can find more information relative to her diet, which is primarily how she manages the disease.

I think this blog is fun, but also very important. I think more women are diagnosed with endometriosis now than ever before. And many women who suffer from it aren’t even aware of what it is. On a personal level, I also have suffered from it and so can relate to much of what Josey discusses.

I recommend this blog to anyone who wants to read about an interesting life, but also to women who are looking for personal resources to help through this debilitating disease.

Strikethru - A Blog We Luv

April 19, 2008 – 12:18 pm | by Tish

I’ve always been amazed at how interests vary so greatly from person to person. Just by taking a look at the collections people maintain, I can sometimes learn more than by hearing entire life stories. I’ve collected beanie babies for 11 years now and have hundreds in my collection. On the surface, I adore cute and cuddly things. But if you look a little deeper, perhaps you’ll see my collection as a manifestation of my childlike nature – a way of holding onto a part of my past that way too often gets left behind.

Cheryl doesn’t collect beanie babies. Well, at least not that I know of. She does, however, have a collection of manual typewriters. Her passion expands to include nearly all pre-digital forms of communication – drawings, old film slides, typewritten documents, and handwritten letters. She shares this passion with the world through her blog, Strikethru, which focuses entirely on typewriters, typecasting, papercasting, and retro content.

Having been a dedicated blogger for nearly four years now, I thought I knew all about the many forms of blogging. But when I saw references to “Moleskine blogging” while perusing the Strikethru archives, I was a bit confused – but very intrigued. It seems that there are bloggers, including Cheryl, who write and doodle in Moleskine notebooks and then digitize and post the pages to their blogs. You can see Moleskine blogging at work in Papercast: Death of a Diarist. I checked out the other Moleskine blogging posts on Strikethru, and I just have to point out Moleskine Blogging: Flat Cats. Cheryl claims that she isn’t artistic, but I beg to differ. The flat cat in her Moleskine is absolutely adorable! The post even includes instructions for making one of your very own.

Another regular feature of Strikethru is typecasting. You’ll find a number of posts that have been created using old manual typewriters from Cheryl’s collection. She even identifies the typewriter used in each post.

So, what have I learned about Cheryl during my several visits to Strikethru? First, it comes as no surprise that she works as a technical writer. She obviously loves the written word, and being able to record her thoughts through the use of obsolete writing tools creates a sense of nostalgia for her. I’m willing to bet that she often looks at her old photos, reads her old diaries, and remembers what life was like as a child and a teenager. And though I have no particular interest in manual typewriters, I think that Cheryl and I have a lot in common.

If you’d like to take a stroll through time and find some pleasant reminders of days gone by, head on over to Strikethru. Maybe you’ll even be inspired to do some Moleskine blogging!

For more information Cheryl and Strikethru, be sure to read 10 Questions with Cheryl of Strikethru.

The site that sucks!!!

April 19, 2008 – 12:13 am | by Mithila

I’ve been sick for like two weeks now and that’s mainly why you didn’t hear from me in two weeks. I hope I am still in the contributors’ list. (Tish? Mike?). Anyways, I can’t think of anything better than good ol’ Slayer and Trivium to take you through any sick period. And of course my newest addiction, Strapping Young Lad. If you don’t know jack about what I am talking or think Metal Sucks, you can do one thing. Head on over to Metal Sucks, and you’ll find out whether Metal really sucks or it’s another totally different lifestyle that’s been going strong for years without you, ever since Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath) struck that evil Tritone with an Augmented 4th in it!!!

See you get genuinely, brutally honest sites and you get GENUINELY, BRUTALLY HONEST sites.You can decide under which category Metal Sucks falls.The site is run mainly by two dudes, Axl Rosenberg and Vince Neilstein, and occasionally another dude or two chip in. Before anything, I have to tell you this. If these dudes want to say a certain swear word that starts with an “F”, rhymes with “duck”, and ends with a “k”, they’ll just say it.

It is one site I’ve been reading for quite sometime now, and I can’t imagine what kept me for so long from writing about it. Oh, maybe I was too obsessed with Strapping Young Lad! (They are awesome. I highly recommend you check them out if you haven’t heard of them).

In my point of view, I think Metal Sucks‘ most valuable posession (besides a die-hard readership) is The Hard R-with God Forbid’s Dalls Coyle. I mean, it’s God Forbid yo! Not just any band God Forbid!!!

Enough talking, why don’t you just buckle up your seat belts and head on over to Metal Sucks eh?