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	Saturday, March 27, 2004

KING OF THE BLOGS FINAL ROUND CHALLENGE AND WHOLE BLOG REVIEWS The Challenge Question: The blogosphere has just been invaded by space aliens from the planet Zebnon. As King of the Blogs it is your duty to meet the threat. In doing this you must make a delegation of bloggers to rise up and meet the aliens. You are excluded from including members of the judging panel on this delegation (no butt-kissing!) For each member you must include a reason why. Walloworld: GOOD POINTS: As the reigning King of the Blogs, he did what all bloodthirsty tryants do: ignored all the rules of civilzed behavior that apply to lesser beings. Despite the "no butt-kissing" rule, he managed to work in gratuitous links to 2 of the judges. Since one of them was me and the other was Susies delectable gluteous, this counts in his favor. Also, it was a well-written and entertaining post with a nice swipes at several "oddball teams with a mission" movies. BAD POINTS: Channelling the spirit of a coked-up Johnny Cochrane, he went on and on, answering a simple question so many times that for the next seven months, America's Presidential campaign discussion will revolve around how to best handle the nationwide pixel shortage caused by Bill's bloviating windbaggery. Also, a tragic dearth of self-linkage. SCORE: 9 Irritable Blog Syndrome: GOOD POINTS: With the unswerving arrogance befitting royalty, The Bull pointedly assumed the title of Queen in her essay. This kind of naked power-lust is something I could kneel before. Also, she puts some serious firepower into the mix by choosing Misha, who does rage better than anyone alive. Well constructed, with a carefully crafted "breaking news story" theme. BAD POINTS: Didn't link to Helen's "blogging nekkid" picture when mentioning her name. SCORE: 9 Blog Supplement: GOOD POINTS: Demonstrating two-faced deceptive diplomacy worthy of Colonel Green, Hbee avoids the "direct show of strength" tactic chosen by the other two contenders and showcases blogs so bad that it took me an hour to read his post because I kept running away from my computer, screaming from the crippling horror of it all. Bonus points for demonstrating that, not matter what pathetic inanity I may post, my blog could suck a LOT worse. Anyone afflicted with "blogger's doubt" must read this post. BAD POINTS: No matter how much Clorox I drink, I can't get the taste of that "Poor Lemur Poem" out of my mouth. SCORE: 10 The Whole Blog: Technical Merit & Personality Here are some technical things I like to see on a blog: Comments enabled Permalinks working E-mail contact info available Blogger's name/pseudonym prominently displayed Site search feature enabled Link to an "About Me" post on the sidebar Blogger's gender is easily discernable Blogroll Readable font style & size Readable color scheme (for example, NOT bright red type on bright green background) Divisions between posts clearly marked Paragraphing in entries (NOT just writing one fat block of text) Aside from the tech stuff, I also like to see a blogger's personality shining through, to remind us of the person behind the words. Walloworld: GOOD POINTS: All his technical points are still in fine working order. Personality-wise, I gotta love the way he put up the short descriptions by the judges' links. I also enjoy the "recent entries by category" feature. BAD POINTS: Ummm... [searching desperately for something mean to say]... uh, he's still a lawyer... uh... oh! He needs to capitalize his category names.... Rats! Who am I kidding? SCORE: 10 Irritable Blog Syndrome: GOOD POINTS: Technical points - all good. I also love the way she fixed that "no, really, I'm a girl" problem, as well as finally figuring out where to put that horrid & disturbing logo image (which actually starts to grow on you after a while). Speaking of which, although I dinged King Bill for using the "extended entries" feature too much, it's actually a blessing with Bull's entries, because it obscures Mr. Flashy Guts. BAD POINTS: I specifically asked for bikini pictures! Where are my bikini pictures? Oh well. A couple minor nits, probably leftover untidynesses from the last re-design & not worth deducting for: You might want to shrink the left column just a touch, because occasionally a letter or two will spill over the edge of the background onto Mr. FG. Also, you should put either more space or a line or something between the bottom of one post and the top of the next, just for esthetics. I'm not deducting because the tiny print followed by bolded titles is a satisfactory visual divider. I'm just saying it looks a little crowded. SCORE: 10 Blog Supplement: GOOD POINTS: What a nice young man. And such a tidy sidebar! Not crowded with dirty pictures & blog affiliations like most bloggers. Although I suppose it will get filled up in time. I like the way he works that puppy theme for all it's worth, both as a header and a post divider. Brings a sense of unity to the page. BAD POINTS: Piddled on my rug. BAD DOG! Anyway, there are some important technical items missing. First, no 'search' feature. This could cost you linkage down the road. Let's say I vaguely remembered something you once said about some stand-up comedian, and I wanted to quote and link you. If you have search, I can find the entry in question easily & I'll probably take the time. Without it, I'm too lazy to try to force it through Google. Second, there's no "about me" post. Which is an even bigger problem since with a name like Hbee, your gender is indeterminate (although I did find something indicating maleness in one of the entries, so...). Besides, I'd like to know a little bit more about the author. A third, but non-deductable item is that I couldn't find a link to your main blog page. As a courtesy to your readers, you might consider putting such a link in your entry template somewhere near the permalink. Anyway, although I've mentioned several items, I'm only dinging lightly in view of your recent de-blogspotification. SCORE: 9 posted by Harvey at 5:37:14 PM  permalink    Crappy Broken Radio Comments (do not use) [] trackback []  HOME

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