I heard about this a couple of weeks ago but only found the story recently. It not something I wanted to comment on without seeing myself but now it’s here for all and sundry to take a look at. Those in the diving community know that multiple dives per day are allowed by all major [...]
Posts Tagged ‘blogs’
Made the Upgrade to Wordpress 2.8
Posted By Dave on July 2nd, 2009
Whenever a new piece of software that could significantly change my system comes out, I always like to wait a couple of weeks before installing it myself. That way, some of the initial bugs (which are usually the most crippling) are reported, and fixes & patches are released to solve these issues. So it took me almost a month to make the leap up to Wordpress 2.8 (the software behind this site) following it’s release. The install is pretty simple and quick, and seems to have gone without incident.
This is where you folks come in though! If you spot any problems at all with the layout of the site or images not showing up properly, let me know. There are probably going to be a couple of little gremlins in the system but with your help they can be ironed out and we can enjoy the new software.
Posted in General
Blog Review: michael john grist
Posted By Dave on April 3rd, 2009
Now this is a website I like, and I’m very pleased that Michael asked me to take a look at it. Michael john grist is a perfect example of why I wanted to do these reviews: to introduce people to excellent sites that they may have otherwise missed. I pretty much like everything about this site, from the design to the content to the lack of a Google Friend Connect box. So let’s see if we can pick up on some of the highlights.
The design of the site is relatively simple, once again showing that less is, very often in the case of these sites, more. Subscription links are visible at the top of every page but are not intrusive in any way, and the Amazon affiliate links appear as being helpful rather than there in order to make a few yen on the side. Header and footer bars are kept to a bare minimum, and even the sidebar is kept well out of the way, and showing only the information that is important to the site.
The content is also onto a winner in my book, with topics covering happenings in Tokyo, photos of ruins around Japan, and futuristic/fantasy style artwork. There is background text to all the articles (although the talk can sometimes seem to go completely off-topic), but the site has a photo-blog feel to it. This guy has some talent with a camera though, and knows where to go to get the good photos. A visit to the ruins of the Kemigawa Transmission Station in Tochigi is a good example of a place that is not immediately that interesting, but looking at the photos of different aspects of the site fascinated me. The only thing that could have made it a little better would have been a bit more of an insight into the place itself in the writing, although that may not have been too easy to get.
I’m also a big fan of fantasy artwork in general, and looking at some of the pictures Michael features takes me back to the days when I would engross myself in the artwork of Luis Royo and H.R. Giger. Shots are tastefully chosen and then links provided to the original source of the photos.
I am going to finish the review here because the more time you spend reading this review is less time looking at the photos of Japan and a world beyond over on Michael’s site. Do yourself a favour and have a look.
Check out michael john grist at: http://www.michaeljohngrist.com.
If you want your site reviewing here with no catches whatsoever, then leave a comment below or check out this post for full information.
Posted in Reviews
Blog Review: BFG’s Blog
Posted By Dave on April 1st, 2009
Function over form but retaining a classy look. That’s how I would I would describe IT professional Andy Johnson’s “BFG’s Blog“. He has opted for an image-free environment on the whole, and while it goes slightly against the trend of websites trying to use as much Flash and javascript as is physically possible, it makes for a refreshing change.
One of the first things you notice is the highlighted “See what google sees…” box. Pretty much useless but I have to confess I did click the link for a few seconds to turn the stylesheet off, before turning it back on and continuing my look into the page. I might think about moving the RSS link from the footer of the page up here though – could get you a few more subscribers.
The site is 3 years old, although it actually seems to have experienced a 2 and half year hiatus between April 2006 and October 2008. Updates seem to be pretty frequent now though. The site is focused on technical news and commentary, although also includes a few other topics too. The news is kept brief and more time is spent on his commentary on the stories themselves. Links in stories are kept to a minimum and there are none of those social networking links that accompany the vast majority of personal online journals these days. As Andy is going for a minimalistic look though, this is definitely not a minus point here.
Being out of the UK, this is probably a not a site I would subscribe to and be coming back to again and again, but I like the fact that the site bucks the current webpage design trend. Here would normally be where I say the site needs a logo or something to create site/brand awareness, but with pictures being kept out of the site that it’s not really necessary. Check the site it, if for nothing else then to show you how a site doesn’t need flashy graphics and lots of scripts to get its point across.
Head over to BFG’s Blog here: http://blog.bfg9000.co.uk
If you want your site reviewing here with no catches whatsoever, then leave a comment below or check out this post for full information.
Posted in Reviews
Blog Review: The Nihon Sun
Posted By Dave on March 27th, 2009
My first thought when the homepage of The Nihon Sun opened was “I like the layout of this page.” Functional, no distractions, clear fonts and very easy to read gives a very good impression and makes you want to look more. However, my second thought was “What is Google Friend Connect doing at the bottom of the page?” And this little bar appears at the bottom of every page. Now it maybe that I just don’t have any friends to connect with, but I’m not a fan of these things. It’s not too big a distraction, but I think if they are going to go anywhere on the site, it should be in the sidebar where you can scroll to or past it as you wish.
This is a personal online journal which has been online since October 2008. With personal sites like this I always think it is nice to have an author profile so you can feel a connection with the site and the webmaster. Unfortuately this site does not seem to have one readily available. There are some very nice photos on here, and from viewing the first few articles I thought this was just a photoblog, with a few supporting sentences around the pictures. That isn’t a bad thing, but can be a little deceptive. When I clicked on the article, “Traditional Japanese Attire or Publicity Stunt”, I was expecting a discussion of the topic rather than a picture and brief background of where it was taken. Not a huge negative though – it just depends on what you are expecting when you follow the links.
The resources and reading room contains some good information about visiting Japan, although some articles do seem to have a few too many links for my liking. Whereas I mentioned on my JapanSoc review the only social networking integration was with Twitter, this site supports Twitter, StumbleUpon, Del.icio.us and Digg.
My advice to this site would be to keep the layout as it’s really catchy in a day and age where people just seem to try to cram as much information as they can onto a frontpage, but move or lose the Friend Connect. Will probably keep checking back on this site over the next month or so and see how the content develops. Could turn into a nice little resource though.
Check out The Nihon Sun here: http://www.nihonsun.com
If you want your site reviewing here with no catches whatsoever, then leave a comment below or check out this post for full information.
Posted in Reviews
Join me on Twitter
Posted By Dave on March 24th, 2009
Really not so sure why this is so popular, and even more so in Japan, but the fact of the matter is that Twitter is here and looks like it is here to stay. For the completely uninitiated, Twitter is a “micro-blogging service” where you can leave comments up to 140 characters long about things you are up to. It’s mainly an SMS-based service although here in Japan I send updates through my phone’s internet or through email (due to Japan not having SMS). It’s boomed since its creation in 2006 and now has over 1.5 million users.
So in an attempt to stay “hip” and “down with the kids” and all that kind of cool stuff, I have decided to create a Twitter profile. If you’ve got an account and want to keep up with my ramblings and with updates to this site then check out my profile.
Posted in General
Big in Japan is back, better than ever!
Posted By Dave on January 19th, 2009
Well, for those of you that have found your way over here from my old site, welcome. I sincerely apologise for the lack of warning about my old blog going down. I had no knowledge of it and recovering old posts is a huge pain. I am slowly trying to sift through computer files and tryto recover the important articles so I can post them up here.
Bizarrely, it looks like my old site is now advertising a guesthouse in North Yorkshire. But onwards and upwards, and the site going down has allowed me to revamp this entire site and start to mould it into what I want it to be. Don’t like blowing my own trumpet, but I do like how this new site is looking and I hope you do too. I expect I may have lost some visitors with the address change but I do the majority of writing on this site to pass what might be useful and/or interesting information onto you readers, so let me know what you want to see. And let me know what you think of the new site layout, specifically the 4 random pictures from my online gallery which appear on the right of this page. I am deciding whether it looks best with 2 pictures on the right hand side or 4, so do let me know about that one.
The gallery is also undergoing a transformation, but I have a huge amount of work involved in updating and doing things for that site so it may take a little time. So layout ideas and thoughts (good or bad), things you want me to include, your own blog addresses if I linked to them in the past and anything else you have to say.
So take care, enjoy the new site and I’ll be back very soon with ramblings from the land of the rising sun.
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