http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Fri, 28 Feb 2003 11:14:02 EST http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/02/28/111402.php Keith MorrisMichele over at asmallvictory.net has begun Operation TROOPtrax, a project started to send music to our troops in the Middle East. She has already gained enormous support for her cause and has received over a thousand dollars in donations in less than twenty-four hours. She welcomes advice as well as contributions. Please head over there, read a little more about it, and help her out. Sci/Tech3504@blogcritics.org Fri, 28 Feb 2003 11:14:02 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2002/12/16/151828.php Keith MorrisGreg and Sara have set up a military forum where folks can discuss issues related to the armed forces. Similar discussion can be found on my own site, GI Party. Culture2287@blogcritics.org Mon, 16 Dec 2002 15:18:28 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2002/12/14/013103.php Keith MorrisTalk about movies with endings open to interpretation! Monster's Ball stirs different emotions for everyone, depending on the viewer's perception of the film. Forgiveness, prejudice, love, hate. These are some of the themes apparent in the movie.Monster's Ball draws you in slowly, then envelops you in your own emotion. I was actually going through a difficult moment with my better half at the time I watched this film, and my solemn mood enhanced the viewing experience. The end of the movie left me feeling content and thoughtful.A bit about the plot. In this movie, Billy Bob Thorton plays a corrections officer who ends up executing the husband of a woman he later gets involved with. That's about as much as I can say without spoiling the parts of the movie that make you gasp in disbelief. The movie has about a dozen different climaxes that will force you to say, "Oh, man!"If your primary motivation for watching this film is to see Heath Ledger, don't waste your time. His role in the movie is incredibly short, as were his dozen lines. Make no mistake about it. This is Billy Bob Thorton's movie. If you're not hung up on Heath Ledger, and can get into a deep drama, I definitely recommend this one. If you're more of an action fan, steer clear. This is one movie that won't leave you feeling invincible. Video2270@blogcritics.org Sat, 14 Dec 2002 01:31:03 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2002/12/13/093524.php Keith MorrisThe first thing I felt when I viewed Parabolic Reflections was intimidation. I'm reviewing the blog of an author! Not only is there such a tremendous amount of content to be reviewed (I think I should have been given a little bit more notice on this one, Sil!), but who am I to judge the work of an accomplished, professional writer? From her own web page, "R.J. Anderson is the pen name of a freelance graphic designer and author (albeit more "free" than "lance" at this point) who lives in beautiful southwestern Ontario with her husband and two children."Mrs. Anderson appears to spend little time working on the layout of her site, but rather chooses to pour it into providing her readers with gobs of wonderful content. The success of a blog is directly proportional to content interest and update frequency, and the author pulls it off nicely.The works of R.J. Anderson span across multiple sites including a couple of her own, and sugarquill.net, to which she contributes Harry Potter fanfiction. In case you aren't aware of what fanfiction is, nindaiwe.com defines it as "a term for stories written by fans of a particular work (a television show, a film, a book) about the characters in that work. It's a way for fans to explore areas never tackled in the original work, to enlarge upon the existing story, or to develop characters in ways that haven't been done 'officially.' Fanfiction is written by fans for their own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others, and never for profit." In addition to the fanfiction, Anderson's works include two unpublished fantasy novels and articles for Areopagus.In addition to making her work available through her site, she also keeps her audience up to date with her blog, and writes entries about whatever else comes to mind. Anderson takes the opinions of her readers seriously, and often asks for their point of view on a matter. Interaction is abundant. I would definitely recommend this blog to someone who enjoys reading, especially fantasy/sci-fi fiction. She scores nine cheeky monkeys out of ten. ;-)This review of mine can also be read at Bloggy Opinions. Culture2252@blogcritics.org Fri, 13 Dec 2002 09:35:24 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2002/12/03/224240.php Keith MorrisA Weblog About WebloggingThis weblog was created and is maintained by he who calls himself Royby. The site doesn't reveal much about this character other than the fact that he will be celebrating his birthday on the 10th of December. Happy Birthday, Royby!Royby's site was "primarily built as a research site for Communication & Cyber Theory at Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia... about the phenomenon that is weblogging." It contains quite a bit of useful information about blogging, with links to blogs and also resources for bloggers. It is maintained using pMachine, weblogging software much like Movable Type and Blogger. I had never heard of it before I visited. Sure enough, there is a link to pmachine.com over on the left side of Royby's blog (it is a blog about blogging, isn't it?), along with links to other weblogging applications. This is a topic I find quite interesting, personally. I am always looking for new ideas to use on my own site.The layout is fairly simple; your typical dashed border surrounding the main content, with links on either side. I'm not familiar with the templates that ship with pMachine. This layout does have a sort of prefabricated appeal to it, though a peak at the source code suggests otherwise. It is a piece of cake to find your way around, and the color scheme is pleasing as well.There are a couple things I didn't agree with. Along the right, there are a couple of dead links. Dead links bad! There is also some content that doesn't have a whole lot to do with weblogging. Finally, the content doesn't portray a very personal view at all. I would like to know what is in the head of Royby. What does he think about the things he is finding around the web? Other than that, I'd definitely recommend this site to someone who is interested in new blogging ideas.This review can also be read at Bloggy Opinions. Culture2103@blogcritics.org Tue, 3 Dec 2002 22:42:40 EST