1980s Nostalgia At Its Best

One of our very own bloggers- IJustWantAnEasyLife.blogspot.com -has been highlighted in the "BLOG ON" section of Web User-the UK's best-selling internet magazine.

If you grew up in the 1980's then this is the place for you. Here you will find reviews of some of the best 80's TV and films, toys, music and fashion.

If you are looking for a quote for every occassion then check out the Top Gun post:

"It's classified. I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you".
"That's pretty arrogant considering the company here, don't you think?"
"Your ego is writing checks your body can't cash"
"You can be my wingman anytime"
"Show me the way home honey"

This is pure nostalgia at its best!

Myspace-The Internet Phenomenon

Although Myspace is not specifically a blog-host it has over 117 million members, many of whom are bloggers. Myspace is very much the internet phenomenon of the moment and is now one of the top 10 most heavily trafficked sites.

The emphasis here is very much on social networking and dating, with over 100 million members of whom an estimated 1 in 5 are under 18. Myspace offers a free and easy platform where users can create personal profile pages and express their interests, relationship status and dating preferences.

Registered users can exchange private messages between friends or join groups with collective interests. Once your profile page has been set up and some snapshots and nuggets of personal information have been added you can then begin the Myspace raison d'etre of 'adding friends'. A social pecking-order is established where a group of eight best friends is then used to reach out and collect many, many more. Myspacers pride themselves on not just the quantity, but the quality of friends. Bagging a celebrity gives extra cache to any users profile. It is not unheard of for some users to amass hundreds of friends.

Given the viral aspect of this process and the youthful profile of its users, Myspace has attracted great attention from the music and entertainment industry. News Corp. the media giant recently bought Myspace for $580 million.

Although Myspace boasts some 85 million bloggers this is not the best platform for those who are serious about their blogging. Those who are serious about website promotion though should not dismiss Myspace. There are many forums where users can talk about their business and use this as a platform for advancement.

Review Of Blog-Hosts: Xanga

Xanga is a free, web-based blogging platform with a strong emphasis on community. With over 20 million users and an Alexa Ranking of 42 this is one of the biggest sites on the Net.

Personal bloggers who enjoy socializing, especially teenagers and students, will be at home here with photoblogs and social networking profiles. Users can automatically subscribe to other Xanga bloggers called 'Xangans', without having to visit each blog individually.

The Classic (free) service can be upgraded at any time to the Premium service which has additional features at a monthly cost of $4 or $25 annually, for a 30-day trial period. At the end of the free trial-period users can decide if they wish to permanently upgrade. More serious, professional bloggers will probably look elsewhere.

Review Of Blog-Hosts: Typepad

Typepad is relatively new to the world of blogging having been online since 2003, but is now considered to be the largest subscription-based blogging service.

Typepad offers many of the features of Wordpress (especially with the PRO level of service) but without the need for intensive configuration or installation on a web server. Features include themed templates for special occassions such as weddings, online photo albums, comment moderation and posting from a mobile phone (moblogging).

The basic level of service for a single blog starts at $4.95 a month. The Plus level service for $8.95 a month offers users up to 3 weblogs with their own domain name. Pro level at $14.95 allows multiple users with an unlimited number of blogs with full HTML editing.

If you are serious about blogging but don't want to get bogged-down in configuration then Typepad must be on your review list.

Review of Blog-Hosts: Wordpress.org

Wordpress.org is a free personal publishing platform that is designed to be installed on a web server or shared hosting account.

Bloggers should benefit from greater control over all aspects and functions of their blog. Quoting directly, "Wordpress is a start-of-the-art semantic personal publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards and usability. With a mission statement like this you know they are serious about blog-hosting!

If you are serious about blogging then Wordpress.org is probably the blog-host for you. Clicking on 'Getting Started' listed 71 different topics with many of these having their own sub-headings. This really is not for the faint-hearted! If all this is too much then there is a stripped-out version at Wordpress.Com

Review Of Blog-Hosts: Blogger

Over the next few days we will conduct a review of the top blog-hosting websites, starting of course with the all pervasive Blogger.com.

Every blogger will have their own individual criteria as to what they require in a blog host. Some will be looking for a community environment, others will be looking for a more professional blog host offering more comprehensive facilities. Some will just want to have a basic blog up-and-running in minutes. If they do then they must at least have a look at Blogger.com.

Blogger is owned by Google and is one of the most popular free blog hosts. Its strength is its simplicity:you can have a blog up-and-running in less than 5 minutes with no programming knowledge. This simplicity is also its main weakness at it does not have the same features and opportunities for customization as other blog hosts. Blogger does offer a very useful Comment Moderation facility which allows users to view all comments before they appear with the chance to approve or reject them. With tens of millions of bloggers and an easy to use search tool, blogs on almost any subject can easily be located. Despite this abundance of bloggers there is little or no sense of community. If you simply want to stake your claim to a space on the web there is nothing quicker or easier than Blogger.

The Myth Of The So-called Green Car

It turns out that so-called 'green' cars like the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight have the greatest environmental impact when the overall cost of construction and disposal are taken into account as well as fuel emissions.

According to November's issue of What Car? the vehicles with the lowest 'carbon foot-print' were gas-guzzling 4X4s like the Jeep Wrangler and Suzuki Grand Vitara. Although these vehicles have greater fuel consumption and therefore emissions they are built using established production methods that use less energy during their construction.

The latest hybrid vehicles like the Honda and Toyota rely heavily on batteries and electric motors which are much more costly to dispose of. The report highlights the fact that fuel consumption is "only a small part of the total energy used in a vehicle's lifetime".

My advice, if you want to be seen to be green when in a car, is go for a Volkswagen Lupo. This little baby returns up to 70mpg.