I mean; nowadays I see blogs filled with comments and yells such as: “Obama has won! Revolution!” etc. But I don’t see it. I don’t see a revolution. I don’t even see a change.

All I see are nice words, well-written speeches and a man who can convince people. But does that actually mean that much? I mean, Hitler did a pretty good job convincing people of his believes too and look how that turned out. Are we - once again - falling for pretty words and things we know cannot even happen or is something else going on? Is the revolution Obama is promising the USA - and the world - actually possible or are we being misled once more?

I don’t know. The man doesn’t convince me: pretty words, but no actions yet. I’m waiting for the actions to take place before I’ll even consider believing him. Because: don’t all presidents write nice speeches and talk greatly of changing the future? The problem is no one ever succeeds and even though it may be Obama’s dream (which I’m not sure about) he still has a lot of obstacles to overcome before he can even begin thinking of changing the world.

I’m not convinced that he can pull it off. I’m saying “pretty words don’t cut it for me”. He cannot solve all the world’s problem in the blink of an eye. I’m not exactly sure what all the madness or crazyness is about, but I’m sincerely hoping that not all of those people get dissapointed when they realise that their idol, Obama, is just a human himself. He cannot fix everything.

So yes, I’m sceptical. But I think I have a right to be. So what, he got elected for president? That’s like; the easiest part. The true fight has yet to begin.

Now we got that settled, let’s talk about our subject of the day: Mobile Reviews. My first impression of the website is that it’s a bit dull and boring, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I do think you may have gone over the top with the whole “Less is more” philosophy that is taking over the web right now, but you do have a clean design. Basic, but clean. Everything seems well-aligned (at least in my browser of choice, Internet Explorer 7) but it’s missing a sparkle. I cannot say that your design is original. When I scroll down, I see that you are using a premade WordPress theme. Now there’s nothing wrong with that, but I cannot help but wonder why you chose such a dull theme? It is nice and all, but it lacks personality. If you decided to use a premade theme anyway, could you not have gone for something with the same minimalist style, but with some more glamour and glitter? Defusion is a theme that looks quite a lot like the one you used, but has way more personality and style that give it some sort of extra dimension. And this is just one out of many examples of WordPress themes that stand out more than the one you chose.

Now, the thing that actually irritated me enough to give your website an unrequested review is the lack of link to the homepage. You have all your pages nicely listed in the navigation on the top, but you lack a link back to the index page. Maybe you simply forgot it or have no idea about how annoying this can: this forces me, a lazy visitor, to actually either click my back button or delete some parts of your url in my navigation bar, taken I was browsing your site and suddenly want to go back to square one. My best suggestion is: add a link to your homepage as soon as possible. Since you have plenty of space left in your navigation bar, it will not even clutter it.

Secondly, the site also lacks some sort of archive. I mean, sure you do list the most recent reviews in your sidebar (and since it is so damn empty, I wonder why you even have it) but where are the other reviews and how can I find them? Maybe there aren’t any? Or maybe I will have to browse all the way back through all them reviews, using the most recent ones as a starter base; before I can actually get to your oldest reviews? This seems a bit strange and unnecessary to me. Most people bother enough to add a list of all their reviews, an ‘archive’ of sorts. Maybe you could do the same thing: even with the most recent reviews listed, this would make life a lot easier for your visitors.

First, I’m scanning through the About page. This page seems to have lost its purpose along the way. I mean, it’s more like a compilation of everything that doesn’t have a spot anywhere else, than an actual About page. But maybe that’s just me. You made a few spelling errors/typos though:

As a general guideline, they will review websites with considered “offensive” words, but in order to make Mobile Reviews a safe place for everyone, they won’t swear in they reviews.

“They” should be “their”.

Finally, your review will be posted if you don’t link back to Mobile Reviews; however, it is considered rude not to, since Lily and Clem spend a lot of time on each review, and it’s not very hard to link back.

I cannot help it, but I see this statement as being very offensive and rude. I mean: you consider it rude if people do not link back to you? I don’t know: maybe you do spend a hell of a lot time writing reviews, I won’t argue about that. But you offer reviews. You offer them probably because - at least that is what I would like to believe - you like writing them. If you totally disliked writing reviews, I doubt you would open a WPR. But now you want to be paid back for something you like doing and offered to do? Sure, suggest your visitors to link back to you - I am confident that most reviewees will actually link back. But basically forcing them to do so by stating that it is considered to be rude when you don’t link back? That’s sort of the soft way to say: If you don’t link back, I will be pissed off and ban you and your website to the world wide web - hell.

I have some issues with the ways some of the things are stated in the About your review - Clem’s reviews section.

When you submit your website, you have to realise that you may not get a perfect review. I might point out things that you need to improve.

It seems to me that the use of the adjective “perfect” is wrong here. If you are talking about a “perfect review”, you should be going on about your possible flaws as a reviewer: not everyone is perfect and you can make mistakes too. You should not go on and tell your readers that you might point out things up for improvement. If you want to talk about that, you should not be using the adjective “perfect” or you should rephrase the sentence completely. Something along the lines of: “You have to realise that the review might not necessarily be about how nice or great your website is; I will point out things that you need to improve and blah blah…” See my point?

When I read what it says in the section “Lily’s reviews”, you made ME cry. I’m sorry, but if your standards are that high - which you state yourself - then how come you instantly assume that simply because a website isn’t accessible, you will have to open up Internet Explorer to browse it? I have the idea that you have a very wrong perspective of the term ‘accessible website’. An accessible website is up to standards with the latest software and/or tips and tricks to enable handicapted or disabled people to browse the website properly (or as properly as possible). Whether or not your website is accessible, as in browsable by disabled people, or works in any other browser than Internet Explorer, is an entirely different story. What you mean in your paragraph is: Your website must be cross-browser compatible, not accessible.

Another error on this page:

There’s no rule about when you can or cannot submit your website for a re-review, but I’d suggest fixing up the things I’ll be outlining in your review and adding more content.

You have been talking in the “we”-tense for the entire page now (apart from the Clem and Lily sections) that it would be best to stick with the “we”, rather than crossing over to the “I” -side.

Further on, when quickly browsing through your website, I see the “comments closed” tag beneath every single page. Why? If you don’t have comments enabled, and probably never will on those pages, do you choose to keep the tag glued there? It is not only slightly annoying, but it could also confuse some of your visitors (how come comments are disabled? Did this used to be a discussion?) and pose unnecessary problems. Further on; it’s only one bloody line of code you have to delete. How hard can it be? Especially when you, as a reviewer, are keen to critizise others coding skills: you must be able to code yourself too.1

I have some issues with the Links page being placed under About, as a child page of sorts. I mean: what exactly do affiliate links or credits have to do with the about-information of your website? I would get it if you placed credits on the about page - but affiliate links? I suggest you could perhaps turn this subpage into a normal page and list it in the navigation bar.

Mobile Reviews is run by two young girls who love to pick through sites and give their honest opinions on on every page.

Twice the use of the word on doesn’t sound right to me at all.

I live in a big green room somewhere in Canada, and my iPod is never far from my side.

This can be found on the Reviewers page. I suggest ditched the ‘,’ before the word ‘and’. On this page, Clem states that she likes links that change on hover. I wonder why. Why are you so fond of links changing on hover? Do you think it makes a website less interesting if it doesn’t have links changing on hover? Sure this can be a personal preference, but the way you are stating it, in one line with other more valuable points (such as interesting and high-quality content), it makes me believe that it is one of your criteria for a nice website. Surely a website can be excellent, whether or not it has links changing on hover, so I don’t really think this fits a list of criteria. I don’t know; maybe I’m getting the wrong impression but from the way you have stated it, it seems as having links changing on hover is just as important as having unique content. Maybe that’s just me.

The text in the about Lily section sounds awfully familiar. Why do you feel the urge to state the same things twice? Either ditch this paragraph, or talk about something else and be a tad more original. What is the use of telling us the exact same thing twice? You are boring your visitors this way.

I’m now browsing your Format page. The thing that annoys me right away, is again your misinterpretation of the word ‘accessible’ in your Enter page paragraph. You are obviously right to encourage people to make their website work in every browser, but you are referring to ‘cross-browser compatibility’ more than to ‘accessibility’. If you want people to make their site ‘accessible’, you want them to make it cross-browser compatible, you want them to use relative fonts so size can be adapted to preferences, you want them to make sure their website is readable without stylesheet or images, you want them to use the ‘alt’ tag in images and you want them to install access keys. Since here you are only talking about the first of a long series of demands, I suggest you stick to the term ‘cross-browser compatible’.

high-quality non-celebrity graphics made by you,…

You say this in your Content paragraph. It confuses me. It seems as though you wanted to point out that you dislike the idea of using celebrity stock images and turning them into, let’s say a wallpaper. But you are stating it in a rather confusing way. We are all free to make celebrity graphics: there is no copyright law against that. If I were to draw a sketch of Johnny Depp, I would be free to post it on my website. This is a celebrity graphic, but made by me and no infringment to copyright laws whatsoever. Perhaps try to state this more clearly: you don’t want people to use celebrity stock images.

I’m usually not one for adding ratings to a website review, but I do like your stars-system. The paragraphs added, in which you explained the meaning of one star, two stars, etc. are quite witty. So far, this is my favourite part of the website. Using your very own star ratings system, I would probably give you three stars. Your website is nice, but I dislike the theme (too boring) and also the way things are organised. You lack some organisation skills, when it comes to where which pages should go. The fact you don’t have a link back to the homepage in your navigation bar, was a major turn-off for me. It’s basic knowledge for webmasters that visitors are lazy and dislike having to search for a way back to the homepage. We like things clean, simple and easy.

I like your apply page, but I’m still not entirely happy with the fact that, once again, you stated here that it’s rude not to link back. I would like to believe that people, when a review is good enough or very well-written, would link back to it all by themselves. I’m alright with you stating that you would be pleased if people linked back, but it’s the “it’s rude not to” line that is working on my nerves. I probably just have an entirely different opinion about this than you guys. (girls :P)

On your “Pending” page, it is sort of blurry. Blurry as in, it takes people five minutes before they realise what is what. If I were you, I would make the words like “website”, “reviewer”, etc. bold, so they would stand out more since they are actually titles. Perhaps this would help people understand how exactly this page is organised. I also see you have a lot of pending websites. Seems like you’ve got a lot of work ahead of you.

Now I’m going to take a look at your reviews to see if you actually are as well-informed and up-to-standards as you claim to be. At first glance, you are. I’m currently reading the review you did (who actually reviewed it? I don’t see it stated anywhere.) of Hannah’s website, Leaving Town. I like it. You have a simple, clean and nice writing style. Your review wasn’t too long, but it wasn’t exactly short either: it had a nice, average length. I like it that you point out the good as well as the bad and that you are against the use of Cutenews (God, I hate that news system.) You give critique, but you know not to cross the line between critizising or simply being rude. Believe me, I have seen reviewers actually being immensly rude in their reviews and I’ve always wondered why. Everyone does their best when creating their website, there is no need in bashing webmasters simply because they have less knowledge than others. Anyway, I do disagree with the fact you stated that most “Site History” blurbs are boring. Most times I find this one of the most interesting parts of a website. Maybe I’m just crazy.

To conclude this review: I like your reviews - thoroughly written, to the point, direct but not rude - but I’m not fond of your website. The way things are organised, the missing link to the homepage (yes I’m whining, I know) and the boring theme kind of brings it down quality-wise for me. All in all, your reviews impress me but your website doesn’t. A short lists of to-do things I would advise you to do: add link to homepage, add a link to an archive with all the reviews listed, and pick a theme with some more personality. Then the appeal of your website will definetely go up; at least for me.

Edit: I only noticed this just now, but the categories in your sidebar (reviews and updates) do not work for me. They lead to an unexpected parse error page.

He likes taking me out for dinner and making me feel special, as if I’m some high class society chick rather than the girl next door. He enjoys taking me to the cinema and buying me popcorn, holding my hand through out the entire movie and once in a while whispering in my ear how much he loves me. He fancies giving me presents, most commonly in the shape of books. He says he could die everytime he sees my smile when I get a new book (don’t get me wrong, I don’t beg for books every second, but I am pleased when he gives one to me, as a surprise). When he couldn’t get me a teddybear at the local village fair, he went off to buy one (and a gorgeous one, may I add) just so he could ’see that smile again on my face’. When I’m sad or depressed, he comforts me, and if he cannot come over to hold me while I cry, he phones me. We talk for hours through the telephone, about all sorts of things…we talk so long that I can’t imagine that he’s not bored with me and that we never really realise that there’s nothing left to say. With him, it’s like there’s always something to talk about.

When I’m in pain, he looks after me. When it’s one of those moments that I really really need him, all I have to do is sent a text message and I know he will come over right away. He’s one of the few people in this world that I can really count on and can trust. When looking back on it, I often wonder why I did not meet him sooner, why we didn’t fall in love months before. But when I think about it really hard, I know that I fell in love the moment I met him - it just took me months to figure it out. I had to go through a lot of pain and misery before I realised that he was the best friend I had and that I loved him with all my heart, that we fit together like Yin and Yang, like the Alpha and the Omega, like Romeo and Juliet.

He’s the bloody best thing that ever happened to me.

Take a look at the original book covers for the Old Kingdom - Trilogy by Garth Nix. Notice especially the middle two. Then take a look at the dutch translations of an entirely different series, namely the Weavers of Saramyr by Chris Wooding. Here’s a picture of the first book and the second in the trilogy. Notice anything similar? No kidding.

Now, normally, when the dutch translation has the exact same book cover as the original English versin, I don’t mind. I mean, why not? After all, it’s the same book, only in a different language. But this… I don’t know how to call this. They gave an entire series the exact same book cover as a series by a different author. I find this pretty messed up. What are your opinions?

For those people who are interested in learning to play poker, and perhaps make a few bucks playing it, there is now a website that offers a training guide to learn poker. The website is called PokerProfessor and you can get $150 free on their website to play your favourite game (aka poker…) and make profit from it. We all know that poker, for experienced and lucky players, can be quite profitable. So why not check it out?

There’s also the Poker Professor Strategy, which you should definately check out. The website is sure worth visiting, and here’s a screenshot.

What are you waiting for? You want to learn how to play poker? Visit PokerProfessor.

Now, driving backwards is my second challenge. God, how I hate doing that.

With Trusted Tours & Attractions, you can opt for a 3 Day Attractions Pass, allowing you to visit several of 35 attractions that can be found in LA. Some of these choices include the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Legoland California and even museums, such as the Guiness World Records Museum and the Hollywood Museum, a definetly must-see.

The best thing about this 3 Day Card is that you don’t have to use up all three days at once. From the moment your pass is activated, you have up to two weeks to take up these three days: so you can, in a two-week holidays, pick out three seperate days to enjoy LA’s most spectacular atractions.

In 2008, some new attractions have been added to the list, including: Six Flags Magic Mountain, Paramount Pictures Studios Tour, Warner Bros Studio Tour and some other, less known, attractions. The most magical thing about LA is the overall Hollywood-like magic you can find in the city and this 3 Day Card with up to 35 attractions really gives a wide choice-range to its users, to choose what magic they want to experience.

If you wouldn’t like to go visit the city of Angels once, perhaps you would like to know more about things to do in Chicago, Boston or Atlanta? Trusted Tours & Attractions has something for everyone. They even have online travel guides, if you’re more into that sort of thing.

Planning your next vacation? Looking for ideas on what to do? Sign up for the Trusted Travels eNewsletter and enter to win a $150 iTunes gift card Offer ends July 31st, 2008.

Something else worth your interest:
Metropolitan museum of art

It’s been approximately ten years, but I still miss you every day. I still blame some of my moodswings, some of my extraordinary behaviour, on you passing away. Perhaps this is wrong: perhaps I should not blame you for anything. Deep down, I have the feeling I am simply looking for excuses, but then again: why should I not? Why should your death not be an excuse worthy enough to blame everything that never turned out right, everything I never could acheive, on? Because after all, more than anything else in my young life, your death changed me, made me, raised me. One day was all it took for me to grow up into adulthood. One desastrous day, that made me loose my faith, my love, my trust and everything else that mattered.

Sometimes I have the feeling that I am alone with my thoughts. The only one looking at the world in this peculiar way - but I know that I cannot be alone, that there are others who think alike. I just don’t know them yet, but I will. Some day. Those others, who look inside-out and see the world, not for what we believe it is, but for the grand sceme it presents, the master plan, our downfall, the apocalypse. It’s not the afterlife that is surreal, it is our life now. Our miserable excuse for a life, filled with dissapointments, pain and sorrow.

I have my moments. I have happy days, but other days, I feel so sad that I could rip out my heart, if that would get it to stop aching. Some days I hardly think about you, other days I cannot get you out of my head. Sometimes I still hear your voice, when I’m home alone, your voice shouting my name. It sounds so familiar, so real, and I must believe that you are still out there - somewhere, beyond my grasp, somewhere where I cannot yet come. But I will get there, someday. All I have to do is be patient - this life is just a waste anyway. Simply waiting for Death to knock on my door, then say “hello” and let him in.

Do not get me wrong. I don’t really want to die, nor am I suicidal. I just know that when time comes, I will not regret dying. Not if that means we can be reunited.

Perhaps the image I have of you is completely wrong, over-dramatised over the years, a fantasy-image that could not possibly be true. Because you are too perfect, too understanding, too good to be true, in my memories. But that does not matter now, does it? Because even if you are less perfect, I will still love you deeply and miss you endlessly. Because, even though you have long left this earth, we are still connected. You still tell me right from wrong, good from bad, and you still protect me when I need it the most. Even over the borders of Death, I can still feel your presence. But that should not surprise me. Just as I knew you died, even though I could impossibly know, I am certain that I will see you again one day. The heart knows more than the mind ever will.

I remember how you read me bedtime stories every night. I remember how we played “Robin Hood” for hours, while you always had to be the Evil Prince John and I always got to defeat you. I remember how you picked me up on your shoulders and carried me around all day, because I had hurt my foot when I was six. I remember how you looked after me when I was ill, how you came to check my temperature every other hour. I remember how worried you and Mom were when I went into surgery, and how happy when I got out. I remember how much you supported my cousin when he was at the hospital, and how much he appreciated that. You were like a second father to him. And you were a father to me.

No, not you were a father to me. You are. Even though you have long deceased, you are still my father. Death cannot destroy our love, our bound, our connection. I love you. You love me. Not loved. Love. We do not, should not, talk in past times. Love does not disappear simply because of some stupid thing like death. I love you now evenso as I did ten years ago, if not more. And you still love me. You are still part of me, your blood runs through my veins: you are still responsible for making me the person I am today. You and Mom are my good side, my intelligent side, my heart, my love, my passion. You two make me a better person, every single day.

And as you used to say: “We’re the strong ones. We can get through everything. Because we are together.” That still counts. We can get through everything, because you are still here, here with me. By my side. I have a more powerful guardian angel than anyone else in this world. But I miss you. I know you have not left me, but still I miss you. I miss you so much that it can even make me cry right now. I miss you so much that, if I close my eyes and wish hard enough, I can still imagine you standing there. I still dream about you, I still think about you, I still hear your voice. It’s so hard, because that way it seems as though you are not really gone. It’s mind-tricking, my stupid imagination. But for God’s sake, it gives me so much hope and despair.

Even now, although less frequent, I sometimes still think I see you, in crowdy places. It seems as though my mind has yet to grasp the fact I will not see you again, not in this life. You know how hard this has been for me, but you know it has been even tougher for my Mom. She’s so alone, so fragile, so breakable. I do not worry about me, I do not want you to worry about me either. Worry about Mom. She misses you so much. She hardly ever says it and never will admit it when I ask her, but she still thinks about you every second of the day. She has never loved any other man than you, and I don’t think she ever will. But I want her to. I want her to fall in love again, I want to see a smile on her face, I want her to be happy. I know I cannot give her all the happiness she deserves. I’ll never be able to do it. She deserves so much more than I cannot give her, and God knows how much I tried and how many times I failed her nevertheless.

It’s so hard living without you. You were what we could hold on to, you were our shield against the darkness of this world. But now you are gone, we’ll have to shield ourselves. I don’t think the pain over your loss will ever really go away. It will always be there, a nagging, aching pain, like a sore wound that is but a scratch over a couple of years. I don’t know if I would be a better person had you still be alive, or a worse person. I don’t know if I would happier or even more miserable. But I know one thing: I still have your love and your protection.

And that helps me to get through every day, battling the pain within me. That helps me to survive. You help me to survive.

I love you, Daddy. Always have, and always will.

I used to love you. God, you know how much I used to love you. You were everything for me, my world, my rays of sunlight, my hint of darkness, the only one standing between me and madness.

I know I have put you through a lot, because of my sometimes childish behaviour, because of me always wanting things my way. I know I was a fool, I know I overreacted and I know I blamed you for a hell lot more than you were responsible for. If something went wrong, I blamed in on you, due to my own reluctantness towards accepting that not everything can go the way I want to. I acted like a spoiled, immature and stuck-up bitch. For that, I sincerely apologise.

We have gone a long way, lover, and we both know it. We went through happy and joyful days, but also through episodes of pain and dispair. You cheated on me, I cheated on you, but we ended up together after all. To be honest, I don’t really know why. Lets admit that it does not really seem as though nature put us together as Yin and Yang, Alpha and Omega, and so on. We do not get along greatly, we often argue, we often ignore each other,… But in the end, you were always there for me. Until that one time.

That one time, when I so desperately needed your love. That one time, when I craved to hear your voice, you did not pick up the telephone. Not the first time, not the second time, not even the twentieth time. You had lost interest in me, I recall your words. You did not love me anymore. You kept on like that for approximately five days, because afterwards, you missed me more than ever.

Oh God, lover, don’t you see? We cannot be together, because, when we are, we do not get along. When you have the feeling you have me and I am yours, you ignore me and my needs. But when someone touches that which is yours, you overload me with gifts and attention. Your gifts I do not need, your attention and love I crave for. So you wonder still, why I cheat on you frequently, flirt in front of your eyes, and act so innocently afterwards? I do not care about others, never have, you were always the only one my heart trully belonged to. But you give me no choice: if I have to battle for your attention, if only when you feel the danger of losing me, you can trully show your affection, then you leave me no choice but to fight with all the weapons I can find.

That is over now. I have come to realise that, although I still love you deeply and you will always be in my heart, we do not belong. I’ve been blind, but now I’ve seen the light. You do not love me the way I want to be loved. You do not spoil me with attention, you never bought me dinner, you never treated me as a princess, you were never able to fulfill even my greatest desires. What hurt me the most during our relationship? I can tell you right now.

Firstly, the time you cheated on me. Once, may I recall, but it is still burned in my mind forever. If I close my eyes, I can still see it happening. But, I forgave you and because you regret it till the day of today, I will not charge this against you.

But the one time, when I wanted to go to this book store and you didn’t feel like going, you really hurt me. Why? Because I only ask once, perhaps twice a year. If you ask me to come with you to some carshow, I accept, not because I enjoy looking at some nifty car, but because I love you and I like spending time with you and doing what you like to do. Is it too much just to return the favor? I would have really liked it if you came along.

And the final thing is: how come you hardly ever call or send a text message? Why does it always have to be me who shows that I miss you, and why do you never show? Had you shown your love and appreciation, your commitment and friendship more, then I would have never left you.

But sadly enough, my love, I say goodbye. Because I have seen true love, I have felt it through every vein of my body, I have sensed it with every inch of my skin and I have discovered it with every heartbeat. I have found a new love, a true love, a love based on deep friendship, telling each other anything we can think of, spoiling each other with gifts and attention, and so much more. A love so pure and bright that, what we had, suddenly seemed so empty. Empty, but definately not meaningless, my dear.

Maybe I am stupid, maybe I just don’t know what I want, but part of me still loves you. Part of me will always love you and I am certain that, when I am eighty years of age and we meet each other again, I will still recognise you, because I know that, for a short while, our souls have been one. And my soul will always recognise yours, and it will always scent when you need me the most, and in hours of danger, it will always be by your side. But our love, ends now.

You were my first. My first love that lasted longer than a week. I gave you my virginity and I would not rather give it to anyone else. If things could be done all over again, I would do it all the same. Because I know you loved me and I love you. Forever.

But we just don’t belong together.