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Archive for January, 2008 Page 2 of 3
I once again have yet another Crock-pot Classics review for all of you slow cooker fans out there (what’s that? there aren’t any slow cooker fans? oh, well, I’ll have to keep this short and sweet then). Since I didn’t take a picture myself (who thinks of a picture as they are rushing to throw ingredients into a slow cooker before work?) - and there aren’t any decent stock pics out there on the internet for me to borrow, this review will sadly go picture-less. Fortunately, the Meatballs in Stroganoff Sauce didn’t really meet my expectations, so I could say that in a way, it’s review doesn’t deserve a picture.
This slow cooker meal was just as easy to prepare as the other crock-pot classics that I’ve worked with in the past, but once again the time given by the directions for cooking the noodles was not enough, and I had to cook them for another 15-20 minutes before they were edible. Even after all of the extra cook time, the noodles had a weird texture, and didn’t quite compliment the stroganoff like they should have. The sauce was decent, not the best stroganoff flavor I’ve tried, and the meatballs were pretty good. Overall, none of the flavors were impressive.
Nothing in this meal had that slow-cooker feel, it seemed like a meal that I could have heated up on the stove in a few minutes. Despite all of the lackluster ingredients the meatballs in stroganoff sauce wasn’t terrible, and I ate my serving, but I’m definitely not motivated to pull the leftovers out of the fridge to finish it off (hopefully it doesn’t become one of those forgotten dishes, pushed to the back of the fridge, that slowly becomes unrecognizably covered in mold…). I don’t think I will purchase this crock-pot meal again in the future, and instead I will use a stroganoff recipe that I know I like more.
As a possible saving grace, Crystal liked this meal a lot more than I did, and she was even willing to eat some of the leftovers. I believe she liked the meatballs the best, which is understandable, as they were the best ingredient overall.
Banquet Crock-pot Classics Meatballs in Stroganoff Sauce: 
2/5
2/5
Do you have a stroganoff recipe I should try? How about an easy meatball recipe? Do you want to see more crock-pot classics reviews in the future, or have I been boring the pants off of my audience with them since I started writing this blog?
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Greetings! My name is Brian Purkiss and I’m doing a guest post for Kevin over here at Review Bunker. I’m an freelance designer, writer, and web consultant for hire. If you like my post, check out my blog - plainbeta.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this review!
My first review here shall be of twelve year old Meghna’s blog, Meghna’s Pages.
First Impression: Girls’ blog. New to blogging. Elegant. About blogging.
Upon closer inspection I realize that I’m partly true, partly false.
The author is indeed a girl (as I said, 12 years old), she’s new to blogging, and going for a more elegant feel.
However, where I was wrong was about her topic.
To put it in her words, her blog is “an attempt on creative writing and contains humor, stories, poetry, fiction, fantasy, bizarre, oddities, school, children, books, reading and the like.”
Ok, this is my biggest flag.
Meghna, you have about three seconds to keep your visitors from leaving your blog and about ten seconds to get them to start reading your content.
You need to grab your reader’s attention.
Ok, how do you do that?
Well, many ways.
Your title needs to be your web site’s title.
Would you be confused if a web site’s title was “Sophisticated Essays on the Nature of Man” and the url was http://IlovePuppies.com? Yeah, that would be confusing.
While that is a bit of an exaggeration, you get my point.
If your URL is MeghansPages.blogspot.com then your title needs to be Meghan’s Pages.
Similarly, your tagline needs to be concise and powerful.
Your current tagline is very explanatory, but it also long for a tagline.
Consider my blog’s tagline: design & blogging
Instantly you know what my blog is about - design and blogging.
While yours doesn’t need to be as short as mine, it should be a little shorter. Remember, you have three seconds to capture your reader’s attention before he/she does a Google search and has access to another million web sites.
Before I branch away from the attention grabbing topic, let’s examine your layout.
Your layout is one of the most influential parts of your blog.
While it is not the most important part of your blog, your layout can keep visitors just as easy as driving them away.
While I think it fits you, I think you could do a little better.
It seems a little too peach - it’s slightly overwhelming and the contrast between the white content area and the peach background is a little too hard on the eye.
Personally, I think you should switch to Wordpress.
You can have free hosting via Wordpress.com, but self hosting throuh Wordpress.org will be best.
But that is not the purpose of this review. But hey, if you want you can contact me and I’ll be happy to share my reasons.
Ok, back to the layout.
I think you have too many widgets.
Lemme go down the list.
About Me
Eh… Alright, ‘About Me’ is needed. But you need to have an individual page for your About info that sticks with your layout (which I don’t think you can do with Blogger). You should tell about your blog, and then about yourself.
AdSense Ad
I realize that you want to make money, but you don’t want to devalue your site.
The colors in your AdSense Ad and the colors in your layout clash too much.
I just recently got a new layout for plainbeta, and in it I removed all of my AdSense ads (Read about it). Why? Because AdSense often detracts from your blog (More thoughts on AdSense)
While that doesn’t make AdSense evil, you should think about including it.
If anything, make it work with your site more.
As I Say…
?
Yep. I’m confused, but that doesn’t make me want to stay. While I find it humorous, it just clutters up your sidebar.
Technorati
Ditch it.
If someone wants to check your Technorati Authority, they’ll do it themselves. The colors don’t work with your layout and they just clutter up your sidebar.
Label Cloud
Keep it.
Tag Clouds are great ways of getting your visitors deeper into your content.
Just don’t let it get too cluttered.
Blog Archive
Eh… I’d get rid of it.
Trend Watch
Is your site about shoes? Nope.
So why are you trying to sell them?
You’ll be a lot more effective using that space on something related to your web site.
Search
VERY IMPORTANT.
But you don’t need that large ‘google’ - that’s something Wordpress would fix. ;-)
It should also be moved further up and have your web site as the default field to search.
Best Posts
Excellent. Very nice to have.
Recent Posts…
Get rid of it.
People don’t need that widget to see your recent posts.
RSS
Again, excellent. You need that.
But make it more prominent and above the scroll.
I Like to Read…
If you want that, then have a unique page for it.
Although, again, I don’t think you can do that with Blogger. (but you can with Wordpress!)
Follow Me
Put that in your about page.
My Awards
Nice!
Congrats on the awards!
But that should be in your about page. Don’t clutter your sidebar.
‘my motivators’
There is a lot of discrepancy on these, but I think they shouldn’t be there.
If you want, create a ‘community page’ (like on binh.name).
Ok, let’s move away from the sidebars.
Your Content
Not bad!
You have some nice content in there.
Your writing could be improved, but hey, couldn’t everybodys?
I don’t see too many blogs along these lines - you have some potential.
I like the use of images - very nice.
Although, you should float them.
You can learn about floats here.
If you can’t figure it out, I could create a simple float script for you and teach you how to use it.
I also like the use of Related Posts.
That will help drive your visitors further into your blog.
Three things I’d change in your content though.
Get rid of the Digg widget.
Unless you’re expecting to get to the front page of Digg, they’re useless and detract from your web site.
I would also get rid of the AddThis widget for similar reasons. If someone is using any of those services, they don’t need your widget for it. Again, it detracts from your web site.
And finally, I’d get rid of the guitar with Meghna on it.
It gets repetitive and a little annoying. :-/
My Conclusion
Your blog has some potential.
You mainly need to refine the look.
Clean up the blog and make it less ’spammy.’
Make the purpose of the site clear.
Props Meghna for starting young.
I hope you make it big one day!
-Brian Purkiss
Thanks Brian for your guest post, I’ve enjoyed having another person’s perspective and style in the blog feedback section, and I hope we see more from you in the future. To read more from Brian make sure to check out his blog, plainbeta.
-Kevin
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My good friend Andy from Station Atomica has graciously written Review Bunker’s first ever guest review! After you read his post below I highly suggest you visit Station Atomica and read what else Andy has to offer - he has a hilarious writing style as well as outstanding original digital artwork. If you are interested in being a guest reviewer for Review Bunker, please read the contribute page. And now, on to Andy’s review…
I have been using a variety of Gerber brand multi-tools for several years now, and have most recently been putting the Gerber Multi-Plier 600 Pro Scout Needlenose to the test. Of course that name is way to long for normal use, so I refer to him mainly as Gerb-Dog. He has seen heavy daily use for about seven months now, so lets see how old Gerb-Dog has fared.
Vital stats first:
The Multi-Plier 600 Pro Scout Needlenose is made of stainless steel, and comes with a nifty black nylon sheath with a Velcro flap and a loop in the back to slide onto a belt. It uses the classic Gerber one handed opening technique that is as easy as a flick of the wrist. This makes it more convenient to operate when only one hand is available, something to consider when looking at multi-tools that use the butterfly style of opening. According to the Gerber website the following tools are present:
- Needle nose pliars - duh.
- Wire cutter - at the base of the plier’s mouth.
- Wire crimper - welp.
- Serrated knife - knife is only half serrated toward the base.
- RemGrit saw with universal coupler - pretty bad ass little saw.
- Fiskars scissors - they actually work.
- Cross point screwdriver - I guess it is technically different than a Phillips head, but no it is the same.
- Small and medium flat blade screwdrivers - yep.
- Can opener - what do you need with a can opener? get back to work.
- Bottle opener - you’re fired.
- File - double sided: course and fine.
- Ruler - most inconvenient ruler ever.
Time for the part of the review that you can’t get from a high-paid fancy pants Gerber shill. Overall I like the tool. It definitely has its good points, but is by no means perfect. For your convenience I have divided my opinions into easy to reference pro and con categories:
Pros
- Like most Gerber multi-tools you can open it in one quick flick of the wrist. This has the effect of making you look incredibly cool in addition to being convenient.
- The pliers, Phillips head screwdriver, saw, scissors, and file are flawless. Work perfectly.
- In case you missed it, the tiny little scissors actually work. This is nothing short of a miracle.
- It is very comfortable in the hand when really bearing down on the pliers.
- Saw is mounted on a coupler that allows for replacement of the blade. The included blade is quite good for small jobs.
Cons
- Flat headed screwdrivers are a joke. They will chip the first time you really crank on them, and may snap off entirely. Definitely for light work or girly-men.
- The knife dulls easily and suffers from the same propensity to chip at the tip. They say they are made of steel, but I guess it isn’t Hanzo steel.
- Screwdrivers good for limited use, don’t try to drive any huge deck screws into wood or anything. The handle may get in the way in tight spots when using the screwdrivers.
- Worthless bottle/can openers where real tools should go. You WORK for a living, and you don’t need the worst can opener in the world.
- You can get more accurate measurements by measuring in Ancient Egyptian cubits than you will get from the ruler, which is impossible to really use.
All in all, The Gerber Multi-Plier 600 Pro Scout Needlenose is a convenient multi-tool to use for light work. Many of the tools are excellent, but the material seems to chip, bend, and shatter more than competing products like Leatherman multi-tools. Excellent to carry around for the pliers alone, and due to the one-handed design it is ideal as a quick access backup. Gerb-Dog’s done well.
Gerber Multi-Plier 600 Pro Scout Needlenose: 
3.5/5
3.5/5
Thank you once again Andy for writing the inaugural guest review here at Review Bunker. Don’t forget, everyone, to stop by Station Atomica to read more from Andy, and if you enjoy the guest review format, make sure to subscribe to my feed, and look for more guest reviews in the near future from a variety of authors.
If you enjoyed this post, Please consider subscribing to my full-post feed, or subscribing to receive my posts by email. Also, please check out my contribute and get reviewed pages. Have anything to say? Please comment!
As a Christmas gift Crystal and I received a Luminescent Safety Leash (model number AT9506BK), for walking our crazy dog Phoenix in the dark. The product is offered by The Sharper Image, a retailer that always has cool gadgets and trinkets, but nothing I ever want to buy, usually due to practicality and price. This leash follows that pattern, coming in at $20 on sale, with a regular price of $40 - this is far too much for me to ever consider buying this leash, but I have to admit that it was a thoughtful, creative, and fun Christmas gift (I just hope that the person who got it for us ended up paying the $20 instead of $40).
This leash has a battery powered light-up strip running the length of the leash that lights up a cool blue color. The switch is at the base of the handle, and it has two options, solid light, and flashing light. The “instructions” introduce the leash with this paragraph:
“Walking your dog at night can be dangerous. The Luminescent Safety Leash helps keep you and your dog safe by providing a high-visibility light that moves with both of you.”
It is a cool concept, and the light is actually quite bright in the dark, but this leash does have a few faults. Firstly, because of the extra hardware, it’s a very heavy leash. The strip of fabric is thick, and it just seems to be a bigger burden than it should be. The battery pack/switch box also add to the overall bulk. Also, because of the bulkiness of the material, it is very hard to wrap the extra slack around your hand, like I usually do with a dog leash. This is an especially important technique with Phoenix, because he is very far from being a polite leash trained dog (I have a feeling that he would rather be a complete spaz than a well behaved citizen during his walks anyway). So, if I am struggling with the leash and the dog during a walk, then I am probably not in control.
Looking beyond these faults, the light up strip is a nice feature to have on a leash, just for the bit of extra safety it provides. While conducting a very non-scientific experiment I found that it is possible to see the leash from a distance in the dark, although in my test the leash wasn’t connected to a dog, and neither I nor the leash was moving. Nighttime visibility might be diminished if both the walking dog and the hypothetical car are moving at different speeds, but I guess it’s better to have a light than to not.
I haven’t had the leash long enough to comment on it’s battery life, but I imagine that the 2 AA’s will last quite a while, as the small light strip shouldn’t be a power hog. I have used it a number of times (playing with it, and walking the dog) and not seen any signs of diminished power so far.
So, if you often walk your dog in the late evening, early morning, or at night, and your dog is well behaved during walks, this might be a good investment for you (or if you are cheap like me, you could put it on your Christmas wish list for next year).
I would like to give a special thanks to all three of my pets (Ebony, Cyrus, and Phoenix) for helping me take the pictures.
Luminescent Safety Leash (AT9506BK): 3.5/5
3.5/5
Do you have any fancy leashes for walking your dog? Have you ever seen someone walking with a glowing leash? Do you own the Luminescent Safety Leash already? If so, what are your impressions?
If you enjoyed this post, Please consider subscribing to my full-post feed, or subscribing to receive my posts by email. Also, please check out my contribute and get reviewed pages. Have anything to say? Please comment!
I recently went with my girlfriend and a variety of her family members to The Cheesecake Factory on the 16th Street Mall in Denver, CO. It was an interesting experience, not only because I was with a large group whom I don’t usually go to dinner with, but it was also the eve of Christmas Eve, so we were expecting to wait a while for a table. The mall itself wasn’t busy at all, but the restaurant definitely was - it took a while just to edge our way through the crowd of people to get up to the hostess podium. The hostesses gave us an estimated wait time of 60-70 minutes, which seemed just about right for a group of eight. Unfortunately, all of the big groups before us ended up eating for much longer than expected, and our actual wait was 90+ minutes. By the time we were finally seated, each of us knew exactly what we planned to order off of the very expansive menu, because we had such a long time to decide before being seated.
The restaurant was very large, moodily lit (making it very hard to take good pictures with a camera phone) and decorated nicely. There was nothing incredibly impressive about the atmosphere, but it was welcoming and roomy (if you ignored the huge crowd in the waiting area). Our table was somewhat secluded by light-up glass dividers, but we were still next to a busy hallway.
None of us had ever eaten at The Cheesecake Factory before, and we really had no idea what kind of food to expect (besides cheesecake) - my guess was that they mostly served Italian food (based on the style of the decorations), but as it turned out, they had a full range of dishes, spanning from pizza and burgers to chinese and pasta. Basically, they had americanized versions of all the most popular and favorite dishes from all genres of food. Because of this fact, it took me utterly too long to finally make a decision on a meal - but I was glad to have the selection.
As we waited for our food, I explained to the group that I planned to write this review, and I asked for everyone’s input. It was observed that the butter served with the appetizer bread was very cold, making it impossible to spread. Crystal’s uncle explained that if he ever ran a restaurant, his butter would be softer and much easier to spread - a good tip for any restaurant that doesn’t want to frustrate it’s diners right off the bat. The appetizer bread was tasty and had a good variety of 3 different breads, but wasn’t anything amazing. Also noticed during the initial survey of the restaurant was the cold temperature in the dining area, I left my jacket on during the entire meal because it was quite chilly.
Our server didn’t do a great job, she forgot minor things including refills on bread, and a few people who asked for water did not get it without asking twice. I got the general impression from her that I often get from servers who are serving a large group - she didn’t seem to pay as much attention to us as she should have, and she didn’t care, because she knew her tip would be automatically added to our bill. This kind of attitude always makes me angry, and I wish restaurants would discontinue the stupid policy of an automatic tip for large parties, just for this reason alone. I expect a certain level of service from a server, and if I don’t get it, they sure as hell should not be getting a decent tip.
I ended up ordering pasta, because that’s what I expected at the restaurant, and that’s what I was craving at the time. I got the fettucini with chicken and sun-dried tomatoes, in a garlic-parmesan cream sauce. The first thing I usually do with any meal is salt my food, so I was once again frustrated by a minor detail - the salt shakers on the table barely released any salt, and I spent at least a minute dealing with the salt shaker, instead of diving into my food. Once I actually started eating, I enjoyed my pasta. The chicken pieces weren’t the best quality, quite a few of them had gristle and fat that I would have rather avoided, but for the most part it was edible. The sauce was delicious, but could have been more garlicky. The fettucini was cooked perfectly, and added a good color variety to my plate (there were white and green noodles). The sun-dried tomatoes were very flavorful, and juicier than I am used to, but at the same time, they were a bit too chewy - almost giving the texture of raisins to my meal. Overall, it was an average pasta dish.
The rest of my party enjoyed their meals, the teriyaki chicken (which was tried by nearly everyone) was especially good. Of course, the thing that everyone was really waiting for during the whole meal, was dessert. Eating at The Cheesecake Factory basically ensures the fact that you need to eat cheesecake for desert, and most everyone at the table ordered a slice to try. I opted to share with 2 other people, trying the godiva chocolate and brownie sundae flavors. The godiva chocolate was my favorite, it was an incredibly rich chocolate that tasted wonderful. The brownie sundae had sundae toppings on it, including whipped cream, hot fudge, and nuts. The brownie was baked on the bottom and tasted pretty good, but I would have enjoyed more brownie, and less nuts.
Overall, The Cheesecake Factory had good food, especially dessert. It was a bit pricey, but that was expected, and we picked a horrible day to go to dinner, which is probably what accounted for the extremely long wait. We also got mediocre service, and had a lot of small gripes about our experience, but it wasn’t entirely bad by any means.
The Cheesecake Factory (Denver, CO): 3/5
3/5
Have you ever eaten at The Cheesecake Factory? What did you think? What’s the longest you’ve ever had to wait for a table at a restaurant?
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