This is how he describes the blog and what it was trying to do

This is an experiment in playing a homeless family in The Sims 3. I created two Sims, moved them in to a place made to look like an abandoned park, removed all of their remaining money, and then attempted to help them survive without taking any job promotions or easy cash routes. It’s based on the old ‘poverty challenge’ idea from The Sims 2, but it turned out to be a lot more interesting with The Sims 3’s living neighborhood features.

I have attempted to tell my experiences with the minimum of embellishment. Everything I describe in here is something that happened in the game. What’s more, a surprising amount of the interesting things in this story were generated by just letting go and watching the Sims’ free will and personality traits take over.

In creating a hopeless father and a loser daughter Robin has actually set the scene for a compelling story. I was hooked after just a couple of posts. It is interesting that blogs don’t lent themselves to stories though, Robin has had to create an upfront link to his first post so people can get to the beginning of the story, otherwise the danger is you read the end before the beginning!!

Brilliant idea and it also shows how far The Sims has come since it first hit the scene.

scaryduck this site is genius, because it is written by a genius. Alistair Coleman, it won the 2002 Guardian blog of the year and is still going strong. It is funny and true and has more charm than a new born baby.

operation nice here is a blog that makes me feel good. I don’t usually like the “lets all be nice” brigade as I don’t feel the world is often that nice a place however, reading this and I could belive it is a nicer place than I often think. This if a cut and paste from their about.

Don’t you love it when people go out of their way to be nice? Like when someone waits to hold the door for you. Or when a stranger waves you into a line a traffic. Or even when a coworker shoots you a friendly smile along with a “have a nice day.” If everyone was a little bit nicer to the folks they encountered each day, perhaps the world would be a more pleasant place. Operation NICE was initiated to remind you that a little NICE goes a long way.

And this is the writers own profile

Hi, I’m Melissa! Welcome to my blog! I believe that kindness can change the world, so it’s my mission to spread the concept of being nice, as simple as that may sound. I hope you’ll have a look around!

Again this would normally all turn me right off but the stories and the motive are hones and wrapped up in very little schmaltz and the blog is very well designed and written. I really lie it and will add it to my own rss reader right now! Also note yet another top blog from a woman. I will make it my mission to find a male authored blog that isn’t about gadgets!

Is technorati one of the best blogging directories and tools on the net? I am not sure the top 10 blogs as listed by them never changes, I don’t see the badge on very many new blogs either, perhaps an iphone app like TED or All Things Digital would re energise the site. My other issue is that there is no real editorial, nothing to read, no comment it is almost a link exchange or a way of getting your page rank to increase. That said I am a memberTechnorati Profile, to get your blog noticed you have to join so many directories and sites otherwise it is all a huge waste of time writing in the first place! If anyone knows of a one stop blog directory that doesn’t cost a fortune I am in!!

Cards of Change this site was featured in Metro newspaper this morning. It is a bit commercial in that the writer has already announced that a book will follow. I’d ask the question why would I contribute unless the proceeds from the book go to charity? The idea is that if you are laid-off or made redundant what do you do with your old business cards? Write an appropriate message on it and up load it here. So my praise apart from the one for original idea, goes to all those great creative minds who find the funniest things to write. I love sites that are created by the contributors. Post Secret is one of my all time favourite blogs, ever.

Ordinary People Change the World I love blogs about unsung heros and this is one, It also wins the prize for being one of the most inspirational blogs you can read. It is a bit US centric, in fact very, but it is a great read. Blogging is about content and this site brims with it.

Running From Camera This is simply genius, he sets the camera on self timer to fire after 2 seconds and sees how far he can get. Absolutely brilliant, the two phots below were taken just two months apart but he seems to have started thinning in that very short space of time!

Jeffery Archers Official Blog I do hope he doesn’t mind me saying that this is surprisingly very interesting. I say that because I simply don’t sign up to his politics or some of his past. This is a fascinating insight to A0 the man and b) a lifestyle a million miles from most regular people. I also thing that his views on the characters he met while “doing porridge” is humane and even more surprising. It is also a very well written and regular blog and is a chronicle of our times through an interesting pair of eyes. As recognised by the times it is the very best cult blog, yes I did say cult.

Lady Banana I am giving this blog the respect of a first second review! I’ve stumbled it and would love to help more people to find it. It is a great collection of interesting stuff and thoughts from London based Lady Banana. Last time i reviewed it I called it a Seinfeld blog, because it is simply about stuff, the everyday things made very interesting. She must spend hours just wandering around the net, she finds such interesting things to read look at and join. This is a quality blog from an obviously smart lady. I have come to the general sweeping conclusion that women do make the best blogs ever.

kinetic world is a fantastic blog about all manner of kinetic design or

THE SOURCE FOR KINETIC, ELECTRONIC, SOUND, STEAM, AND FIRE ARTS NEWS, INFO, AND RESOURCES

I loved it from the moment I saw the T Shirt post. It is simply a collection of interesting bit and bobs but goes to the heart of all the best niche design blogs. It is very visual and will capture the eyes and minds of the casual surfer. Good Stuff.

Talk to My T shirt is the place for wearable electronics! fantastic.

It is so hard to find really great blogs, especially new ones, it means that I post irregularly and cant guarantee new content for the readers, so I am going to attempt to post links to some great posts. The sort of post that gets notices and causes buzz on the blogosphere. I’ve always avoided the down right popular preferring the more non commercial personal blogs. However, tracking the common buzzy sites you notice that the interesting blogs that are truly well written do have a chance to rise to the top and deserve a bity more of a push. They are not all about SEO marketing or how to get more traffic! So expect a few more emotional stories and some simply interesting bits and bobs.

This is genius and made me laugh out loud. If you find yourself wondering about your white culture just imagine any of your black friends liking anything on the list. This sort of blog is simply great, it will be used in comedy routines and probably end up in some kind of add campaign it really is that good.

idents.tv If you work in the business I do this is a fantastic site. If you watch tv this is an interesting site. If you are interested in branding this is a great tool. A collection of very upto date channel branding idents and a collection of other interesting clips make this a very good best blog. It is all very high quality stuff, the video is all of the best quality. No problem recommending it as a Best Blog Ever.

The Fist of Blog I do like collections blogs. Random things of interest from the net are quirky. there is not much to this site I was originally drawn to it becasue of this posting on you tube and this comment on the original site looking through the posts it seemed like one of those brilliantly quirky collections of random things. There may be too little commentary for some tastes but I found this an excellent way to spend a coffee break at my desk.

Pictures of Walls is one of those brilliant ideas. Not really a blog, just a great site. Funny pictures of graffiti signs or simply strange and interesting walls. All the content is user generated. I came across this using stumble upon. Still one of the best ways of finding interesting pages on the net.

Rod Drury this is a personal view of the internet and things technological that is informed and very well written. It should be, this guy is one of the most successful entrepreneurs from the New Zealand tech sector.
I hate the fact that the internet is littered with tech blogs that rise to the very top of the top listings. They are in the main dull and tecky, considering my love of gadgets, I’m not sure how so much boring drivel can be written about such beautiful, tactile objects of desire. Rod may not be flowery but his comments are on the money. Go read and enjoy.

cute overload goodness I wanted this to be as awful as it sounds. I wanted to rant on about the vacuous waste of effort and cynical advertising driven opportunist money making rubbish on the net. I tried so hard not to but about halfway down the page I smiled, I admit it. I’m not retracting my initial observation, especially because the press page actually crows on about the number of 18 to 39 females who use the site and what a targeted niche audience for potential advertisers that is. It made me smile, I won’t go back, I’m just not interested but it serves its audience well and who am I to argue with that. Like pop idol and all TV talent shows, the audience demo also fits the people most likely to test in or in this case click to vote for the site, hence all the best blog accolades. I do think it is a Best Blog, it knows its audience.

80 million Images, This isn’t a blog bit it is so fantastic I had to write about it. The English language represented by 80 million tiny images. As you hover your cursor over the image a window with a word and several pictures representing that word pop up.It is not just a great piece of code (I promised I never use that word here) but it is a beautiful image.
I totally recommend clicking on the link and just enjoying 5 minutes.
Then while you are in the mood get over to Free Rice and you can use you new found vocabulary to earn grains of rice for the 3rd world. It’s so Edward de Bono!

videos.antville.org, This is a blog it just looks like a video site. It is probably an urban myth that this is where Hollywood finds its new directors. If you know a director who made it on this site then send me a comment! It is a great place to spend a few hours looking at some very interesting stuff. The site can be a bit slow though, it is worth the wait if you chose well. If you don’t you’ll be off to pastures new in a flash.

Treehugger I’m not really into commercial blogs on this site but I’m forced to ask myself, where is the line as several of the blogs I’ve listed are already very commercial. I also categorize some blogs by what they are worth, so I’m being slightly hypocritical.
All of which is an excuse, not that I need one, to include tree hugger. It is one of the best looking blogs on the net and it totally on the money in terms of content. Yes it is about Green issues and its true they often seem worthy in tone. This has the right degree of irony and has bags of charm yet it is ture to the central issue of sustainable living without seeming like a club you have to be, vegan eat bio yogurt and use real nappies to join. As all parent know your principal go right out the window faced with twins a real nappies. I know I’m ashamed too and some people do use terry nappies but twins? Any how once they harness the methane from Landfill my twins will be providing sustainable energy for future generations.
GO look at the blog, make up your own ming. I enjoyed it and will return regularly because joking aside this is a way to go in making us realize this is an issue but not one that needs extreme or almost religious diatribe to confront. I expect some one is going to tell me the Treehugger is Al Gore in which case I may have to rewrite all the above.