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Note: This account is no longer active.
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Computer instructor, choir director, marathon runner, and all-around crazy person, living in Paradise.
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Activity Summary
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Reviews Written: 94
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Member Visits: 2,074
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Total Visits: 19,560
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About arbaro
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I'm an adult computer instructor born, raised, living and working in Honolulu, Hawaii. I love the islands and am proud to call it my home.
Among my interests are:
1. Running: I've been running for over two years and have finished my first marathon (see my review on the Honolulu Marathon), and am currently in the process of training for my second. I also like reading (and reviewing) books on running.
2. Movies: I tend to like comedies and action films. Left up to me, I would avoid horror movies like the plague, especially if they have a lot of gore. But my friends go there, and so occasionally I review the odd horror film.
3. Books: I especially like books in yellow-and-black or orange-and-blue (Dummies books and Idiot's Guides, that is).
4. Music: My tastes range from classical to pop, but I especially like Broadway musicals. I also like to sing; I've been in various choirs from my days in college ten years ago, and have led one for the past two years.
Some Of My Favorite and More Popular Reviews
Dating For Dummies by Dr. Joy Browne.
Westlife, the new "boy band" from Ireland.
Think you know everything about Speed? Take the "pop quiz."
How I Rate
Generally, when I rate reviews, I look for:
- Specifics! Lots of specifics! Of course, some subjects don't lend themselves very well to this type of treatment, but where possible, I like to see a lot of specific details in a review.
- A Strong Voice. How does the product make you feel? It's one thing to write a lot of details on an item, but a good review also has a strong personal voice and a strong opinion behind it.
- Reasonably Proper Mechanics. Spelling and grammar are not the be-all and end-all to a review (I will overlook the occasional error), but a piece that's riddled with errors shows that the author put very little effort into it, and I will downgrade it accordingly.
Highly Recommend
A Highly Recommended review looks as if the author put a great deal of time and effort into it. It has well thought-out opinions, lots of specific details, and strong evidence that the person has used the product. In short, this review gets its point across in the best way possible.
Recommend
Recommended reviews are good, well-written reviews, but fall short in some area, usually not enough detail, leaving one or two important questions unanswered. Besides that, the review is still quite good.
Somewhat Recommend
When I read a Somewhat Recommended review, I get the sense that the review was just thrown together; it is seriously lacking either detail or a strong opinion. This is a review on, say, a movie, where the reviewer basically says, "I liked the movie," without giving any specifics. With revision, this review can be improved into an R or HR.
Not Recommend
I reserve my Not Recommended for two occasions: off topic posts and blatant misuse. Off topic posts give no evidence at all that the reviewer has experienced the product in question. This is the reviewer who, on a book about fishkeeping, goes on and on about how his friend tried to keep fish and failed, but fails to address even one point about the book in question. Other times, it may simply be in the wrong category, in which case I'll leave a nice comment pointing it out.
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