On-the-rise blog network Splashpress Media has just acquired and revamped the popular CSS Star website, as announced on the outfit’s blog:

CSS Star is a free gallery of well-designed websites. The main driving force behind CSS Star is to highlight the best sites, ideas or designs made respecting quality standards. The editors behind CSS Star regularly pick a website that well-designed in terms of aesthetic and user interface.

The site is managed by Ia Lucero, one of the network’s “resident design gurus.”

Visit CSS Star.

We have added the Blorge network to our watchlist. From their About page:

BLORGE is a highly integrated network of news sites covering technology, Vista, Macintosh, gaming, photography, and much more. It was founded in October 2006 by journalist, writer and publisher John Pospisil.

Blorge consists of seven blogs. The network was launched in November 2006 and is owned and operated by Cogent Insights Pty Ltd, which is based in Sydney, Australia.

Visit the Blorge network here.

One of Splashpress Media’s prime properties, Devlounge has been revamped, and the new design’s quite a sleek one.

From the press release:

More importantly, it was necessary for us to redesign so that Devlounge would fit better in the Splashpress network (which isn’t fully integrated yet), as well as find its new voice. You have probably noticed that we have experimented a bit with various types of content during the past month or so, and spoken directly to some of you to make sure that we’re reading things right. It’s always hard to butt in as the poor bloke in charge of a recently acquired site, especially when you haven’t bought it yourself.

Visit the spruced-up Devlounge.

The b5media blog network has recently added two new blogs to its stable of sites:

• Girls Dig Sports—“Lyndsey will be blogging about the world of sports from a female perspective. She’s a feisty sports fan, who is always up for a good argument.”


• eShop Owner—“A blog that focuses on buying and selling in online markets.”

Giant blogging industry player b5media has been named as one of the Finalists for “Most Promising Company of the Year” in the New Media Awards.

The network’s reaction, from their recent blog post:

Of course all I have to say about that is: This is an amazing accomplishment we could not have achieved without such amazing writers and editors. Our fearless leader Jeremy Wright was there (he was speaking) as are other b5-ers. So I expect to be able to blog the winners when they are announced.

We’re flattered and thrilled to be a finalist, and stoked about all the awesome things our bloggers are doing.

Congrats to b5media!

The Asia Blogging Network recently celebrated its first anniversary last June 6, 2008, as announced by ABN’s Budi Putra:

Personally, I want to say thanks a lot for you, AsiaBlogging readers and communities, who have supported us by visiting, reading, commenting and giving us your valuable feedbacks.

The Indonesia-based network currently covers 14 channels/topics with over 100 blogs.

The b5media blog network recently launched a new blog titled, Drinks After Dark, which is sure to earn a smattering of alcoholic-readers out there:

With a special concentration on cocktails and hard alcohol – choices that taste good and with a spackling of some very cool novelty items as they can possibly uncover.

The network also added a new section to their That Damn PC blog, nicknamed ‘IT Confessional’:

Did you ever have a bad story to tell about your office IT guy? Well, I’m sure we all have one and short of suffocating our IT admins with the mouse cord, we need some sort of release, especially if we’re using a wireless mouse. Send your blind item IT confessions.

The Syntagma blog network has announced its intent to launch Syntagma Photographic, which will serve to complement the network and their Specialist Information strand.

Initially, we will shoot most of the pictures used across the network. Eventually, they will be posted online and offered for sale, firstly to other website users, then in hard-copy form by mail order.

Read the press release here.

We have added the Money Life Network to our watchlist. From their press release:

The Money Life Network of blogs is a group of personal finance bloggers who have banded together to bring you great content designed to help you improve your finances and increase your quality of life. We have common goals, but we come from diverse backgrounds and unique perspectives. In addition our blogs tend to focus on different aspects of financial life which we think will keep things interesting.

• Bible Money Matters – Finances transformed by faith.


• Free From Broke – Exploring ways to keep us Free From Broke.


• Milk Your Money – Got Money? Milk the most from it…


• My Investing Blog – A blog about money: Getting it, keeping it, and growing it.


• Prime Time Money – Learn to Save Money, Get Out of Debt, and Live a Frugal Life.

Visit the Money Life Network here.

b5media’s Business Channel received a boost with the arrival of Health Care Insiders, a blog that “examines the tricky issues surrounding the health care industry in today’s world”. The new blog will be co-authored by two bloggers who will take “a hard look at health care under the microscope, focusing on the issues that we all care about.”

Visit Health Care Insiders.