I did the happy dance when I saw this one come up on the list! I’ve been hoping for this kind of blog to show up for review, since it’s a good example of one of the newer uses of blog technology. It’s not a personal blog, but listed in the news/links category. In this case, Bay Area freelance writer Nino Marchetti is using it as a showcase for his work, while at the same time providing items of interest in his field and the occasional editorial. It’s an active virtual resume. Great idea!
Like so many of these, where the text is the most important thing, it’s hosted on Blogspot using a template. Yes, I know, templates are anathema to traditional bloggers, as our fearless leader, Brent Todd, pointed out on Call For Help today. ;>)
This is a different kind of blog, though. Readers of news-oriented blogs, I’m finding, are mostly interested in sites that load fast, navigate easily, and have good content. The bloggers themselves are either technically-challenged, and sometimes wouldn’t have a blog at all without templates, or have time constraints that don’t allow for creating some of the impressive visual art I’ve seen on more traditional blogs. The result is a plain vanilla visual presentation, with the textual content carrying the show.
You can expect many more of these to come; they’re catching on like wildfire with writers of all kinds. This may be seen as heresy by some; but it appears to be the way things are going these days.
There’s plenty here at Nino Nano Speed to read, and links where I found new things I didn’t know about, and bookmarked for a later look. There’s a newer section called, “Stupid Criminal Tricks,” where he posts the dumb things criminals do to end up on local police blotters. I hope he can keep this feature going! The author’s been maintaining the blog since May 2002, and while not posting everyday as he should, doesn’t leave gaps of too many days or even weeks as some do. His major fields of interest have been crime and business at the local level while freelancing for a newspaper, with the occasional segue into writing on religion, food, or technology.
He’s been smart to keep his focus local and limited to his areas of expertise. Sometimes cyberjournalists try to take on the world, or at least the country, which can leave the readers wondering what the dude’s on about. In this case, there’s no confusion about what you’re going to find here.
Because he’s new at this, and writing for a variety of publications, the writing quality and tone of the blog is uneven. This is a typical problem for freelancers, but eventually it does iron itself out as the writer finds his own voice, and starts to relax with the process.
I’d like to see more of a blogroll — networking is, after all, what it’s all about!
Otherwise, this is a worthwhile blog for anyone interested in this part of the world outside and beyond San Francisco. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty good.