Craigblog
Blog: Craigblog
Type: Personal Interests
Craigblog has only been going since April of this year but already it is one of my regular reads. It is true that many of his interests coincide with mine but the deciding factor is really the quality of Craig’s writing, his well thought out views and his clear presentation.
The blog uses a template but one of the better ones and he is working to personalize it as he learns what can and can’t be done. A three-column design, it is unusual in choosing to put the main content on the left, rather than the center. This works well in practice and the blog is extremely easy to read as a result.
Craig is a Scot, as befits his name, and there is a slight emphasis on things Scottish as a result. He is not a rabid nationalist, however, and he allows us to see a more moderate side of those wild Gaelic northerners of the English imagination. A better advertisement for Scotland would be hard to find.
Content is wide-ranging and includes thoughts on life, sports, music and blogging itself. Essentially, it is a personal blog but with specialist knowledge and interest in certain defined areas. Every blog is a reflection of the person who created it and, judging by the blog, Craig is a good person to know.
Criticisms? Well, I’ve been trying to think of one as I write but so far nothing occurs. All in all, it’s an excellent blog and one I thoroughly recommend. Great job, Craig!
BlogF1
Blog: BlogF1
Type: F1 Motor Racing
Okay, I’ll admit it: I picked this one because I like Formula One racing and BlogF1 is almost an institution for anyone interested in the sport. Like most F1 blogs, it’s a UK site and it does the usual things, covering the races when they happen, indulging in a little speculation when things are quiet and providing the occasional bit of fun, such as the Caption Contests.
So what makes this one different from the many others? I’ll let you into a little secret – it’s the writer, Oliver White. Universally known as Ollie, he has a style and approach that is always friendly and open; he knows his stuff too, an important aspect if you want to write a blog in such a specialized niche.
Ollie does not feel it necessary to compete with the news sites – an uphill task if ever there were one. He is content to report the important things and comment when something grabs him. It’s a gentle, laid-back style in comparison to other F1 blogs and it has won him a large number of regular readers, many of whom have very good blogs themselves. This is a noticeable feature of F1 blogging – there is little back-biting or overt competition between the bloggers and most participate in an informal, unstated community of writers who debate and discuss in each other’s blogs’ comments systems.
The blog design is pretty standard, effective enough, with an arresting header and reasonably well-ordered sidebars containing the usual mix of information and advertisements. A weakness is that the posts do not give the number of comments but, to some extent, this is offset by a Recent Comments list in the sidebar. I do like to see immediately whether a comment of mine has been answered.
And the blog is a member of the 9rules association of blogs. This is a sticky one for me, especially as Ollie describes it as a “network made up of the best websites on the internet.” Yeah? That’s an assertion that many might argue with; plus, I’m not certain that 9rules likes being described as a network – it has a looser style than that. I suppose, if you have to belong to a network, 9rules is better than most.
It’s a minor point anyway and one that probably wouldn’t be noticed by most readers. The main point is that Ollie’s blog is one of the better F1 blogs on the net (though not the best) and well worth a read if you’re into the sport.
