triggerhappymedia

Time.com recently announced their First Annual Blog Index “Top 25 Blogs“, and asked the public to rate the sites they selected. Outranking the rest by a huge margin is the blog of Italian political satirist Beppe Grillo.

Grillo likens Italy to a sinking ship captained by criminal politicians. Instead of just making a case against them, he mobilizes his readers to protest, resist, and work to change the situation in any way they can.

To those voting in the upcoming elections he writes:

“The least worst is the son of the worst. It is his creature. Without the worst the least worst could not exist. The worst is the reference point for the Italian. It’s useful for orientation.

The Italian always tries to do better than the worst. The least worst is a leap in quality. The Italian chooses the least worst dentist, he reads the least worst newspaper, listens to the least worst TV programme, works for the least worst company, votes for the least worst party, gets his operation in the least worst hospital, eats in the least worst restaurant, drives on the least worst road, breathes the least worst air, lives in the least worst apartment, uses the least worst notary, gets to be buried by the least worst funeral directors in the least worst tomb.

The worst is the best alibi of the least worst. Rather than the worst, the least worst is always better. Anyone can do better than Alitalia, than Asphalt Head, than Telecom Italia, than the RAI. Without the worst, who would have voted for D’Alema, traveled with Air One, listened to Rete 4 or made telephone calls with Wind? However… there’s a but, why do you have to choose between the worst and the least worst? Why this blackmail? I don’t want a least worst life. I demand a normal life, in fact I want it to be beautiful, optimum, excellent. Perhaps I won’t succeed, but I must try, I’m obliged to try.”

Although Grillo blogs for Italians, his ideas resonate in every part of the world affected by political corruption.

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Trigger: Blog di Beppe Grillo and English version

Never fear for those of us with plenty of comic strip ideas, but zero drawing skills. There are a number of sites where wannabes can create comics using supplied graphics. My favorite is Stripgenerator from a small company in Slovenia- they offer a nice choice for visual content.

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Trigger: Stripgenerator

Oh, how we loathe change! When The Guardian decided to redesign their website, they received some praise…and many requests to change it back.

The difference-

Spacing. Less text equals a cleaner appearance. Instead of using blurbs below the headlines, most stories get a one line hotlink. The use of curtains instead of captioning saves space around the pictures.

Positioning. The site now reads side to side instead of up and down. The old horizontal design was made for short attention spans, while the new version encourages the eyes to dart around the page. The full articles, however, remain in the long and streamlined format.

Focus on freshness. Notice the prominence of the strap “Last updated one minute ago” on the new site. Obviously the idea that The Guardian is a hub for the latest news and features was at the heart of the redesign. The interactive blog pages are also listed front and center with the option to see how many comments a posting has received.

What do you think of the new look?

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Trigger: Guardian Unlimited online

A recently-released survey from Technorati has revealed that less people are signing up for blogs, while social networking sites continue to take off at warp speed.

The reason appears to be a preference for the more interactive sites like MySpace. Of course, there are blogs that boast their own passionate audiences. But what about the blogs that no one is reading?

Victor Keegan writes for The Guardian:

“Far better to communicate through a peer group in a social networking environment where shared interests will guarantee you an audience, rather than propel your thoughts in the blogosphere where often they will be read by no one unless you have managed to build up a ‘brand’.”

But this statement is dependent on many factors. Primarily, which social networking environment is suitable for what you want to communicate? And should your goal be to reach just any pair of eyes, or those with an interest in what you have to say?

MySpace has boosted the careers of musicians, but the platform isn’t designed for writers. The site also has the power to get you some traffic and a “thanks for the add!” This is a validation, sure- not of your ideas, but simply that you exist.

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Trigger: ‘To the average Joe, blogs aren’t cutting it’ by Victor Keegan