IDG News/Network World

From August 2006 to November 2007, I was a writer for IDG News Service, the wire service for multiple IDG publications, and for Network World, one of the IDG titles. Here are a few samples of my work.

Before I was hired, most of Network World's reporters were based in Boston or scattered elsewhere in the U.S. I offered the advantage of being based in Silicon Valley. My editor said this was the type of story they were looking for from a Silicon Valley-based reporter: "Unauthorized iPhone Apps Market Fluorishes" Sept. 26, 2007

Network World has been active in making their Web site more dynamic, with multimedia features such as slide-shows. I covered a conference at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif. My story, "Deconstructing the PC revolution," was accompanied by a slide show of photos I took of computers that are literally museum pieces! Nov. 5, 2007

This is a major project story I wrote about an IT upgrade for the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system in San Francisco: "Process makeover keeps BART on track" Oct. 12, 2007

One of my main beats at Network World, as well as at IDGNS, was storage technology. This article explored the problem many enterprises experienced of buying too much storage because much of the capacity was set aside for various groups but little used. "When in doubt, buy more storage" April 23, 2007

At IDG News, I was the lead reporter on coverage of the HP pretexting scandal. My experience included being prevented by handlers from trying to interview CEO Mark Hurd about the scandal at an HP conference in Houston. Some of the other stories:

"HP CEO calls pretexting probe a 'rogue' investigation" Sept. 26, 2006

"Dunn to 'set the record straight' in HP case" Sept. 21, 2006

I also covered a federal court hearing over a lawsuit against telecoms for cooperating with the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program. This analysis column was called "Reporter's Notebook: NSA suit like Alice's Wonderland" Aug. 16, 2007
To inquire about Robert Mullins' availability for full or part time work, please write me at mullico@gmail.com or call at 408-243-4302

I can blog, too, Pt. 1

I have extensive blogging experience, having been senior editor of a blog for my extended family since 2006. That's just for personal use, as is another blog titled "Mullico Musings", which offers my take on politics, current events and other personal interests. But I've also posted on commercial blogs, such as Suite101.com. It posts blogs on a variety of topics, mostly "how-to" type articles. I've written a few combining my personal interest in cars with my knowledge of technology. Here's one recently posted on hybrid cars:
Midsized hybrids segment grows:

On a related subject, I also wrote about Shopping for green cars besides Prius or Escape

And now for something completely different, Suite101 has blog pages devoted to cloud computing, to which I contributed this article Dec. 11, 2008: Cloud Computing Not the Answer for Every Business

As you can tell, I am a very versatile writer with an ability to write with authority on a wide range of topics. Besides covering the tech industry in Silicon Valley, I've also been a business reporter covering multiple industries. I can pick up on new beats quickly.
On a more practical matter, I am able to write with the distinctive "voice" of a blogger, which is different from the third-person observer voice of the traditional journalist. Also, I have learned how to maximize the opportunity to draw readers to a blog with the right amount of links and the highlighting of keywords searchers will be drawn to.
Lastly, I can also blog with a sense of humor, a la "The Onion," as in this post on the speculation about the health of Apple CEO Steve Jobs, rumors that were dispelled with a company pronouncement Jan. 5 that he is being treated for a "hormone imbalance."

To inquire about Robert Mullins' availability for full or part time work, please write me at mullico@gmail.com or call at 408-243-4302.