Tech journalist Dean Takahashi’s last column ran in the Merc on Monday, closing a 20-year career in newspapers and magazines, he says. He’s leaving to work as a full-time blogger at VentureBeat, a blogging company started by former San Jose Mercury News staff writer Matt Marshall.

Takahashi wrote in his final Merc blog posting:

“I will be working out of my home, preferably in my warm-ups, and will still try to keep my finger on the pulse of what’s interesting in Silicon Valley. Our coverage will covering startups in the digital media space, including video games, but it will also include important digital media developments at companies such as Facebook, Google, Yahoo!, Electronic Arts, and Apple.”

In his final printed column, he adds:

“As with any start-up, I have no idea if this is going to succeed. It’s a roll of the dice. Now that I know the feeling of sailing off into uncertainty, I have more admiration for the people who have taken such risks over and over again. I am not going to be sitting on the sidelines, watching and commenting. I’m going to be a participant in creating something new.

“… The great advantage that this newspaper will always have, which the Internet will never take away, is its sense of place. It is the hometown newspaper. It is right in the middle of the most interesting place on Earth.

“I hope readers will continue to be involved in the newspaper and help it steer a course. If the newspaper keeps the readers front and center, then I have to believe it will stay relevant, the same way that radio has kept alive in the face of innovations such as TV, satellite radio, and the Internet. Wish us all luck.”