DISCLAIMER: Being as open as possible

This is a disclaimer post that I will refer back to from other posts.

Last updated: 06 January 2008

Opinion only

Anything you read on this site is my own opinion and not necessarily endorsed, agreed to, or even known about by friends, family, employers, etc.

If I ever represent the opinion of some one else, it’ll be clearly noted.

Well Duh! – Original thought is rare

I’m not the first one to have thought most of this up, especially when it comes to tips or code samples. So, if you come across something that is embarrassingly obvious, years old, or just plain ‘well duh’ then don’t be concerned. I probably just found it, and using the (possibly presumptuous) logic that ‘if I didn’t know about it then others probably don’t either’ I’ve popped it on here.

When I show tips, chances are they are something you’ve already been using for years…

I’m new to most things

I’m always playing with stuff that is new to me, but possibly not to you (eg VSTO). Rather than go on about what a newbie I am, I’ll simply be putting out stuff as I work through it.

Hopefully it will be helpful to someone else that is in a similar position. But please don’t misconstrue it as me pretending to be an expert in anything.

Often wrong

Making mistakes is a pretty normal part of life. As long as we learn from them, they can be helpful. That said, I’ve made so many mistakes and stuff ups it isn’t funny. The post you just read could be one of my latest…

Thus, take everything here with a grain of salt, and please let me know if I’ve botched something – I’ll be very thankful and quickly correct it.

And at times I’ll no doubt be guilty of writing posts that are little more than ‘Ignorance parading as opinion’.

Comments become posts

I suspect most people don’t read the comments on blogs (I know I rarely do), so it is likely that you will see comments left by others (perhaps you) end up as a future post. I’ll aim to acknowledge the original commenter but may not always get the chance to.

I get free stuff

Because I’m a Microsoft MVP I get some free stuff from time to time, usually in the form of software licenses. The advantage of this is that I can review, try out, use and play with stuff that I might not otherwise get the chance to.

As such, I recommend stuff that I like.

Focus on positives

Life is too short to complain about all the bad things, so I tend to focus on the positives. That doesn’t mean I don’t have the occasional rant, or highlight something if I think it can be improved. And it also doesn’t mean that I write about how everything is really great.

Generally, if I think something is good I call it, and if not I don’t say anything.

Microsoft is my main area of interest

Most of my posts are limited to the Microsoft realm. This is simply because it is my area of interest. So, if you hear me going on about how a certain product is the best of it’s type, chances are I mean the best of it’s type within the Microsoft world. There may well be better products in the Java, Unix, Mac, Sun, AS400 worlds – it’s just that I am not covering those communities in my posts…

And finally…

So there’s no misunderstanding, here’s a few things about me:

I am married. I work at Elcom. I used to work at Talman. I run a user group. I am a MVP. I am friends with a number of Microsoft employees. I am religious. I have a temper. I have an ego. I wish I was smarter. I am lucky.