A while back, I had an email debate with a journalist who had started blogging.
His blog is on his employer’s (a major magazine) site, and is branded with the
magazine’s logo, look and feel. The site itself is not a Web portal–it’s more
or less a corporate site for the magazine.
I was confused as to whether his weblog reflected only his views, or those
of the corporation for which he worked. He argued that it was totally clear
that his views were his own, and not those of the company.
I bring this up because today I happened to look at three
personal weblogs
by Microsoft employees. All three of them contain clear disclaimers at the top
of the page indicating that their views are their own and not those of Microsoft.
If you have a look at weblogs run on the Microsoft site (or other corporate
sites), you’ll find no disclaimers and a far-more-apparent party line.
In short, if you want to speak freely, and want your readers to understand
that you are speaking freely, choose a host independent from your employer.
DarrenBarefoot.com 
Not sure if you heard about it, Darren, but a few months back a Microsoftie (and rabid blogger) was fired for a photo he took of the Redmond campus and posted on his blog. It was considered a major security no-no (it was a loading bay of crates containing, much to the blogger’s delight, new Macs). If you wanted to give it a look-see, I’d recommend searching Metafilter and Boing Boing.
Excellent blog, Darren! Subscribed!
BTW, the guy fired for blogging was a contractor who not only took a picture of a bunch of Macs in a truck, but gave the location. They may have over-reacted, but even the blogger admits it was a stupid thing to do.
And even though my blog is on TypePad, and the views are my own, and my disclaimer is in place, I still find myself censoring what I write (you’ll note that very little I post that is about a specific product contains any of my personal views). Good or bad, as long as anyone who reads my blog knows where I work, what I write about my company, its products, or its people reflects on my employer.
It’s why I like blogs like yours so much: I get the uncensored view of what real people think, and I get to take what I learn back to my job. To me, that’s a whole lot more valuable to our company than somehow using my blog as a marketing vehicle.
Michael got fired for breaking an NDA, not for the content of his pictures.
I like your blog, by the way. Keep it up.
I never thought about the hosting thing. But, folks who publish on http://blogs.msdn.com are covered by Microsoft’s terms of use. I’m not.