WEEKLY WHINE

Bloggers stump Edvard

Do you blog? Have you or someone you know been punished at work for something on your blog? The law offices of Bradley, Edwards, and van de Kamp can help.

Seriously, though, blogging is an increasingly annoying phenomenon. So why haven't places of work figured out that people want to talk about them? Regardless, they are acting without thinking, and that means it's the bloggers who have to do the thinking for them. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has recently issued guidelines for people who talk about their work online. And another resource that bloggers have at their disposal is the vast expertise of "Dynamite Eating" Edvard van de Kamp, who has some more suggestions for our readers. And remember folks, you can take advantage of the Whine Control, above and right, to examine other content relating to Edvard.

Dear Edvard: I have a blog where I talk about the office where I work. Is it okay to mention my coworkers by name? - Al Northridge, South San Diego, CA, USA

Dear Al: Well, it depends on some other factors. If you say nasty things about them, you should probably use fake names. If you say nice things about them, it's probably okay to use their real names. But if they have boring names, you might want to assign silly pseudonyms, like Nasal Nick or Rachel the Riverboat Gambler.

Dear Edvard: If I announce something illegal that happened at work on my blog, does that mean I can testify in the trial? - Trudy Capeaux, Lens, France

Dear Trudy: If you see somebody do something illegal at work, you should alert the authorities, not announce it in your blog.

Dear Edvard: Who is Rachel the Riverboat Gambler? Can I meet her? - Zeke Flambert, Jackson, MS, USA

Dear Zeke: No. That was just a name that I made up on the spot to illustrate a point. It does not correspond to any actual person.

Dear Edvard: I've got a problem. My boss has a blog. I never thought much about it, but the other day I finally visited it and discovered that just about every entry was about me. She's called me a "hottie", a "hunk", a "dream", and various other things I can't say here. But I'm afraid that my boss is going to make an unwanted sexual advance toward me. What should I do? - Vincenzo Pazzo, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

Dear Vincenzo: That depends. What does she look like?

Dear Edvard: There's a rebellion in my office. I've told my team not to blog so that no incriminating details about work get out, but instead everyone's just mad at me. How can I get everyone behind me in the fight against blogs? - Rebecca Faldridge, Brooklyn, NY, USA

Dear Rebecca: I've got some bad news for you. You've lost the fight against blogs. Rescind that policy and get down on your hands and knees to restore morale in your office.

Dear Edvard: Blogs are great! At the dock where I work, I dropped a box on my toe. Then I wrote about it in my blog, and the next thing I knew, my boss gave me six thousand US dollars if I agreed not to mention anything like that again. Now I'm thinking about some more things at work I can talk about for money. - Ricardo Mendoza, Alajuela, Costa Rica

Dear Ricardo: See what I said to Trudy about illegal things at work.

Dear Edvard: I'm Vincenzo Pazzo's boss. Just because I take the opportunity to refer to him as a "hottie", a "hunk", a "dream", and various other things, that doesn't mean I want to make unwanted sexual advances toward him. Although I'm still considering inviting him to my weekly orgy. - Charice McAuley, Bucksbum, Scotland, UK

Dear Charice: This would be listed under too much information.

Dear Edvard: Over the last year, eight people who post blogs on my site have been fired by their places of work for things they posted on their blogs. Why do people still use their real names when they criticise their own companies? - Len Ursu, St Petersburg, Russia

Dear Len: Because they're dumb.