Looking through what I've written about here over the past month or so, I've noticed two things.

One, there are fewer personal notes here. This is the result of a conscious decision on my part to keep posts of that nature on Facebook or to my self. Not sure if it is the right thing to do, but it appears to be the trend I'm following for now.

Two, I have written almost nothing about work. Thinking about that a bit, I know that I'm still not sure exactly how open I can be writing about the trials and tribulations of my job. Not the specifics, but for example, and I'm going to just come out and say it, administering and configuring SharePoint 2007 is... non-trivial. Let me state that another way: SharePoint, which now includes MS Content Management Server, is Microsoft's web publishing platform, but there is no way it was developed by a web developer. Everything about it screams a bunch of Windows developers saying, "Ok, we've got 95% of the app done. Now, what are these web formats we have to output?"

More on that later. The question I'm asking myself is, should I be saying this publicly? Since you are reading this, I've obviously decided yes. First, because the hardships I go through with SharePoint ultimately bring huge benefits for our users. And second, we've been having a lot of discussions internally re: online communities, etc, and the benefit brought about by openness and transparency in the work we do, as well as the risk that entails.

For my first few months at the new job, I've played it somewhat conservative: too conservative. Writing about my work here is a big part of developing not only my skills but my professional identity. Doing that out in the open can be risky, but I've been blogging long enough that I'm confident I know where to draw the line.