DHL

Apparently Perlow does need defending, as Hollywood's edits of my comments seems to indicate.

Wilfrid, the FTC regulations/guidelines cover disclosure for advertisers on blogs. I derive no income from my blog and I have no advertisers. The issue isn't "income," although one could argue that a comped meal is just like cash. The issue is whether a blogger who does not reveal comps is being honest with his readers. My contention, as you well know, is that it is not.

It's a simple question of moral nous. If you have a relationship with a restaurateur or receive some material gain from him/her that might be perceived as resulting in a conflict of interest, you reveal it. It really is not difficult for anyone other than Perlow and Shaw. A simple, "I know the owner and he has comped me on occasion." Or, "we were recognized so our experience might not be typical." Or, "the chef sent out some appetizers for us to try because he knows who I am."

Very basic, RP. Obviously, though, there's one blogger here that disagrees with you... In his rant above he said that folks that feel this way can "shove a stick up your ass". I stand by my comments. Over the years, I've learned that I can decide whether a person's comments stand the test of time, and whether they agree with my tastes. In that sense, accepting / soliciting freebies etc is a relatively small part of may assessment for somebody with a decent docket of results over time. It doesn't really affect my judgment if I'm already in agreement with the person's general

Don't forget humility.

It is also within your right to comment on my blog if you feel I've made an error or a questionable or unfair judgement. I've also with reader feedback corrected mistakes and have pointed them out. I do this on Off The Broiler as well as on my tech blog at ZDNet. That's sort of the whole point of this New Media/Blogging thing, to have reader interaction. Bullshit. You don't publish all of the comments.

Even though he personally eats at the trough? That is the part where I call bullshit. If I wanted to out myself, which in close to 4-5 years of posting here I've purposely chosen not to do, I could easily list place, relative date and situation that Tommy has eaten free food and ultimately gone to the pages of his blog and wrote positively about the experience. My point in not whether Tommy brings a refreshing style to his blog or even whether or not he is a "good" or "bad" guy. Generally, he is a GREAT guy. Generally, his blog is quite funny. Generally, his blog is incredibly refreshing and