[aaronbrethorst]

When I joined Microsoft in 2003[1], I was told very clearly to never write anything I wouldn't want to see published on the front page of the New York Times.

I feel bad for Adam that he was canned, but he should not have been making news, especially in an inflammatory fashion, about an unannounced Microsoft product.

[1] I should also mention that I left in 2007

[lake99]

> I was told very clearly to never write anything I wouldn't want to see published on the front page of the New York Times.

This is what I recommend to everyone. We can't trust Twitter, Google+, Facebook, etc. to keep our secrets for us. I mark everything "public", as a reminder to myself to carefully consider what I write there. I have anonymous ids to say things I can't be held legally accountable for having said.

[mseebach]

It's not limited to online services. It's "Don't write anything you don't want to see on the front page of the NYT", full stop. Your internal emails and documents can be subpoenaed or hacked or leaked.

Also, your anonymous ID does not absolve you of legal responsibility, it just makes it a little more difficult to track you down.

[lake99]

I don't rob banks, run a slave trade business, etc. I'm fairly confident I'm not an interesting person, as far as governments are concerned.

If you want to try, I wish you luck in figuring out who my employers were/are.

[illuminate]

"If you want to try, I wish you luck in figuring out who my employers were/are"

If you say something stupid enough, one of your acquaintances will do it for us.

[danielweber]

You would be surprised at the people who think they were just doing something very ordinary, when suddenly a class 5 media shitstorm descended on them, often because of circumstances entirely out of their control.

[aaronbrethorst]

Incidentally, this is why every account I create has my full name. It's a good reminder to me to always think before I hit "reply"

[illuminate]

It's good to self-censor, but you can't always predict what others might be outraged by, take personally, or want to retaliate for. Plenty of internet persons aren't well off.

[lake99]

As a reminder, that did not work for someone, and that's why we have this story on HN.