Disclosure & Policies

As an independent blogger and a freelancer, I strive to deliver to my readers a honest, unbiased opinion about products, technologies and vendors I write about. My interest in technology is driven by past and current work experiences as well as general curiosity about where the IT industry is headed and also by a general -and hopefully mild- geekiness. In order to set the expectations related to impartiality when reading my blog, you should be aware of my policies regarding the various topics below.

Copyright

All the articles published on this blog are Copyright © Massimiliano Mortillaro, the Author of this blog. Full reproduction of the content is prohibited unless explicit permission has been first sought by the requestor and granted by the Author, especially forbidden is the full copy of an article content by 3rd party websites in order to increase their pageviews and unduly monetize on other individuals intellectual property. Partial reproduction is allowed only when the excerpt is reasonably short, links to the original article published on www.kamshin.com and does not infringes the Author’s rights. The entire content of this blog is protected by French directives and legislation relevant to protection of Author Rights.

Content and articles

All the articles and content on this site are created based solely on my interest for a given company, product and/or technology. The topics may vary based on my mood, my interests of the moment and I will try my very best to adhere to ethical blogging, which may or may not please a given vendor. I do not demand nor expect to receive any sort of gifts from vendors just because I wrote an interesting article on them. Nor do I expect to be spammed to death by a mob of vendor’s employees for providing my opinion on their product/tech/strategy. You have your opinion and I have mine. Let’s discuss in a civilized way.

Travelling, Conferences, Expenses and Gifts

Throughout the year I may attend several events, conferences, workshops etc. Whenever I am invited and my expenses may be partially or fully covered, I will make a full disclosure on the blog post(s) relevant to the event, stating what was paid for and what was covered by me. If there is no disclosure, it means that I’ve paid for my own travel and expenses. If you feel like there was no sufficient disclosure on an event or that the disclosure is ambiguous, please contact me and I will clarify in the given post. I will also make disclosures as to gifts received. I will likely not go to the length of documenting regular vendor swag (t-shirts, keyrings etc…) with evaluations. Nice stickers may end on my laptop(s).

I also commit to disclose any investments I may have in a company if it is the case (shares, etc) or any commercial relationships I may have with them.

Surveys & Donating to Charities

Finally, a note regarding survey rewards. While I ignored this in the past, I’ve decided to take any relevant surveys that offer gift cards and donate the money to charities, while also letting companies who created the survey aware of this activity whenever possible. I’ve had positive feedback from one vendor who not only doubled down on my initial donation, but also sent yet another eGift card. I’ll commit to maintain a list of donations if the amount increases.

The charity I’ve chosen to sponsor is 826 National. Their mission is to empower young americans with individual learning support & fostering writing skills.

Besides being a blogger I love reading and writing, I immediately thought of giving to an organization that empowers young people to strengthen their self-confidence, which in turn gives them the strength to study and become hopefully role-model citizens. I already give to charities here in the Czech Republic who work here and with developing countries. But we also often forget that problems exist in our own developed nations as well. I was looking at an US-based organization to ensure that the funds from these surveys are usable, and then also because there are so many fine young people who need a helpful hand to make their personalities blossom.

Head out there to see what they do and feel free to support them too!

Sponsors, Ads, Commercial content and Third-party content

Since I’m an independent IT consultant, the free time that I spend on blogging, reviewing technologies and assisting to conferences is not compensated by my employer or anyone else. The cost of hosting this website and providing adequate responsiveness and best-in-class hosting is fully covered by my own personal money. After careful thought I decided not to offer ads on this website for a variety of reasons (including reducing clutter on articles).

I may be commissioned by vendors or companies to create commercial content, such content will be hosted on a vendor’s blog or on any relevant website / portal. Such content may be promoted on my Twitter stream and is likely to be referenced under the Articles & Press section of this website, but not posted on this blog.

I have a policy of not allowing third-party content on my blog. This means only articles written by me will be published on this blog.

Comments and Moderation

This blog and its content is created and authored solely by me; is the result of my ideas, vision and reflections on the world of IT. You may or may not agree with me, but this is my territory and if you disagree, I prefer courteous and valid argumentation instead of rubbish/pointless comments. The disclosure above should already explain that I do not do paid articles, and if I was to do so, this would be disclosed.

You’re on the Internet. Whatever you may comment may turn itself against you. If you’re in a ranty mood and want to comment at all costs, feel free to do so. Your comments will be public and you will be responsible of whatever you write. This blog is not a top blog, but some people (including your potential colleagues, competitors, bosses etc.) may read it as well.

Don’t be insulting. This blog and its content is the results of many hours of my free time sacrificed (time that I could’ve spent doing either doing paid work or relaxing with my family). This blog’s hosting costs are fully covered by me. Think twice before posting despicable stuff like “Paid article”. Injurious/defamatory comments, spam, off-topic stuff may be deleted without prior notice and at my own discretion.