Blog, blog, blog. It's all out there somewhere in the digital world. The big stir in Charlotte, though, involves the e-mails that zapped around area restaurants following the New York Times article "The Waiter You Stiffed Has Not Forgotten." It seems that some waiters are tired of the one-way complaint system and now have several sites of their own for pay back for those who didn't pay up. One site actually names the customers and the percentage tip given. Anything less than 17 percent with "reasonable" service is fair game on the "Shitty Tipper Database," or STD, at Kiss My Bitter Ass: www.bitterwaitress.com/std. Of local note is the complaint against a former Carolina Panther who allegedly left $2 on a $350 tab for a party of seven at Ruby Tuesday in Anniston, Alabama. The comment: "Yes, Kevin Greene from the Carolina Panthers... This is the rudest man I have ever met. He rarely tips and when he does it's usually about 2 bucks and he acts like it's hurting his wallet. He acts like he's a slave driver."

The South boards on Chowhound have a running commentary about Charlotte's eateries, restaurant reviewers (thanks for the kind words) and other gossip: www.chowhound.com/south/boards.

An organization that requires membership in order to post (though anyone can read the posts) is The eGullet Society for Culinary Arts and Letters: forums.egullet.org. A search for "Charlotte" yields hundreds of postings.

Although not technically a blog site, nerddinner.com/blogs/charlotte/ is an assessment of the restaurants where this group holds their monthly meetings. As one blogger writes: "Mixing food and Geeks creates a dangerous combination."