Posting from work... [short rant]

[Primitive Screwhead]

Well folks. The corporate office has sunk to the lowest of lows. A new firewall screening program was installed this weekend and ENWorld forums are unreachable even during my official breaks...not to mention the un-official ones

Darn them! How can they enslave the working population to only focus on 'work' all day long!!! Its like they think they own the computers and pay for the network connection or something.

I really should protest. Maybe instead of reading ENWorld during lunch I will start reading my new RPG related books and Dragon Magazines instead.... HA! Thats taking it to the man!


[/rant]

Oi.. I guess my posting will be limited... so if we were mid conversation, its not that I don't enjoy the debates anymore

See y'all on weekends!

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Well folks. The corporate office has sunk to the lowest of lows. A new firewall screening program was installed this weekend and ENWorld forums are unreachable even during my official breaks...not to mention the un-official ones

Darn them! How can they enslave the working population to only focus on 'work' all day long!!! Its like they think they own the computers and pay for the network connection or something.

I really should protest. Maybe instead of reading ENWorld during lunch I will start reading my new RPG related books and Dragon Magazines instead.... HA! Thats taking it to the man!


[/rant]

Oi.. I guess my posting will be limited... so if we were mid conversation, its not that I don't enjoy the debates anymore

See y'all on weekends!

I have the exact opposite problem to you at the moment. My ISP won't let me access EN World from home. The only way I can get to the site is while I am at work.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Hussar]

Ok, I'm glad you said that Olaf. I've been basically rotating which computer can't access Enworld- home or work. One will and hte other won't most days and it switches for no apparent reason. Sigh.

 

[Emirikol]

Well, if it makes you feel any better, we don't hire smokers...

jh

 

[blargney the second]

It's a bit of a pain, but you could surf through a Remote Desktop.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Of course, study after study shows that blocking access to "fun" sites at work just shifts the goofing off to e-mail, rather than eliminating it entirely. They'd be better off restoring access to the full Internet (with IT getting automated alarms for porn, of course) and people's access to their kids' school sites, their banks, travel agencies and so on (all of which can be accessed by phone, it simply takes more time) and focus on actual work output instead of trying to force people into being productive by denying them anything else to do while there.

 

[Sejs]

Whizbang's already said what I was going to. Yeah, restricting workers' outlets in an effort to force them to be more productive doesn't work in the way the people doing it would hope it to. Most often it just lowers morale, makes the workforce feel resentful, and has them find other ways to utilize their 'goof off so I don't go nuts' time.

 

[WayneLigon]

www.peacefire.org

 

[Nifft]

I'm very glad that I'm not working with a computer that had access to EN World. Otherwise, I'd never get anything done.

-- N

 

[Lazybones]

ENWorld and other gaming sites are blocked at my job as well, but I do spent a fair amount of time at NYTimes, Slashdot, and ArsTechnica. Our IT policy allows "incidental" access to non-work sites during working hours.

Sometimes I worry that all my clicks are being monitored by our tech department, but ultimately I consider that despite the time I spend on the Web surfing non-work sites, my evals have always been "excellent" or "above average" in every category. Of course, my job is more project-oriented than built around constant tasks. Still, if I had to focus on my job only for the full 8 hours each day, I'd have quit long ago.

I agree that the more draconian an office has to be with its employees, the lower the morale (and attendant productivity) becomes. I've read/seen some stories about companies that allow their employees total freedom to do whatever they want at work, come and go as they like, etc., as long as their milestones are met and the results meet expectations... and almost in every case those folks put in MORE hours than regular wage workers, and had higher productivity to boot.