Posting from work?

Thread Starter

tracecom

Joined Apr 16, 2010
3,944
I am retired, but when I worked my employer frowned on internet browsing from the office; has that changed?
 

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
Not much. I do it occasionally, when there is time, but I try not to get caught and never when there is work to do.
 

Thread Starter

tracecom

Joined Apr 16, 2010
3,944
I don't get it. This is a joke, right?
You gotta quit smoking that corn silk.
It's not a joke...more like a stupid question. But it seems like there are lots of people who do it. Do employers look the other way, or do they just figure it's a cost of doing business?

And I never smoked any corn silk. A few grapevines, but no corn silk.
 

Thread Starter

tracecom

Joined Apr 16, 2010
3,944
Not much. I do it occasionally, when there is time, but I try not to get caught and never when there is work to do.
Our IT department had software that created reports on web sites accessed from company machines. My job involved market research, and so I wasn't bothered much, but others were.
 
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#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
Seriously, using the internet for research about the present moment project is an excellent resource, but I can't imagine an employer that would want to pay a person by the hour to enjoy "LOL kittehs".
 

Brownout

Joined Jan 10, 2012
2,390
I do it as a mental break. It usually only takes a minute to check on threads I have suscribed. On a very rare occasion, I'll make a post or two. On the other hand, I don't get out of work on time if I have something important on my plate.

It's been my experience that employers don't get too hacked off especially now that work has become a second home for many employees. That is, as long as the privilege is not abused.
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
13,086
If an employe is Internet browsing at a desk that person is not, sleeping, behind the building drinking a beer or smoking dope and if real computer work is needed they are already logged in to the network.

A overall net positive compared to having a employe pretend to work all day.
 

Thread Starter

tracecom

Joined Apr 16, 2010
3,944
I must have a different background. I've never had a job in which I was waiting to be needed.
I sort of remember my jobs the same way. It seemed that I was never without something that needed doing. That's not to say that I never goofed off or procrastinated, because I certainly did, but I don't recall ever feeling like that I had done everything that needed doing.
 

killivolt

Joined Jan 10, 2010
835
I do it as a mental break. It usually only takes a minute to check on threads I have susbcribed. On a very rare occasion, I'll make a post or two. On the other hand, I don't get out of work on time if I have something important on my plate.
Now that I'm home I can post, I did post during the "Boston Marathon Thread" while at work, I didn't care if the Nazis seen them. I would have just looked at them and said, really?

Otherwise I can't and won't post during work, I will read the Threads though:D
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
13,086
I must have a different background. I've never had a job in which I was waiting to be needed.
Never been a field service engineer on assignment to a plant or operation or a line maintenance engineer or technician on a production line where your job performance is judged by line equipment uptime not by how many widgets are repaired in a day?
 

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,978
My main employer for 14 years (small company -- dozen or so employees at the peak while I was there) had a very liberal policy. Show up for work when you want as long as you make scheduled meetings (which were few) and are reachable during most business hours, don't charge time for periods spend not working, be productive during time you are charging for, be willing to put in whatever time and effort is needed to keep your project moving at an acceptable rate of progress (and get paid for each and every one of those hours), and put in at least 30hrs/wk over a reasonable number of weeks in order to justify the benefits (which were phenominal!).

When we first got networked (not internet, just networked), several times a day someone would shout out, "Hearts!" and the first three other people to connect would then play several games of Hearts. Sometimes the boss was one of those guys and sometimes he wasn't. Several guys would sometimes spend hours playing Duke Nuke'em. I would sometimes work on stuff in the lab that was for my sideline business. On the flip side, I would make circuit boards at home for free and had many of my tools and equipment at work because they were better suited for some things. We would also all pitch in and put in 70 to 100 hours a week in the last week or two of a project if it ended up pushing up against a submission deadline too hard. It was an amazingly relaxed and stress free place to work, we got along wonderfully, and had a close to zero turnover rate.
 

Brownout

Joined Jan 10, 2012
2,390
In the near future, I'll be designing systems from my home and prototyping them in my 1000 sq ft lab. All I need is a few good clients.
 

ErnieM

Joined Apr 24, 2011
8,377
My worst web experience was when I was working for some nazis-in-training who periodically (probably daily) checked a list of URL's visited. MySpace, the state lottery page, and several others were simply blocked.

So there I was looking up some potting compounds I'd used in the past and searched for "emmerson cummings." Instead of the manufacture I got back page after page of pr0n sites. I'd clicked one without reading... and got the don't be a perv on our time lecture.

To this day they must do a who-is on any IP that accesses their public site as I always seem to get server blocked soon after they recognize I've been looking at them.

Funny, in the 7 years since I've left they haven't come up with anything new.
 

tindel

Joined Sep 16, 2012
936
My company doesn't seem to mind too much... and I might check a forum now and then, but I'm not spending countless hours on them either. I always get my work done though too, so they've never bugged me. In this case, I do like that I can make the argument that it helps me learn things and keep my skills up and not lie.

There was one girl that didn't like her job that just browsed the web all day. She got herself fired pretty quick.
 

maxpower097

Joined Feb 20, 2009
816
Back about 5-6 years ago I ran a small call center and was charged with keeping the minions off the net. I banned em from wrestling sites and social media sites. I thought that was working then I bust em going to Myspace.ca or some other foreigh extension. That pissed me off and I just blacklisted everything.
 

JoeJester

Joined Apr 26, 2005
4,390
accidental browsing is one thing.

I can remember when whitehouse.com was a porn site ... but the user really wanted to go to whitehouse.gov

In the sometimes "curiousity" overcomes one, a search for "PVC" leads one to erotic clothing.

I always used those two as examples to parents about what can happen on the web ... so they can properly supervise their children's browsing activity.

Federal agencies are big on reviewing browsing habits. Some have established "personal times" for web browsing, like 30 minutes per day.

Abuse always gets one in trouble. How many federal workers do you think surf alot during the workday? I'd hate to venture a guess at the loss of manhours.
 

maxpower097

Joined Feb 20, 2009
816
The thing is joe they were allowed to surf the net as long as it wasn't a problem taking up more then 15% of their hour. 10 min an hour we let em break and surf net, smoke what ever, midget toss, fish, etc.. We'd even let em save em up and take off an hour early.But as they say give em a lil bit of cat food and pretty soon they'll be back for the whole cat. So we just cut em all off except for vetted biz sites.
 
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