Using computers at work

[Hauldren Collider]

Tomorrow I start work. I will have access to the internet. I don't intend to do things like read webcomics or read Poly while there, and I know the dos and don'ts at the company I'm working for, but I'd like to know what computer use policy is like wherever you guys work. Are they lenient? Strict? How so? Discuss.

Wait for the poll.

[Asher]

Officially, my company is business only with some personal use (banking, etc). They also have a firewall to block off sites like youtube, facebook, etc.

My group is special, we have unfiltered (and unlogged) access to the internet and my manager doesn't care so long as the work gets done.

[Jon Miller]

It is probably close to Anarchy (I do as I like). In practice I surf during work hours occasionally, play games occasionally during non-work hours, and don't ever watch porn/etc.

There might be some network restrictions, I play WOW but have not yet had luck with some other MP games.

JM

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Anything legal is acceptable, and if nobody complains about it everything is legal (one of the minor benefits to maintaining ties with academia).

[rah]

Stay away from porn and do your job. Of course it helps that the people that sometimes police it, work for or used to work for me.

[Barnabas]

Just don't look at porn

[MRT144]

Tomorrow I start work. I will have access to the internet. I don't intend to do things like read webcomics or read Poly while there, and I know the dos and don'ts at the company I'm working for, but I'd like to know what computer use policy is like wherever you guys work. Are they lenient? Strict? How so? Discuss.

Wait for the poll.

I'm a network admin. I get to do whatever the **** I want.

We have a strict anti porn, anti filesharing scheme in place. That's about it.

[onodera]

We don't usually have internet access at work, unless you are someone's secretary. Keeps people from ****ing around in Facebook instead of working.

[-Jrabbit]

Self-employed = a lovely form of anarchy

I keep Poly and FB tabs open pretty much all day.

[OzzyKP]

I'm the boss at my job, and we have no firm rules. I'm at work right now and posting here.

I personally don't care if people check some personal stuff, we/I are very relaxed about that. But we are all in a small one-room office, so if anyone was looking at porn or playing video games it'd be pretty obvious. I seriously doubt anyone would try it but I'd tell them to stop if they did.

But we regularly show each other different YouTube videos and anything else that catches our fancy.

Good to be boss.

[Dauphin]

I suggest you never use e-mail, instant messenger or any other communications device on your computer for anything that you wouldn't mind being public knowledge.

The stuff I've seen people write in their e-mails that they think they've deleted but actually sat on a work server for years is amazing. Doesn't even have to be illegal, but *****ing about the boss, having a top ten hunks in the office, or similar conversation can be amusing if there's ever a review of computer use. My favourite was an IT guy who was sacked saying on IM "We can say what we like, it's not like they can keep a log of this ****, and I know how to delete it even if they do".

[-Jrabbit]

[Fve Crathva]

When I started at my last real job we had totally free access, but at some point they installed a filter and took away our admin rights.

They instituted a policy where any computer on the corporate network (which was connected to the Internet) had to be at least 10 feet away from computers on the lab networks (which were isolated from the corporate network, I'm not sure to what level). That made it super-hard for us to work with online documentation and code samples because we couldn't read the ****ty old CRT from 10 feet away. We had to copy stuff onto a USB stick (which was against the rules, but **** 'em) to get it to the workstations. I bought a spyglass, but it turns out if you magnify a fuzzy old screen it gets bigger but stays unreadable.

SP

[SlowwHand]

"Meh, as long as you don't watch porn it's fine" and as long as it doesn't hamper productivity. A person is at work to work, at least in my experience.

[BlackCat]

There should be a "Meh, as long as you don't do anything illegal it's fine". Though, watching porn would probably result in a personal dialogue with a boss if noticed, but why do that at work when we all have home PC's with full net access ?