RE: How many have this problem at work?

[KMcLauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com]

Jane, and all,
Here at my company, we (i.e. grunt labo[u]r) are considered to 
be adults... if there's a loose meaning of the term...  :-)

The only almost-firmly-worded restriction I've encountered in the 
two years I've been here was one published about six weeks ago:

"Please minimize your web browsing during business hours. We 
 have grown faster than our internet connection, and the new T1 
 will not be installed for at least four weeks."

Last week, the IT manager and the VP Engineering sent out 
another message:

"Ok gang, Internet is back. Please be responsible in your use.
We'll let you know if bandwidth gets tight again."

Some people have stock tickers running in permanent windows 
on their screens. At least two have a nifty applet (that one of them 
wrote while learning Java for a project) that scans through a dozen 
"cartoon of the day" sites in five-minute-per-site rotation. Hardly 
anybody ISN'T on a mailing list from his/her stock broker.

But then, several people spend their entire workdays with 
headphones glued to their ears.  They all get their work done, 
without disturbing others, so management considers it a non-issue.
My friend Doug, across the cubicle aisle, has his forty-gallon 
fresh-water aquarium beside his bookshelf.  Jason, who left to 
work with one of our partner-customers, maintained an imposing 
collection of Nerf balls, Nerf guns, and even water pistols. Until 
Jason left, Diane used to go through a lot of glass-cleaner, to 
get the sucker-dart marks off her screen - with all that practice, 
(Jason was customer-support supervisor, and fired off a round 
or three after ... sometimes during... every support call) Jason 
was a crack shot.  Each new employee is 
issued a kit of standard office stuff (pens, stapler, scissors,
coffee mug, etc.), including a little sponge squeeze-ball, 
representing the Earth, with our company logo plastered over it.
I used to religiously return them (airborne, of course) when they'd 
come sailing into my cubicle. Then I stockpiled a few, and I've 
been trying (in desultory fashion) to graduate from juggling three 
balls to juggling four...  it's a good way to loosen up when I've 
been hunched in front of the screen for too long.  The pose-able, 
stuffed chicken that sits atop my bookshelf has a begging cup, 
and wears a sign entreating passersby:

"Will proofreed for chicken-feed.
 Will perform unnatural physical acts for CHOCOLATE."

The proofreed is intentionally misspelled and has copy-edit marks 
in the appropriate places.   When the chicken is asked to perform 
an unnatural act, I bend one of his "knees" the wrong way, or wrap 
one of his legs around his neck.  That seems to net me more cringes 
than chocolate, but...

Anyway, in addition to this list, I receive two FrameMaker lists, the 
Copy Editors list, an STC sig list, a Linux list and one or two others 
whose names elude me just now.  As well, I get the Grammar-Lady 
newsletter and several other periodical publications, some of which 
might be a real stretch to classify as work-related.

So, I guess the short answer to the question is: "No, I don't think 
we have that problem - net martinets - here."

Now, if you'll excuse me, I will lay out my collection of little iron and 
bent-nail puzzles, and see now many passing engineers I can 
snare.

Mmhm, la-dah, dah-dee, dah-dah, it's ma-agic....  (*)


/kevin

(*) with apologies to Bugs Bunny


-----Original Message-----
From:	Carnall, Jane [mailto:Jane -dot- Carnall -at- compaq -dot- com]
Sent:	Monday, April 17, 2000 7:19 AM
To:	TECHWR-L
Subject:	RE: How many have this problem at work?

>>my boss does not want me to receive any more messages from outside
>>the company. please stop sending me messages/take me off the list,
>>when i get a personal account, i'll let you know.

I got this message too, and was rather annoyed, as the sender had obviously
set up an auto-return: I've never mailed him individually, so presumably
everyone who posted to TECHWR-L got this message. I've often got messages
from TECHWR-L subscribers who set up auto-returns: I don't have this problem
with any other list I'm subscribed to.

Marc A. Santacroce wrote:
>I'm wondering if the above policy is common. I certainly find lists, 
>and this list in particular extremely helpful. I wouldn't work for a 
>company that put this this kind of a lid on internet use.

In my experience of UK IT companies, it's fairly common, though it is often
down to the individual manager to enforce general company policies. Normally
the rule is "only work-related use". If your manager tells you to stop
wasting your time reading messages sent from outside the company, are *you*
going to tell them that they're packed full of useful info that may possibly
contradict their cherished opinions? Particularly as no mailing list, except
perhaps those that focus on one tool only, will ever be entirely free of
non-work-related information.

I only sign up to receive work-related mailing lists at work. At home, I
have half-a-dozen non-work-related (and not-possibly-work-related) mailing
lists, and I know that a bunch of the Americans on these lists receive them
at work. Fun though it would be, I wouldn't risk it: ever. While UK
employment law does allow for employees using their employer's phone for
personal reasons during the working day, it has been established that using
their employer's internet connection for personal reasons is a sackable
offense: and this is often specifically mentioned in terms of employment.

But there are exceptions all over: I interviewed for a job with one company
where the programming department manager, discovering I'm an sf fan, spent
part of the interview telling me about how for a while everyone in his
department was downloading the SWE1:TPM trailer... 

Jane Carnall
Technical Writer, Compaq, UK
Unless stated otherwise, these opinions are mine, and mine alone.


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