The place I work at is creating an acceptable use policy that forbids using institutional computing resources for personal use. First infraction is a warning, second one goes in your personnel file, third one is grounds for disciplinary action.

Needless to say, I won't be around much until I can get online at home.

This raises two questions for me...

1) how do I change my email address here on the mudcat?

2) how many of us are working and lurking with this level of risk?

V

Recently some staff were caught distributing crude jokes and one I think pornographic images. The former were disciplined, I think the latter may now have been dismissed.

The company tolerate a certain degree of surfing, but can get quite shirty about what comes from the Inter- to the Intra-net.

Personally I find the Cat makes me more productive and I've always twiddled around doing several things at once.

Hyp

So that's time for an entree and a beer but what about the main course and desert...

Hyp

A

Hyp

I work for a small business where I personally know the owners. That's probably why I have a conscience about this, and it's probably also why my bosses have a conscience about it, and don't hassle me. (They know it's not my fault that the sales reps aren't bringing me enough work.)

I have a computer at home, too, but I prefer to use the one at work because (1) it has a much faster Internet connection. (2) I can use Netscape at work but we only have CompuServe at home. (3) I like using the laser printer at work. (4) My phone line at home has metered service (I've got to get that changed). (5) If I didn't have the Internet at work I'd go nuts. (6) It's literally more comfortable at work - I have an ergonomic chair and desk, and a Microsoft "natural" keyboard.

Fortunately, I also have an office where I face the door, so I can see when anybody comes in, and my computer monitor faces away from the door, so they can't see what I'm doing. I HATE cubicles because they usually force you to sit just the opposite way. I'd MUCH rather share an office with my own boss (which I have done, and likely will do again) than have a cubicle by myself (which I also have done), and I think I'd feel this way even if I couldn't use the Internet. Unfortunately, there is a window directly behind me, so anyone standing out in the parking lot can see over my shoulder, but I'm not too worried.

The downside of working for a small company (besides low pay and benefits) is that it's so informal and loosely structured that I'm often not sure who my real boss is, or whom I have to please. My previous boss - the one with whom I shared this office - openly used his computer for personal stuff. We used to share tips about good web sites, and he would forward funny e-mail to me. When another "boss" circulated a sharply worded memo against Internet use, he ignored it, and I followed his example. Then he quit the company. I hear he's coming back. Things can be very confusing.

This was brought into proper proportion for me when the large national non-profit for whom I work (in a very small rural chapter) recently informed all intranet users (NHQ plus 1200+ local units and all the associated staff and volunteers on the intranet) that personal use of IT resources at NHQ had locked up the NHQ mainframe due to people sending too many cute jokes marked "Reply to ALL" and the extensive worldwide network of contacts was so huge that one popular message in particular killed IS for a whole day. Oops!! Mission critical communication, zapped!

The organization responded from a perspective not unlike Amos' description above, whihc asked that people just please think a bit more and also stop using "Reply to All" indiscriminately!

But I do watch what I leave on the hard disk because when the big dog's away....

So if you do not know how to delete your History files, and keep your bookmarks and e-correspondence separate, do find out!

~S~