The thing about the computer and the fingerprints probably explains why BillR has been waiting for weeks to begin a temporary position as a park guide at SF Maritime. He has held that job before, but because it's been more than six months, he has to go through the entire security check again, presumably to see if he's joined Al Quaida in the interim. There has been some ongoing problem with his fingerprints (which as far as I know haven't changed), and the lady who will be his supervisor is tearing her hair out, since they are extremely shorthanded. Probably because of the holiday season, nobody seems to care.

On a slightly related topic, I don't know how many of you are aware that the Department of the Interior has blocked huge categories of websites, presumably to keep employees from fooling around on work time. However, in their zeal, they blocked all message boards, all yahoo groups, and all blogs, regardless of content.(Since then, I am told they have unblocked blogs. ?) No one with a yahoo email address can be contacted on a government computer, unless that has changed since I heard last. They blocked the yahoo group I administer to notify membership about Park events. They blocked message boards devoted to National Park Service sites. They originally blocked Mudcat, but it was unblocked at the request of several people, one of whom was our cataloguing librarian, who uses it to catalogue new CDs for the Library collection. The key here is that you can get sites unblocked if you can show a good reason for needing it. The real kicker is that the blocking has been done by a PRIVATE CONTRACTOR, who is then PAID for each site unblocked. What does this sound like to you?

I would like to recommend that anybody who cares contact their congressional representatives about this. I can understand blocking things like gambling and porn sites, but the extent of this has made it impossible for NPS people to do legitimate research, and the apparent goal is to line the pockets of the contractors.

Oh, and by the way, commercial sites are still perfectly accessible, except for those that sell underwear.