It wasn't me. It's something I notice when I walk around the office. Solitaire, click, IM window, click, poker blog, click, sports scores, click. Even if you click in time, everyone knows the telltale sounds of alt-tab and a quick minimize. And even though people can't see my screen when they come talk to me, I still incriminate myself with a reflexive minimize all.
But if someone were able to alt-tab fast enough, you'd never know. Kind of like when my econ professor told us that no one can ever beat the market. I firmly believe that some people do beat the market. It's just that they do it from the quiet privacy of their yachts.
Anyway, when it comes to alt-tabbing, I'm a modern day Wyatt fucking Earp. My cube at noon, ogged.
Also: a related tool that's handy for hiding your goofing off (tho the website seems to be down at the moment). And back in the day I recall a utility that would blank your screen whenever you put the mouse over the pixel at the very corner of the screen. It wouldn't be too hard to write a program that pulls up the window of your choice upon doing the same thing... hmm...
But if someone were able to alt-tab fast enough, you'd never know. Kind of like when my econ professor told us that no one can ever beat the market. I firmly believe that some people do beat the market. It's just that they do it from the quiet privacy of their yachts.
Anyway, when it comes to alt-tabbing, I'm a modern day Wyatt fucking Earp. My cube at noon, ogged.
Also: a related tool that's handy for hiding your goofing off (tho the website seems to be down at the moment). And back in the day I recall a utility that would blank your screen whenever you put the mouse over the pixel at the very corner of the screen. It wouldn't be too hard to write a program that pulls up the window of your choice upon doing the same thing... hmm...
I've never understood why anyone cares what you do on the computer, assuming that you're not doing something actually bad (porn, etc.) and that you get your work done. In fact, lots of people shop on the Internet at work - there was a study cited by some VC guys a few years ago to that effect. (The point, from their perspective, was that you could roll out services that required broadband well before it became commonplace at home.) Does anyone actually get in trouble for looking at ESPN? Or for getting personal e-mail?
In my experience, no one cares, as long as you get your work done. People hide their screens mostly for privacy, I think, and also because we're all *supposed* to be working all the time, or think we are.
Shit, is the site really giving people trouble? Or are you two posting from the same computer during breaks from buggaloo? (If not buggaloo, is there an error message?)
I thought the oversight was that significant. Or, the site told me that it timed out, so I posted again, and it timed out again, and then I refreshed the page to see my comment posted twice. Or: pass me another peņa colada, T-Bone!
yeah, same thing happened to me. I even refreshed the page after the first timeout to make sure that the post hadn't gone through -- it didn't show up until my second comment (which also timed out).
anyone actually get in trouble for looking at ESPN? Or for getting personal e-mail?
We did some consulting for a client that ran keyword searches on the content of all websites accessed by company computers. We were working 7 days a week, 15 hours a day trying to get their system up and running and one of my coworkers came down with a urinary tract infection. The schedule was so brutal that our team lead wouldn't even let her take a couple of hours off for a doctor's visit so she Googled for some homeopathic remedies. A site she visited included some medical terms for female genitalia and got flagged by the system as porn. The client insisted that my company issue a formal reprimand for using their hardware to access pornography and that she be punished as an example in front of the whole team. To keep the client happy, our management issued the formal reprimand, reported the incident to HR (along with an anti-report essentially saying the first letter was BS), and let the client publicly scold her in front of the team. I felt SO bad for her -- she was the sweetest, most golly-gee-innocent Southern belle you could meet (imagine the girl who steps off the bus at the beginning of every Broadway musical) and it was so humiliating. Fortunately, for agreeing to play ball by taking the abuse so we could keep the client, my company gave her a nice raise. Oh -- and we got her a nice silver vibrator engraved with "M___ the Porn Queen of ___" when she left the company.
Are you still employed? Is your identity yet a secret?
Tell me everything's OK except that your Oompa Loompa fetish is out.
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 09-12-05 7:52 PM
I'm fine, SB. Well aware of my own limitations, I make sure my monitor never faces out.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 09-12-05 7:56 PM
Saints be praised! Though landing yourself in a pickle would have been more satisfyingly dramatic.
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 09-12-05 8:01 PM
If I run out of things to blog about, maybe I'll get myself fired.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 09-12-05 8:04 PM
What was it you had to minimize, lest shame and body odor afflict your kin unto seven generations?
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 09-12-05 8:27 PM
It wasn't me. It's something I notice when I walk around the office. Solitaire, click, IM window, click, poker blog, click, sports scores, click. Even if you click in time, everyone knows the telltale sounds of alt-tab and a quick minimize. And even though people can't see my screen when they come talk to me, I still incriminate myself with a reflexive minimize all.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 09-12-05 8:32 PM
you can never alt-tab, or minimize, fast enough
But if someone were able to alt-tab fast enough, you'd never know. Kind of like when my econ professor told us that no one can ever beat the market. I firmly believe that some people do beat the market. It's just that they do it from the quiet privacy of their yachts.
Anyway, when it comes to alt-tabbing, I'm a modern day Wyatt fucking Earp. My cube at noon, ogged.
Also: a related tool that's handy for hiding your goofing off (tho the website seems to be down at the moment). And back in the day I recall a utility that would blank your screen whenever you put the mouse over the pixel at the very corner of the screen. It wouldn't be too hard to write a program that pulls up the window of your choice upon doing the same thing... hmm...
Posted by tom | Link to this comment | 09-12-05 8:55 PM
you can never alt-tab, or minimize, fast enough
But if someone were able to alt-tab fast enough, you'd never know. Kind of like when my econ professor told us that no one can ever beat the market. I firmly believe that some people do beat the market. It's just that they do it from the quiet privacy of their yachts.
Anyway, when it comes to alt-tabbing, I'm a modern day Wyatt fucking Earp. My cube at noon, ogged.
Also: a related tool that's handy for hiding your goofing off (tho the website seems to be down at the moment). And back in the day I recall a utility that would blank your screen whenever you put the mouse over the pixel at the very corner of the screen. It wouldn't be too hard to write a program that pulls up the window of your choice upon doing the same thing... hmm...
Posted by tom | Link to this comment | 09-12-05 8:57 PM
god dammit. sorry about that. comments are acting strangely for me.
Posted by tom | Link to this comment | 09-12-05 8:57 PM
Must be those very very nimble fingers.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 09-12-05 8:59 PM
I've never understood why anyone cares what you do on the computer, assuming that you're not doing something actually bad (porn, etc.) and that you get your work done. In fact, lots of people shop on the Internet at work - there was a study cited by some VC guys a few years ago to that effect. (The point, from their perspective, was that you could roll out services that required broadband well before it became commonplace at home.) Does anyone actually get in trouble for looking at ESPN? Or for getting personal e-mail?
Posted by SomeCallMeTim | Link to this comment | 09-12-05 9:27 PM
Perhaps you've heard about it already, Ogged, but on the off chance you haven't: Ghostzilla.
Posted by Tarrou | Link to this comment | 09-12-05 9:29 PM
In my experience, no one cares, as long as you get your work done. People hide their screens mostly for privacy, I think, and also because we're all *supposed* to be working all the time, or think we are.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 09-12-05 9:30 PM
Thanks, tarrou, I have heard of it, but others might not have.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 09-12-05 9:31 PM
One is not fired for blogging; one is dooced.
Posted by Armsmasher | Link to this comment | 09-12-05 9:41 PM
One is not fired for blogging; one is dooced.
Posted by Armsmasher | Link to this comment | 09-12-05 9:42 PM
Shit, is the site really giving people trouble? Or are you two posting from the same computer during breaks from buggaloo? (If not buggaloo, is there an error message?)
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 09-12-05 9:47 PM
I thought the oversight was that significant. Or, the site told me that it timed out, so I posted again, and it timed out again, and then I refreshed the page to see my comment posted twice. Or: pass me another peņa colada, T-Bone!
Posted by Armsmasher | Link to this comment | 09-12-05 10:07 PM
yeah, same thing happened to me. I even refreshed the page after the first timeout to make sure that the post hadn't gone through -- it didn't show up until my second comment (which also timed out).
Posted by tom | Link to this comment | 09-13-05 7:35 AM
seems fine now, though
Posted by tom | Link to this comment | 09-13-05 7:41 AM
What happened to the mecha-sheep filter?
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 09-13-05 8:48 AM
They have evil-alien-mecha sheep filters?
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 09-13-05 9:02 AM
The filter only blocks asinine redundant blog-horseplay. It passes no judgment on substantive comments.
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 09-13-05 9:05 AM
anyone actually get in trouble for looking at ESPN? Or for getting personal e-mail?
We did some consulting for a client that ran keyword searches on the content of all websites accessed by company computers. We were working 7 days a week, 15 hours a day trying to get their system up and running and one of my coworkers came down with a urinary tract infection. The schedule was so brutal that our team lead wouldn't even let her take a couple of hours off for a doctor's visit so she Googled for some homeopathic remedies. A site she visited included some medical terms for female genitalia and got flagged by the system as porn. The client insisted that my company issue a formal reprimand for using their hardware to access pornography and that she be punished as an example in front of the whole team. To keep the client happy, our management issued the formal reprimand, reported the incident to HR (along with an anti-report essentially saying the first letter was BS), and let the client publicly scold her in front of the team. I felt SO bad for her -- she was the sweetest, most golly-gee-innocent Southern belle you could meet (imagine the girl who steps off the bus at the beginning of every Broadway musical) and it was so humiliating. Fortunately, for agreeing to play ball by taking the abuse so we could keep the client, my company gave her a nice raise. Oh -- and we got her a nice silver vibrator engraved with "M___ the Porn Queen of ___" when she left the company.
Posted by Becks | Link to this comment | 09-13-05 5:19 PM
For real?? Some people are awful.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 09-13-05 5:22 PM
For real. They also flagged a guy who was reading his hometown Pakistani newspaper as visiting a terrorist website -- and this was pre-9/11.
Posted by Becks | Link to this comment | 09-13-05 5:26 PM
Please tell me this all happened in a Red state that I can dismiss as Not My America.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 09-13-05 5:28 PM
Thanks a lot, Ogged.
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 09-14-05 11:29 AM