BufScribe Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 This is another request from your friendly neighborhood Buffalo News writer. Brother and sister Western New Yorkers: What kind of Net surfing are you able to do at work? Can you spend hours researching your fantasy football lineup? What about reading and posting at TwoBillsDrive, or watching YouTube videos, reading blogs or IMing or Facebooking your friends? Or, do the corporate security chieftains clamp down on the firewall, block the IMs, screen your e-mail and generally crack down on your Net access? Do they have good reason to block you? Have you ever spent half of your working day planning your vacation itinerary, uploading photos to Flickr or checking your e-mail every 5 minutes? I would really like to hear from Western New Yorkers about their experiences Net surfing at work. (We can keep your name out of the article if it’s necessary for you to go unidentified in order to tell me the good stuff.) My story is for First Sunday magazine, and my deadline is the end of August. Please feel free to reply here or e-mail: GConnors@buffnews.com. Thanks! Greg Connors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerme1 Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 Troll! Do your own research without incriminating us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 This is another request from your friendly neighborhood Buffalo News writer. Brother and sister Western New Yorkers: What kind of Net surfing are you able to do at work? Can you spend hours researching your fantasy football lineup? What about reading and posting at TwoBillsDrive, or watching YouTube videos, reading blogs or IMing or Facebooking your friends? Or, do the corporate security chieftains clamp down on the firewall, block the IMs, screen your e-mail and generally crack down on your Net access? Do they have good reason to block you? Have you ever spent half of your working day planning your vacation itinerary, uploading photos to Flickr or checking your e-mail every 5 minutes? I would really like to hear from Western New Yorkers about their experiences Net surfing at work. (We can keep your name out of the article if it’s necessary for you to go unidentified in order to tell me the good stuff.) My story is for First Sunday magazine, and my deadline is the end of August. Please feel free to reply here or e-mail: GConnors@buffnews.com. Thanks! Greg Connors 734447[/snapback] May the costly plumber you've hired take time out to surf the I-net on his connected laptop, on your personal dime. I guess that's theft of services...I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheRocks Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 (We can keep your name out of the article if it’s necessary for you to go unidentified in order to tell me the good stuff.)734447[/snapback] That's mighty big of you. Regards, T. Donahoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkady Renko Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 May the costly plumber you've hired take time out to surf the I-net on his connected laptop, on your personal dime. I guess that's theft of services...I guess. 734482[/snapback] Not that surfing while at work is not that great, especially at certain jobs, but there are a lot of things that people do on that job that you could argue that are "thefts" as well. Go get a cup of coffee, go chat with co-workers, ease up on how fast you're working when you could work harder, daydream, stare off into space, make personal phone calls, sign up for a contracting job and say you will be there or do it at specific time but instead do it late and overbudget so that you can ensure you always have a job. There's reasonable and unreasonable in all of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills_fan_in_raleigh Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 This is another request from your friendly neighborhood Buffalo News writer. Brother and sister Western New Yorkers: What kind of Net surfing are you able to do at work? Can you spend hours researching your fantasy football lineup? What about reading and posting at TwoBillsDrive, or watching YouTube videos, reading blogs or IMing or Facebooking your friends? Or, do the corporate security chieftains clamp down on the firewall, block the IMs, screen your e-mail and generally crack down on your Net access? Do they have good reason to block you? Have you ever spent half of your working day planning your vacation itinerary, uploading photos to Flickr or checking your e-mail every 5 minutes? I would really like to hear from Western New Yorkers about their experiences Net surfing at work. (We can keep your name out of the article if it’s necessary for you to go unidentified in order to tell me the good stuff.) My story is for First Sunday magazine, and my deadline is the end of August. Please feel free to reply here or e-mail: GConnors@buffnews.com. Thanks! Greg Connors 734447[/snapback] Work whats that oops boss just walked in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drnykterstein Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 Please don't publish my name, if you find this info useful. I do all sorts of internet surfing at work. Its rediculous. I keep up with news and sports. I do actually commish a fantasy league during work hours. Sometimes I play net games while getting payed. It's kind of crazy and very counter productive. But it's fun and the company lets me get away with it so I do it. My boss even catches me surfing on different sites sometimes and has never said a word. My job is working on a computer though so it's natural for me to need to surf the net, especially when researching things. Sometimes (often actually) I just get sucked into different websites and before I know it another hour at work has gone by. Yes the (large) majority of my TDB posts happen on work time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 Not that surfing while at work is not that great, especially at certain jobs, but there are a lot of things that people do on that job that you could argue that are "thefts" as well. Go get a cup of coffee, go chat with co-workers, ease up on how fast you're working when you could work harder, daydream, stare off into space, make personal phone calls, sign up for a contracting job and say you will be there or do it at specific time but instead do it late and overbudget so that you can ensure you always have a job. There's reasonable and unreasonable in all of this. 734540[/snapback] How about that plumber you've hired? Different standards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 How about that plumber you've hired? Different standards? 734560[/snapback] You're comparing apples to oranges. If the plumber is hired by the hour, then he shouldn't be surfing the net. If I hire him to fix a problem, then I don't care how long he takes doing it, as long as he finishes by the time I tell him to be done at (ie: Fix the problem today). That's how my job works -- I'm salaried, so get paid to do a job. If I can get all my work in the week done in 30 hours, cool. If it takes me 60 hours, then that's what it takes. Also, lots of people are in IT - so we have time to wait while patches are being installed, software is being updated, etc, etc, so sneaking a peek at the net every now and then isn't a big deal. When I first started my new job (5 months ago), my manager said to not worry about it if he walks by and I'm viewing a personal website. "As long as you're not viewing porn or playing poker online, I don't care." I responded with, "But blackjack is ok? " CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkady Renko Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 How about that plumber you've hired? Different standards? 734560[/snapback] It seems like you did not even read my post. No, there would not be different standards; it is just a different situation.The standard for all is working reasonably hard. Depending on your job there are different pitfalls of someone cheating you out of what you paid them. For a plumber it would sitting around the whole time unreasonably. Taking breaks b/c it's hard work or taking his time to do it is all about it being reasonable. It really depends on the situation anyway. If you got a jury I am sure most people can agree on what is reasonable and what is not. Salaried jobs, for example, where it is all about the work product and hours are not set--for example a professor... there could be a helluvalot more Internet surfing that would be okay. I think at the end of the day, people know if they put in a good day's work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cromagnum Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 Not that surfing while at work is not that great, especially at certain jobs, but there are a lot of things that people do on that job that you could argue that are "thefts" as well. Go get a cup of coffee, go chat with co-workers, ease up on how fast you're working when you could work harder, daydream, stare off into space, make personal phone calls, sign up for a contracting job and say you will be there or do it at specific time but instead do it late and overbudget so that you can ensure you always have a job. There's reasonable and unreasonable in all of this. 734540[/snapback] I am a construction subcontractor....For 15 years 5 to 6 days averaging 12 or more hours... Loadup in the morning, read the map and drive to where the job is at....When at the site,work till we needed a food break, and then back to work.. Sometimes we worked and goofed off, play trick's like mind games or put eachother down, mostly just work...The only reason I am able to be on the net,like now, is,I run a crew from my home..The crew workers have a choice, be productive and get the job done on time or early, or goof off while working, and stay late to finish the job, cuz tommorow they have another job on another street to finish....Well, that's my Blue Collar job, could be better ,could be worse. Now get back to work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin in Va Beach Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 Work smarter not harder! No one on their death bed ever thinks "Gee, I should have spent more time at the office"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kegtapr Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 Work smarter not harder! No one on their death bed ever thinks "Gee, I should have spent more time at the office"... 734593[/snapback] Unless they cut out early and got hit by a car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 . I think at the end of the day, people know if they put in a good day's work. 734572[/snapback] And the payer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erynthered Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 And the payer? 734768[/snapback] You'd be awfully lonely here if everyone heeded your advice. (hold on a minute) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erynthered Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 OK, I'm back. I had to go and kick the ever lovin shiit out of that lazy piece of shiit plumber you recommended. What were we talking about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkady Renko Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 And the payer? 734768[/snapback] What about the payer? At some point the payer has to either examine the work product or trust the employee or contractor did his job with reasonable diligence. I have done some brief stints in managing other people when I was in college and constantly monitoring if they were working didn't usually work. Treating people like adults doing work that has value usually motivates someone more than fear of being caught slacking off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkady Renko Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 Wait... I think we are getting off-topic here. What's the deal, we getting worked up over some fake newspaper reporter? EDIT: Oh wait, I most have misread. I guess he's legit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 OK, I'm back. I had to go and kick the ever lovin shiit out of that lazy piece of shiit plumber you recommended. What were we talking about? 734777[/snapback] The pipes, the pipes, they are calling... from glen to glen... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cromagnum Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 The pipes, the pipes, they are calling... from glen to glen... 734790[/snapback] New Invention poeple of Rome, we got plumbing, it will pipe the sh-- right out of your house Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts