Kristin wrote:
> Eric Binary Anderson, programmer columnist for ENT Magazine is a Pointy
> Haired Boss. At least he openly advocated in his column that employers
> take fascist measures to keep their programmers (their SMARTEST People)
> productive by heavily restricting their use of non work related internet
> sites. If this happened to me (well if I WERE a programmer) I woudl
> immediatelhy QUIT. I would lead a whole sale revolt. Besides, programmers
> are the smartest users and theyll find a way to hack around it. This is
> INSULTING To the intelligence and high education of people who become
> programmers treating them like CHILDREN!!!!! Surfwatch Etc, Corporate
> Filtering is Fascist!!!
Quick question, Kristin. Who's paying for (a) the time programmers spend
surfing and (b) the bandwidth they use up while surfing?
I'm in management at a national telecommunications company, and my company
allows employees to use the internet at work, with the caveat that non-work
related surfing be done at lunch and on breaks. I don't enforce this to the
letter with my staff, but I do keep an eye on their productivity. I know
when they're working efficiently and when they're slacking - I have to. If
they're spending their entire shift surfing and not doing their job, I have
two immediate problems. (1) Money comes out of my department's budget to
pay someone for *NOT* working and (2) I run a very real risk of a major
failure occurring somewhere on the network that could cost my company
>>MILLIONS<< of dollars. Neither one helps my company's bottom line, and if
the bottom line isn't good, I don't get a bonus, and I could lose my job. I
have a family, and I'm not going to put their welfare on the line for some
lazy (@#&#_@(& to goof off.
If I ran a software company, I'd do the same thing. Software companies do
not exist to keep programmers supplied with money to buy action figures and
killer game systems. They make software to sell. If they have no software
to sell, they make no money. If they make no money, they can't pay the
programmers, and the programmers have to sell their Playstations to survive.
Thus, while I don't really enjoy all aspects of corporate life, I'm
comfortable with the trade off. I'm willing to forgo surfing the web in
exchange for a paycheck, which gives me food, shelter and comic books.
> I just sent him a totally flaming hate letter from a hotmail account
> threatening to tell people on something like Slashdot what an assheaded
> idea i think this is.
Be prepared to get flamed back, unless he decides to just killfile you.
Adam C. Lipscomb
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
ICQ# 32384792
