Eyes in imprisoned Europe turned hopefully, or desperately, toward the freedom of the Americas.
Ah, the classics. You shouldn't really mess with the classics, even when they end wrong. And freedom…well, how can you go wrong with that?
And yet, some companies in their mighty wisdom and small intellect have done just that. Apparently a survey showed that something like 90% of employers wanted to block their wage slaves from accessing online games from "work" machines. First…this is a surprise? Someone spent money on this? Apparently someone who believes that all non-work interests can be checked at the door and who missed that "computers = fun way to spend your time" memo handed out, oh, 20 years ago. And who uses phrases like "unnecessary burden on company bandwidth" (they're clearly not sharing my webhosting company... someday, someday when the victory and paycheck are mine I'm going to spring for the bright shiny account with bells, whistles, and dancing girls. Till then I'd rather eat something other than ramen noodle and simply deal with the amusing world of low rent quantized chaos).
So what's the point to this magnificent example of effective business information management? To sell software of course! I spent much of my morning installing a new anti-virus that specifically targets Second Life. Because everyone knows that Second Life is the pinnacle of excitement for the cubby dwellers of the world and now even this tiny cushion of unreality is being pulled out from under their butts (caution, if you slip in that puddle of irony you'll probably break something. And if your office is blocking your favorite alternate life space you wont even be able to share your pain.). No more virtual café sitting, library browsing, and face time in the forum for them! Oh no…time to focus on whatever it is you're being paid to focus on and stop wasting those corporate resources.
Freedom…what a flirt.
Posted by StuR on March 20, 2007 07:54 PM | Permalink