Bandwidth Hogs

Liz Rizzo — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 14:52:17 -0500

Hm... My job requires that I am on the Internet - simultaneously using 3 open browser windows - all day. Many corporate tools are online tools. For example, CRM products like Sugar or SalesForce. So in those instances, I think bandwidth use would be a moot point.

Liz Rizzo

Everyday Goddess

SexySmart Blog

Re: What's All the fuss about Time-Wasters

bobafifi — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 08:48:22 -0500

It would seem to me that if a company wanted to make sure that their employees weren't surfing MySpace on their dime, rather than use a service like eTelemetry all they have to do is set the computers to only have access to approved domains (for example, computers can only connect to Apple.com).

I've seen this approach in use at stores like BestBuy on the display computers and it works well at preventing/limiting access to the Web - I know because I tried checking my Yahoo! Mail there and was blocked! :-(

-Bob
bobafifi.com

usedviolins.com

fluteplayer.net

What's All the Fuss About Time-Wasters?

Elana Centor — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 07:10:57 -0500

Normally corporate America shies away from any kind of negatively imbued verbiage, preferring instead to use a corporate speak that is equivalent to a verbal

That's why all this talk about Time Wasters has me absolutely baffled. It's so un-positive.

Usually I love negative words as much as the next person, but in this case I resent and find it very unproductive to label creative free form thinking as time wasting.

I believe taking virtual breaks on eBay, Jossip, and loopty loop are necessary daily injections required to keep the mind refreshed.

Why hasn't someone done a the study that demonstrates taking small breaks throughout the day actually promotes productivity?

Before people get their undies in a bundle about corporate time wasting they really need to consider that a Internet surfing employee is a happy employee and a happy employee is a more productive employee.

Needless to say I hold a minority position on this issue. According to a survey released sometime( they didn't date the release) AOL and salary.com found that on average- Americans "Time Waste" 2.09 hours a day--not including lunch and breaks. That was about twice as much as HR departments had guesstimated.

Natch, the Internet is being blamed for much of this Corporate Time Wasting. And, we knew that it was just a matter of time before someone would come up with a way to end all the fun.

Earlier this week it was announced that a eTelemetry, a company in the "business intelligence" sector, now has a product that can pinpoint an individuals bandwith usage. As Peejz wrote in a post on the Right Voices,

The Days Of Blogging At Work May Soon Be Over!

ETelemetry in Annapolis specializes in business intelligence, helping
firms to track their own technology infrastructure and people, to find
out whoâ€™s working diligently and whoâ€™s updating a MySpace profile or
rearranging a Netflix queue. The bane of office loafers everywhere,
eTelemetryâ€™s Metron and Locate network trackers can pinpoint individual
â€œbandwidth hogsâ€ on a companyâ€™s network, even tallying the time
individual employees spend surfing the net.

So in the spirit that you might as well get time wasting while the getting is still good, here is a list of some wonderful ways to utilize your 2.09 hours of creative thinking today.

Used Wigs quality workday distractions. Links to other great sites like the Chinese Propaganda site.

Chinese Propaganda Posters
In August, Time Magazine ran an article on listing the 50 coolest web sites in an article called Time Wasters

Also Check out Milk and Cookies and The Official Time Wasters Guide v 3.0

Check them out, because to paraphase the lyrics to the Days of Wine and Roses,

the days of time wasting laugh and run away like a child at play

Through a meadow land toward a closing door

A door marked "nevermore" that wasn't there before

This is cross-posted at FunnyBusiness,Elana's blog on business culture.

Image Credit: Flickr member magicalxpixie

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Bandwidth Hogs

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What's All the Fuss About Time-Wasters?