PH in Shropshire Star!
Discussion
shropshire star said:
The price of web misuse
A quick game of patience may have landed Councillor Gillian Chaplin in hot water, but NATHAN ROUS asks if we're all a little guilty of abusing computers
Along with grabbing the essential morning brew, logging on to your e-mails is probably the first port of call for office workers across Shropshire as they sit back in front of the computer screen for another day's toil.
How this feature appears in today's paper
A peek at the internet isn't uncommon (this may be a futile exercise but here I'd like to stress to my employers that this activity is restricted to break times or post-work downtime), while engaging in e-mail banter with friends inside and outside of work is the rule rather than the exception.
Thankfully most of us know when to stop. However, a new survey suggests not everyone is as conscientious.
Research suggests that workers spend two hours a day sending personal e-mails, booking holidays, catching up on the news from their football team and buying gifts. Indeed, for some Shropshire councillors, the odd computer game comes into play too.
Gillian Chaplin was attending a meeting at Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council on Monday when an eagle-eyed member of the public spotted the game on her screen.
Now businesses are beginning to wake up to computer misuse, says Richard Jarrott, policy advisor at Shropshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
"Internal messaging is a massive time-wasting issue at the moment," he says. "Naturally there are some uses, particularly to improve communication with colleagues who don't work in the same office, but businesses have to be aware of the problems it can cause.
"If you can trust your staff implicitly then it shouldn't be difficult to control, but all too often we're hearing stories of the facility being abused - and it's costing companies millions in lost output."
Yet the policing of work computers has raised ethical concerns as well as practical ones - employees hitting out at the perceived introduction of Big Brother-style measures.
But Richard is uncompromising.
"There is nothing in law to stop employers actively monitoring computer usage - after all, it is their equipment they are using.
"However, employees must be made aware of an IT policy otherwise firms are on dodgy ground if it came to any disciplinary procedures."
Ford became one of the first to instill a crackdown among its workforce - giving UK staff two weeks to remove pornographic and other offensive material from computers in a clean-up amnesty.
In Shropshire, too, there have been many moves to cut-out non-work use of computers.
Four years ago, North Shropshire District Council established a new e-mail and internet code of practice, banning all councillors and staff from personal use of e-mail and web facilities while at work.
Then chief executive Rod Hughes said: "It's for business use, it's not for personal use. The whole point of this decision is to ensure that we keep this equipment for business use."
It's not easy to hide your trail. You may think your screen is for your eyes only but sophisticated monitoring equipment proves otherwise.
Steve Nichols, head of InfoTech Communications, recently completed a study on internet activity of the top 100 FTSE companies. A closer look at one in particular revealed some astounding stats.
"The logs show the top 250 users by number of sites visited and the amount of time spent surfing," he reveals.
"The top prize went to one user who had spent 99 hours online in the previous month. That wasn't 99 hours just connected, but 99 hours actively surfing away from site to site - a grand total of 106,000 pages in all.
"Even the 250th top user had spent 18 hours surfing and had visited 12,600 pages."
But the statistics can show much more. They can also show the sites mostly frequently visited and the terms most often searched for.
"While you could understand Google hitting the big time, eBay, Autotrader and Sky all made it into the top 20 most-visited sites. But it's harder to explain away sites like Friends Reunited, www.pistonheads.com or www.dogpages.org.uk."
It's not all bad news. Although many will echo Richard's thoughts about the misuse of computers, not everyone sings from the same hymn sheet.
Scientists from the University of Utrecht discovered that playing simple computer games in the office could actually benefit both employers and their staff.
Research leader Professor Jeffrey Goldstein argued that playing games might lift employee productivity, job satisfaction or reduce absenteeism.
"Simple computer games like Solitaire and Minesweeper have social advantages because they are fun, they provide distraction and involvement, and elements of competition against yourself and others," he said.
Original Article
You know you've hit the big time when you're mentioned alongside www.dogpages.co.uk 
jeremyc said:
You know you've hit the big time when you're mentioned alongside <a href="www.dogpages.co.uk"><a href="www.dogpages.co.uk">www.dogpages.co.uk</a></a>
Ph is much better than dogpages Ted.
Edited to say.. Oh, Dogpages is not a dating site. Whoops.
>> Edited by vixpy1 on Wednesday 10th August 23:42
well.. I am glad to say I rarely frequent this site, and as such, my employer can be happy in the knowledge that my time is well spent!
(well done Ted... It wouldn't be getting mentioned in the same breath as weirdo's reunited, and I'vegotapet.com if it wasn't such a great site! Pat on the back dude!)
And what do they mean "its hard to explain away pistonheads"? They are infidels!!!
>> Edited by andy mac on Wednesday 10th August 23:54
(well done Ted... It wouldn't be getting mentioned in the same breath as weirdo's reunited, and I'vegotapet.com if it wasn't such a great site! Pat on the back dude!)
And what do they mean "its hard to explain away pistonheads"? They are infidels!!!
>> Edited by andy mac on Wednesday 10th August 23:54
Why not just merge the 2 and be done with it ....
www.dogheads.com
K
P.S. - I've just checked it and it is a legit site !!!!
www.dogheads.com
K
P.S. - I've just checked it and it is a legit site !!!!
mybrainhurts said:
Not forgetting the trusty old www.doggingheads.com
There's no way I'm clicking on that
article said:
"The top prize went to one user who had spent 99 hours online in the previous month. That wasn't 99 hours just connected, but 99 hours actively surfing away from site to site - a grand total of 106,000 pages in all.
Sounds like a challenge to me, I reckon I could just about beat that some weeks...
shropshire star said:
But it's harder to explain away sites like www.pistonheads.com
They really have no idea do they?
I feel a letter coming on.Kinky said:
Why not just merge the 2 and be done with it ....
www.dogheads.com
K
P.S. - I've just checked it and it is a legit site !!!!
yep...it is a legit site with good advice it seems;
(quote from dogheads....)
Even the most experienced frontiersman does well to carry a compass, as well as matches, whenever in the bush if only to save time and energy
and......
Now is your chance! The moment you feel the tip of your nose touch her scalp, purse your lips and kiss her, the while you inhale a deep breath of air that is redolent with the exquisite odor of her hair. It is then but a few inches to her ear. Touch the rim of her ear with your lips in a sort of brushing motion. Breathe gently into the delicate shell. Some women react passionately to this subtle act.
.......whilst others tie you to the bed and get the cane out eh Tweaky !!!!!
Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff