

About that Cranky IT guy. - blhack
http://gibsonandlily.com/blogs/48

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mseebach
There are some truths in there, but he's committing the exact same sin he's
criticising the manager for: He couldn't care less what they do, except to
conclude that it's worthless.

He doesn't want to be called the IT-guy, but managers are invariably fools for
asking for help that falls slightly out of the job description.

He is justifying reading blogs about cats because he was up until 1 am, but
the managers secret about spending half the day watching ESPN "is safe with
him". Seriously? Like a manager never had to work late?

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ivenkys
Why is this even on HN , i would have thought HN is simply not the right
audience for that particular piece.

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Dilpil
Actually, most of us have not memorized the solution to every problem. We are
simply more able and willing to apply logic to situations involving computer
problems.

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tptacek
_Don't worry, your secret addiction to 1960s era russian dancing dolls is safe
with us!_

This line pissed me off. I don't trust the feds to safely handle private
communications, and they have textbook-sized regulations. The IT guys? They're
literally joking about it. Hah-hah! I see what you're browsing too. Don't
worry! I won't tell! Hee hee!

~~~
antonovka
You have to reasonably expect any work communications to be open to
monitoring, be it accidental, intentional, or ancillary. The "IT guy" could be
monitoring the DNS cache logs for the purpose of debugging, and if your
request for www.russiandancingdolls.com comes along, he'll see it, and if he
has any sense of decorum, ignore it.

Given that, if you have something to hide, don't do it at work. It's no use
being pissed off about it -- it comes with the territory of shared
infrastructure.

~~~
tptacek
You're right. Just don't joke around about it. Privacy matters.

~~~
antonovka
I agree. If you have a privileged position, it is your responsibility to
ignore anything personal you come across -- insofar long as it's not illegal
or forbidden by established company policy.

I wouldn't hesitate to reprimand and/or fire a system administrator that
repeated (much less joked about) any personal information they came across in
the course of their duties.

On the other hand, as an employee, I think it's also your responsibility to
assume that any of your communications may be monitored by someone less polite
than you would prefer, and to act accordingly.

