Access Denied

25 Oct

The internets at work have gone on complete lockdown of late and its driving me crazy. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube have always been blocked as long as I’ve been there. I could care less about Facebook or MySpace as I logged off of FB a year ago and was never on MS. But every so often someone will send a funny clip that’s hosted on YouTube or there’s a trending topic I’d like to follow on Twitter but I can’t get to either because they’re blocked. That wasn’t so bad because there were other sites to check out. That is, until recently.

The last few weeks have seen a wide variety of sites and pictures blocked. In addition to the social networking sites being denied, these have also been added to the list:

I am going to ask that the last one be given a reprieve as I use it often when sending large files to people outside our organization. We do have FTP sites set up, but they’re horrible and are down more often than not.

It’s not just sites being blocked. Images on sites that I read on my Google Reader are also restricted. Most posts from Crazy Days and Nights have pictures in them, but all I see in my reader is white space where the picture should be. When I actually visit the CDAN site, all of the pictures on there show up as white boxes.

I know, it’s my employer’s prerogative to block any sites they wish to. But this is getting a wee bit ridiculous. For now, webmail is still allowed, but I keep waiting to get the company’s big “this page cannot be accessed from our premises” screen. I always feel like the kid who got caught with their hand in the cookie jar when I land on that screen. I could try to hide behind a proxy, hide my ass seems to be the popular choice, but I don’t want to piss off the IT people.

If webmail does get blocked, I guess I’ll have to learn how to communicate with smoke signals.

Related posts:

  1. Verbal Diarrhea
  2. Grumblings and the Grapevine
  3. Helping Hand
  4. Mixed Bag
  5. Office Revamp
  6. A Star is Born
  7. This and That
  8. Bored, Not Busy

6 Responses to “Access Denied”

  1. Syd 26. Oct, 2009 at 10:28 AM #

    It has to be said…your IT people are Nazis.

    And if it weren’t blocked, I’d send you a hilarious video of Hitler finding out that we are calling each other Nazis and he’s pissed.

    • liz 26. Oct, 2009 at 8:23 PM #

      They certainly are acting like it. It’s really been out of nowhere that all of the sites have been denied. I don’t know if they’ve upgraded their web filtering software and it’s “enhanced” or what the deal is. Whatever it is, it sucks!

  2. Sage 26. Oct, 2009 at 12:34 PM #

    I am sure all employers will start doing this..it is all a matter of time.

    • liz 26. Oct, 2009 at 8:24 PM #

      I know a lot of people who’s employer’s block sites. Although most people say its just webmail and Facebook that are blocked. At my brother’s work, all external sites are off-limits. The only thing they can access is their intranet. Needless to say, he’s got a data plan on his phone (I think).

  3. e 26. Oct, 2009 at 6:01 PM #

    I don’t think my employer has the time to find all of the sites they should be blocking. But, occasionally I am surprised by the “Blocked Access” screen. As for me, I don’t have the time to blog at home so I sure as hell hope they don’t cut me off at work!

    • liz 26. Oct, 2009 at 8:26 PM #

      You could blog by smoke signals! LOL

      I think WordPress has a feature where you can post an entry using your e-mail, maybe Blogger has a similar feature?