The Dope is being blocked at work! Waaaa!!!!

Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
#1

Somebody must have done some surfing that the Big Man didn’t approve of, because this morning I found to my dismay that they’ve instituted a really harsh filter. Anything categorized as “entertainment” or “shopping” or “streaming media” is blocked. The Dope is blocked, and I’m pretty sure any other bulletin boards would be, too. Basically, I can read the news (but not any streaming video) and not much else.

I’m really ticked, because I’ve always tried to avoid going anywhere that might be seen as inappropriate. I mostly read the Dope before work and during lunch, so I’m probably not going to be hanging around here much, unless they ease up a bit.

#2

I have worked at places where the dope was blocked too. It sucks, and I feel for you. Maybe there is someone you could talk to about why they are blocking everything all of the sudden?

#3

I’ve had that happen at places I’ve worked in the past. I wouldn’t say anything immediately. Someone’s got their panties in a wad right now.

Wait a couple of weeks and try to present the Dope as a news site!
LOL, since it is the first week of NFL season, I’d guess too much time got spent on fantasy football sites. If they ever start blocking a lot of sites at my work, that would be the reason.

#4

See my post in this thread.

#5

That might just be it! There are a couple of guys in a fantasy football league, including my supervisor. And it’s no secret that fantasy footballers spend an insane amount of time and effort on their “hobby.” The boss might be trying to shut that crap down without singling anyone out.

#6

I often see advertised USBs like this one which allegedly allow you to surf anonymously and avoid all of the unpleasantness about blocked sites. What’s the Straight Dope on these? Do they work? Are they risky?

#7

Might Key seems like another popular one. Do these things work?

#8

(shame-filled confession)

I, uh, got the entire internet banned from my computer for surfing too much. :oops:

#9

That’s a bummer! One day at work, everyone but me could get on the internet. I thought I was banned and I got all embarrassed. It turns out that I didn’t do anything naughty, and the network was just having problems.

#10

Neither of those do anything for getting past site blocks. Nor will they hide your surfing from your network admins at work.

#11

The Dope came up blocked once at work. It was a lonely midnight shift, about 2AM, so I figured what the hell, I’ll lodge a complaint. I call the ‘help’ number for the IT company down in texas we contract with, and I am told that my director would have to approve having a site unblocked. I mention the site I want is the Straight Dope, and the operator tells me “hang on a second…”.

I wait anxiously. After about 4 minutes, the operator comes back and says “There is nothing we can do… um… but it never hurts to keep trying the site. Have a nice night.”

I check the Dope agian, and it works! Dollars to donuts says at least one of those IT guys is a doper and understands the pain of having this place blocked at work. If you are reading this, mystery IT person: thank you!

#12

It depends on how your network at work is set up. At my job, it would work, but we are going to implement a new firewall that will prevent it from working (Heh, but since I’m one of the IT guys that will be implementing the firewall, it won’t make a difference to me.).

FYI, there are free programs you can find with a little research that you can run on a generic flash drive that will do the same thing as the item listed above.