Steve Collins works in burst mode. So do I. One of the things that Steve mentions in his posting is that a lot of Australian Government organisations limit access to web technology - access to del.icio.us is banned in this Department, access to Skype is banned in another. This is not limited to Australia - Boing Boing has been banned in Boston.
Is this a bad thing? If it gets in the way of the way workers do their work, then yes, it is a bad thing. If I need Google Reader, then I need Google Reader, and going to the source site takes longer. And if the source site is similarly blocked, then I’ve got to wait until I get home to view it. Which is OK as long as I do not have to provide up-to-the-minute advice on what is happening in the government web space (which I do have to provide reasonably regularly).
Why is access limited? I can think of a few obvious reasons:
- legal exposure because of access to defamatory and/or offensive material: Let’s face it, not many people need access to hotlatexlolitas.com or nonaryansmustdie.info at work.
- timewasters: if you are cruising ebay all day at work for Masters of the Universe collectables when you should be getting the branch accounts done, then you are possibly wasting time.
- bandwidth: if multiple people are using multiple RIAs then there may be a legitimate bandwidth usage concern.
- Not looking busy: I went into this in The Art of Looking Busy - it is a big concern in some organisations.
I am not justifying the limitation of access. As a matter of fact, I can’t think of any real justification for limiting access to link sharing sites like del.icio.us. Most of the other justifications are superficial at best (except for limiting access porn/hate sites - I am not touching that!). Be that as it may, the restrictions are real, and we need to learn to live with them.
What can we do as technology-users when universal access isn’t universal? Two things:
- work within the current restrictions, and
- work towards increasing access.
I’ve put these two things in this order for a reason: it is easier to convince someone by demonstration - in this case, using the “forbidden” tools to their best advantage. If you need to, use your own laptop with wireless networking (accepting that this is not always possible). Show line and corporate management that these tools are vital to your work and your way of work. In the mean time, you are doing the job you came to do. And if you never convince them before you leave for your next gig, well at least you will have tried to raise their consciousness.
If you are a permanent employee, and more or less stuck where you are but want to change things, you could do worse than read Cubicle Commando by Lisa Messenger and Zern Liew. It has helped me as an intrapreneur within my current role - exactly how might have to wait for a future posting 
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