Rhone1998 Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 My access to donrockwell.com got blocked at work today. Don thought it would be a good idea to post about it here. What's most annoying is that the error message that came up said something about the site being alcohol related -- I'm guessing it's the "Beer and Wine" board off the main page that's causing it -- so it's not that it's a non work-related site, it's that some person or some piece of software is judging this content to be inappropriate. Ugh. What stupidity. Has this happened to anyone else? Most importantly, is there any reasonable way around it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KMango Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 How locked down is the config on your work computer? I.e, are you able to load your own software, change system settings, etc.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhone1998 Posted February 2, 2010 Author Share Posted February 2, 2010 How locked down is the config on your work computer? I.e, are you able to load your own software, change system settings, etc.? I can download and install software...I don't know about system settings. I don't really mess with my work computer much. I'm also reluctant to download something that's going to draw attention to myself...I know our IT department is pretty big brother-ish and monitors content and programs on our systems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escoffier Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Has this happened to anyone else? Most importantly, is there any reasonable way around it? If you have a smartphone, you can read it from there. If your company is smart enough to monitor your machine, they're smart enough to block outside proxy servers and other methods to get around the content filtering. (I'm not saying it can't be done, just that there are simple ways and there are complicated, involved ways. How much is the trouble worth to you?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 If it's really just the one board that's the source of the problem, the rss feeds are broken down by subforums. I suppose access through a reader is probably also blocked because it's still resolving to the same address. Another board I post on has a tendency to be blocked by filters because of its name, and for a while, one of the admins had set it up so people with that problem could go directly to the IP address. I don't know how feasible (or relevant) that is here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escoffier Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Another board I post on has a tendency to be blocked by filters because of its name, and for a while, one of the admins had set it up so people with that problem could go directly to the IP address. I don't know how feasible (or relevant) that is here. If they're doing content filtering, it doesn't matter how you connect. The only way to connect will be on something that's not attached to your work network (that may be the only way to connect period). Content filtering appliances like BlueCoat use DNS to filter and once the IP address is added, it blocks the site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcs Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Have you considered quitting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaofun Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Depending on how your web filters work, your best option would be using a VPN. I had to do that when I worked at a .gov to use chat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhone1998 Posted February 2, 2010 Author Share Posted February 2, 2010 If you have a smartphone, you can read it from there. posting this from my first gen iPhone using AT&T's state of the art (yea, right) Edge network. It's taken me 7 minutes to do this. Ugh, this stinks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanMike Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 My company started blocking the whole domain. To fix this, I read it from home. No offense to Don, but it ain't worth my job to read the forums. And hey, they block my blog, too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 My company started blocking the whole domain. To fix this, I read it from home. No offense to Don, but it ain't worth my job to read the forums. And hey, they block my blog, too... No offense taken - I'd block it too! P.S. Who in the hell is your company? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcs Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 This web blocking can be so random. My company's filter just blocked this link: snowpocalypsedc.com I cannot imagine why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanMike Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 This web blocking can be so random. My company's filter just blocked this link: (snowpocalypsedc.com) I cannot imagine why. Ha! I sent that link to our HR department suggesting it might help! Anyways, it appears to me that donrockwell.com has enough - uh - infamy (maybe?) that it's in the default block list for some web filters if they block alcohol-related sites (such as Blue Coat). My company just put in a custom message, but yeah, it's the booze. I'm betting that removing the Beer/Wine board (or moving it) wouldn't help unless it was on a completely different IP/domain name. And even then, you have people talking about wine and such elsewhere... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhone1998 Posted February 5, 2010 Author Share Posted February 5, 2010 Ha! I sent that link to our HR department suggesting it might help! Anyways, it appears to me that donrockwell.com has enough - uh - infamy (maybe?) that it's in the default block list for some web filters if they block alcohol-related sites (such as Blue Coat). My company just put in a custom message, but yeah, it's the booze. I'm betting that removing the Beer/Wine board (or moving it) wouldn't help unless it was on a completely different IP/domain name. And even then, you have people talking about wine and such elsewhere... This is America, right? Sorry, this is just so incredibly stupid and makes me so angry...How can a company tell its (adult) employees that it's ok to take a break to visit a sports-related site but not one that discusses food and drink? Aaargh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanMike Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 This is America, right? Sorry, this is just so incredibly stupid and makes me so angry...How can a company tell its (adult) employees that it's ok to take a break to visit a sports-related site but not one that discusses food and drink? Aaargh. It's their equipment, their bills, etc. They can pick and choose whatever they want to let you hit or not. I have no problem with my company or any other company blocking sites like this. After all, it does not help my productivity to have DonRockwell.com open all day (to be honest). I do have a problem when the company blocks the security site I'm trying to get to for an RFP as "hacking tools" - but that's directly impacting my ability to do my job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhone1998 Posted February 6, 2010 Author Share Posted February 6, 2010 After all, it does not help my productivity to have DonRockwell.com open all day (to be honest). But this is my point...it's not a productivity issue. If it were, then block all non-work related sites. No, they're making a judgment about what I should be reading when I'm being unproductive... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 But this is my point...it's not a productivity issue. If it were, then block all non-work related sites. No, they're making a judgment about what I should be reading when I'm being unproductive... YEAH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcs Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 But this is my point...it's not a productivity issue. If it were, then block all non-work related sites. No, they're making a judgment about what I should be reading when I'm being unproductive... I just make sure I bring a good book to work with me every day. When they unjustly block a site I think is fine, I just spend the next half hour reading. That will teach them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leleboo Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 I just make sure I bring a good book to work with me every day. When they unjustly block a site I think is fine, I just spend the next half hour reading. That will teach them. We're not allowed to do that. Given that our work is really cyclical in terms of demand, though, we do get credit for knowing how to look busy when we're not. (Anyone curious how I did all that index work, yet?) I would storm into IT if they blocked this site and threaten them. Fortunately, I have an in; I'm the tech-savvy one in my department and usually solve the little problems so they don't have to. And if that failed, I'd cook for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KMango Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 I don't see a few minutes on these or other message boards as any different than team members taking a quick break to chat with colleagues, get coffee, etc. If you're managing to results and not draconian clock-punching, you don't care about micro-minute stuff. As a work day "refreshment", rock on. Pun intended. (ssh is your friend) (putty.exe, anyone?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 I don't see a few minutes on these or other message boards as any different than team members taking a quick break to chat with colleagues, get coffee, etc. If you're managing to results and not draconian clock-punching, you don't care about micro-minute stuff. As a work day "refreshment", rock on. Pun intended. (ssh is your friend) (putty.exe, anyone?) Underrated website statistic: "Average duration per visit." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escoffier Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 I don't see a few minutes on these or other message boards as any different than team members taking a quick break to chat with colleagues, get coffee, etc. If you're managing to results and not draconian clock-punching, you don't care about micro-minute stuff. As a work day "refreshment", rock on. Pun intended. (ssh is your friend) (putty.exe, anyone?) The IP address is blocked...you can try putty or any other program you wish..as long as you're going through their firewall/content filtering system, you're not doing anything but wasting your (and the companies) time. Content filters don't care how you approach them...unless you can figure out a way to get past the filter, you're just wasting your time....(and companies can block totally arbitrarily and capriciously and do...you'll never figure out the strange structure of Net Nanny or BlueCoat). If you feel you really can't make it through 8 hours without a DR fix, either buy or use a Smartphone... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcs Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 If you feel you really can't make it through 8 hours without a DR fix, either buy or use a Smartphone... Maybe I need a 12 step program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inox Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 If they're doing content filtering, it doesn't matter how you connect. The only way to connect will be on something that's not attached to your work network (that may be the only way to connect period). Content filtering appliances like BlueCoat use DNS to filter and once the IP address is added, it blocks the site. You need a friend or account that gives you ssh access to a remote server. They need to have not blocked that box's IP. Then, use something like Tunnelier (http://www.bitvise.com/tunnelier) that has an internal proxy server. You can forward any connections to the proxy over the ssh connection and they won't see what you're doing. Of course, you have to configure each program to use the proxy. That's also the basic answer; you also need to account for things like changing Firefox's network.proxy.socks_remote_dns to 'true' to avoid leaking DNS queries. You can also do this stuff without a program like Tunnelier, but it's more complicated...and I didn't even really go into how to do it the easy way. Basically, if your company is implementing things like Bluecoats, it's time to look for an organization that places a little more trust in its employees, and/or manages to results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhone1998 Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 My access to donrockwell.com got blocked at work today. Don thought it would be a good idea to post about it here. What's most annoying is that the error message that came up said something about the site being alcohol related -- I'm guessing it's the "Beer and Wine" board off the main page that's causing it -- so it's not that it's a non work-related site, it's that some person or some piece of software is judging this content to be inappropriate. Ugh. What stupidity. Has this happened to anyone else? Most importantly, is there any reasonable way around it? And,...just like that...a little more than a year later, donrockwell.com is no longer blocked at work. I'm guessing they installed new monitoring software that isn't catching this site like the old one was? Who knows. Maybe I've become such a bigwig at my organization in the last year that they let me visit whatever sites I want in my downtime. Yea, right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanMike Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 And,...just like that...a little more than a year later, donrockwell.com is no longer blocked at work. I'm guessing they installed new monitoring software that isn't catching this site like the old one was? Who knows. Maybe I've become such a bigwig at my organization in the last year that they let me visit whatever sites I want in my downtime. Yea, right. Same thing happened at my company. Maybe Blue Coat re-categorized it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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