My company doesn't check internet usage, either. That said, I strictly limit my surfing to doing research for my Fantasy Baseball team. I check out all the strategy sites, check pitching matchups to maximize the potential of my starting lineup, everything. My competitors are angry with me because they don't have the luxury of goofing off on the computer for one reason or anothher, and as a result, I'm currently in 2nd place in my league and in contention for the $500 prize. Haha!

I've never had the chance to do this (not where I work--too many damn quotas. If I slip up at all, it's because I fell asleep due to boredom), but my husband does it every day he works, for most of his day. All he does is pick up samples every two hours, sticks them in the appropriate machines, and spends the rest of the next 90 minutes or so back online reading through his favorite message boards. And it's allowed for him. Wish I could do that . . .

Be very careful with this, my friends. I used to work on the dark side (in HR), and the easiest way to get somebody out of a company is to check their Internet usage. EVERY company has a policy against inappropriate Internet usage, or using company resources for stuff other than work. Unscrupulous managers who wanted to get rid of an employee and didn't have the cojones to do any real management would do the following - 1) decide that Jane Doe wasn't a good 'fit' for their group; 2) realize that they didn't know how to manage people, and see that they needed an 'easy' way to get the person out; 3) go to IT and request the persons Internet history. It's pathetic really, but it happens. I don't mean to scare anyone, but if your company is downsizing, or you don't have a great relationship with your boss, or your boss is generally an a-hole, I would be very careful...** Also, if any company EVER tries to push you out for something as bogus as surfing the Web, don't take it. Get a lawyer. Demand to see Internet usage for each of the company's executives. Make sure that they are enforcing policies against EVERYONE. If they are not, they are discriminating against you because of _____ (you fill in the blank.)

I am soooo glad that the corporation where I used to work never bothered to check out the internet usage of employees. I generally had little to do so I checked out the net all the freakin time. I never went to porno sites or anything (I'm sure they would have caught that) but I spent a lot of time on political websites and music sites, just reading articles. It was better than doing nothing (I don't even know why they were paying me, they never made it clear what was expected of me - except periodically when they would throw a project on my desk and I would have it done within a day or so). This is a great way to pass the time, but I would be very careful. The IT departments of most corporations monitor net usage very closely, so try to limit your websurfing. And even if they don't monitor you closely, avoid porn and racist sites completely.

Yeah this is one of my biggest down falls!