What is your favourite browser and why?

[DeadPoolX]

Opera takes a while to get used to and even though I've been using it (as an alternate browser sometimes), I still don't feel as comfortable with it as I do Firefox or Chrome. I do know MOST of its features, so if you'd like to give Opera another shot and have some questions, you can send them my way. I can't promise I'll always know the answer, but I might be able to help.

Oh yeah... one thing I really like about Chrome is "incognito mode." That allows you to go anywhere without recording information on Chrome (i.e. no cookies, cache, etc) and blocks other sites from readily recognizing you. It's not perfect by any means, but it's still useful. A lot of people have nicknamed this feature "p0rn mode."

[Jules]

Ooo could it let me view blocked gaming sites at work?

[DeadPoolX]

I don't think that has anything to do with your browser. Your network at work is probably blocking certain sites.

[Jules]

Wishful thinking.

[DeadPoolX]

I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHATEVER OCCURS IF YOU (OR ANYONE) DECIDES TO DO THIS AT THEIR WORK.

If you REALLY want to view websites outside of what your network allows, you can do the following:

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In Notepad, type:
@echo off
command.com
pause

Now save that as a *.BAT file. Double-click on your new BAT file and type

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 net user NAME/ ADD

Replace NAME with the name of the account you'd like to make.

If you want Administrator access, type

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net localgroup administrator NAME /ADD

and once again, replace NAME to give your new account a name. Your network might use "administrator", "administrators" or "admin" so you might have to experiment a little.

If you want to give that account a password, enter in

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net user NAME *

and when it asks, type in whatever password you want.

To get rid of this account, type in

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net user NAME /DELETE

Another trick you can try is typing in

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ping www.youtube.com

You should see a URL appear within the command prompt window. Copy the IP address into your browser and you SHOULD be able to now see that website.

[Jules]

As much as I would LOVE to try it, corporate would be on my butt if my machine threw a red flag on their system!

[DeadPoolX]

I wouldn't do it, either. Although I think I pulled that trick at the neighborhood rec center. But that's a lot different from work.

[Collector]

That would be a good way to get fired. Almost certain to be noticed, if successful. It is not likely to work in a corporate environment, besides. You would need to have to have admin rights just to run it. Those machines are always locked down so tight that you would not be able to run such scripts. User accounts are so heavily restricted that you cannot even bring up the command prompt. Also, you would need to use cmd.com, not the old command.com, which is missing on some versions of Windows.

If all you want to do is get around blocked sites, much easier and safer to just use a proxy site. Not that likely that likely that you would be caught, unless they walked in on you or were remotely logged into your machine at that time. Of course look through your browser cache after the fact.

[Jules]

I tried proxy sites... they're blocked too.

Sometimes I'll use my blackberry but everything is slower and a little tedious to maneuver.

[DeadPoolX]

Well, yeah... you probably would get fired. I wasn't suggesting anyone do it, but if someone felt the urge to try, go for it.

Oh and about having access to the cmd prompt. You don't need it or admin rights (or at least, I've never needed them). I've pulled this off at the rec center and NONE of the community computers allowed admin rights and/or users to access the cmd prompt.

That's part of the reason for this little trick -- if you had admin access and could bring up the cmd prompt, there'd be no reason to do it.

Even so, none of this is a good idea where work is concerned.

[Collector]

Not that I don't believe you were able too, and not to belabor the point, but either those PCs had old versions of Windows (maybe even 9x?) or they were not locked down right. If you don't believe me, open the Group Policy Editor and go to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Prevent access to the command prompt > Double click and choose "Enabled". Then try your script. You will get the message "The command prompt has been disabled by your administrator." But then, it would not surprise me if a community center had old machines and/or didn't know how to properly lock down a PC.

[DeadPoolX]

You're probably right -- the rec center wouldn't have had the best security. I doubt they even thought of it.

I know they were using XP, but as you said, the computers may not have been locked down securely.

[Rath Darkblade]

I wouldn't try this at work. Then again, I'm almost right next to my boss's office (it's a very small company, less than 10 people) so just about everything the boss doesn't want to do falls on my desk. I'm sometimes the go-to person for the entire company - everyone comes to me for help, whether help with databases, payments (I'm the accounts receivable officer or 'acc rec'), or even picking up an extra key to the office or a cake (like today, when I basically organised and carried out a going-away part for someone).

All right, so I'm flattered sometimes to be the go-to guy. But sometimes I'm just so insanely busy with my own work (like I said, I'm the 'acc rec' guy - I'm in charge of sending out bills, collecting payments, chasing debtors etc.)... anyway, sometimes I'm just so busy that I don't have the time for my own work. But I don't like saying no to work colleagues.

Yes, it's possible (even probable) that they want to make themselves look good by using my skills. But in an office this small - the boss is within shouting distance of everyone on my floor - I think my boss knows what's happening and probably won't let it continue.

Any advice?

[Jules]

Either see this in a good way or a bad way – you’re the most reliable worker at the company and actually work harder than anyone else. They’ve found someone to dump their hard work on so they can relax a little better.

What happens if you would say that you’re busy and don’t have time to run their errand? “I’m sorry but I’m buried under this work and I can’t manage to take my mind off of it, *smile*.” Have you ever declined an offer and said that you’re busy?

From experience, usually small business are not too inclined to change their ways. In a larger company, things can get lost in communication, so to speak, where people can screw off, lie, and take advantage - and it’s quite simple to hide it under the radar.

Since I don’t know how your boss is, he’s either going to not help you out (because he’s too content with dumping his unattractive work on your desk), he will pretend to look like he's honestly listening and not do anything about it, or he will do something about it. (my guess is the second option)

If he doesn’t listen, I’d give him three tries – three times to say something about it. After that, I’d start looking for another job.

For the work that you’re supposed to do, you should do all the trivial errands first and when your boss asks why the important stuff isn’t done, you can use the excuse that people want too much from you!

[DeadPoolX]

Maia's in that situation, too. She's the only one in her office who understands computers (or technology in general). It's not that her coworkers couldn't learn it, but they have no desire to learn. Maia's made printed instructions for them and shown them how to do it in-person and online.

In fact, Maia spends a lot of her time correcting and editing the poor job others do. Maia's told me they often do really stupid things, such as putting orange text on a white background for an e-news letter. I think anyone with half a brain could realize when something is difficult to see or read. But then again... from what I've been told, maybe having half a brain is too much.