5 ms·

That'd be arguably difficult with the "no internet use for non-work tasks" restriction. I'd suggest creative writing.

by Wingman4l7 13y ago

warcode 13y ago
If self-improvement is not a "work-task", that is not a company worth working at.
- mirkules 13y ago
  The problem with working at a company like that is that by the time you realize you are stuck, you have no relevant practical experience anymore and it can be rather difficult to get hired at places that are worth working at.
  - chaostheory 13y ago
    This is why github exists. IANAL but I'm guessing when you don't use company resources, do it during off hours, and the open source work you do has no relevance to your company's industry; publishing that work to github should be fine.
    - BWStearns 13y ago
      For most sane people this is the case. But many companies' boilerplate IP clauses claim ALL of the IP generated while working at the company. The vast majority of them won't give a damn but it still exposes you legally if you are under such a clause and have a side project/contribute to opensource.
      - derekp7 13y ago
        There is an elegant way to get out of that. Approach your management (usually requires director-level approval), and say that you are doing some volunteer web site work for [insert charity] on the weekends, and they require a signed release that your employer OK's it. This can also fall under the "requires approval for moonlighting" clause in many employee handbooks. Then, assign all copyright to your opensource work to the FSF, which is a 501c organization.
- Wingman4l7 13y ago
  Well there's self improvement -- say, learning the ins and outs of internal company software; and then there is "self improvement" -- mucking about with a pet project in an esoteric language that has no bearing whatsoever on the company's bottom line and arguably does not sharpen the skill-set that they are paying you for. Not every company can afford to let employees "self-improve" on the latter level.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
chaostheory 13y ago
Learning new technology and new programming skills is not "internet use for non-work tasks". It's an expected, constant, never ending part of the job for almost anyone technical; unless they want to have stale skills in 1-2 years.
- Wingman4l7 13y ago
  I would agree with that iff the learning that you were doing was closely related to the skill-set that your company hired you for and/or one they could utilize. See my related comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6089570 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6089570
  - chaostheory 13y ago
    I strongly disagree. Learning a functional language that is very different from your language at work still has a lot of value. It can help you with patterns and even when your own language evolves. For example, Java 8 will have lambdas. If you're already familiar with it from other "esoteric" languages, it'll be very easy to take advantage of it. I'm sure others can provide better examples than I can.

That'd be arguably difficult with the "no internet use for non-work tasks" restriction. I'd suggest creative writing.

warcode 13y ago

If self-improvement is not a "work-task", that is not a company worth working at.

mirkules 13y ago
The problem with working at a company like that is that by the time you realize you are stuck, you have no relevant practical experience anymore and it can be rather difficult to get hired at places that are worth working at.
- chaostheory 13y ago
  This is why github exists. IANAL but I'm guessing when you don't use company resources, do it during off hours, and the open source work you do has no relevance to your company's industry; publishing that work to github should be fine.
  - BWStearns 13y ago
    For most sane people this is the case. But many companies' boilerplate IP clauses claim ALL of the IP generated while working at the company. The vast majority of them won't give a damn but it still exposes you legally if you are under such a clause and have a side project/contribute to opensource.
    - derekp7 13y ago
      There is an elegant way to get out of that. Approach your management (usually requires director-level approval), and say that you are doing some volunteer web site work for [insert charity] on the weekends, and they require a signed release that your employer OK's it. This can also fall under the "requires approval for moonlighting" clause in many employee handbooks. Then, assign all copyright to your opensource work to the FSF, which is a 501c organization.
Wingman4l7 13y ago
Well there's self improvement -- say, learning the ins and outs of internal company software; and then there is "self improvement" -- mucking about with a pet project in an esoteric language that has no bearing whatsoever on the company's bottom line and arguably does not sharpen the skill-set that they are paying you for. Not every company can afford to let employees "self-improve" on the latter level.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

chaostheory 13y ago

Learning new technology and new programming skills is not "internet use for non-work tasks". It's an expected, constant, never ending part of the job for almost anyone technical; unless they want to have stale skills in 1-2 years.

Wingman4l7 13y ago
I would agree with that iff the learning that you were doing was closely related to the skill-set that your company hired you for and/or one they could utilize. See my related comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6089570 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6089570
- chaostheory 13y ago
  I strongly disagree. Learning a functional language that is very different from your language at work still has a lot of value. It can help you with patterns and even when your own language evolves. For example, Java 8 will have lambdas. If you're already familiar with it from other "esoteric" languages, it'll be very easy to take advantage of it. I'm sure others can provide better examples than I can.