“I monitor my staff with software that takes screenshots” • Hacker News Board

Re: “I monitor my staff with software that takes screenshots”

#181

Post by Cerium » Tue, Sep 29, 2020, 1:58 PM UTC

eternalny1 wrote: post #59

_trampeltier wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A couple of years ago, was here an AskHN question. As far I remember, the guy worked from home, had just fill some excel sheets from other excel sheets. After a while he made some scripts and one week work was done in 20 minutes. He added even some errors, because there was another guy who checked all his work. The question was then, if he should tell, he work just 20 minutes and not one week. But he also said he nee…

I had something similar (but opposite) happen. We hired a remote engineer to write a program to export to excel. He claimed it was done and the Excel "output" arrived every morning. We asked him to submit his code for review, and after stalling, he produced some extremely obfuscated C++ code that turned out to do absolutely nothing. He was staying up all night entering data manually into Excel to generate the final r…

Same thing here, but not for lack of competence. I was working on a project for a data logging system. A customer requested a special daily report feature for one of their projects. The team lead took the feature and that was that. A year later he took some vacation that would take him away from cell service and he had to level with me. The feature was implemented by him logging in as close to 9 pm as possible and sending an email. There were a lot of tricky cases and he thought the project would only run a few months.

Re: “I monitor my staff with software that takes screenshots”

#182

Post by enether » Tue, Sep 29, 2020, 2:04 PM UTC

tpxl wrote: post #170

rdw wrote: post #12

The security implications of this software must be devastating. To prevent being defeated by the employee, it'll be essentially a rootkit already. Any black hat that finds a way to gain authorization will basically have a ready-made botnet. Let alone all the personal and corporate data they would be able to ransom and sell.

And the privacy implications. Which is why it's illegal in parts of Europe. >Any black hat that finds a way to gain authorization will basically have a ready-made botnet. This has actually happened with viruses, cryptolockers, etc before. Get access to Windows group policy, add the virus to it, see it being spread around.

Where is this illegal?

Re: “I monitor my staff with software that takes screenshots”

#183

Post by dharmab » Tue, Sep 29, 2020, 2:08 PM UTC

0xfaded wrote: post #167

Aeolun wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can’t your friends temporarily sell you their locks? Or is the problem that it is connected to their house?

Most of my friends rent. And don't tell anyone, but I've let one back into their apartment before ;)

My locksmith friend has a private policy where immediate personal friends get free lock work in exchange for personal favors at a later date. E.g. he helped me with a broken car lock, then later I did some data recovery for one of his family members pro bono.

Re: “I monitor my staff with software that takes screenshots”

#184

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Sep 29, 2020, 2:12 PM UTC

cutemonster wrote: post #161

ImaCake wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work as a research assistant in a wetlab (i.e. I physically do experiments). In a previous job the lab manager was suspicious of me appearing to not be doing any work sometimes. Once I figured out I was being watched I went to extra effort to appear busy. I couldn't actually be more busy because I already did the most I could do in a day. But I could waste some time appearing busy. It was a constant drain and I was…

> waste some time appearing busy What did that mean, in your particular case?

[deleted]

Re: “I monitor my staff with software that takes screenshots”

#185

Post by zadkey » Tue, Sep 29, 2020, 3:06 PM UTC

goatinaboat wrote: post #69

The laws of psychology state that this guy is compensating for something. Time for the tax inspectors to take a closer look, or the police to check his hard drive.

I saw something in his face that suggests he was a fearful person afraid of loosing control, and looking for an unhealthy way to deal with that feeling.

Re: “I monitor my staff with software that takes screenshots”

#186

Post by beaconstudios » Tue, Sep 29, 2020, 3:55 PM UTC

Lio wrote: post #140

zenincognito wrote: post #5

I once went to court against a client who wouldn't pay his bills. The sum more than 35K. It took over 9 months to get to court ( as the court wouldnt give a date ) and countless docs and hours spent to come up with evidence folder. In Australia, a citizen can argue their case which I did without using any lawyers. Finally, we both argued our case to a point where the client's defence was that there was no time log fo…

In the UK contractors actually have to be very careful to bill for deliverables and not just for time sitting on a seat. The HMRC's IR35 regulations would regard someone who just comes in and does whatever is asked of them as a "disguised employee" where as those who have fixed deliverables can be treated as external suppliers (even if they bill for the number of days it took to deliver). The difference is subtle but…

In theory. But in reality, every contractor I know (including myself in a past life) bills for time on specific projects. The industry that has built up around IR35 insurance seems to think this is OK too.

Re: “I monitor my staff with software that takes screenshots”

#187

Post by LocalH » Tue, Sep 29, 2020, 3:56 PM UTC

rvnx wrote: post #163

dspillett wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The one we were told at University was the contractor who charged £5,000 for a few hours work fixing a design, which in the end took five pencil marks. When asked to break down the costs of the job he resubmitted the invoice as: 5x 1 pencil mark = 5x £1 = £5, 1x knowing where to make the marks = 1x £4,995 = £4,995, with an offer of a discount on future pencil marks if the invoice was paid promptly.

Why should knowledge or experience be charged ? Isn't it in the interest of the whole humanity to be able to charge only for materials ?

Why should you be entitled to the mental labor of others? What good is it to spend years studying and doing work in a field if one can’t charge more specifically for that knowledge and experience?

Re: “I monitor my staff with software that takes screenshots”

#188

Post by Silhouette » Tue, Sep 29, 2020, 3:57 PM UTC

Lio wrote: post #140

zenincognito wrote: post #5

I once went to court against a client who wouldn't pay his bills. The sum more than 35K. It took over 9 months to get to court ( as the court wouldnt give a date ) and countless docs and hours spent to come up with evidence folder. In Australia, a citizen can argue their case which I did without using any lawyers. Finally, we both argued our case to a point where the client's defence was that there was no time log fo…

In the UK contractors actually have to be very careful to bill for deliverables and not just for time sitting on a seat. The HMRC's IR35 regulations would regard someone who just comes in and does whatever is asked of them as a "disguised employee" where as those who have fixed deliverables can be treated as external suppliers (even if they bill for the number of days it took to deliver). The difference is subtle but…

Just in case anyone is reading this later: IR35 isn't actually as simple as that, and whether you charge fixed price or T&M is likely to be a relatively minor detail in whether you are considered a disguised employee. The "doing whatever is asked of them" in the parent comment would be a bigger indicator that someone isn't truly independent and is instead operating under direction and control like an employee.

Re: “I monitor my staff with software that takes screenshots”

#189

Post by karmakaze » Tue, Sep 29, 2020, 4:01 PM UTC

nip wrote: post #36

zenincognito wrote: post #5

I once went to court against a client who wouldn't pay his bills. The sum more than 35K. It took over 9 months to get to court ( as the court wouldnt give a date ) and countless docs and hours spent to come up with evidence folder. In Australia, a citizen can argue their case which I did without using any lawyers. Finally, we both argued our case to a point where the client's defence was that there was no time log fo…

One day you come home and realize that you locked yourself out of your home. You call the locksmith. He arrives, looks at the door, fiddles with the lock for one minute, opens the door then leaves. The next day you receive the bill, 150€. Are you mad for spending so much for one minute of work? You shouldn’t: you paid for the experience that allowed him to open it in 1 minute. — Recalling it from a discussion with a…

I've heard a similar thing about paying a plumber for knowing where/how to strike the hammer. It also occurred to me that some of my work looks trivial when done--a very small source change that fixes broken edge cases by making something invisible more regular or consistent.

Edit: After shipping the changes and winning the case, send the PR diffs.

Re: “I monitor my staff with software that takes screenshots”

#190

Post by rvnx » Tue, Sep 29, 2020, 4:03 PM UTC

dspillett wrote: post #180

rvnx wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should knowledge or experience be charged ? Isn't it in the interest of the whole humanity to be able to charge only for materials ?

My job does not require materials as such. Should I work for free for the good of mankind? How would I be able to obtain sustenance and shelter?

I was taking a globalist approach, of course it's not realistic.

This view was inspired by a documentary (called Zeitgeist if I'm right), where machines provide subsistance to humans, so humans can focus on creative and artistic tasks without having to focus (including science).

It's a far-fetched view, but in the long-term, I believe (and again, it's just a personal belief) that sharing is caring and that caring is very important. You certainly need a way of subsistance but I see that the incentive are incorrect.

The person who fixes the door locks for example, has incentive to charge you the most and make the process as difficult as possible, not to go the fastest away from your place.

I'm in favour of a system where everyone gets a basic income (to subsist for shelter, food and all basic needs) and they can (but don't have to) work if they want extra money.

You're right, not all the pieces fit together, but it's an interesting thought to start with :)