Tracking cursor activity?
I would be out of there so fast. I can’t stand that sort of oppresive behavior.
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Hit ‘em with a mouse jiggler
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“MouseJiggler.exe” was literally banned at that company.
I assumed they were tracking cursors when I wanted to download such a program. I needed to run a 12+ hour SAS script overnight and our computers shut down after 30 minutes of inactivity. So I slept next to the computer with an alarm set for every 20 minutes to shake the mouse.
Because that’s a real fucking good use of company time.
God, that is just so absurd.
I also run heavy models, but its no problem running them “offline” while waiting for the results.
The thing is, because of the nature of the work its not unusual for me to be checking results at weird hours (weekends, late night etc) so its basically evens out in the end.
If they tried to force me to be online 24/7 during the workday I would 100% work to rule. Log in at 9am and log off at 5pm.
No way they get any extra time from me then.
I wish I could have said, “I worked 8 AM - 6 AM, I have exceeded my two 8-hour workdays and will be napping today.”
Alas, the SAS needing to be run was for my own project with a DOI-enforced deadline, so it was crunch time or request an extension, which isn’t desirable.
I just found out that I don’t get paid out for leftover PTO so 7 days of the remaining three or four work weeks will be vacation time.
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But what if they don’t like that and refuse to hire you in the future? 
My computer goes off after 5(?) minutes of inactivity but won’t if I’m playing a video or using Microsoft Teams. I don’t know how long I could do that without touching the mouse but I’m sure I’ve sat through an hour long meeting without touching it. If that works for you, you could play a 10 hour rain video to keep your computer going.
Crap, I forgot to take that into account too.
Lol, I am pretty sure that wouldn’t have worked for us but not certain. I left that nightmare company for much greener pasture as it was crashing and burning, and as of today my partner who’s still there is talking about seeking new work as well.
That’s dedication
But you can buy manual mouse jigglers. They can be detected but at least you don’t have to wake up every 20 mins
I’ve heard if you put PowerPoint in presentation mode it keeps your computer from idling.
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