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How Can I Make More Of My Cubicle?
hv writes "I reside in a 10' x 10' space better than 12 hours a day... as do a lot of you. How do you make the most of the space? I'm looking for creative ways to add storage and unclutter the stacks of lab notebooks, USB peripherals and the O'Reilly Zoo that also inhabits my space."
So that is what a person is suppose to do in here.
I think it is the best to stop working when the angles don't look like 90 degrees anymore.
You are not your Swedish furniture!
-Tyler
It adds a lot of atmosphere to my 150 square feet of books and computers.
Try doing some remodeling, but don't get caught...
Keep a naked midget under your desk. They'll perform sexual favors when you need them, and if you need a laugh, you just look down there for a chuckle.
And for a subtle effect, get plants. Like cactus (hard to kill).
Screw cactus, get a fake plant. I've had one on my desk for over three months now and it's still fine, depite the fact that I haven't watered it or in any other way helped keep it healthy.
Mr. Spey
Cover your butt. Bernard is watching.
Nope, you're right. It was Rita Hayworth.
there are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots
bah! Sennheiser 580s and a Total Airhead amp.
your cubicle is a relfection of you. with the help of thinkgeek, unamerican.org, some free gifts from penguin computing, and a few local milwaukee touches, i think i've turned my messy cube into a comfy relfection of myself.
now if only the cleaning ladies would stop throwing away my java jackets so i could turn them in for free coffee...
reech bee-yond ur clip-0n
Oh yeah? Mine's 6x6. I would kill for 7x7.
dude, get an aloe vera plant so when you go berserk and put on a disguise and kill everybody, you can come back undisguised and heal everybody as to avoid suspicion. Did that make sense?
|---------------|
practically an AC
So are you of Northern European decent, or of Persian decent?
(1) plants --- buy low-maintenance plants or take cuttings from existing work plants.
:)
(2) toys --- buy a small, decorative water fountain ($30), but do not forget to unplug it over the weekend.
(3) privacy --- turn your monitors away from high-traffic areas and more toward the walls or the corners of your cube.
(4) privacy II --- create privacy screens by using large monitors, stacked CPUs, or nice-looking wood veneer from Home Depot.
(5) floor --- put your PC and seldomly-used vertical-files under your desk.
(6) desktop --- buy some pencil holders, business card holders, file-folder holders, and organizers, and make sure they have the same design and color.
(7) music --- use your PC's CD player and a pair of headphones, but keep the volume down so you can overhear other people talking.
When you sit their in your little box, take some time to think about it.
Especially latex. Some may be allergic to that.
It also gets their feathers all in a bunch.
Please do not paint it with penguins.
If you have such hatred. why the hell do u post here anyways? Are you one of those Arab wackos?
You've got a window, and you felt a need for more? Man, count your blessings :)
Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and
This fixed my 10' x 10' Dorm room just fine....
What good is a used up world, and how could it be worth having? --Sting
Thats Nothing!
Where I was working, they told me to move back, 'cause they had to put more boxes in my cubicle. ...somebody stole my stapler.
Then they made me move into the basement and told me to get some spray for the roach problem.
Then. Then, somebody stole my stapler. We had been using the Swingline stapler, and they wanted to switch, but I didn't want to switch. And they, they...
I'll burn down the building...
think Office Space
My god, why would a sane human ever consider being enslaved in one of those cubicals? Its about the same proportions as the cages lab animals are "stored" in!
I think it is simply disgraceful that this type of work cage is accepted as the norm. I'd rather be pumping out septic tanks than have to endure treatment like that.
BTW, my office is 12 1/2 feet by 50 feet with three large windows overlooking a landscaped court yard. I only make US$65K a year so even though the salary is low, the working environment is VERY nice!
GET A BETTER JOB IF YOU ARE FORCED TO EXIST HALF YOUR LIFE IN THOSE CONDITIONS!
Wow, a window seat...
:(
I haven't had one of those since I worked at the University. Course back then I had my own office, and such.
Now I have the 7x7 cubicle.
ThinkGeek
Reality has a liberal bias
Where did you expect her legs to go?
One thing I've found really helps it look neat is that I mounted power strips to the underside of my desk instead of them sitting on the floor. I also cable-tied all my cables up underneat there as well leaving it so you can't really see any cables. Makes it look a whole lot tidier.
FWIW
-- Cameron
[ long pause] Riiiiiiight.
At my first job, we worked four to a desk - two sitting on the floor and two sharing the chair. They didn't have money for computers, so they gave each of us two paper clips and an electrical outlet, and we had to modulate our data into the building power by running the electricity through our bodies and flexing various muscles in phase with the 60Hz AC pulse. If we made any mistakes our manager would punish us by connecting us to the 240V, 30A laundry room circuit.
Ah, you tell the kids today that, and they won't believe you.
"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
Form a global movement against capitalism and force your boss to provide better working conditions. Lamer!
i'd talked with another employee here about putting in a slanted corrugated tin roof. :)
yeah - i just started here full-time; my cube is still pretty plain. this is only my first step in the Cubicle Customization direction. >;D
0x0D 0x0A
10' x 10' ??
Shit. 100 square feet is bigger than my first office.
my boss and i actually did bandy about the idea of using a patio umbrella. :)
:)
first, the materials used aren't that heavy - 1x2 pine and black fabric.
second, i assembled it in-place - i put the crosspieces up after hanging the side pieces in. that wedged them into the hanger holes (pre-existing in the cube walls) enough that it cannot fall. i will have to completely unscrew and disassemble it to get it down.
it's quite safe.
0x0D 0x0A
Yes.
Fight Club is not some sort of deep and meaningful, intellectual manifesto. It's a blockbuster film.
LOL. I think what's most impressive is his low user number. Most trolls don't have user numbers that low. And he trolls enough that is "recent comment" list is maxed out at 50. This guy's pretty hard core.
I know, isn't he amazing?
He's probably just jealous because he isn't circumcised.
MmmmMMMmm... Smegma. Bet the girlfriend finds that stench really appealing.
Similarly, I like my karma, so anon.
Oddly enough, I managed to kill mine. The ivy, on the other hand, is growing just nicely. It's another nice plant that can get all bushy if you do it right. Just cut the tips and replant them in the same pot.
OTOH, I'm in IT, not in botany, so this may not be a good thing.
Let it grow big enough and it can take over your neighbours' cubicles too.
Feel the fear and do it anyway.
I came up with that after about my third cube move to a new building, when they moved us from 10'x10' to 10'x8' cubes (back in the pre-A.C. days.)
But these new cubes are ridiculous. Over the course of years, I tend to accumulate more stuff, not less. I just have to pack it tighter and stack it higher now. 'Course, if I had any brains at all, I'd get a KVM switch instead of having six monitors staring at me all day.
Hey, anybody wanna trade me a 21" flat screen monitor for one 10" flat screen, one 15" and four 17" monitors? It's a heckuva deal, 93" of monitors in exchange for a lousy 21"... that's a 4X return on investment! How can you refuse?
John
John
Fill in that fourth wall and line it with plastic... hot tub, baby! Just get one of those waterproof laptops, and you're set. Maybe invite that cute girl down the hall for a "meeting" in your "office".
Liar, you're posting from a Mac right now. And you don't have testes anyway!
(guess it already happened)
OHhh LUXURY!! There were 150 of us in a septic tank! :)
Mouse, Mice. Goose, Geese. Moose... Moose?
I shedule frequent "meetings" with the cute intern down the hall.
This notice is being sent to inform you that your "geek" status has been revoked.
You have been found in violation of article 12, paragraph 7 of the Geek Code by noticing a member of the opposite sex. Furthermore, this offence has been aggravated by noting that member of the opposite sex as "cute", violating paragraphs 9 and 12 of article 17.
Please remove all O'Reily books from your shelf, disassemble two of your computers and return the parts to the original manufacturers, and disconnect all active internet connections at your home.
Failure to comply with the above request will result in severe penalties up to and including the installation of Windows 3.11 for Workgroups on all active computers in your home and Rosie O'Donnel pouring cold grits down your socks!
Been done before...
jwz's tent-of-doom
- passion
Come to think of it, I do have a cordless hammer. I avoid it, as the corded hammer is much faster. Saddly my office doesn't have an air supply, or an outlet that will run the compressor.
My cubicle is 4ft by 2ft. Try using that space wisely. Consider yourself lucky.
Slide-rule? God, I've never seen anyone but me using those after high-school (late 70's). But that's a good thing to have in the pen mug, only that mine is 12 inches long. If I could only find one of those 6-inch rules. I don't think they make it any more...
OK. That's interesting. First I've heard of it. I've been loudly requesting the MS method - give every coder an office. Being able to close the door would increase my productivity. I don't know how many times I'm interrupted on any given day. When you're in the middle of a tough programming problem, you don't want to lose your train of thought.
I wear headphones a lot. It helps, but it would be nice to have a door to close in addition. I think it will be interesting. I'm all for making things more 'equal'. I've been here about 8 months, and you can get used to the noise, but I still think it's detrimental to productivity. Perhaps you gain it back in people not being able to surf the web for hours at a time, since anyone can walk by and see your monitor.
Giving credit where credit is due
Changing a few words doesn't make it original.
Ice Cream has no bones.
1. get a laptop 2. throw our your desk, chair, computer 3. get a bean bag chair and stick it in the corner 4. stack every thing
live for a couple years in a ucla triple and you'll know everything there is to know about efficient use of space.
I've found the hallway outside my cube is often a good place to offload some clutter. Nobody actually wants to take responsibility for getting rid of the stuff I put out there, so no fear that it will disappear.
and all my sarcasm is too, which is why it doesn't seem to work on your computer screen. So I will invent an emoticon indicating sarcasm just for you: :MORON:)
The "cover your butt, Bernard is watching" sig. Remember? It's the message Ender sent to everyone while logged in as "God."
I actually ran my own "Great Wall of Dilbert" at a past job of mine. All but one person enjoyed reading the comics on the wall, even the stiffs from Corporate!
The lone dissenter? My immediate boss.
That's no big deal, really. We have been doing it this way at Intel forever. Even Andy Grove and Craig Barrett have Cubes. If you need privacy you go get a conference room. You can usually hear the people down from you having conversations. But it's no big deal after a while, I usually ignore most of it (except the juicy gossip of course which they should have got a conference room). You learn to ignore it. I often get a conference room when I want to talk to my girlfriend.
--- http://homepage.mac.com/gregjsmith
Work at home, dude!
No cubicle is as nice as home: No driving. Everything you need is always there. Possible afternoon delight with your honey.
Bush's education improvements were
-sk
Don't spend so much frekkin' time in there!
You need more hobbies. If its not your company, then you shouldn't be devoting so much of your life to it.
You only live once.
Hell, even if it is your company, you only live once.
Anonymous posts are filtered.
2. Stay late each night, "working"
3. Every night expand your cubicle a couple of inches.
4. Within a month or two, you should own the place.
Seriously, I've installed cheap 3 foot tall book cases on top of my desk. Lots of surface area, relatively small footprint. Also, consider one of those cool under the desk keyboard drawers, that gives a decent amount of deskspace. Of course, if you can get a flat panel monitor, you can use the area behind it for storage.
Where I used to work, we set up a small "library" of our group's O'Reilly books and other useful manuals. This was in a locked cabinet for which all team members knew the location of the key. It's nice because you have access to more resources, and still have room for your nerf weapons on the desk.
Buy Hex-Rated Stuff, fight the DMCA!
I find that a burn barrel makes a fine addition to any office space. Seriously, knowing what to throw out and promptly returning borrowed materials, are the most important things. The more storage space you have the more useless junk you have.
okay so the 'Feng Shui' or whatever of cubicles. Well my gray desk, 4 gray walls and gray carpet could really use a big plastic palm tree.. maybe a fat guy with a ukelele. I dunno.. anyone have real suggestions? I have lots of those cubicle walls that you can easily thumbtack stuff to it. But so far it's just charts, graphs, schedules and a 4x4 that says "Its sucks to be you.", signed by my roommate who's always sleeping while I work.
this product looks nice, I'm thinking about getting one after I pay my ( late! ) taxes:
http://www.opt-in-products.com/monitorshelf.htm
Camouflage.
I can explanate how to administrate your network. You must configurate and segmentate it, so it can computate.
All my screwdrivers are cordless.
and Habitrail
1. Hook two monitors up to your computer to focus all visual stimulation away from possibly drab surroundings.
2. Put on headphones. Start listening to Tool.
3. You now have no distractions, and a pleasant, if intense, sensory experience.
4. Get some work done, after spending a day or two picking a WM.
Seriously, try adding some plants (remember to water!) and a Target wood bookshelf or something. Keep the surface of your desk clean. Replace super annoying overhead fluorescent lights with soft desk lamps (also at Target for $9.99).
Fisk tank can also be economical and interesting. Goldfish can be found for 10c. Remember to feed and change the water every so often. Don't get freaked out when a fish dies every time somebody leaves the project (I'm serious...to the day...three people in our team left...three floaters).
http://www.cyberguys.com has equipment that is actually useful and much of it decently priced.The power strip Y-extension cord is a piece of genius.
Looks like you work in a tree house in those pix. :)
And you have transfor,med yourself from a cubicle dweller to a cave dweller
I'd love to trash everything in my cubical and start fresh...but I can't stand to part with my Coke Pyramid,... it has 220 cans now...this in just 3 months, anyone have something like that? I was thinking of soddering em together to make a lil wall for my cubical :P
Conventions are turned into inventions, as an old window grate becomes a unique centerpiece or a wagon wheel is transformed into a fine shabby-chic chandelier. Host Christine Pullara shows how to snoop in flea markets and salvage yards, burrow through basements and attics, and turn trash into decorating treasure.
1) Turn old printouts into "high-tech" wallpaper.
2) Glue old broken DAT tapes to AOL coasters [boy-girl-boy-girl] and volia', a desktop letter holder !
3) Old hard drives make great bookends !
4) And a whiteboard, supported by discarded 286s, makes a nice partition for when you get a partner in your 10'x10' cube....
-- www.globaltics.net
Political discussion for a new world
That provides engineers with individual offices with doors and where do you have a window or not only depends on how long did you work for the company, not on your managerial status. Such as Microsoft ;-)
Fridge.
Get promoted and move your arse to a wall office with a nice view and a hot secretary :)
Slide rule? How 'bout a late 1960's vintage desktop calculator complete with neon "nixie tube" number display. Or if space doesn't permit, a 1972 vintage HP-35 pocket calculator.
All your hammers are belong to me
Music and good headphones.
Forget the headphones! Bring in a big shelf stereo. Let everyone know ahead of time and explain that if they don't like what you're playing, they can ask you to play whatever they want...
This is actually a true story from a dorm. A guy moved in to the "quiet floor" of U. Hall at Depaul University a few years ago with a rack system and about 1400 watts of amplified speakers. He made the above offer at the first mandatory residents' meeting and never had a problem... even when he made full use of all that wattage.
I like to play children's songs in minor keys.
"We're all sons of bitches now." --J. Robert Oppenheimer
You can knock out the walls off the empty cubicles next to you, even install your own bowling lane.
-- Another senseless waste of fine bytes.
I must say, I'm surprised Think Geek doesn't carry Eco-Spheres
They don't require feeding, can get by on artificial light, and you can waste hours just watching one.
No, I don't work for the company, I just own one, they are cool
What's the point of moderating?!
Think vertical. I have cabinets, shelves and racks almost to the ceiling. Just make sure you keep the extra monitors on the bottom, not the top :P Also, bookshelves over your monitor, (not too close though) and on the sides are nice for getting to your reference quickly. I have about every piece of office equipment from steelcase and love them.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Oh bother.
Most people keep more crap in their cube than they actually need. You can open up a lot of space if you trash or take home the stuff you haven't touched in six months.
You could lay down some tracks and put bookshelfs on wheels in. That way you could use a lot more of the empty space and if you put them in the right spot, you could lock them in place in front of the doorway to prevent anybody else getting in and annoying you.
Transformers are my current action figure of choice, but YMMV.
Stop posting on slashdot and try doing some work.
What a concept, huh?
You've got a cubical? I dream of working in a cubical. Here, there's 150 of us working in a shoebox in the middle of the road.
Shop smart, Shop S-Mart.
I believe it was called SPENCER. I only have the 12" version. They have a bunch of sizes that each come with a motor and stand for desktop or ceiling mounting.
It's been on continous pretty much and I have had no problems with it.
It definately sets the cube apart. I just wish I had 10'x10' cube. I think mine is 8'x9'.
Of Natalie Portman and Anna Kornikova
One of the nastiest things about working in a cube farm is the direct overhead fluorescent lights. They get installed in offices without even so much as as second thought. But they're awful. They turn everything into a weird unreal hue and they blink and flitter and they just generally suck.
I was fortunate enough to work for a company (for 8 years) that had indirect lighting that was mounted at the intersection of four cubes, shining upward against the white ceiling tiles. So much nicer. That combined with a small incandescent desk lamp (I had a green banker's lamp) and you're all set. Of course, there's no substitute for ample amounts of natural light coming from windows.
But then I eventually ended up with fluorescent overhead lights for a while. Covering the top of the cube occured to me! But they wouldn't have let me get away with it. Now I work at home. Complete control! At the moment I have no lights on. Just the window!
Best of all, get promoted high enough that you get a nice view of the hot secretary moving her arse!
I'm a furry fan.
You mean fag. Same thing...
I have one of these, and it is very relaxing. It doesn't save any space, but it makes the days more enjoyable.
www.aquababies.com
"...and also giving people reasons to stop by and linger"
I'm guessing that you aren't a Network Administrator, are you?
I could see a 'Hang in there' poster with a noose. It might cause problems with the management, but everything interesting does that.
Reboot macht Frei.
ah /. always someone willing & able to correct a joke
Or if you're lukcy like me, you'll get a nice corner window office: http://www.csc.calpoly.edu/~ajiva/work.html
Mass-produced posters ("Hang in there!"), to me, are tacky. If you're living in a place eight to twelve hours a day, get something better, and more personal.
Never play leapfrog with a unicorn. Or a juggernaut.
http://www.marthastewart.com/features/features.asp ?CID=726&page=1&idContentType=9
Camoflage netting anchored to a single point in the ceiling and draped over the walls of your cubicle will make it unique and more private. Then you can look at pr0n and draw up your plans of burning the place down without much fear of anyone catching you.
Drop a mini fridge under your desk for keeping snacky foods, pop, beer, etc. And maybe a $50 mini microwave for reheating dilberitos (or something better with real meat in them).
You could also build your cube into a replica of the Unabomber's shack. It would keep pesky users from bothering you with technical questions, and may get you promoted into an area which is less hands on tech, and more management(which means less work for you, as we've all seen how much work managers actually do).
Need Free Juniper/NetScreen Support? JuniperForum
you need a bigger mug.
dude, your url is a little off (it needs to be radiofreenation.com/store.html instead of radionfreenation/store.html. Even that's a redirect, but you get the idea.
...you can always quit. www.sba.gov
"There is no night so forlorn, no mood so bleak, that it cannot be infused with pleasure by tender meat..." - R.W. Apple
It's really something you can't do on your own, and it can't be forced either, you have to set the right mood.
Firstly, you'll need another cubicle, introduce the two, let them get to know each other, and when (if) they hit it off, go down to a local liquor store and get a few bottles of wine, get the office/cleaning staff to clear out, turn the lights down low, play a little Barry White, give them the wine and some premade (please, they needn't worry about cooking) instant noodles (they have more than likely been indoctrinated in the ways of geeks), and let them be.
The problem is, nobody is sure of the gestation period for a cubicle fetus, but I'm sure you could find *something" on google.
Eventually, say, in six months, you'll have a brand new cubicle to do your bidding.
What's a sig?
I totally know what you mean- I have numerous servers and PCs under and around my desk, running and/or in various states of disrepair. some of them are running semi-important tasks (at least to me) so everyone knows NOT TO TOUCH ANYTHING. this works out really well, as things like my mp3 server and the UT server don't get touched either :)
:)
and the piles of cards- that works out awesome. make sure you get neurotic with people about ESD problems and the dangers of it, and then pile tons of expensive looking cards around. this works out really well if you have lots of old EISA cards or things that you KNOW will never be used again (this can backfire if you've got other technically competent people who realize that EISA is dead.)
another really good thing to try is to leave stacks of unlabeled burnt CD-Rs around. it's a good way to keep people from digging through your software collection(s) if you say there are IMPORTANT files in there that can't be put out of order... you get the picture.
it's not really much of a BOFH thing as much as it is a keeping your space kind of thing. nobody likes it when the desktop guys decide they need to browse through your stuff, and relieve you of that triple channel ultra-3 raid controller (even though they don't even know what it is.)
so cheers to you, my fellow comrade in messiness
EOM
1) swimsuit calenders
2) playboy/playgirl posters
3) porn
-- Note: These Comments are Generated by ME! Not You! ME!
The 16-ton weight would be cool, too, except that it's so big, it'll flatten your entire cube (including you).
Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
LOL
My, what a constructive 12 year old you are. Have to hide behind an AC and everything. And the day some slashdot asswipe beats my ass is the day I buy a Mac and move to West Hollywood.
Lick my testes, bitch-boy.
If you were me, you'd be good lookin'. - six string samurai
I'm envious as hell I don't even have a 10' x 10' space. Is your place hiring ?
that kiddie pool looks appropriate.
Just don't let any cats in your cube.
--Blair
Oh, OK. Fuck you! And keep responding to trolls too, loser. Don't you know what an AC is?
It'll end up looking something like Japanese "Coffin Hotels" where everyone gets a little space that's 7'x4'x4', stacked 3 high. Oh well, the advantage of that arrangement is that it's easier to justify mounting doors on the coffins for privacy.
Meldroc, Waster of Electrons
I feel like getting wall to wall carpeting in my cubicle. A nice thick carpet where I could ask anyone who comes in my cubicle to take off there shoes.
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.
In the current economic climate there exists at least a half a dozen energy related companies that make close to or more than a billion dollars a month. They will provide you with an office. I know. They provide me with two.
For those not in-the-know, this list is (I assume) derived from the Evil Overlord List (An excellent page...)
-----
Free P2P Backup, Windows & Linux
Plasma display and a PS/2
geek page at KY speaks
With a decent pair of headphones you can pretty much shut out the rest of your surroundings. I recommend a pair of Grado SR-60's.
Get an excuse from the doctor that you are allergic to something they have there and work at home nude. It rules.
If you don't say anything, you won't be called on to repeat it. -- Calvin Coolidge
Persuade the powers that be to buy you one of these!
"Office Space" is one of those movies that gets funnier every time I see it. If you want to "redecorate" your cube, don't forget the power drill!
** The opinions expressed here are my own, and do not reflect those of my employers - past, present, or future**
Download the program to decrypt pdf's and copy the pdf versions of any books you have to your hard drive and move the actual books somewhere else. I've been living out of a suitcase the last month, being homeless and all that and have a huge library of books in pdf and html format on my computer. Not the best way to read them, but very space efficient. Saif
I seem to be averaging 1 a week these days...some in the mail, some along with magazines. They are also make good targets on the dart board...
Dave
Then you had to go ruin the whole thing and moderate it Funny. If you liked it so much, ya shoulda done another Underrated to keep the Redundant. It was so much better that way!
Or, move into a office with some nice furniture, and whip cream...then in order to cut costs, have the secretaries share the office with you.
Not for the claustrophobic, that's for sure - just another trend in the industry I suppose - save on real estate costs - at the last place I was at, the new plans call for everyone to be in 60 sq. ft including managers ...
AZspot
So that's why my inbox is always filled with gay porno mags and free goatsex offers!
Sheesh, can you try subscribing to Penthouse or Playboy ... the other stuff's getting a bit old.
I:
-hang stuff
-get spider plants (jungle look is cool, relaxing and keeps the Boss away)
-get aesthetically pleasing posters (for any spare cm of space not covered by UML or Database designs). I have a map of the sky above my monitor and a Rat Pack poster.
Stop bathing. Learn a new love for limburger cheese, raw garlic and onions. Keep a bowl of durians nearby as a snack.
When everyone moves out, take over their cubicles.
nice idea, except that it violates several codes...
you can't put up a partition between the ceiling-sprinklers and work area...
also, it would qualify as a 'sub standard' structure... juryrigged by a 14 year old...
but i guess that will be the last thing the dot.bomb you work for will worry about...
violates no codes - there are no sprinklers in here, i checked beforehand.
0x0D 0x0A
Cubicle? Walls?
My God, the waste of SPACE, man, think of the WASTE. Our office is open-plan. We have rows of 4 desks, front-to-front, so there are 8 people in a block. There are 2 blocks past the walkway and 9 blocks down the office, making a total of ~80 people in one open space. At any given moment it's possible to hear 2 arguments, 2 landlines ringing, 3 mobiles ringing, eighteen people typing and something beeping insistantly. What's it's not possible to do is think... but it is much more space efficient.
I used to have a stack of file cabinets next to my desk, but they took them away... now there's NOTHING between me (&my screens) and the loud conversations at the walkway junction I'm next to...
Mind you, I only have *2* hours to be here now, but the last few months have been Annoying.
geez, you employees that think you can just create tunnels outside of the secure zone! how can you guarantee security that all people that come in through your tunnel are passing through the proper checkpoints on the other side?!
i hope you at least bothered to encrypt the traffic over this tunnel, or have you been leaving copies of the company's sensitive objects all over Spacetime, where any competent spatial engineer or timelord can just grab them?
Fire marshall is gonna love that when he sees it.....
For more information on building a cubicle roof, see also this Ask Slashdot thread on building cubicle roofs.
Alex Bischoff
HTML/CSS coder for hire
Magnetic Fish
They're really cool until you realize it's not raining outside and that the tapping noise is coming from your "aquarium".
Oh, I remember! Mountain Dew!
--
I like to watch.
0x0D 0x0A
Simple. Stay out of it. What the hell are you doing spending 12 hours a day in your cube?
Unless you are part owner (and I don't mean like, you have some options or a bit of stock.. I mean like a HUGE interest in the business), there is no reason for you to be spending 12 hours a day at work. Get a life (I mean that seriously.. you will regret the wasted youth later in life.)
As for 'sprucing up' your cube... why do you need suggestions? Just do what you want, within what your office will allow.
As my guru once said, you aren't doing your job properly if you can't do it between 9 and 5.
Maybe it's my addiction to fexofenadine HCl (Allegra), but I swear that's what I saw!
Darn, I really thought I could start a side business from my cubicle...
---
http://www.club977.com/ - The 80's Channel!
Your source for commercial free 80's music!
All My hammers are cordless
Just tell 'em you're putting in a skylight for them -- they'll love it!
Just junk food for thought...
Get a vibrating chair. Get a plant or 2. Get rid of anything you haven't used in the last 6 months.
Cover your walls in printouts of goatse.cx. That way no one will want to be near you, and you can easily use the space in the walkway for your overflow stuff :) You might even get to commandeer the cubicle oppisite yours because the guy will be vomiting in the bathroom half the day.
,
faeryman
When I was growing up, my room (which I was confined to much of the time) was only 8 x 7. This must explain my shortness of height.
This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
Fridge filled with beer.
Just try and hide from the boss.....
I posted to
AMEN! And be sure to put your pet black widow's terrarium right on top of the pile.
Denver Isuzu Suzuki
"I reside in a 10' x 10' space better than 12 hours a day... as do a lot of you."
Is this the American dream I keep hearing about?
Yes, but you can't run any useful software on a Macintosh. Fortunately flat panel monitors are available for PCs too - and they don't use that proprietary ADC bullshit.
(No association with Apple apart from having owned several of the steaming turds they call Macs)
It doesnt look like there is enough slant on that roof of yours. It it rains you might be in trouble.
:-)
It would look a lot beter if you put some neon lighs along the frame rails.
-sk
Try raising a Bonsai Kitten You'll get attention from every animal lover in the office!
Meldroc, Waster of Electrons
Nice try at a retort, but please, try again.
If you were me, you'd be good lookin'. - six string samurai
Ha haaa!!! You have been busted! You are a Windows-user!! You should be banned from slashdot.
These little beauties are better than fish tanks because they don't smell.
They are better than plants because you don't have to water them.
They remind you that some things in life are still simple.
And most importantly, in the soul-depleating office enviroment of the 21st century they can give you a much needed dose of megalomania that can get you through the day.
I'm slightly better off than the original poster: I have a 10 by 10 office with a door that closes. This allows me to play music without headphones and without disturbing my neighbours. To faciliate tunes I installed a Turtle Beach Audiotron, and I've never looked back---it's wonderful. I play it back through the external PC speakers (a little y-adapter works wonders); which is hi-fi enough for the office. :)
I recommend:
o st er.html
a ny time.html
http://store.yahoo.com/modernhumoriststore/mp3p
http://store.yahoo.com/modernhumoriststore/comp
this man is a genius.
disassemble two of your computers and return the parts to the original manufacturers
Could such a non-geek do that?
Shucks! I guess you'll have to live on Deva now.
:-)
"Chemestry is Physics without thought. Mathematics is Physics without purpose."
People who want to be Intel? From what I understand this is one of the things that intel is known for. I really wonder how well it works too. But... hey whatever floats your boat. I can't really imagine doing design work in the lab with the big noisy AC, noisy computers running tests or in a cubbie next to the A hole with the bean grinder. Not only that but as many people have pointed out if you have a choice between two equal jobs for the same pay etc, you will probably choose the one that gives you a nice office over the one that sticks you in a cubbie.
Dude, get a life!
That is illegal everywhere with the exception of Botswana, Afghanistan and Micronesia.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Or, get promotoed and move your arse to an area with a nice view OF a hot secretary!
Fridge.
Of course! That's a given. But with a twist.
Okay. Here's a list.
Every now and then, dumping a little bit of compost heap activator (available at any gardening store) will help the disposal process.
Fire and Meat. Yummy.
I use the "sky is the limit" analogy in my room, that which can be stacked, well, gets stacked, so basically if you have a 12'+ roof you can save a lot of space by going vertical for storing.
--- Metamoderating abusive downgraders since my 300th post.
I don't know about you, but I enjoy being suck up on from time to time.
Yes, I am a dirty, dirty, man. But remember, the ability to make a dirty joke out of a typo is the first step to world domination.
Its the general consesus of the moderators that you are now posting at -1. If the jews really were totally in control of the forums as you say do you think you would be able to post at _all_?
You better be careful. This is how entire corporate culture documentation manuals are formed.
I cleared everything off the desk, lay this piece of plastic down, used a tad of scotch tape on the corners to hold it in place, and slipped some papers under it. Pages I need to refer to frequently that used to be stacked on the desk now sit under the plastic where I can see them, but don't have to sacrifice space for them.
The most useful thing, however, has been sliding a piece of blank copier paper under the plastic. Now I can use dry-erase markers to make lists, diagrams, any temporary lists or notes (or doodles) I want right on the plastic with the white paper background. A napkin wipes it clean and it's always in easy view.
At home my wife got these little mini self-standing shelves at Home Depot which she put in some of our cabinets. Makes a lot more efficient use of empty space when you have a lot of small objects.
My $.02. Keep the change.
Coach
Perhaps the world's greatest tragedy is that ignorance is not impotence.
Not everyone deserves a 320i
1. Make sure your ventilation ducts are too small to crawl through.
/do/ have an energy weapon, right?) useless -- you will not be overrun by a handful of savages^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hmarketing consultants armed with spears and rocks.
2. Don't interrogate your co-workers in your cube. Use a small conference room outside your department.
3. Keep a special cache of low-tech weapons and train yourself in their use. That way -- even if management manags to neutralize your power generator and/or render your energy weapon (you
4. Keep your pet monster in a secure cage from which it cannot escape and into which you could not accidentally stumble.
5. Dress in bright and cheery colors, and so throw your manager into confusion.
6. Shave off your goatee. In the old days they made you look diabolic. Now they just make you look like a disaffected member of Generation X.
7. Make sure your main computers have their own special operating system that will be completely incompatible with standard IBM and Macintosh powerbooks.
8. Hire a team of board-certified architects and surveyors to examine your cubicle and inform you of any secret passages and abandoned tunnels that you might not know about.
9. Don't install a sentient computer smarter than you are.
10. No matter how many shorts you have in the system, treat every surveillance camera malfunction as a full-scale emergency.
11. If all your co-workers are standing together around a strange device and begin to taunt you, pull out a conventional weapon instead of using your unstoppable superweapon on them.
12. Do not shoot at any of your co-workers if they are standing in front of the crucial support beam to a heavy, dangerous, unbalanced structure.
13. Make sure that your doomsday device is up to code and properly grounded.
14. Cover your vats of hazardous materials when not in use. Also, do not construct walkways over them.
15. Do not design your Main Control Room so that every workstation is facing away from the door.
16. If you ever talk to HR on the phone, do not taunt them. Instead say that their dogged perseverance has given you new insight on the futility of your evil ways and that if they leave you alone for a few months of quiet contemplation you will likely return to the path of righteousness. (HR is incredibly gullible in this regard.)
17. Design your door mechanisms so that blasting the control panel on the outside seals the door and blasting the control panel on the inside opens the door, not vice versa.
18. Pad any data file of crucial importance to 1.45MB.
Any sufficiently well-organized community is indistinguishable from Government.
Ikea baby, Ikea.
Every piece of space is precious space. Take a step back and look at it in a different way. Find ways to add shelves under your desk, over your desk, everywhere... You'll need to add your own custon shelves just for the zoo. Other than that it is a personel journey. Remember though, it is not the jar that is important but the empty space inside that is of value.
;)
everything can be done with a combination of those two.
Feed them bits of dead skin and call them your loyal minions, just often enough to make people a little nervous. Put them in someone else's cube once a good solid theory has been assumed about your sanity.
B-O-Wolf Xluster !!
Thank You
Feel free to concat me with all your troubles...
Suppose the ceiling is 9 feets above you, just build another 10x10 cubicule used as a storage space. You can build a floating floor supported by your walls.
Get rid of those #@#$% Todd McFarlane models.
Careers should combine three things: what you can do, what you want to do, and what you can get paid for.
I find that about a quart of gasoline and a box of saftey matches clean out cluttered cubicles better than anything else.
:)
Have fun
StrategyTalk.com, PC Game Forums
Beer.
Milk crates are cheap storage that stacks nicely.
And for a subtle effect, get plants. Like cactus (hard to kill).
Check out Althea for a stable IMAP email client for X. Now with SSL!
Spending 12 hours a day as a drone in a small enclosed space, surrounded by other drones in their small enclosed spaces? Add a Luminglass to your cube to complete the effect.
I got rear view mirror in Toys'R'Us. It is supposed to be a mirror to watch a child on a back seat of a car. I just put it on my monitor and it does the job.
Wow you were the first person to waste time,effort,bandwidth,etc.. to post a lame "Look at me! First useless post! I have no life!"
Way to go! Good for you!
Now if you were the first person to post something related to the topic, that might be something to be proud of my friend.
I've found that paper shredders make excellent storage bins. Just one holds reams and reams of memos!
Take a look at how Jamie Zawinski did it.
If you've got a regular CRT monitor for your computer, an amazing amount of space will free up if you get an LCD and hang it on the wall. This assumes you like LCD screens, and your work does not need a super high definition CRT. OK, is also assumes you have 850+$US to buy a nice LCD...
You're stuck. Can't fit much in a 10x10 2 dimensional space. Now if there were some height then you could: 1) Build a loft. A cube with a attic... 2) My cube space often has "dead" space at the very back underneath the desk. Assuming the space is not already occupied with system parts you could place selves there. 3) If multiple systems and monitors, get a Multi-PC contoller that switches the monitor/keyboard/mouse to your different systems. 4) Throw out the manuals you have looked at in five years. Particularly if there is an online version available. Serious do you really still use RUNOFF? 5) Sell trade those peices parts. That RP05 for the PDP11 looks great, but it take up a lot of space. 6) Replace hard copy manuals with online version if you use them less than once per week. How often do you really code your Postscript documents by hand? 7) All those little teepee keypad guides you look at once a year? Scan them, store the image in a well named place and pitch the hardcopy. 8) Do you really need 5 4 ft. stacks of 3.5" diskettes in salvaged from old software? Not to mention 5.25", 7", 9", etc. etc. etc. 9) Iris makes great filing drawers that roll under most desk tops. They come in different drawer configurations. 10) "Borrow" the extra shelf from the un occupied cube down the aisle. 11) While you're at it, those selves often fit on the wall on the outside of the cube. 4-7 of them can hold a lot of notebooks. ;)
12) Convince your building coordinator that your team needs an MT cube for storage then forget to tell the rest of your team about it.
13) Convince your neighbor that that dusty dot matrix printer you're storing would be great attached to HIS/HER PC and served to the network.
14) Request to work from home. This works particularly well if the eigtheen-year-old with a 12x16 bedroom has just gone to college. Remember though, most work-from-home plans don't include adding extra electrical circuits for the four systems or more you take home with you.
Heck, that's nothing - where I used to work we couldn't touch the suspended ceiling for fear of dislodging the asbestos stored within (don't ask), so ductwork for air conditioning was run below the suspended ceiling in the area where people's heads would normally like to be. It looks like something out of Brazil, if you can imagine.
Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and
about a gallon of gas and a match...
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Excape damn you! Get out of that tiny cubicle before you become part of it. Telecommute, go wireless, just do something other than Ask Slashdot.
m.kelley
life is like a freeway, if you don't look you could miss it.
"My God...It's full of ads!" -Fry, about the Internet, Futurama
There you go! Making your way through a maze of cubicles is hard enough, now lets make it three dimentional.
You are receiving this message because your browser supports Slashdot Sigs and you have Slashdot Sigs enabled.
Small wall quilt (maybe 24x24 inches). Minimal sewing skills needed. Gives you a chance to have different colors, textures, mixed in a random or orderly way, your pref., to break up the visual monotony. Look at library books on quilting or ask quilting friend. You can hang the quilt from the cubicle walls or toss it over a cabinet
-------
"We are the quilters of Borg. Resistance is useless. You will be assimil----hey, look, look, a fabric store!"
Add a mirror. It makes your cubicle look bigger, is almost as if you have a window, and lets you see who's sneaking up behind you with a nerf gun.
--tangram
I never thought of that. But I'm pretty sure the people that work on the floor beneath me would object to it. Random people falling through their ceiling would get irritating.
With all the people around me being removed from the company there are lots of empty cubes around me. I have just started storing less used item next door.
a FP... but other than that..i recommend wall units... they may take up a couple of feet..but add lots of storage space.
Just be happy they haven't started stacking workers vertically, with ladders to get up to their cubes.
More Caffeine. NOW
... but if you can't do that: well, the graphic artists at my last job had mobiles, bean bag chairs and tropical fish in their cubes. Made for a more fun work environment.
There was a good video on how to improve your cubical on computerstew (www.computerstew.com) on how to fix up your cubical. The show is long gone but I bet you can find the video out there somewear...
Although I don't work in a cubicle, I do save quite some space using the online version of the Zoo (O'reilly Bookshelf Reference I think it's called). Speedy searches and no more clutter.
i just loaded the front page and it said no comments, i saw the chance to become even geekier than before, i took it, i pressed read more and wanted to say something really lame like: "#1 IN YOUR FACE" but no, no, no! i clicked the link only to find out that the time it took me to click it already 5+ comments were added.
/. for first post...
...or you can decorate it and make it nice and so on, and expand your mp3 directory.
This is what you can do in your cubicle, you can scan
What do I know? I'm 15, GAH!
----
"I believe in karma. That means I can do bad things to people and assume they deserve it" - Dogbert
I use a special matter shrinking device (available only to 31337 f1rst p0zters) to shrink myself and my stuff. Good idea, eh? Only kind I have.
Here are a few things that have worked well for me. YMMV, of course :)
Get the power strips off of the floor. Currently I have mine attached to the cubicle desk supports with cable ties. Bolting them to the underside of the desk works well too. The same (naturally) applies to your personal network [hub|switch].
Cable ties are your friends. It's amazing how much better things look when the rats nest is sorted out and tied up nicely out of the way. Velcro strips or wire twist ties (the kind that come with plastic garbage bags) work well too, when you need something less permanent.
See if you can't get a nice KVM switch. Getting rid of the extra two or three monitors, keyboards and mice makes a huge difference :)
My current switchbox only does KV, so I still have three mice on my desktop, but still...
Bookshelves are a nice addition to any cubicle. The little 3- or 4-foot ones from Shopko (or WalMart or Target, if you prefer) work well and don't cost much. Milk crates or file crates can be helpful, too, if you use them right.
A couple of hooks on the wall for headphones and such like things do wonders, too.
YMMV, but I find it useful (and better for my poor aching back) to set part of my work surface about 4 feet high, and stand up while I work. With the typical three-section L-shaped cubicle desk, I generally put the corner and one long section up high, and leave the other one at the usual height with all of the drawers underneath it. This has the side effect of giving me lots of space under the desk for my extra computers, etc., and could theoretically do away with my chair altogether. (In practice I keep the chair, but most of the time it's under the desk in the corner of the cube, where it's out of the way.)
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
Then I guess I ain't normal. I can't keep a spider plant alive for nothin'. Amazingly enough, I don't have any problem with african violets.
Try flat panel monitors. For my primary Mac workstation I have three monitors connected to it. Replacing them with flat panels clears up an amazing amount of desktop space. They are expensive, but they don't have all of the problems that CRTs have like the high frequency scream that CRTs occaisonally emit, the screen flicker etc etc etc....
Also Anthrocart http://www.anthro.com/ makes some very cool computer workstation furniture and accessories that can clear up some desktop space. I have been very happy with their products. (No association with the company other than being a happy customer).
Visit Jonesblog and say hello.
ask the warden for a tin mug. Then clang it against the bars anytime you need some audio stimulation - it can get pretty bleak in there.
:0
Bryguy
microsoftword.mp3 - it doesn't care that they're not words...
Seriously, those interdimensional regulations are for your own safety. You really don't want bullsquids dropping into your office, even if you've installed mirrors on your monitor.
You lucky basterd...
I'm sitting in a shoebox, in the middle of the highway.
-:) Oh no - not again.
www.rednebula.com
You have to admit, you are slightly childish and pathetic. Has a member of the opposite sex ever turned you on as much as a first post?
If at all possible, turn off or unplug the flourescent lights above your cube. Get a nice warm incandescent lamp and use that for light. Second, get rid of all the clutter laying around on your desk. The less crap you have lying around, the bigger it will seem.
At our company, we talked about attempting to acquire a Tardis.. Not only would it help solve production deadlines (just hop inside and bo back in time), but as a bonus it would also solve that pesky space problem!!!
1. Make sure your ventilation ducts are too small to crawl through.
Ineffective if your enemy is allied with the borrowers[?].
7. Make sure your main computers have their own special operating system that will be completely incompatible with standard IBM and Macintosh powerbooks.
I might suggest OpenBSD. It's a nice server for servers and firewalls because if you don't know the password, it's incompatible with everything.
10. No matter how many shorts you have in the system, treat every surveillance camera malfunction as a full-scale emergency.
Bad idea because it would then open up a possible DoS: one of them will blow up the camera, which draws the guards away from the really valuable things.
12. Do not shoot at any of your co-workers if they are standing in front of the crucial support beam to a heavy, dangerous, unbalanced structure.
Better yet, hire some competent engineers <plug>who graduated from Rose-Hulman</plug> to design your structures, over-engineering them for safety.
18. Pad any data file of crucial importance to 1.45MB.
Won't help if your can get access to Apache or WinApache. Won't help if you can use dd to split files (a DOS dd fits on a floppy). Won't help if you can get access to a CD burner, as a 4x CD burner can burn 1.5 MB in five seconds (not counting ToC and closing the session).
Will I retire or break 10K?
"Nothing is to be affixed to the walls of your cubible. The cubicle walls are built with sound-deadening properties that help keep the workplace quiet for everyone; affixing papers, cards, etc. to the walls reduces these properties and damages the cube surfaces. Also, no scotch tape, pushpins, or the like are to be used; only approved SteelCase (tm) hangers may be used for displaying framed certificates, etc."
:)
"Space heaters, humidifiers, refrigerators, and other appliances are expressly forbidden; this includes uninteruptable power supplies and battery backups (!!). Aquariums and other living things are also not allowed. One small plant may be placed on your desk if desired."
I wish to [Diety of Choice] that I were making this up; unfortunately I work for a big company. (Read: Dilbert-esque to the core.)
Of course, I have almost every square inch of my cube walls covered with pushpinned documents and specs, and a UPS under my desk... plus my desk fan runs on medium at me all day, next to the dual-P3, 10,000RPM RAID-drived beast I call my work machine; and nobody's complained SO FAR!
SlashSigTheorem: Humorous, Political, Critical, Constructive- If you have a
My cubicle was so small, when I sat around the cubicle, I really sat around the cubicle.
I've been looking for one for my lab space for a while. Where can I find one ? I've got an argon lasar all ready to dazzle the developers.
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
I have 2 old servers (AST Manhatan series) with a desktop on top of them.. Best desk I have ever had.. Plus I gutted one of the AST's and put my athlon into it.
Not everyone deserves a 320i
Well, darn. Why did you have to post anonymously? I was looking forward to moderating you down, but now there is no use...
Posted from the wireless couch.
Scrounge up as many old laptops as you can, and make a tiled LCD display wall! Use it to check your email, watch CNN, etc, or just display your vis output from winamp... put them in rows on your file drawers, or wallpaper with them!
(Note: may require some assembly)
(PS: sorry for the lack of links, but I tried and tried and couldn't find anything worth showing.)
It takes a lot of plants to improve air quality, guy.
geez, I just got this image of the colored plastic hamster tubes you see at the pet store.
Joe, oh yeah, go up two levels, head north and keep on crawling until you see the water bottle.
We came across this old dartboard that had to date from the vietnam war. It had a picure of the old president Lyndon Baines Johnson on it. You could hardly recognise him for all of the holes in the newspaper on that board from all those darts thrown over the years.
I wish I had kept it. It would be a genuine collectable.
you could have matching Gates and Ballmer Dart Boards, or whatever.
They could even be sold on Think Geek, depending on the taste.
- - -
Do you have your White House Selected Vegetables Coffee Mug?
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
You guys get full cubicles?? I only get a half of one. Two walls with a set of hanging shelves on one, so my back is open to the aisle. Its good for conversation, but not so good for getting work done, or for privacy. Worse yet, I work in a glass building. From any direction you can see all the way through the building. I know it could be worse. I'm glad I'm not a manager. Managers get stuck in glass cubicles we call "fishbowls". Even worse, at my last job the desks were set up classroom style (no walls at all) -shudder- with the manager sitting behind us all -double shudder-. At least I get a desk.
Zeus_tfc
"...At the end of the day"..."when everyone goes home, you're stuck with yourself." RIP Layne Staley
10. Keep telling the same person that they have bad breath even if they don't, and then punch them in the face. 9. Announce in a meeting that you have AIDS. After everyone gives you the sympathy remarks, tell everyone how you're just kidding and tell them that they are all a bunch of fucking queers. 8. Before a meeting, fill your mouth with custard. Then during the meeting, put one finger in the air and make like you are hocking up a big loogie. Then spit the custard into a clear glass and hand it to the person next to you and say, "Beat That." 7. Inform a male co-worker that he "wouldn't make a good hooker." Then piss in his coffee and tell him that he needs a good ass fucking. 6. Always walk around with a big smile on your face and keep one hand down your pants. 5. Answer every question asked to you with "Fuck if I know" then call the person a racial slur that doesn't even match their race. 4. Brag about the fact that you own a gun, and keep playing with your nuts. Get them really sweaty, and then walk around shaking everyone's hand. 3. Shit on the floor in your office and when someone comes in and sees it, tell them it's the fake plastic kind. When they try to pick it up, and realize that their hand is full of shit, laugh and point. 2. Run down the hall with your dick out while pissing all over and yell, "It won't stop! God help me! It won't stop!" Then when it stops, look down and say, "Oh." 1. Ask to borrow someone's pen. Bring it to the bathroom and stick it in your ass. Return it and tell the person to smell it. When they tell you it smells bad, be like, "It should! I had it in my ass!"
Yum
One method I always end up falling back on is cleaning.
slashdot: where everyone yells sarcastic metaphors to themselves to understand the issue
And, well, I wish I could decorate it somehow.
Unfortunately, the folks here won't let us do it.
But if I could, I'd probably erect a see-through, albeit tinted, plastic pyramid on the top of the walls. I'd then dangle some colorized lights in the middle (selectable, of course). I'd probably place four speakers on each side, too.
But, alas, I must forevermore stare at plush-grey.
If Nalgene water bottles are outlawed, only outlaws will have Nalgene water bottles.
Now THAT is a +5 Funny.
(It's been 12 secods since you hit reply.)
Sure, you can get processed Aloe Vera extract, but it's most potent when squeezed straight from the plant.
Instant pain relief, and the scar heals up in a couple of days. Just break off an older leaf (from the bottom of the plant, not the new growth near the top) and let your burning flesh soak up the juice.
I always keep one nearby when soldering, just in case...
Archie Mcphee has lots of toys/weird stuff to keep your cube interesting.
http://www.archiemcphee.com/
They have a wobbly guy with a ukulele, and monkeys for instance.
I wonder if my similar situation had any influence I had on the dream I had last week about two of my co-workers making me burn our building down...
Denver Isuzu Suzuki
I've got about 2500 cans of Mountain Dew stacked in my cubicle. I use my whiteboard to compute how much caffeine I've consumed, and how many times over it would have killed me.
I've been told that if I were in any other department, I would have been fired. Software development is great.
Dogbert: "When I'm king, I'm going to make everyone my slaves and put them in boxes!" Dilbert: "People will never stand for that!" ...
Dogbert: "So how do you like your new box?"
Dilbert: "Cubicle."
Dogbert: "Box."
Dilbert: "Cubicle."
Dogbert: "Box."
Step 2: Start surfing Monster.com aggressively
Step 3: Get a new freaking job. No workplace that puts you in a 10' box is good enough to justify spending 12 hours a day on.
True to Dilbert I just requisitioned a bunch of boxes and old out of date doc (that I said I needed) and built a wall on the back. Then I setup a screen saver with differnt terminal window caps in it and arranged my system so even if someone got past the wall they couldn't see my face. So all in all it made a great place to sleep.
I was thinking of doing this, but I work for a fairly conservative, big corporation, so I don't think it'll fly... anyway:
1. Screw a really big and heavy-duty closed eyelet-type hook into the ceiling tile immediately above the center of your cube.
2. Run wto strong cords or ropes diagonally between the corners of the cube, through the eyelet.
3. Cut a slit in a large square or circular piece of canvas from the center to one edge. Slip this canvas over the ropes, fastening the two sides of the slit together with whatever's handy. Make sure to use a piece of fabric large enough to come down over the top edges of the cubicle.
4. Cut a strip of canvas one foot wider than the entrance opening in your cube, and about half a foot taller. Cut it in half lengthwise, leaving the last half-foot intact. Attach those last 6 inches to the roof canvas and let the canvas hang down over the entrance to your cube.
5. If you don't have a desk lamp, now's the time to get one.
Mike Markley - *NIX Sysadmin and all-around geek - finger for PGP key
Big Booty Ho
Shakin' her thang for you, non-stop, 12 hours a day.
Work was never the same for me after I made this life changing decision. My cube is about half the size of yours, but that makes it twice the fun!
falter
No shit man. 10x10 is the size of some bedrooms dude...
SIG: HUP
Have you though about another job? I quit during the dot-com shakeout ... moved to Mexico and live in a house with view of the mountains. My O'Reilly zoo is in a nice bookshelf in my well equiped spacious home office with natural light (sun!). Doing consutling from here ... setup with cvs etc. and enjoying my life.
You might want to think about it ...
-o
I think that a 10x10 cube would be luxurious to me. Sadly, I'm still going to school, and am rather penniless (withholding my beer and caffiene money) but I litterly live in an 8Wx8Dx6.5H (feet) room, along with 2SGIs, 2Athlon boxes, 2 16 port 100tx ethernet switches --don't ask why-- a 13" T.v., bed, 2desks (one folds down off of my wall, but is cluttered most of time, so is rather pointless of doing so), a small 19" rack for some audio grabage, a ton of books, and a celing fan that must be ducked from(I'm 6'2", do the math), and whatever else I may be working on at any moment.
So, to me 10x10 would be a utter blesing. That's an amazing 64% more square feet than I already have. You have no idea how appealing an air conditioned office cube would be to me, versus my little ventilated, over heated (4+ computers, 4 20"CRTs, 500W torchiere lamp, a 40W desk lamp, and a laptop that follows me around) sweatshop o' death. I should do some thermal calculatons on all hte energy I use in here, it gets damn hot.
BTW, I live in a 100+ year old house that I'm really concidering taking a loan out on, rebuilding the Right Way(tm), or burning the bitch down, and collecting on the insurance (not that I really would)
Constitutional rights may be respected, repealed, or modified; but they must never be ignored.
ceiling and some fishing line to hang my smaller items.
- Plants, plants, plants! (But only in an otherwise unclutered cube) If your company allows it, these really make it feel better. However, in a cluttered cube, they just make it seem more closed in. Oh, and don't forget - just because you can live on Jolt doesn't mean your green friends can.
- Small bookshelf. A small bookshelf (1.5' wide, 3' high) can be aquired cheaply, and gives you more top surface - as well as removing the stacks of binders you have. It really is amazing where those will fit, so don't just give up on it!
- Pen jar - a mug or jar for your pens can really make a big difference if you are like I was. I had pens, pencils, slide rule, etc spread all over my desktop. Now, one coffee mug makes my desk ever so much neater.
- Cord keepers. Little bits of velcro strips make more of a difference than you think.
- Get rid of the 50 post-its on your monitor - it'll make your space seem bigger immediately
- organize and clean up the crap you have stuck on your walls.
Hope these help - they helped me!HEYA RALPHIE
Brave words my fat fraud - still wont give me a time and place but will you - could it be that youre all talk my little wimp - come on your a big touch nazi and im a wimpy JEW - have a go you fat fraud.
RALPH IS A WIMP- HES AFRAID TO FACE US JEWS IN PERSON
Used to be "the Far Side" wall back when I was at university, but times-a-changing. You'll be surrounding yourself with good humour and also giving people reasons to stop by and linger. Good for the psyche, that.
--------
Bleah! Heh heh heh... BLEAH BLEAH!!! Ha ha ha ha...
Get yourself a poster of Doris Day or Racquel Welch so that the warden doesn't see the hole that you are digging.
When I worked in a cube (now I work from home--and that's NOT a euphemism for "I got fired") I used to periodically clean house: any ununsed computer equipment gets dumped in the hardware person's cube and any unused books/supplies get dumped in the "admin" (read: "secretary") person's cube. Hardware that I AM using, but I don't need to sit in front of/next to I put on the rack. Docs that I need but not right now go on the (communal) shelf.
There's really very little that I need to be able to reach out and grab without moving my chair. Everything else (work-related) can take up employer space, not MY space.
324006
At my last job, I was the Senior DP Programmer and even though I didn't warrant an office, I got an extremely large cube complete with a window (which greatly improved FM reception). At one point, a friend who went to Brandeis mentioned that she'd lived in smaller dorm rooms, with a roomate!
...
Anyhow, I had room for my queen sized futon, folded into a couch! Before I could actually move the futon in, the CEO threatened to fire me if I tried. Oh well.
In my current job, I have a fridge, lots of shelf space, locking drawers, four boxes (most running RedHat), laptop docking station, 8 port 100MB switch, KVM, UPS, 21" & 19" monitors, etc.
Ideas for the future: Sink with running water, espresso machine, connection to the FM antenna on the roof, cable TV connection for my All in Wonder Radeon....
Oh, how about a repeater for my cell phone somewhere in the building?
The list goes on
"I'm The Bounty Bear. I will find him anywhere. I'm searching."
Uh, it kind of sound like he was looking for clever storage tips. Not cubical decoration tips. Most the suggestions of "Add plants" would probably exacerbate his clutter situation, not help it.
Contrary to popular belief, coding is not all free blow-jobs and beer. Those things cost MONEY!
Aha - you need a garden mulcher or high temperature incinerator in that cubicle then!
Any job that requires you to stay in a cubicle for 12 hours a day is not worth having. Get a job where you're treated with some respect and allowed to have a social life, and you'll realise that your cubicle is not the most important thing in your life.
Get an LCD Display, if you haven't got one already. Saves a ton of room. Better yet, get one mounted on a hinged suspension arm. Another idea: Arrange to telecommute once or twice a week.
That's no cubicle. That's a friggin mansion.
Our VP's are in 10x10. Mine's more like 7x9.
Don't gripe to us because you're in the lap of luxury and can't figure out how to use it.
You never really know how close to the edge you can go until you fall off.
what the fuck? how is that shit redundant? no other posts covered the topic of spanking! stupid fucking moderator. PLEASE MOD PARENT UP.
And make all other cube-mates nearby ask for relocation by installing a huge hamster run. After about a week of having it, a radius of 10 feet around your cube will have cleared (from hamster stink), then you can take over the cubes nearby...
And think of all the chix you will attract (Minus the hamster stink) who love your furry little rodents.
Don't laugh. The popular design company, Ideo, does just that in one of their offices. In fact, if you pick up the book about Ideo's innovative practices, The Art of Innovation, you'll read pulleys described as a technique for increasing office space and creating office decor. A photo of this technique exists here - second row, middle selection in the gallery.
What'dya mean there's no BLINK tag!?
I don't know about making it more organized, but when it comes to making cubicle life a little happier, I have but one word for you:
NERF
Yeah.
Where's my lobbyist? Right here.
:)
it varies. sometimes you don't really have a choice (I mean, of course you HAVE a choice, but losing your job isn't always the choice you want to make.)
with the economy going the way it is, and especially (at least for me) working for a stock brokerage, there's a certain amount of fear involved on my part to demand to work only 8 hrs a day. If I was to just leave at 5 pm (like some of my european friends do) and leave things undone until the next day, there would be some serious hell to pay.
although I don't make those kinds of demands of the guys who work for me... I try to get them to work only 8 a day, and leave early if there's nothing really pressing that requires them to be there. I don't mind picking up some slack so the guys with families can spend more time with them, since our management is totally dicking them in the pay dept. (no wage increases, no bonuses, hiring freeze, layoffs... etc.)
There's kind a grinding capitalistic thing going on here too, at least in my industry. you get ahead by busting your butt, and that's the perception that many of the higher up sorts (IT and otherwise) have. I've personally made the decision to work hard while I'm still young so I get to a more comfortable place by the time I'm thirty. If that means I have to put in some 12 hr days to singlehandedly pull off huge projects, so be it. my resume was pretty good before the last 2 years but now it's like a book, and at least for me it's been worth it...
YMMV I suppose.
EOM
I keep thinking about sneaking in an inflatable couch,I have a little room to work with.
Disco Ball.
I have one in my cube. It's great. The lights, the sound...
When I'm bored I throw on the red filter and get into a seizure.
Bunk-desks! =brian
One cubicle resident I knew once took the large collection of pop cans he'd accumulated and extended the walls of his cubicle skyward. If you wanted to get really creative, you could add little battlements and towers and the like.
Then again, there's always Lego.
Well, let's see. As soon as someone hands me some dead trees, I proceed to immediately put them in a large pile in the corner of my desk. When this pile reaches 6-7 inches high (about every two months), it gets filed away in the bin under my desk with the old diet-coke bottles. Next day, voila, the bin is magically emptied; clean as a whistle. :-P
std::disclaimer<std::legalese> sig=new std::disclaimer; sig->dump(); delete sig;
Whuhu. These cant be killed by any normal human.
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
The boys over at bacon have some of the most incredible cube pics Ive ever seen
For instance, The cube comode
or the nativity cubicle
They also got some classic packing peanut cube pics, but 've all seen those before.
You just triggered a memory. In an earlier role, we had a row of cubes next to white wall. We accidentally left some posterboards on top of the cubes (because we had no space!) Anyway, the posters boards were those really tacky brilliant neon pink and nean green - one on each side of my cube. The next day I came in and the really cool ambiant hue was the result of the overhead flour. lights. Total accident, but overall a great effect. we left it up for months.
rent office space....and I mean the movie
Great Linux Site
While at my last company, I got inspiration from JWZ's famous tent of doom. I went to an army surplus store and purchased a 40ft. x 20ft. camouflage net and hung it above my cube. Needless to say, this generated some interesting topics of discussion around the office.
Since that time I've been laid off from that dot com and moved on to another. I've still got the net but I haven't hung it up at the current digs yet.
Live plants will do amazing things for your cube. Not only do they bring a little of the 'great outdoors' (that everyone is trying so badly to get to) in to your space, they can actually improve the air quality.
If you go to a Nursery they may have specific indoor plants, or look for 'shade' plants. Spider plants are reliable and tough. Aloe is a good one too, and you can cut off a sprig and squeeze the sap on cuts and burns. If you need a plant with personality to keep you company, try raising a Bonsai Tree.
Start Running Better Polls
8' x 6' ? Some people don't know they're born. I have a 3' desk with no partitions. And I'm the senior engineer in our team.
I have a lava lamp on my desk..adds to the atmosphere nicely...
Jaysyn
There is a war going on for your mind.
Private store space.
Very truly yours,
Woot
(Trying to keep Slashdot JonKatz-free)
Tack the severed limbs and heads of your boss and co-workers onto the walls. If anyone asks just say it's for Halloween.
After I have received the wisdom of good teaching, I will untiringly teach all people. - The Teachings of Buddha
One thing that helped me feel more comfortable in my cube was having a small mirror on top of my monitor. The one I had was actually a small piece of plastic with a chrome tape surface, but it worked! Position it so that you can see anyone who walks behind you (either in your cube, or a little into the hallway).
I get irritated when someone just walks up behind me while I'm at my desk -- working or not, it's the only "personal space" you get at work. (I've had a few easily amused managers who try to make a game out of it.) And it takes the risk out of reading Slashdot at work...
-Plants - Ivy is Nice. Get Long Vines of it and wrap it around the cubical. Also, get several Venus Fly Traps and an audio Recording of "I'm HUNGRY" and you'll be set
-Fan - NOT TOO POWERFUL! Just Imagine feeling all Happy with your new addition and turning the sucker on to see a Flurry of Memos and Reports Fly out the top of your Cubicle
-Door - Make sure it swings OUT, Else People will be walking in and hitting you in the ass all the time. If Possible, Get Sliding, can't hit anyone that way. The Only Problem with that is where would it slide too.
-Roof - A Roof is a nice addition. Sometimes those florescent lights are too annoying. Don't get something like Solid Wood, more like netting that is held up by dowel rods.
-White Noise - A small white noise generator is something that I have from time to time found very nice to have. Soothing and stuff.
-Astroturf - If you can get it. Gives that Natural Feeling like the plants and stuff
-Gerbil w/ Gerbil Tubing - Get a Gerbil Cage with the Tubing Additions, and lots of them. Wrap it around the inside of your Cubical, so he can run all around it. Put Several Gerbils in there, There would be MORE then enough room, and have Multiple Cages too. You can then use the tubes as a place to Wrap the ivy around, Hang small things, etc, etc.
(Score:0, Interesting)
Dude, clearly you're an inmate.
This
decorate your walls with weapons. Tons, and tons of weapons. I guarantee, people will leave you alone.
If you smoke after sex, you're doing it too fast.
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Oriental rug (adds color and class).
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Comfy chair with glider footstool (get rid of that chair they give you... be original).
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Mini fridge with abundant beverages.
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Remove part of your counter space, replace it with a cushy loveseat and blanket. Bonus points if it matches the chair.
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Drawer with bulk candy bars from Sams Club (sell to other employees for 30 cents a piece, they'll love you for saving them money).
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Cordless headphone setup for listening to your mp3s.
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At least one decorative mirror (mirrors make a place seem larger, plus you can check your teeth for lunch leftovers).
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Abundant artwork and other eye-candy.
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Something to give the impression of a door (beaded curtain, actual curtain, maybe vertical blinds?).
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Wear sunglasses to block out the over-bright fluorescent lights.
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Organization is key. A cd rack, bookshelf, file everything in its place.
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One or two plants (don't make a jungle).
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A fan for when your company tries to save money by turning up the temp to cut down on A/C costs.
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A fish tank... having a live creature besides yourself in the cube is very relaxing.
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Don't forget the toys. Stuffed animals, magnet poetry, anything from thinkgeek.
However, be warned of the consequences. If your cube is decorated *too* well, your co-workers will think you are gay. This may or may not be a problem for you.-FF
SQUEAK, the Death of Rats explained.
I get to share a 12'x12' with 3 people and 7 computers. I wouldn't know what to do with a 10x10 all to myself ;)
Also, if you live in an area where the earth shakes occasionally, you will want to make sure the heavy stuff is on the bottom, or that the cabinets close and lock. You don't want your entire book collection to land on your head in case of earthquake. In addition, you should make sure everything is attached, at least a bit, to the wall so the huge shelving unit with monitors on it doesn't tip over.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Oh bother.
Chances are good your cubicle wall supports lockable cabinets, and no doubt you've filled them. Add cabinets above them if you're able to. Adds tons of storage space. Or if that's a problem, add flipper cabinets under your desk in an non-obstructive spot.
The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
Paint it with penguins
It'll give you ideas that Martha Stewart could never dream up.
If you're too lazy to watch, here's one tip: bring in a power screwdriver. Taking out a wall or two really opens up the place.
Easy does it!
This comment has been submitted already, 276865 hours , 59 minutes ago. No need to try again.
Build catacombs beneath your cube. Reinforced concrete makes wonderful supportive walls for all sorts of hidden lairs. The upside is you can also have trapdoors for those visitors you prefer not to have interrupt you during the day.
DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page
UNIX - Not just for Vestal Virgins anymore
rack mount. it works, but it's expensive. ask for a raise
Pulleys! Huhahah!! Attach pulleys to the ceiling, tie ropes to your shelves, run them through the pulleys, and put a big cleat on your desk. You pull the rope, and the shelf full of O'Reilly books goes up, up, and away! Make sure you attach the pulley to part of the ceiling that can hold weight, and don't try that with USB periphs while they're still connected. If the ceiling is really high, use helium balloons. Lots of helium balloons.
If you are more or less like me, who keep things "just in case" maybe you have lots of paper with info. I have lots of notes from college wich I'm scanning, a few per day. Then I'll hack some script to thumbnail and HTML them. A CD can hold up more than 1000 pages, and you can organize things very well.
I dream longingly of my days in a 10'x10' cubicle.
Hell, I even look back fondly on the 8'x8' cubicle I had in the building after that.
No, I am stuck in an 8'x6' cubicle that requires me to sit down in my chair and then rotate it to get at my workstation, as there is insufficient room to pull the chair back. At least they replaced the burning task lights of death that they originally came with. And last year they made us pack up all our stuff in boxes so they could replace the padding in the walls with a less combustible version.
John has a Grinch-based poem somewhere about our cubes being two sizes too small.
Imagine you find your cubicle next morning like this: http://www.ee.ualberta.ca/~pmok/ftp/humorpics/cubi cle.jpg
I've found that the only way I can control the clutter in my cubicle is to remove desks. I currently have only two 3x3 tables in my cube, which leaves the rest of the space open for improvisational dancing, rugby, or whatever I feel like.
Take your stuff home, or throw it away. Nothing else will help you. Be strong.
If your spending 12+hrs a day in a cubicle you've screwed up. (I am assuming here this is not an occasion thing).
I mean, if you love your job so much you spend 12+hrs a day at it then why decorate your space? You love the work, right....
You need something called a vacation & perspective. Hopefully you'll get the perspective on the vaction.
The rest of the suggestions are pretty good, but personally, I find the best way to make my cubicle seem as spacious as possible is to stay out of it. I shedule frequent "meetings" with the cute intern down the hall (i'm 20...give me a break.) Anyways, take an occasional walk, and learn to use your verticle space. Put stuff on top of other stuff. Put the computer under the desk. If its on top of the desk, put stuff on top of it. While plants are great for the office, I tend to find that reptiles work better, I have a gecko in my office....wierds out the sysadmins, but I'm security, so they really dont bother me. And finally, the best way to add space to your cube: Get rid of all the shit you dont need, like that 4 foot tall Tux doll...I love linux...but the doll takes up too much space. If you dont use it almost every day, get it out of the cube.
Welcome to my land of make believe.
Buy some of these pheremones - http://www.thisproductworks.com/fast/ - and wait for the women to pile into your cubicle...
Nevrar
1) get promoted 2) annex a neighboring cubicle for storage 3) Have a fire and burn stuff you dont like
I'm moving into an 18x10 room for three people in two days, so merely having to persist in a 10x10 space for 8 hours a day doesn't seem so bad. I will say that working in any sort of cubicle has to be the most depressing thing I can think of. I interned at a large company a couple summers ago and vowed never to return to a cubicle again. Unless, that is, I find a company that lets me paint the cube, tear out the flourescent lights, and install a soundproof door and roof. Those are my demands - you hear! Really it was more of an atmospheric problem with the whole confinement concept than a space issue though. My cube was probably more like 7x5 and I had plenty of room for papers, computers (laptop, docking station, monitorx2, test platform tower pc), bags, whatever. I even had an empty CDR box lying around, a box for photoshop, a box for dreamweaver, who knows what else. No space problem what-so-ever.
And you think you're free when you spend all your day in that? Think again.
This 'cubicle' (?) thing... I've read about it in Scott Adams' books.. but I've never, ever seen one. It must be a very US-specific thing. Is it very common? Like, is it more likely that somebody has a cubicle than an office, or share an office with somebody?
then get your readers to send you Loads of Crap!!
No one has mentioned JWZ? http://www.jwz.org/tent-of-doom/
1) a second monitor (LCD is the way to go) so you can display documents on that monitor while doing other stuff on the other monitor,
2) a shredder, so you can shred all the documents you have on you desktop.
Now the actual configuration of your cubicule can probably handle the zoo.
All my coworkers are amazed when they find that I have nothing except empty cabinets and drawers in my cube. If they need more space, they come to me.
Why is this? Beyond my computer equipment, I keep no paper. If someone hands me a document, I copy the network location and throw the paper away. I do have some miscellany: silverware, a plate, some iced tea mix, tissues, and a nerf gun. That's all in one drawer. Essentially, space is infinite so long as I have a server and a hard drive.
Hey, at least it will keep those irritating neighbors away. ;-)
dinner: it's what's for beer
Have you ever seen the movie Office Space? Got a cordless screwdriver?
Anyways, what I usually do is to clean my desk once a month. Anything I haven't touched in the last month I put in somebody elses inbox.
Throw out the chair and stack up the O'Reilly books.
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I'd rather not take sides until I hear the monkey's version - PHB
First, take down two of the walls. Voila, the whole office is your cube!
Second, add a candy bowl. By thus bribing your co-workers, you'll get them to thank you for your brilliant real-estate grab. Open-door policy, my foot!
Third, add a rear-view mirror to your workstation. You can spy on your co-workers, can never be suck up on, and if you get a good mirror from a flashy vintage car ($5 at a junkyard) will be the envy of all those who ork cows for a living.
Fourth, put up a corkboard and start tacking random things to it. Never take anything down, just tack things over them. I've got an unimplemented proposal from two years ago, half a dozen bug reports, 0x0D2C (Ode to C), "Go To Statement Considered Harmful", thirty fortune-cookie fortunes, a "grammar hall of shame" where I post particularly ungrammatical notes from senior management, and ten pages of code listings that I needed to gesitculate at once.
Fifth, get a Koosh(tm) Vortex ring gun, and mount it on brackets over your workstation.
--G
It is a good idea to plan escape routes in case you don't want to meet your boss or a guy that wants his money for the movie tickets back. If you hear him on one side of the aisle you can always run to the other. And you must also have a secret escape exit in case of real emergency. You can also install some sensors that beep (or screen flashes) when somebody steps into an aisle - only if you can't afford spy camera. And always keep a note "Be right back" in the reach of your hand. Maybe a screensaver like this mapped to the keyboard is a good idea.
Your roof seems a bit massive. A parasol of opague material might work with less risk of being crushed.
I had the same problem a while back, and then I realized that there were only two viable solutions: I could either get a better job or create an interdimensional gateway to a small pocket dimension for storage purposes. I created the gateway, but my company had an explicit "no portals to other dimensions" clause in my employment agreement, and I lost my job. Believe me, that was tough to explain away on my resume.
Jesus H.! This is the worst selection of replies I've ever seen on a Slashdot question! Seems like endless hours staring at Java/C++ code has killed the creativity of your average Slashdotter...
Anyway, here's what you do:
Well, that should give you some things to start with anyway...
Got Rhinos?
You can probably get alot of plastic shelving from office depot/etc. which you can stack ontop of your existing file cabinates. If possible, try to get permission to hang items from the drop ceiling.
Roof, door, frosted glass.
And take out the horizontal slab, to be replaced with a mahogany desk.
--
Mod up a post Rob doesn't like and you'll never mod again
12+ hours? Jesus. Try getting a significant other who will make you spend more time away from work. Or...get a new job. Slave.
Go...Yaffa!
"Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart, he dreams himself your master."
Try these Parody Posters. It is fun.
... "follow me" the wise man said, but he walked behind
Also called "Mother-in-law's tongue" probably because they are long, sharp, and impossible to get rid of. My girlfriend left hers in the dark, on top of a heating vent, unwatered for four months and it sprouted new shoots.
Whenever I'm off on a co-op term, I just leave mine in the house with the sublettors. It doesn't matter whether they water it or not, it's still gonna be there when I get back.
It may look like I'm doing nothing, but I'm actively waiting for my problems to go away.
--Scott Adams
Attrition.org has a pic of a bunch of enterprising individuals who taped off the entrance to a cubicle and filled it with foam peanuts Here's the pic
Where are we going, and why are we in this hand cart?
i was sick of the fluorescent lights which others in the room needed, so i built a roof for my cubicle:
:)
http://www.mskf.org/roof/ - directory of pictures
not for everyone, but it keeps me happy.
0x0D 0x0A
thats it
Some of us have to work in one big, open room with only a desk and with 100 other yapping idiots.
I suspect that most of the people that claim to work 12 hours a day actually dork around with their fooseball and their boasts of how much they work such that they only work about 6 hours a day.
People who constantly work 12 hours a day start to produce crap code, too. Read some of jwz's early rants where he writes abount going to a concert and coming back to work after it. Then marvel at the POS that was Netscape.
Yes, I am bitter.
I would gladly commit unnatural acts to get 100 sq. ft. to myself. Sheesh!
...not that I'm a pirate.. Hell I've never even fired a cannon. - oldwolf13
Works for me. I pile EVERYTHING on my desk. Know where in the pile the important stuff is. Don't tell anyone else how the pile is arranged. Nobody will touch your stuff for fear of having to clean it up when it falls.
Many people will bitch, but the trick is to know how the pile works. People will ask me for some 'important' piece of paper, assuming it will take an hour to find it. It doesn't. If they complain, the answer is "it only took me a second to get it, what's your problem".
Another good trick is to keep extra cards lying around (I have an abundance of ISA SCSI cards and NIC's. Almost useless, but most people are afraid to touch them. Ergo, my stuff isn't touched.)
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
But you can keep the McKenzie brothers and the Hansen triplets from Slapshot.
All you need is a couple of those cubicle divider walls, a couple postal shipping tubes, and some duct tape!
http://photos.webonastick.com/roof/
--
This web site will cure all your ailments.
When i got todesign my cube at one jobn, I covered onen entire cubicle wall with hang-in shelves.
Was great.
The really cool gurus, in this cube farm, lift weights in their cubes. Get a set of dumbbells....
For the love of God, all you poor cubicle workers should quit and work at a place with an atmosphere. A place where you can talk and interact with your co-workers. Go abroad.
Unable to read configuration file '/bigassraid/htdig//conf/14229.conf'
Geocrawler error message.
Cubicle walls are never tall enough. Construct cubicle height extensions, but do so in the fashion of medieval fort walls. You know, a sort of corrugated wall top, towers at all four corners, etc. Make sure to include a large, wall-mounted pot to tip over boiling oil on your least-favorite neighbor. A positionable catapult or trebuchet is also a good idea. Large spikes for impaling the heads of annoying team memebers may be installed on the tops of the walls if so desired. Filling the doorway of your cubicle with a drawbridge could also be fun, and, if at all possible, install a small moat in all adjacent aisles.
If you have a free USB port, you may consider hanging one of those cheap video cameras up in a corner tower. Make sure to disguise it as castle guard.
This is a perfect excuse to buy a bugle and keep it at work. Any time the stress gets to be too much, just pick it up, play some fanfare, and issue a royal decree.
Also remember that it is perfectly acceptable to throw the contents of chamber pots over the castle walls.
If you get bored, consider erecting a tall tower in the middle of the cubicle. Put one of your computer's speakers up in a top window, disguised as a captive maiden, and play some tortured screaming through your sound card now and then. Make sure to vary it with the occasional cry for help.
zeke
My god, what is it with Americans that they think they have to work 12 hour days and take 2 weeks holiday a year??
Europe has certainly got it right here...
steal someone else's walls in order top create yourself a roof and a fourth wall - completely seal yourself in.
Your productivity is now in an indeterminate quantum state. Take advantage of this situation and take a nap.
Screw you all! I'm off to the pub
Never, EVER organize your cubicle. When I started my first sysadmin jobs, one of the older guys gave me the following advice:
Always have a messy cube. This will make people think that you are actually BUSY, and already have too much to do, and may get them to dump new work on someone else. This leaves you more time for things like experimental kernel compiles, mp3s, pr0n, and long lunches.
Ideas for a busy looking cube include:
- Techie books left open. It is best to do this with books you actually use, so that they get moved around. Good choices include Unix in a Nutshell, The UNIX System Administrator's Handbook, and anything related to PERL.
- Coffee mugs. Don't wash old ones, get more from vendors and pile them up.
- Manila Folders. Leave them open too, as if you are actually doing something with the information they contain.
Follow this path, and offload all of your work onto PERL scripts. You will soon be free, as in beer.
I found that the Sun E-450 in my cubicle was the same size as a bar fridge.
One night, I removed the innards and put in a mini-fridge for holding beer etc.
Now things are much more entertaining.
http://www.sphere.bc.ca. The page is horrible, though (forwarned). The first and lasting impression you get is that its completely covered with ads, and no content. In fact, there are no ads on the page. just bad design. But you can find 6", 10/12" and student (very cheap) rules easily.
That book contains the evidence you're looking for to back up your assertion. It contains studies done by IBM way back that show the effects of cube size and noise on engineer productivity.
Noise is a tremendous problem. Fortunately, my employer recognizes this and every employee gets an office with a door. God bless them.
Heck, I guess I am an old fogey. I'm thirty-nine, but I do have to laugh when any one complains about working in a cubicle. I currently don't have a cubicle though I did on my last job. My current office which is windowless measures 12" by about 8". My cubicle was about the size of my present office.
On my old job, we got the cubicles in 1996 and were very very happy to get them. There was a whole committee set up to get them and interviews with suppliers etc... This was the first time we had private work space.
On my present job there have been offices such as they are for the last five or six years. When I came in they were there. Unlike most of you, I don't stay in my office all day. I have "desk duty" when I go out to man the reference desk in two to four hour slots.
I look upon my office (cubicle or dungeon. I think the cubicle was nicer)as a refuge from office politics, and like most librarians I refuse to keep it neat, though I do leave a spot on my desk to do work and I attempt not to dump my stuff on the chairs. Since I am supposed to do mediated searching, I have lots of chairs. I also have some of the previous librarian's junk though I got rid of a lot of it about a year ago when I cleaned the place up by hauling the dumpster to the office doorway and giving everything I hadn't touched in a year the old heave-ho.
My immediate supervisor whose office has a window is very uncomfortable in her office. Remember until about five years ago librarians did not have private work space. She oftenn takes her work to the work room or the paraprofessionals' glassed in area behind reference. She still has not gotten used to having an office. I'm grateful for mine.
Eileen H. Kramer/Roanna/ZOIDRubashov
ZOID CITY Community and Community Competition
Please visit ZOID CITY Community and Community Competition http://www.zc2zc3.st
Make sure to prominantly display complex looking regular expressions, even if they actually do nothing more than find out where that damn porn file you downloaded yesterday went to.
There is probably not a single non-techie in the world that understands regular expressions. Hell I'm willing to bet not a lot of techies do either.
Oh the joy of cube toys.
Things like the hobberman ball, the bigger the better. Rubics cube, slinky and those neat little metallic balls that bounce against each other forever and a day. Anything and everything that will fit in your cube and make sure they have lavish colors.
These aren't for you, but those who would come to your cube to make some statement.
Instantly, upon witnessing the toys, they will be drawn to them and their little minds focused.
I can't tell you the number of times my supervisors forgot what they were going to say.
Trust me, it was never good news anyway.
"You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours." -- Yogi Berra