Cube Privacy Via Gibberish

fury88 writes "CNN is running a story on a new device created by Herman Miller to help with lack of privacy in the cube life. It's apparently a device that will spit out gibberish when you are talking on the phone. You record a few words as instructed by the device and when you are having conversations that may be private, it will spit out sounds that sound like a clone of yourself all talking at once. Frankly I have to think this would be annoying after awhile. As if dealing with your project manager sitting next to you wasn't enough, now you get to hear several versions of your Project Manager talking at once. Talk about insanity!"

Comments

Yeah...

[Rosyna]

"Did you get the memo about the TPS Reports?"

I can imagine them all saying that by default.

Re:Yeah...

[ozbon]

It's obviously dupe week on /. - this one was done back in May...

Re:Yeah...

[AndroidCat]

Switch on the Tourette's Syndrome option to liven things up.

Re:Yeah...

[flyingsquid]

Switch on the Tourette's Syndrome option to liven things up.

I have Tourette's Syndrome, you #$@*& #@! @2©å#oe%, @!$%Ò £@f!* *&%(! &**$ &%$@# &%*!$ insensitive clod!

Re:Yeah...

[jaiyen]

genius!

Dilbert

[cool_number_9]

How long before Scott will think of a joke for this? A PHB thinking there are several Wallys and Dilberts walking around?

Re:Dilbert

[AndroidCat]

I can imagine the PHB being convinced by Wally to use it--when talking on speakerphone.

Re:Dilbert

[Anonymous Coward]

Umm... does his "best of wally" joke count? (wally had annoying sounds of ...a personal nature... recorded and played them to annoy the female engineer)

Cellphones

[se2schul]

Almost everyone has a cell phone. When I need privacy at work, I just walk out of the building and talk on my cell. Scrambling my voice would be annoying to me and to my coworkers.

Re:Cellphones

[JPriest]

I have found that IM is also great for this. Most of my coworkers and I IM each other stuff rather than say it to avoid world+dog hearing everything we say. Where I can't use IM I try to use email, and when I HAVE to make a personal phone call at work I walk out of the building and use my cell phone.

Re:Cellphones

[benzapp]

But that means you work in a suburban office.

I work in midtown Manhattan. I can go outside to talk to friends who won't care, but what about serious phone call?

Re:Cellphones

[Pope]

Just don't do what people around my office do: take their phones into the bathroom stalls and make calls to their girlfriend/wife while taking a dump.

When I hear someone in the next stall doing this, I make sure to fart extra loud. For fuck's sake, if you want to talk in private to your woman, go into one of the small meeting rooms and close the damn door. I doubt she wants to hear you or anyone else dropping a deuce.

Re:Cellphones

[se2schul]

Office bathroom.

Re:Cellphones

[Anonymous Coward]

And if someone actually is interested in overhearing important calls, they can connect the on-switch of the babble box to a recorder on your phone. That way they can skip all the chaff.

Or they could sell a babble box with a built in recorder to PHBs who want to spy on their staff.

Re:Cellphones

[zopf]

IM, email, and really any technology used at work is not private. Most companies monitor all messages that go through their systems, and you usually must accept this supervision upon use of the network. As has been mentioned, for truly private matters, you should use a personal phone away from the building.

Re:Cellphones

[JPriest]

I know that. The point is I don't think I have any "truly private matters", I just like to have some level of privacy for anything that is not work related. People who do not even know me should not know every detail of when I sent my car in for repair or if I am making plans that weekend just because they sit near my cube, it is creepy. I don't care that my IM's are company property because I really have nothing to hide, but having something to hide and wanting some level of privacy are 2 different things.

Re:Cellphones

[Anonymous Coward]

lol, yeah I love to do multiple flushes when that happens too, make sure the person on the other end knows exactly where teh speaker's at

Re:Cellphones

[jhylkema]

I've done that. As long as you can get a signal, you're good to go.

Too bad I don't have mod points, I'd mod you Insightful.

Re:Dupe

[Anonymous Coward]

It's doing like the summary says - we get to hear several versions of the same story at once

Gibberish box

[gcnaddict]

I saw this on Good Morning America six months ago. This is definitely old news!

I want this thing now!

Re:Gibberish box

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, it's a dupe. Although the last article was from NYT, and not CNN.

Re:Gibberish box

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually I have one. And under normal circumstances, my boss talks giggerish but when he talks through this I can understand him. For example...

Before: We need to understand the dynamic and synergistic strategies of our new paradigm and be prepared to take pro-active measures.

Now: We are being bought out. Update your resume.

Old news

[glesga_kiss]

This idea has been around for years; it's why many banks and governments offices that deal with the public play musak over a speaker system. It's not for the listening pleasure; it's to make it hard to overhear other customers private conversations.

Re:Old news

[beh]

I can see the added bonus of the gibberish box over background music - you don't have much problems picking out the singer over most music, do you? Simply because his/her voice is so different from the music, the brain doesn't have much of a problem separating it.

If it's just random gibberish made up from your own voice, it makes it harder for you to decipher the actual words spoken.

What I might think could possibly be a weakness, though, is the fairly limited base of gibberish it's taking into account (namely - what you read in a script). I wonder whether it would be possible to write a computer program recording the whole thing analysing the repetitive parts of the gibberish and trying to extract the rest...?
Also, some conditions might actually change your voice pattern - e.g. colds. If your voice becomes sufficiently different from the gibberish - would it become easier to listen to you again?

In that sense, wouldn't it be "better", if the machine constantly updated its own gibberish? (i.e. the machine would record your part of the conversation, always keeping say the past 5 minutes [including time from previous calls] in its memory and then starts garbling up data picked from random time windows in it (plus maybe even with some transformations - reversing parts of the sounds it plays, ...). Granted - it will likely be more complex to achieve - but in the end, depending on how many products you'd expect to sell, there shouldn't be much of a problem.

Re:Old news

[1u3hr]

Old indeed, CONTROL was using a more sophisticated version in the 1960s.

from the electronic-gibbering-mouther dept

[Alien Being]

Indeed, another dupe.

Re:from the electronic-gibbering-mouther dept

[lisaparratt]

Obviously the editors use such a device when posting stories!

Only for cubes?

[AndroidCat]

Could they make a portable one for people's cell phones? There are some calls that I'd rather not hear even half of. (As Ren and Stimpy would put it, "Repugnant, yet strangely compelling".)

Re:Only for cubes?

[saskboy]

Think of a whole new ring tone:
"I'm sorry my cell is ringing, I'm a doctor of quantum physics and if I don't take this call the Universe could implode. Please excuse the intrusion into your day..."

Not only polite, but it puts other people at ease.

Re:Only for cubes?

[TeacherOfHeroes]

There are some calls that I'd rather not hear even half of

Wow. With my cell phone provider, thats a bundled, always-on feature...

Fill Your Site with Gibberish

[boa13]

In other news...

boa13 writes "There's a new device to help with lack of contents on your web site. It's apparently a device that will spit out dupes when you don't have time to properly read the stories submitted by your users. You post a story once and when you're running short of stuff to publish, it will spit out a rehash that sounds like it's new and fresh, but is actually quite stale, so that casual users will not notice that you don't do a proper job of moderating submitted stories. Frankly I have to think this would be annoying after awhile. As if dealing with improperly written and biased stories wasn't enough, now you get to research the linked articles to discover if it's that old AP story rehashed one more time. Talk about insanity!" ;-)

Re:Fill Your Site with Gibberish

[Anonymous Coward]

A new device has been designed which not only helps with lack of content and apparently can also fill your site with dupe comments when you don'e have time to read and dupe subiteed reader stories. You post a comment once and when you're running out of responses it will rehash the freshness and produce new content that is actually stale but which will not be noticed by casual users who are unlikely to be aware of story moderators not doing a proper job. Frank, my mate, thinks this would be interesting after a while because of subject drift, but then he's dealing with improper substances likely to cause insanity. d-;

Re:Fill Your Site with Gibberish

[mikefe]

No, I think Taco took some classes in Government.

"How to keep the teeming masses busy."

400 bucks?!?

[BushCheney08]

Ahh, yes, $400 is the magic price point -- the price people will pay to try obscure their meaningless conversations. If you're job is so important that it requires privacy like this, they'll probably have put you in an office by now anyways.

Re:400 bucks?!?

[AndroidCat]

The guy in the next cube will buy one (if he can't get the company to spring for it) just to show what an Important and Vital job he's doing.

Re:400 bucks?!?

[NitsujTPU]

If you're job is so important that it requires privacy like this, they'll probably have put you in an office by now anyways.

I don't know what you consider to be important, but plenty of software engineers work in cubicles while management sits in comfy offices. I once was on a site where engineers who worked on classified information sat in an open room at a big round desk with computers... kind of like a campus computer lab. They certainly seemed to require privacy, but lacked it.

The simple fact of the matter is that most successful companies would probably do what you're talking about. Most companies, however, are run by people who are just ahead of "trying to get by," and populated by engineers who are "just getting by." In those companies, the execs walk around with high powered computer that they don't need, while the engineers work at 5+ year old machines. Certainly, the average programmer needs something better... though this solution IS annoying.

Re:400 bucks?!?

[fmaxwell]

If you're job is so important that it requires privacy like this, they'll probably have put you in an office by now anyways.

Being able to take a private call about a family member who's been in an accident or diagnosed with a grave illness is important. Not having everyone in the office hear you start sobbing when you learn of the death of a parent is important. Having some privacy when your child's school nurse calls is important. People's families are important. Work is just a way to support those families.

Re:400 bucks?!?

[bill_mcgonigle]

I don't know what you consider to be important, but plenty of software engineers work in cubicles while management sits in comfy offices.

This is about reinforcing the power of the management class over the technical class - nothing more.

Re:400 bucks?!?

[NitsujTPU]

It certainly is, and sometimes it's to the detriment of the business. If your engineers need resources, they should have them. Businesses run like that deserve to fold.

There are headphones that cancel noise

[rolfwind]

so couldn't there be speakers that cancel incoming and outgoing noise planted at the edge of cubicles to make a field of silence?

I'm not sure it's feasible, but it'd be a cool idea.

Re:There are headphones that cancel noise

[Morgahastu]

Noise cancellers only work with repetitive sound. Noise cancelling works by emitting the opposite of sound at the same time so it has to be able to predict what's coming. They work well in airplanes because the humm of the engine is predictable and somewhat constant.

It would also work at home if you're furnace kicks in/

Re:There are headphones that cancel noise

[Taladar]

I have this cool idea, kind of a low-tech version of your idea: Imagine some big rectangular pieces of some material that doesn't transfer sound (or does it badly) and place them between cubicles. Ideally those pieces should reach from the floor to the ceiling of the room with you cubicle. Now your privacy should be okay.

Re:There are headphones that cancel noise

[t_allardyce]

What if you have a microphone close enough to the noise source so that the system has time to process it and is synchronized to output to your noise cancelling speaker at the same time the original noise arrives at the speaker.

Re:There are headphones that cancel noise

[rolfwind]

Thanks smartass^_^

But the only problem with rooms is that the wall tend to be hard to move, unlike cubicles.

At least if you use wood framing and the electrical wiring as it is here. AFAIK, I think in germany, they use very lightweight bricks for inside walls (they are like a cross between styrafoam and pumice in texture and weight - very light). And they put wiring in PVC-type pipes, even inside wiring, so it's relatively easy to move rooms around compared to wood framing. But nowhere near the ease of cubicles.

Re:There are headphones that cancel noise

[frdmfghtr]

Imagine some big rectangular pieces of some material that doesn't transfer sound (or does it badly) and place them between cubicles. Ideally those pieces should reach from the floor to the ceiling of the room with you cubicle. Now your privacy should be okay.

Those are called "offices." Some time ago, when you got an office job with a large company, you were assigned one of these "offices" to do your work. They even had these other novel things called "doors" which were like small wall sections on hinges that could be swung in and out of the opening used to go into and out of the "office." Imagine, your own space where the walls extended from the floor all the way to the ceiling, and a door to boot! These were popular in times where one also would frequently work for the same company for a long time and get additional perks such as "health care" and this other neat thing called a "pension" where the company continued to pay part of your salary after you worked for them for thirty or so years and stopped working, called "retirement."

(Yes, that is sarcasm you smell)

Re:There are headphones that cancel noise

[mikael]

In some of the offices I worked in, they had white-noise speakers mounted at regular intervals across the ceiling (the technical term is a "sound masking system"). When they weren't being used as a public-broadcast system to announce that the pizza arrived or that someone had left their car lights on, they would be used to generate white noise that would reduce the range that conversations would be heard. It was freaky to see two people chatting at a distance of three workspaces away and not actually hear what they were saying.

Re:There are headphones that cancel noise

[Anonymous Coward]

Those are called "offices." ...

(Yes, that is sarcasm you smell)

WoooooOOOOOOooooooosssssshhhh!

Re:There are headphones that cancel noise

[Anonymous Coward]

"(Yes, that is sarcasm you smell)"

Oh. Phew!
I thought the fact I haven't had a bath in four years could be causing that funny smell.

Re:There are headphones that cancel noise

[yppiz]

"But the only problem with rooms is that the wall tend to be hard to move, unlike cubicles."

I can't remember ever seeing cube walls moved once they were installed, in the twenty years I've spent in and out of cubeland. This includes cubes in startups and Fortune 500 companies.

Often, cubes don't get moved even when one tenant moves out of the office and another moves in.

So while open office plans plus cubes provide great flexibility in theory, in practice, it rarely works out that way.

--Pat

Re:There are headphones that cancel noise

[rkurzawa]

Best part of the above comment Score:5, Insightful Got to love the mods

If you want to talk privately

[Aceticon]

Pick up your mobile phone and go to a quiet corner.

Actually do this anytime your talking on your mobile, confidential/private call or not, that way nobody will notice when you actually DO go out to talk privately

Also mastering the art of smoothly changing subjects when somebody walks in is very usefull:

You (on the phone): Tell me what you're wearing
She: I have my black silk negligee on ..
You: If i was there i would pull the straps, slowly let it fall down and then ...
*somebody walks in*
You: ... would have a mechanic check it out. You never know when a car starts making funny noises - you might end up with an expensive to fix problem.

Re:If you want to talk privately

[Anonymous Coward]

You (on the phone): Tell me what you're wearing
She: I have my black silk negligee on ..
You: If i was there i would pull the straps, slowly let it fall down and then ...
*somebody walks in*
You: ... would have a mechanic check it out. You never know when a car starts making funny noises - you might end up with an expensive to fix problem.

She: You PERVERT! I'm not into swinging you kinky bastard! What sort of a slut do you think I am? The phonesex crap was wierd enough but this is the last straw! I'm breaking up with you!
You: Bbbbut honey......

Re:If you want to talk privately

[Aceticon]

Methinks ur just jealous ;)

Re:If you want to talk privately

[Frankie70]

Also mastering the art of smoothly changing subjects when somebody walks in is very usefull:

You (on the phone): Tell me what you're wearing


I think you shouldn't be calling those 900 numbers from work in the first place.

New?

[dancingmad]

New? I saw a story about this over the summer (when I was still in the US!) on CNN!

Dupe

[mwvdlee]

I can imagine a device which translates Slashdot articles into spoken word, but I'm afraid my boss would notice if it talked about the same subject again and again and again and...

Or - a random example of even newer technology...?

[beh]

Maybe it's not a dupe...

It could be some experimental product - posting old junk on slashdot to divert attention from the fact that samzenpus is on IRC / chatting with office-mates / on the phone / ? ;-)

They should be shot...

[arock99]

First of all if you don't want people hearing your private conversations then do them in PRIVATE not at work like this. Odds are your co-worker doesn't want to hear it and might even find it distracting and annoying to begin with as he/she is actually doing WORK at WORK. Who would have believed? This thing makes it even more annoying and believe me I would first warn and then report someone using such a thing.

Re:They should be shot...

[MooUK]

Cow-orkers actually WORKING? Never gonna happen.

(I think we can safely blame that view on the fact that a previous job was part-time duty manager at a local convenience store.)

Re:They should be shot...

[reason]

You don't think privacy might be important when talking to clients about contract negotiations, or talking to subordinates about their performance, or to HR about needing bereavment leave, or to your boss about your next pay rise?

Already Done with White Noise Generators

[Griim]

We already have white-noise generators in the ceiling of my dept, a call centre for a major corporate communications company. They do a nice job of dampening office echo, and creating a nice background noise that's also ideal for falling asleep to.

Other departments sound so quiet after this one. I prefer it.

Re:Already Done with White Noise Generators

[HighOrbit]

We also have White Noise Generators at my office. They simply sound like the air-conditioners running all the time. They do a good job of covering over most low-level noise like quite conversations.

The funny thing is that I was having my hearing checked a few months ago and I mentioned it to the doctor. He was completely suprised at the idea and had never heard of it, even though it has been around for years.

Re:Already Done with White Noise Generators

[AngryScotsman]

Funny, our White Noise Generator *is* the air conditioning. I can have my speakers running at a comfortable listening volume and you can't hear them over the wall.

Audio Spam

[suiside]

I'm afraid of what a Beowulf cluster of these would do to my hearing... not to mention my sanity.

Invented by Danny Hillis et al at Applied Minds

[Anonymous Coward]

Aloha!

The machine was invented by Danny Hillis (of Thinking Machines and Long Now fame) and the other good folks at Applied Minds:
http://www.appliedminds.com/

Good interview that among other things describes the device in question:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9558120/site/newsweek/

For additional security and convienience...

[saskboy]

To add a feature, any time you do math, it starts yelling out random numbers too add security:

8! 23! 42! 5432!

Re:For additional security and convienience...

[Anonymous Coward]

Why would you want it yelling out about factorials?

Anyway, who does math on the phone in anything but hex? I mean, come on, save me some time.

Which reminds me... When at work and you're talking in private to your "girlfriend" why dont' you just use Klingon or Quenya? Most of the socially inep.. I mean, most of my coworkers understand one or another...

Re:For additional security and convienience...

[StikyPad]

That, ladies and gentlemen, was the sound of one AC completely missing the joke, followed by a transcript of the gibberish device in action.

Sounds like rubbish to me

[wellybog]

Let me get this right - if you play two conversations from the same person, people listening in will not be able to make head or tail of it?

All you would need to do is see the lips of the person talking and your brain would do the rest for you...

Doubtful...

[ArsenneLupin]

Considering that musak is most often purely instrumental "music" (no song, i.e. voice), and usually not played loud, it's doubtful that it would be disruptive enough for this purpose.

For masking conversation, they should play the sound of a roomful of people chattering all at once...

Re:Doubtful...

[Imsdal]

"Muzak" is actually a registered trademark by a company with the same name, and not "general background music".

The idea behind it isn't to stop people from listening in on private conversations, but rather to put people in a suitable mood. The latter tends to mean "willing to shop" in department stores, which I would guess is the main use of it.

Personally, I hate the idea behind this. Either it doesn't work, in which case it is annoying as hell, or it does work, in which case it's, if not unethical at least provocative (to me, YMMV).

But what I hate even more is that a lot of public places thought that playing "mood music" was a generally good idea without any other thought behind it. Stop polluting my ears now, please!

Also, Muzak has a website that is even more annoying than their sound pollution. Use at your own risk. (No, I won't provide a link. I hate them.)

Re:Doubtful...

[Digital Vomit]

"Muzak" is actually a registered trademark by a company with the same name, and not "general background music".

"Muzak" is already well on its way to join the ranks of "thermos" and "zipper".

Re:Doubtful...

[Imsdal]

I agree that it is "well on its way", but it isn't quite there already, IMHO. An wikipedia bears me out. Please note that I didn't even have to edit the page for it to say so! :)

Re:Doubtful...

[Anonymous Coward]

If you really hate them so much don't you think the best revenge would be to post their link on /. ? :)

Unnecessary for anyone with a brain

[external400kdiskette]

This is the kind of thing that has manual solutions. If you actually need a device to be with you all the time to stay "private" you have bigger problems, namely a low IQ. And realistcally if your discussing anything that you don't want other people to here then for good reason you should be discussing these things when your off on lunch break on your cell or something. Under no circumstances should you talk about stuff that you don't want other people to here with other people around. And if it's some company secrets I'm sure your allowed to take a private room or something for that kind of discussion.

Smells like...

[worf_mo]

... a dupe. Although TFA back then called the device an "Electronic Silencer" it seems to be the same product.

Re:Smells like...

[SpectralDesign]

If I didn't think it was extremely hypocritical to complain about posts that have nothing to add except yelling "Dupe!" I might say something about how annoying they are.

Oh, did I say that out-loud? Damn!

(Hey, at least you did your footwork and gave a link to prior article, instead of just bitching and moaning though!)

We need some sci-fi to come to fruition

[RollingThunder]

While this may be a dupe, I still think that it just underscores what we really need from sci-fi.

The dermal subvocalization mike. Talking without making (audible) sound. What a blissful office that would make for.

Yes I remember...

[xtracto]

yep, I remember this story from before on slashdot, and I rembmer a comment from one person that made a lot of sense to me: (it said something like these)

Nowadays, I have to stand the meaningless and stupid conversations of the persons shouting at the phone in my office, imagine the *party* there will be when all off them start using these things.

Nope, there is really not a need for more noise at the office. Please just get your cellphone and go to the freaking toilet.

Wait a sec...

[Wellspring]

It's apparently a device that will spit out gibberish when you are talking on the phone.

Wait a sec, so you're saying that this magical device will spit meaningless gibberish completely free of intellectual content, designed to drown out anyone making any sense of what I'm actually saying?

What's the big advance? Isn't that what managers are for?

Re:Wait a sec...

[beforewisdom]

It's apparently a device that will spit out gibberish when you are talking on the phone.

Wait a sec, so you're saying that this magical device will spit meaningless gibberish completely free of intellectual content

It seems like that is what I overhear in cell phone conversations anyway.

preemptive strike

[BushCheney08]

you're your yer yr...it's early and i'm just starting my coffee...

What I'd rather have...

[pupdog311]

Is a box that intercepted people near my cube and carried on a conversation with them. That way I wouldn't have to worry about them hearing me on the phone, or even talking to them. Just program it to recognize a few standard topics - weather, sporting events, news, and if it's actually someone asking for tech help, it could automatically spit out 'Put in a ticket and we'll call you' so I wouldn't have to 20 times a day...

2nd Use

[Elitist_Phoenix]

You could use this device for when your talking to your mother inlaw. Just set it going and walk away, half of them wouldn't know the difference!

Re:2nd Use

[Anonymous Coward]

never underestimate the powers of a Mother-in-law....

Cube Privacy Via Working

[Obvius]

The best lesson I ever learned was to use my work email account solely for work emails and my private accounts for the private stuff.
Similarly, work phone's for work stuff, private phone's for all those communications better kept 'out of earshot'.

This makes life a ahole lot easier without needing any slapstick digi-voice box.

Not annoying?

[Knx]

From TFA:
The effect is strange, though not as annoying as one would think.

Not so annoying, really? I'm somewhat skeptical...

Clone #1 : That sounds like a crazy idea.
Clone #2 : And that's $395!
Clone #3 : Isn't that old news?
Clone #4 : Geeeez...
Clone #2 : And that's $395!
Clone #4 : Geeeez...
Clone #3 : Isn't that old news?
Clone #1 : That sounds like a crazy idea.
Clone #3 : Isn't that old news?
Clone #4 : Geeeez...

Re:Not annoying?

[xtracto]

Haha, or better yet an "intelligent" version of it:

Clone#1: How much?
Clone#2:How much can you spare?
Clone#1: As much as I need to?
Clone#2: How much is that?
Clone#1: You can download me for free!
Clone#2: No I don't think I can do it.
Clone#1: Are you serious? Where do you get your ideas?

Clone#2: Everything I need to know, I learned from Dr. Richard S. Wallace.

Clone#1: All things you need to know you learned from Dr Richard s Wallace?
Clone#2: But all things are not always me need to know me learned from Dr Richard s Wallace.
Clone#1: Umm. But all things are not always are not always you need to know you learned from Dr Richard s Wallace.
Clone#2: Interesting. But all things are not always are not always are not always me need to know me learned from Dr
Richard s
Wallace.
Clone#1: Interesting. But all things are not always are not always are not always are not always you need to know you
learned from Dr
Richard s Wallace.
Clone#2: Huh. But all things are not always are not always are not always are not always are not always me need to know
me learned from
Dr Richard s Wallace.

etcetera...

We already have it

[mustafap]

All of our project managers talk gibberish when they are on the phone.

It's not hardware based - they just went on a special training course. I think it had MBA in the title...

If you need and want privacy....

[CastrTroy]

If you need and want privacy, and it's work related, you should probably set up a meeting in a place where you have some privacy. Or use email or instant messaging if that will suffice. Encrypted if necessary. If it's just some family business you don't want spreading around the office, take a little trip away from your cube. If it's taking up too much time and you're worried that your boss won't like you spending so much time from your cube, then maybe you should take a day off to get your private business in order.

Gibberish box

[ndb]

Wasn't there a 'cone of silence' on Maxwell Smart? Now that would ensure total privacy. Or you could simply walk out of the office and use you shoe phone!

"I want to go to the green room"

[Psx29]

Don't tell me I'm the only person that thought of the movie "Cube" reading this headline?? Maybe it's just too early for me

Re:Dupe

[elliott_p]

Not only that, it seems to be running out of stories to dupe and has resorted to self-advertising. Seriously, if you start using this, you may notice your colleagues staying back real late and hanging suspiciously around your cubicle one evening. The next morning, when your manager walks past you, your phone rings and Mr Duper kicks in: you know what, screw my boss he's such a scum..

Nice

[t_allardyce]

I think I do something similar when I want to cross out something written on paper - write over the words a few times with some gibberish, its much safer than just scribbling over those comments you wish you hadn't committed to paper. Of course, anyone sitting in a cubicle is obviously not considered important enough to have anything private to say, cubicles are the most retarded invention known to the business world, a way of pretending to care but inadvertently insulting your employees - its like giving everyone a company car except the cars are 30 year old skodas which can't actually run for more then 10 minutes at a time and cant overtake pedestrians. Cubicles are essentially pieces of cheap board that just get in the way and only become useful when they double up as exhibition displays in ultra-stingy organisations.

Re:Nice

[Eevee]

cubicles are the most retarded invention known to the business world

Yes, I'm sure everyone would prefer an office over a cubicle. However, this is what life without cubicles would look like. Cheaper than installing cubicles, taking up less floorspace per person, and no privacy.

Re:Say it after me

[DrSkwid]

yeah, let's just repost everything on a 2 week cycle

Only one thing more annoying than a dupe

[Anonymous Coward]

Are the commenters lamely pointing out that the story is a dupe! Look, genius, if you recognize the story is a dupe, then you can probably count on the fact that the majority of the commenters have also detected a dupe, and will post some goddamn stupid comment reminding everyone of the utter dupeness of the story. There's absolutely no reason to post your two cents worth. For those that don't know it's a dupe, then it's likely the story may be new to them, so they don't really give a fuck that you went to the lame effort to find the actual link to the initial article.

Moderators, you should treat these lame comments about dupes like fp posts. Mod them to oblivion!

Ah, so they finally discovered it!

[roman_mir]

NATURE'S HARMONIC SIMULTANEOUS 4-DAY TIME CUBE

Singularity education begets evil, for you were born as an opposite, between opposite sexes & the opposite Earth poles. You are educated as a stupid android slave to the evil Word Animal Singularity Brotherhood. Your analytical mind is lobotomized and you cannot think opposite of lies you are taught to think. You build the hell 'they' teach.
      Dr.Gene Ray, Cubic and Wisest Human

You have opposite brains to think opposite, but Big Brother icepick academic lobotomy has destroyed your mentality to think opposite of the evil singularity you are taught. The 4 days is above your godism and you don't even want to know. Universe is composed of opposite hemispheres and opposite sexes - equating to + / -, a zero existence, depicted by Pyramid's bare coffer. Your 1Day God Makes You Evil. 4 Corner Days Are Absolute, but ignored by stupid/evil educators. Until cornered, word is fictitious. God is product of fictitious word. 4Day Cube Disproves 1Day God All creation within the universe is composed of opposite hemispheres and opposite sexes - with opposite races, opposite seasons, opposite luck, opposite directions and opposite perspectives - equating a harmonic rotating zero value existence.
"To know all, is to know nothing".

Gibberish

[Loquax]

As a native Gibber, I resent the implication that anyone can simply computerize the Gibberish language. While seemingly chaotic, Gibberish has complex linguistic features unique among the Indo-Iranian-Ubangi language group that simply do not fit neatly into computer generation. While Gibberish may be a near dead language, I remind you all that it is the official language of the U.S. Congress and would point all of you towards our greatest orator Donald Rumsfeld for an example of the beauty found in the known unknowns in this complex language. In closing, I'd like to say that two ducks making wine may find rabbits in unexpected places. Thanks.

Re:Gibberish

[Winlin]

>
      Blasphemer!!! A rock stripe will never paint cars from a casino. So there.

Hindi is a good option..

[ayjay29]

I worked on a team with a bunch of Indian programmers, and they used to call the build team in Mumbi a lot. The conversations basically went likt this:

Aapko achaa lagaa?
Usse mat Sql Server chuuo.
Tumhein chhot lag Visual Studio sakti hai.
Sone kaa samay ho stored procedure gayaa hai.
Hum humeshaa tumhaaraa parivaar rahenge out of memory exception.
Hum tumhein kabhei nahin email chodenge sourde safe.
Kyaa tumhein tatti karni hai?
Tumhein kahaan dard ho breakpoint rahaa hai?

We never really new if it was business related or id they were just chatting with their mates and throwing in a bit of tech lingo here and there.

Re:Hindi is a good option..

[Franciscan]

Main bhi aisa hi hoon. I am not indian, but I think Hindi is a fabulous language. If you want to pass coded messages to your friends, write them in french, but use the Hindi (Devanagari) script. Warren

Re:Hindi is a good option..

[Anonymous Coward]

Klaatu barada nikto.

Re:Hindi is a good option..

[Anonymous Coward]

bah write them in the kling skript english pig lattin. Dont forget correctp capitalization.

Re:Hindi is a good option..

[Anonymous Coward]

Klaatu barada nik*cough*o. Alright, then.

Chief, activate the Dome of Silence.....

[Anonymous Coward]

C'mon, Agent 86 had a pefectly good answer to this, what, 40 years ago? And it worked so well...

Umm

[beforewisdom]

Ummm.., why not just take your cell phone and step out into an empty portion of the hallway?

Probably cheaper too.

(pant) (pant) (schlip schlip)

[Anonymous Coward]

So does this mean if a guy were to stop to "pleasure himself" in his cube, it would sound like ... A roman bath house?

White noise

[spectrokid]

I saw on TV a bank with a huge cubicle farm. The roof contained a large number of speakers which constantly spread white noise (think radio in between channels). Because your brain can't "lock in" on pure noise, you end up not noticing it anymore. In the mean time it still "overrides" other peoples sounds, and the end impression is a quieter background.

That's what conference rooms are for

[nsayer]

Granted, my employer may be a bit more enlightened than some, but we have a bunch of conference rooms and there's always people in them (when they're not being used for real conferences) alone on the phone. I rather suspect in a lot of cases that it isn't even a privacy thing as much as it is to keep the cube areas quieter.

Cursing clones

[lildogie]

Imagine initializing this thing with offensive language.

Re: can also help at work about work problems

[Anonymous Coward]

I get this all the time...I'm talking to a user at some site talking them through the troubleshooting process (turn the power-bar off, count to five, turn it back on -kind of conversation) and another co-worker with nothing better to do overhears my talking and comes into my cube and starts making suggestions...usually things I've already done or am about to do.
This device will help me AT WORK.

this makes no sense

[FruFox]

Ok, am I the only person who thinks this would just make the phone conversation nearly incomprehensible? I mean sheesh, if you want total privacy, just blow raspberries at each other. Then nobody will know what you are talking about...not even you! I bet this guy also thinks the best lock is a door that is welded shut. This has got to be the most retarded technology I've heard of all year! :)

A more subtle solution

[deacon]

would be a throat microphone with a headset.

Really ugly link using /. link feature follows:

ahref=http://www.google.com/search?as_q=throat+mic rophone&num=10&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as _oq=&as_eq=&lr=&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as _occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=&as_rights=&safe=i magesrel=url2html-25324http://www.google.com/searc h?as_q=throat+microphone&num=10&hl=en&btnG=Google+ Search&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&lr=&as_ft=i&as_filety pe=&as_qdr=all&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=& as_rights=&safe=images >

You don't have to speak loudly to pick for the mic to pick up.

Bring on ...

[OneSmartFellow]

The Cone of Silence

Grocery store

[Anonymous Coward]

If that's what it is, they should get rid of it at the grocery stores and shopping malls. It's so deafening in there with everyone yacking anyway anyway...

Not true

[p3d0]

Active noise cancellation can work on any sound as long as you can put a microphone between the sound source and your ear. Electronics are much faster than sound waves, and they can compute the inverse signal by the time the sound reaches your ear.

Just a thought...

[mark-t]

Don't carry on a private conversation with someone while at work in the first place.

But then my sympathy for people that expect the "right" to make or accept personal calls at work in the first place is somewhere in the vicinity of zero anyways.

If the conversation is work-related and still needs to be private, then one has a perfectly legitimate reason to have access to a telephone in a more private area than one's cubicle anyways. If the conversation isn't work related, one just has to bite the bullet and accept the fact that there is no reason why they should be afforded the luxury of increased privacy for such an activity. If they _REALLY_ need increased privacy for a personal call, they can ask their boss to see if he'll allow it. If personal calls are infrequent enough and the reason is legitimate, even if not work-related, they may permit it anyways.

Re:Just a thought...

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't know...my sympathy for personal business at work used to be pretty low, but these days, it goes up rapidly as we're expected to work more unpaid hours.

You can't just have a one-sided renegotiation of the social contract--as employeers routinely ask salaried employees to give up their personal time for work, it's hard to argue against having some personal business enter the work day. I'm sure a lot of us have been in situations where the only way to take care of personal things while the rest of the world was awake was to do it from work.

Re:Just a thought...

[Anonymous Coward]

that may be fine for someone who's work is their life, but occasionally I find the need to make personal calls. maybe in your part of the world everything and everyone is contactable 24/7 but in mine there's a lot of businesses I need to talk to that just aren't open outside of normal business hours.

ever have to talk to your bank because they screwed up your account? if people can't accept that we, the workers, are human and actually do things outside of the office that may be important, than i don't want to work for them.

you want to call me at home at 2130 on a friday night and ask me to help with your stuff up, fine, i'll charge you for it but you can be damn sure that if you're taking liberty with my free time i'll take the same liberty when i'm on your clock

$395???

[popo]

Please, this "technology" could be replicated by anyone with a cursory knowledge of
audio files and WinAmp.

And how is this different from when I turn up the music to make a phone call?
Because this is pre-recorded speech? Congratulations Herman, you've replaced "hip"
with "weird".

White Noise

[Detritus]

I've seen courtrooms that turn on white noise generators when the judge is discussing some legal issue with the lawyers.

Source of Noise

[airship]

I understand that it uses dupes on Slashdot as its souce of background noise. Good thinking. That way they know they'll never run out of input.

Hearing aid users will love this

[magefile]

Seriously. It's not all that uncommon for one hearing aid to fail, or be unwearable temporarily (think ear infection), in which case anyone with severe to profound deafness will not be able to hear their own voice on the phone (since hearing aids at that level pick up the B-field from the phone via induction, and turn off the microphone). This makes using phones somewhat unnerving, as you have no idea whether you're talking too loudly for privacy or not.

Simultaneous release of two devices

[esobofh]

They must have also released a device to duplicate slashdot articles - it's working well!

I have one of these...

[Anonymous Coward]

It's apparently a device that will spit out gibberish when you are talking on the phone.

I already have one of these devices. It's called my "mouth".

Or even better...

[__aalmrb3802]

To be more efficent, you could use one or more conical shaped pieces of this material that are just large enough to surround a single person's head/upper-body. This could then be lowered down from the ceiling only when you need to use it. You could call it, "The Cone of Silence".

lmao is this for real?

[Easy2RememberNick]

*presently laughing his ass off*

  If I had one of those, or even worse, a cow-orker had one I'd be laughing hystericaly if I heard it. For some reason, and this is appropriate for today (US Thanks Giving Day) I imagine it would sound like a Turkey farm, hundred of Turkeys all gobbling at once. Even worse would be if *everyone* had one! lmao

Wrap your cube in carpet, egg boxes and foil...

[Anonymous Coward]

and use encrypted frequency hopping.

Alternatively, don't hope for any privacy because it's all eroded anyway. Even if you work from home your calls aren't private.

HTH

Privacy Defined...

[Anonymous Coward]

*1900s British Womans Accent*
Eaves dropping. To drop from ones eaves and hear what one will will hear, unless hearing is shundered by that blasted babble device.

Babble, one shall hear not a thing!

No thanks

[StikyPad]

It's apparently a device that will spit out gibberish when you are talking on the phone.

Thanks, but I already have a girlfriend.

Unfeasible

[Gorimek]

The problem with that idea is that it's fairly easy to cancel sounds with one speaker in one point - ear or microphone, typically - but mathemathically impossible to do so in an entire area. You'd need one speaker for each of the infinite number of points in it.

No, just thoughtless.

[fmaxwell]

Don't carry on a private conversation with someone while at work in the first place.

Do you work in a sweatshop or what? Professionals have, for decades, been afforded some level of privacy and it is only in recent years, with the horrifyingly greater acceptance of the cubicle, that such privacy has been eroded.

But then my sympathy for people that expect the "right" to make or accept personal calls at work in the first place is somewhere in the vicinity of zero anyways.

But you probably think that it's fine for businesses to call employees at home or on their cell phones. You don't have any problem with managers calling on evenings, weekends, or even during vacations, do you? You probably think that it's perfectly proper for the business to ask the employee to give up their personal time to put in overtime, don't you?

If the conversation isn't work related, one just has to bite the bullet and accept the fact that there is no reason why they should be afforded the luxury of increased privacy for such an activity.

[sarcasm\Why should an office worker feel that they have the right to privacy when their doctor's office calls? Why shouldn't their coworker hear about their (fill in the blank with embarassing medical condition)? Damnit, if a coworker has the nerve to get breast cancer, prostate cancer, anal fissures, genital warts, etc., it will lead to greater absenteeism, so that employee has no right to privacy. And how about these despicable employees who want privacy when talking to the nursing home about their elderly parent?[/sarcasm]

Yeah, you're a real gem of a human being, aren't you?

If personal calls are infrequent enough and the reason is legitimate, even if not work-related, they may permit it anyways.

Why the fsck should I have to explain something of a personal nature to my boss in order to get some privacy? What kind of inhuman prick are you? Eight hours of pay does not entitle the company to eight continuous hours of work without so much as a moment to handle personal business, whether of a financial, medical, or other nature.

People like you disgust me. You think that the only important thing is the corporation. Screw the employee. Screw the employee's family. It's all about the company coffers.

Re:No, just thoughtless.

[mark-t]

But you probably think that it's fine for businesses to call employees at home or on their cell phones

Actually, I don't think that's fine at all. When a person is off the clock, they are off the clock, and it better be *DAMN* important if someone's boss is going to interrupt their personal time with a business matter. For myself, _IF_ I have the spare time, I may even attend to it because that's the sort of guy I am, (it also makes it a whole lot easier to justify asking for a raise every now and then). But of course, if I have other plans already, I'm not likely to be willing to change them for my boss.

Now that said... I find that when an employee is at work, there may be legitimate reason for them to make a personal call. One shouldn't need to go into specific details when justifying why a person might need to use the office phone for a personal call, and in fact many bosses are more than accomodating even if no reason is given, as long as it does not become a frequent occurence. So of course, this wouldn't even be an issue if a person is working for a good boss and they don't make personal calls that often.

However, I also recognize that the phone line is _NOT_ the employee's property to do what they will, and last time I checked, the so-called "right" to make personal phone calls while at work was not enumerated among human, constitutional, or civic rights. It's a privilege, and people need to remember that.

I won't address your ad-hominem statements beyond mentioning that they were observed. Neither the truth nor what sort of person I am is dependant on what you think of me personally.

Re:No, just thoughtless.

[fmaxwell]

Actually, I don't think that's fine at all. When a person is off the clock, they are off the clock, and it better be *DAMN* important if someone's boss is going to interrupt their personal time with a business matter.

Many of the personal calls that many people make/get at work are *DAMN* important, too. If an employee needs to take a call from their doctor, they should be able to talk without fear of being overheard. If they can't, then the business needs to take steps so that they can.

One shouldn't need to go into specific details when justifying why a person might need to use the office phone for a personal call, and in fact many bosses are more than accomodating even if no reason is given, as long as it does not become a frequent occurence. So of course, this wouldn't even be an issue if a person is working for a good boss and they don't make personal calls that often.

Professionals should feel free to use their discretion as to the number of personal phone calls that they make or receive at work. If it becomes excessive, then the employee should be counseled. If it's not excessive, it's not the business of the employer.

However, I also recognize that the phone line is _NOT_ the employee's property to do what they will, and last time I checked, the so-called "right" to make personal phone calls while at work was not enumerated among human, constitutional, or civic rights.

The toilet at work is _NOT_ the employee's property, either, but I'm not in favor of the employee having to ask the boss's permission in order to use it -- even if the boss doesn't insist on knowing if it's number one or number two. Would you tolerate an office where the toilet stalls had no doors? I've never seen the so-called "right" to privacy while using a toilet enumerated among human, constitutional, or civic rights -- but I consider it a right nonetheless.

Re:No, just thoughtless.

[mark-t]

Many of the personal calls that many people make/get at work are *DAMN* important

I don't recall disagreeing with this assertion. Perhaps you should try addressing what I said in the context that I said it next time.

If an employee needs to take a call from their doctor, they should be able to talk without fear of being overheard.

Absolutely. That's a perfactly valid reason for a personal call, IMO, and how hard is it to ask one's boss if they can take a private call from their doctor?

Would you tolerate an office where the toilet stalls had no doors?

Not offering privacy to people in the bathroom is a violation of an expected freedom that people have in this country. It's not actually illegal, but it can still land them in a whole crapload of trouble if the lack of privacy is not directly connected with what the business actually does.

Re:No, just thoughtless.

[fmaxwell]

That's a perfactly valid reason for a personal call, IMO, and how hard is it to ask one's boss if they can take a private call from their doctor?

It's none of your boss's business that you're discussing a medical problem with your doctor. That's between you and the doctor. If you wanted people to know that you were talking to your doctor about a medical problem, then you wouldn't care about privacy, would you?

It doesn't matter if you have your boss's permission to use a private phone because the doctor will call you at your desk. They won't have patience when you put them on hold, only to discover that the conference room with the designated private phone is in use. It's not a plan.

Not offering privacy to people in the bathroom is a violation of an expected freedom that people have in this country.

So your expectation of privacy in a public (or business) restroom must be met, but professionals with an expectation of privacy for phone calls at work are just to be written off as unreasonable? There are public restrooms in this country with no doors on the stalls. School districts have even removed stall doors. Apparently, not everyone shares your expectation of privacy in restrooms.

It's not actually illegal, but it can still land them in a whole crapload of trouble if the lack of privacy is not directly connected with what the business actually does.

So just what kind of "crapload of trouble" can a business get for providing doorless restroom stalls? No one is making you use the stalls. No one is forcing you to work for that company. Can you provide any links to newspaper articles or court cases showing that a business got in serious trouble for not having doors on bathroom stalls?

Professionals have long expected privacy for occasional personal phone calls and it's only in the last two decades that this expectation has been eroded by the disgusting trend of putting people in cubicles. People like you are only making the situation. By condoning this type of arrangement, you're telling businesses that it's okay to put people in doorless cubicles where their every word is overheard. You're saying that it's normal for a professional to be in a cubicle where everyone within 50 feet knows when they clip a fingernail, cough, sneeze, or fart. Grow a pair and tell your boss that you expect to work in an office with a door. Tell him that you expect to be able to make or receive a phone call without everyone in the area hearing your every word. Don't sing the company song while they tear down office walls.

Re:No, just thoughtless.

[Anonymous Coward]

It's none of your boss's business that you're discussing a medical problem with your doctor

It is when you are using the boss's phone line to discuss it. Like it or not.

If you wanted people to know that you were talking to your doctor about a medical problem, then you wouldn't care about privacy, would you?

Note that I said nothing about being specific. "I need to talk to my doctor" is a whole lot different from "I need to talk to my doctor about XYZ". It may be the boss's business to know enough that you wanted to use the phone to take a call, but he doesn't need to know the particulars of a medical call under any circumstances. If the justification for so much privacy that you can't even mention that you are talking to your doctor is genuine, you can probably get medical leave in the first place (at least where I live).

Anyways, it's evident that this is going nowhere. I've replied as AC this time because I'm not interested in being notified about replies to this comment.

Re:No, just thoughtless.

[fmaxwell]

It is when you are using the boss's phone line to discuss it. Like it or not.

Professionals have a right to some privacy whether you wish to respect it or not.

If the justification for so much privacy that you can't even mention that you are talking to your doctor is genuine, you can probably get medical leave in the first place (at least where I live).

I don't need to justify privacy. As a professional, I have a right to it. Maybe someone doesn't want their boss speculating about whether there are health problems ("our medical insurance premiums are going up and Bill's got another call from his doctor", "maybe I should put off promoting Bill until we see whether these calls from his doctor are about something serious", etc.).

I've replied as AC this time because I'm not interested in being notified about replies to this comment.

You replied as AC because you had no answer for these points:

1. "It doesn't matter if you have your boss's permission to use a private phone because the doctor will call you at your desk. They won't have patience when you put them on hold, only to discover that the conference room with the designated private phone is in use. It's not a plan."

2. "So just what kind of "crapload of trouble" can a business get for providing doorless restroom stalls? No one is making you use the stalls. No one is forcing you to work for that company. Can you provide any links to newspaper articles or court cases showing that a business got in serious trouble for not having doors on bathroom stalls?"

3. "Professionals have long expected privacy for occasional personal phone calls and it's only in the last two decades that this expectation has been eroded by the disgusting trend of putting people in cubicles. People like you are only making the situation [worse]. By condoning this type of arrangement, you're telling businesses that it's okay to put people in doorless cubicles where their every word is overheard. You're saying that it's normal for a professional to be in a cubicle where everyone within 50 feet knows when they clip a fingernail, cough, sneeze, or fart. Grow a pair and tell your boss that you expect to work in an office with a door. Tell him that you expect to be able to make or receive a phone call without everyone in the area hearing your every word. Don't sing the company song while they tear down office walls."

MOD PARENT DOWN

[Anonymous Coward]

Am I supposed to take off 2 days to sit by the phone at home waiting for my doctor to call, you callous asshole? Or if my daughter gets hurt at school, does everyone in the office have a right to hear my side of the conversation with the school nurse?

When I went to work for my company, they had me sign a non-disclosure agreement. It's a two-way street. If I am supposed to protect their privacy, then they can give me some privacy in return. If the management can have privacy when discussing company matters, then I should have some when I have to occasionally discuss family matters, even when my family is so insensitive that they get sick, injured, or in an emergency during my working hours.

MOD PARENT DOWN!

Not worth it.

[ansleybean]

We just tested a babblebox like this at work yesterday. It is COMPLETELY ineffective. In fact, it almost has the opposite effect - by sounding like a bunch of background conversations, it's quite easy to pick out one - the real one - over all the others!

mod parent down

[Anonymous Coward]

Parent post is not insightful. It is just some loser parroting what he was told while working at McDonalds. Big business is always right, employees don't deserve to be treated with respect, employees shouldn't get personal calls at work but they shouldn't stay home to wait for them either, blah, blah, blah.

Created by Herman Miller and Applied Minds

[yppiz]

A lot of work on Babble was done by Appled Minds for Herman Miller. Here's a Wired article that describes the project:

http://wired.com/news/20050621_appliedminds.html?t w=wn_tophead_1

Here's Herman Miller's press release for the device:

http://www.hermanmiller.com/CDA/SSA/News/Story/0,1 585,a9-c407-n350,00.html

--Pat