Guess I'm lucky - but...
When I'm going insane with soem development
I simply announce that I'll be at home till it's fixed. This works because:
Because my boss understands the *real* issue - our systems working is higher priority that company policies/management fads etc.
I'm reasonable - I wouldn't do it if there's no other staff around or there is some pressing reason I *should* be in.
I already have unmetered net and enough equipment at home to do my job.
This works for me. I can do helpdesk duties because I'm not trying to do anything long term most of the time. Just trying help users.
But when I'm programming any interrupt withing a 3-4 hour time span destroys all my concentration.
Curiously - a great many comapnies in the UK don't encourage home working. They don't have a "policy" in place(!).
Come on UK management: why are so many people taking up expensive office space, polluting the planet, wasting their lives on the train, in the car or bus and stressing themselves to death when they *could* be at home 60+% of the time and actually do *more* work?
-People still get out of the way in the UK when they hear sirens?
Oh yes - every time. Oops - here comes an ambulance... Better mount the kerb without looking - SQUIK!
Seriously... All emergency vehicles used to use the old 2-tone air horns in the UK. Determining direction was easy - air horns produce a number of harmonics.
Then they changed to electronic sounders so a) I have to look around
for about 30 seconds (SQUIK) to work out where the noise is coming from;
b) It sounds like a bloody car alarm so half the road users don't notice until all they can see is AMBULANCE in their rear mirror.
Technology is great. Replace something that works with something complex and then need more complexity to make it work half as well as the thing you first replaced.
I started my parents (in their 70's) with Windows
ME. My mum got tired of all the crashes and weird
things happening and asked "Is there something else we can use?".
I was a bit retiscent about giving them linux (I use almost nothing but linux - but would it be usable for *them*?)
One install of Mandrake 8.0 later and I ask my mum if it's OK. Oh yes, she says - seems easier to use than that MS stuff.
I nearly fell out of my tree. Granted - they want good internet browsing (Opera+Moz) and email (balsa) and a solid internet connection that looks after itself (diald).
So their needs are low but for them it was a perfect solution. And loads of interesting apps (scientific stuff for my dad - heck - he was even interested in perl.)
Doesn't solve the problem that certain very good apps are only available for Windoze. I still use MS Money in VMware because nothing free matches it for my needs.
Slashdot Mirror
Quality journalism again...
Someone mod up the parent - it's a good point.
My TV tuner is about 10x6x1.bit centimeters.
Sooo massssive.
And you'll be needing a tuner somewhere unless you want to rely on broadband delivery(??)
When I'm going insane with soem development I simply announce that I'll be at home till it's fixed. This works because:
This works for me. I can do helpdesk duties because I'm not trying to do anything long term most of the time. Just trying help users. But when I'm programming any interrupt withing a 3-4 hour time span destroys all my concentration.
Curiously - a great many comapnies in the UK don't encourage home working. They don't have a "policy" in place(!).
Come on UK management: why are so many people taking up expensive office space, polluting the planet, wasting their lives on the train, in the car or bus and stressing themselves to death when they *could* be at home 60+% of the time and actually do *more* work?
Oh yes - every time. Oops - here comes an ambulance... Better mount the kerb without looking - SQUIK!
Seriously... All emergency vehicles used to use the old 2-tone air horns in the UK. Determining direction was easy - air horns produce a number of harmonics.
Then they changed to electronic sounders so
a) I have to look around for about 30 seconds (SQUIK) to work out where the noise is coming from;
b) It sounds like a bloody car alarm so half the road users don't notice until all they can see is AMBULANCE in their rear mirror.
Technology is great. Replace something that works with something complex and then need more complexity to make it work half as well as the thing you first replaced.
I was a bit retiscent about giving them linux (I use almost nothing but linux - but would it be usable for *them*?)
One install of Mandrake 8.0 later and I ask my mum if it's OK. Oh yes, she says - seems easier to use than that MS stuff.
I nearly fell out of my tree. Granted - they want good internet browsing (Opera+Moz) and email (balsa) and a solid internet connection that looks after itself (diald). So their needs are low but for them it was a perfect solution. And loads of interesting apps (scientific stuff for my dad - heck - he was even interested in perl.) Doesn't solve the problem that certain very good apps are only available for Windoze. I still use MS Money in VMware because nothing free matches it for my needs.