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How Can I Make More Of My Cubicle? 473

Posted by Hemos from the making-the-best-of-it dept.
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."
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How Can I Make More Of My Cubicle? More

How Can I Make More Of My Cubicle?

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  • One Word: (Score:3)

    by CokeBear ( 16811 ) on Thursday August 16, 2001 @06:50PM (#2112998) Journal

    ThinkGeek [thinkgeek.com]

  • rats nest of cables (Score:4, Insightful)

    by camt ( 162536 ) on Thursday August 16, 2001 @03:46PM (#2113597) Homepage
    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

  • 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.
  • Fridge.

    • Always Tripping Over Cables. (Score:4, Funny)

      by BigBlockMopar ( 191202 ) on Thursday August 16, 2001 @05:28PM (#2132769) Homepage

      Fridge.

      Of course! That's a given. But with a twist.

      Okay. Here's a list.

      • Raised floor so that you're not tripping over cables anymore.
      • Suction cups to lift raised floor tiles.
      • Snow shovel, pushing plow kind, to sweep empty coffee cups and other rubble which accumulates on the floor into the floor prior to the boss coming 'round. (Also great for hiding people, your personal Gnutella server on the company's OC-3, etc.)
      • Shelving. Lots of shelving. I prefer to recycle old racks, because they usually have nice doors on them to hide the clutter. I weld in brackets to support wooden shelves. (Into one of the old racks, of course, you take the compressor, evaporator and condenser from the fridge and no one will ever steal your lunch because they don't even know that's a fridge.)
      • Collection of window-box flower pots - you know, the long and rectangular ones. When the crap on your desk gives your mouse no place to roam, stick the flower box on the brackets welded or screwed to the side of your desk. Place the phone, mouse and monitor elsewhere. At this point, the shovel can do double duty and clean your desk as well. Leave the full flower box in a corner for a month. You didn't really need anything which is still in it at the end of the month, and you can readily dispatch the contents by raising a tile and dumping them into the black hole.

      Every now and then, dumping a little bit of compost heap activator (available at any gardening store) will help the disposal process.

    • Beer.

  • Get promoted. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Caball ( 58351 ) on Thursday August 16, 2001 @02:57PM (#2118839)
    Get promoted and move your arse to a wall office with a nice view and a hot secretary :)

    • Even better (Score:3, Insightful)

      by avoisin ( 105703 )
      Or, get promotoed and move your arse to an area with a nice view OF a hot secretary!
    • The funny thing about that is, the division I'm working for is going to move to a new building this coming May. Evidently, the new policy is that no-one gets an office. No one. Not even the head muckety-muck. This is a division of about 500 people in a company that employs over 100,000 people.

      Evidently, the perimeter of each floor will be all conference rooms of various sizes and if you need an office/privacy you snag one. Should be interesting. I wonder how many of the managers, who just love to check their voice mail on speaker phone while they read emails, will like this. I've heard a little bit of grumbling, but not a lot. Evidently, this is already policy at a couple of other sites within the company.
  • You can knock out the walls off the empty cubicles next to you, even install your own bowling lane.

  • Up, up and away! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by bahtama ( 252146 ) on Thursday August 16, 2001 @03:00PM (#2119721) Homepage
    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.

    • Re:Up, up and away! (Score:4, Informative)

      by bahtama ( 252146 ) on Thursday August 16, 2001 @03:14PM (#2122387) Homepage
      FYI: http://www.steelcase.com/products2/ [steelcase.com] - they have all kinds of cool stuff, from pre-designed modular offices to individual pieces. A great place to start redesigning your office. Or you can just go directly to the storage area of the site. http://www.steelcase.com/products/category.html?ca tegory=storage [steelcase.com]

    • Re:Up, up and away! (Score:4, Interesting)

      by michael_cain ( 66650 ) on Thursday August 16, 2001 @03:45PM (#2136341) Journal
      My 23" rack, with shelves, has... let me see what's here today... five system units, Etherswitch, VCR, audio mixer and keyboard/monitor/mouse mux, all in less than two feet by two feet of floor space. One 15" LCD monitor, one keyboard, and one mouse take up less than two linear feet of work surface. $50 frame grabber in one of the PCs instead of other people's TV sets. Hang the phone on the wall (one of these days I'll hang the monitor on the wall too). Work surface on one side of the cubicle only, file cabinets, drawers, coat rack on the other so that I get to use the whole length. Open shelves instead of closed overhead bins, because you can stack things much higher.

    • Re:Up, up and away! (Score:5, Funny)

      by bartyboy ( 99076 ) on Thursday August 16, 2001 @03:24PM (#2145251)
      And if you're a really dedicated worker, pick up a suspended sleeping bag (just like the ones astronauts use) to cut down on your commute from work. Make sure it's waterproof, so it can double as a curtain for a collapsable shower. And remove the fan off your CPU to turn it into an instant heating element (excellent for boiling water).

      Oh, and a bunch of people suggested getting a fridge and filling it with beer. You could suspend it from the ceiling on a retractable steel cable.

      I hope this helps.

    • Re:Up, up and away! (Score:3, Informative)

      by chuqui ( 264912 )
      > Think vertical. I have cabinets, shelves and racks almost to the ceiling.

      Be careful here -- you can get in trouble with facilities and/or the fire marshall. We've been told to keep at least 1' open, because otherwise you block the sprinklers, the fire marshall yells at facilities, and they come and tell us to tear it down.

      And if you live in an earthquake-capable part of the country, be careful about building too high or putting things like monitors on things. Back before the 1989 loma prieta earthquake, we had a number of people do that. We also had to dig many of them out of their cubes after the quake, when everything fell in on them. No serious injuries, fortunately.

      Vertical is good -- but too vertical can be a probelm...

  • Take it all home (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Ars-Fartsica ( 166957 ) on Thursday August 16, 2001 @03:51PM (#2119722)
    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.
  • Transformers [kbkids.com] are my current action figure of choice, but YMMV.

  • A cubical? (Score:2, Funny)

    by BigGar' ( 411008 )
    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.

  • Artwork is important! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by chipuni ( 156625 ) on Thursday August 16, 2001 @04:07PM (#2123589) Homepage
    I'm a furry fan. At every job that I've worked in a cubicle, I've brought in (tasteful) artwork that I've gotten from science fiction, fantasy, or furry conventions. The color breaks up the walls, and it adds a lot of personalization to the cubicle.

    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.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Making "more" (Score:4, Funny)

    by Tim Macinta ( 1052 ) <twm@alum.mit.edu> on Thursday August 16, 2001 @03:14PM (#2126392) Homepage
    • Go to http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/ [kernel.org] and grab the latest copy of util-linux.
    • Un-tar it somewhere and change to that directory.
    • ./configure
    • gmake
    • gmake install
    • Congratulations! You've just made a nice new copy of "more".

  • 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 ...

  • Odors are your friend. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Rimbo ( 139781 ) <rimbosity@sbcglo[ ].net ['bal' in gap]> on Thursday August 16, 2001 @03:04PM (#2127060) Homepage Journal
    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.

  • How to spruce up your cubicle. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by mindstrm ( 20013 ) on Thursday August 16, 2001 @05:22PM (#2129617)
    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.

  • 12 hours a day? (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Dude, get a life!
  • 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.
  • A coworker was cutting a piece of thin, flat, clear plastic as a cover for her desk. I saw the remnant (about 2'x3') and was struck with the idea of maximizing my desk space with it.

    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

  • Ikea (Score:2)

    by guinsu ( 198732 )
    Ikea baby, Ikea.

    • Re:Ikea (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      You are not your Swedish furniture!

      -Tyler

  • Get rid of those #@#$% Todd McFarlane models.
  • I find that about a quart of gasoline and a box of saftey matches clean out cluttered cubicles better than anything else.

    Have fun :)

  • Milk crates (Score:3, Informative)

    by wmulvihillDxR ( 212915 ) on Thursday August 16, 2001 @03:00PM (#2133469) Homepage Journal
    Milk crates are cheap storage that stacks nicely.

    And for a subtle effect, get plants. Like cactus (hard to kill).

    • Fish... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Squirrel Killer ( 23450 ) on Thursday August 16, 2001 @05:39PM (#2117350)
      Plants are too common...I had a friend set up a desk aquarium and put a betta in it. They're colorful and active enough to be interesting, hardy enough to be ignored for the weekend, and you don't have to wait a minute for the screensaver to start up. And at least you can rest assured that something has to spend more time in the office than you do.

      -sk

    • I agree, plants help add color and life to a cube. Spider plants (aka "airplane plants") are darn near impossible to kill. They also help filter the air, and get nice and bushy and "plant-like". Bonus, they send off shoots with babies ("paratroopers") that you can cut off, re-pot and give to friends.

      Aloe vera plants are pretty easy to grow too, and (IMHO) are a little friendlier-looking than cacti. Pepperomia (sp?) are easy too; mine survived just fine when I went on vacation for a week and forgot to get someone to water it.

    • you damn thief! I called the FBI. They are on their way to arrest you for using those illegally. Better make sure your pillow and mattress tags are on there as well!

  • storage bins (Score:2, Funny)

    by greysky ( 136732 )
    I've found that paper shredders make excellent storage bins. Just one holds reams and reams of memos!

  • Go Camp Style (Score:4, Informative)

    by sneakerfish ( 89743 ) on Thursday August 16, 2001 @03:13PM (#2133612)
    Funky cubes are the stuff of "Silli Vally" legend:

    Take a look at how Jamie Zawinski [jwz.org] did it.

  • Ideas (Score:2, Interesting)

    by maurert ( 515791 )
    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.
  • about a gallon of gas and a match...

  • Bunk cubes (Score:2, Funny)

    by CokeJunky ( 51666 )
    Just be happy they haven't started stacking workers vertically, with ladders to get up to their cubes.
    • 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.

  • 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.)

  • 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).
  • 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.

    Bryguy :0
  • 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.)
  • I can remember helping a a friend move out from a college fraternity house many years ago.

    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 [radionfreenation]?

    • 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.

  • Cubicle? (Score:2, Informative)

    by zeus_tfc ( 222250 )
    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

  • A few ideas (Score:5, Informative)

    by Rift ( 3915 ) on Thursday August 16, 2001 @03:03PM (#2138009)
    • 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!
    • Plants? Nah! Fauna not Flora!

      The odd snake or two to keep down the managers...

      Fish tank is soothing.

      Incense stick for atmosphere.

      KILL THOSE @#$#$ FLOURESCENTS!

      Nothing convinces me more that they are out to get me than the flourescents.

      Persian rugs are nice.

      Get a sheet of Popping plastic. (Know the stuff the poppaholics get off on? Used for packing monitors and the like? That's the stuff.) Anyway, get a sheet and put it under the carpet.

      Watch the interesting dance visitors make when they stand on it!

      Get a large sign for the entrance. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T REMEMBER THE ERROR MESSAGE?" Listen for footsteps, hear the silence while they read the sign, hear the footsteps retreat never to return....

      Interesting looking components that itchy fingers reach out to fiddle with, and find that they are wired to charged capacitors.

  • Posters (Score:5, Funny)

    by fobbman ( 131816 ) on Thursday August 16, 2001 @03:11PM (#2138382) Homepage

    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.

  • LCD Display (Score:3, Interesting)

    by whjwhj ( 243426 ) on Thursday August 16, 2001 @03:24PM (#2138751)
    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.

  • 10'x10' Cubicle? (Score:4, Funny)

    by trongey ( 21550 ) on Thursday August 16, 2001 @03:32PM (#2138911) Homepage
    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.
  • 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

  • The boys over at bacon [ilovebacon.com] have some of the most incredible cube pics Ive ever seen

    For instance, The cube comode [ilovebacon.com]

    or the nativity cubicle [ilovebacon.com]

    They also got some classic packing peanut cube pics [ilovebacon.com], but 've all seen those before.

  • Plants! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Soong ( 7225 ) on Thursday August 16, 2001 @03:10PM (#2141002) Homepage Journal
    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.
  • Dude, clearly you're an inmate.

  • Here's an idea (Score:3, Funny)

    by scott1853 ( 194884 ) on Thursday August 16, 2001 @02:58PM (#2154148)
    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.

  • Solution (Score:5, Funny)

    by lavaforge ( 245529 ) on Thursday August 16, 2001 @03:04PM (#2154225)
    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.
    • 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?
    • 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!!!

  • Most Important Things to Have in a Cubicle (Score:5, Funny)

    by zpengo ( 99887 ) on Thursday August 16, 2001 @03:04PM (#2154290) Homepage
    • A small fridge
    • A fan
    • A foot-massager
    • A laptop turned around so people can't see what you're doing (games, Slashdot, etc.)
    • Lots of filing cabinets, for all those stacks of paper on your desk.
    • Various useful items from Thinkgeek, such as the rear-view mirror.
    • Music and good headphones.
    • A member of the opposite sex, if possible.
    • 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.

  • my solution (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mskfisher ( 22425 ) on Thursday August 16, 2001 @03:06PM (#2154636) Homepage Journal
    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/ [mskf.org] - directory of pictures

    not for everyone, but it keeps me happy. :)
    • 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. :(
    • 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!

    • Re:my solution (Score:5, Funny)

      by abischof ( 255 ) <alex&spamcop,net> on Thursday August 16, 2001 @04:57PM (#2127838) Homepage
      For more information on building a cubicle roof, see also this Ask Slashdot thread [slashdot.org] on building cubicle roofs.

    • Re:my solution (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Pig Hogger ( 10379 )
      Wouldn't it have been easier to
      • turn off the fluorescent light above?
      • remove the tubes from the fluorescent light above?
      • replace the "cool white" tubes with "warm white" tubes in the fluorescent light?
      • add a few strategically-placed incandescent spotlights here and there to counter the annoying colour of fluorescent lights?
      Just asking...

  • Privacy through Obscurity (Score:5, Insightful)

    by gmhowell ( 26755 ) <gmhowell@gmail.com> on Thursday August 16, 2001 @03:46PM (#2155293) Homepage Journal
    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.)

    • 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 :)

  • Why? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by supabeast! ( 84658 ) on Friday August 17, 2001 @10:20AM (#2160425)
    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.

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