Are you getting up tonight at 3am to watch the big show? Will you watch it on vanilla free-to-air tv or will you be getting interactive, tweeting, possibly throwing commentary at current.tv?
Dnosauria
Writing it down before it gets sketchy
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Headphones and Silent Modes
If I or one of my colleagues goes postal, it’ll be because of the ringtones, or the over-sharing sans inside voice. Seriously, some of these people must think they’re using tin cans & string and that microphones haven’t developed any further the way they shout into the phone. There can’t be any work-life balance if your colleagues lives keep invading the office.
*High blood pressure? Blame the office layout*
Working in open-plan offices is bad for the health and productivity of workers, a Queensland study has found.
Workers are more likely to experience high levels of stress, conflict and blood pressure leading to a high turnover of staff, says study author Dr Vinesh Oommen from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT).
Dr Oommen reviewed all the available literature on the effects of open-plan offices on employees and he said the evidence was “absolutely shocking”.
“It has been found that the high level of noise causes employees to lose concentration, leading to low productivity,” he said in a statement.
“There are privacy issues because everyone can see what you are doing on the computer or hear what you are saying on the phone, and there is a feeling of insecurity.
“There is also a higher chance of workplace conflicts – sitting so close to someone that each time their phone rings you can get irritated. I think most of us, including myself, can relate to that.”
He says 90 per cent of the research found the effects of working in open-plan offices were negative and the conclusion of his study was that small, private, closed offices were better for productivity.
But he suggested that employers may prefer open-plan offices because they offer on-average a 20 per cent saving on construction costs.
“But the question for employers is, ‘Do you want happy workers, or a high staff turnover and high absenteeism?’,” he said.
“That is a choice faced by all employers.”
Dr Oommen’s study was published in the Asia-Pacific Journal of Health Management.
The Weekend in Media
At home:
- Watched Sin City again. In the same vein, looking forward to Sin City 2 and The Spirit.
- Watched the latest Futurama DVD Bender’s Game
- Read some more of The Slap.
- Catalogued and ripped a bunch of CDs to the PC for transfer to the iPods.
Out & about:
- No cinema visits.
- Acquired Uncommissioned Art: An A-Z of Australian Graffiti by Christine Dew and Plastered: The Poster Art of Australian Popular Music by Murray Walding with Nick Vukovic, both half price, from The Book Grocer in Kingston.
- Picked up Love is in the Air: Stories of Australian Pop Music by Toby Creswell and Watching the Tree by Adeline Yen Mah from a book stall at the Old Bus Depot Markets.
Stand-up comedy at the old Manuka Starbucks
On again tonight if you missed it last night. Top turnout.
