I've been running a startup since summer, putting in all kinds of hours (though of course not forgetting to check in here). As I'm the boss, this is not a big problem.
Several times, today, however, when visiting someone's cube, I noticed a rapid screen change attempt. I even pointed to him that there was no need to break his arm doing that -- we need him able to type.
But this got me to thinking that it would be nice to have a USB motion sensor that would be set up to scan an area above a sitting person, so if someone was showing up above/behind you, the screen would change automatically without drawing untoward attention to the process of changing the visible window-- theircompetitor, Nov 23 2005 (?) lastminute http://www.lastminute.com/click up top right of the page [skinflaps, Nov 23 2005] 'The Who' Moditor _27The_20Who_27_20ModitorLess high-tech solution... [theleopard, May 09 2009] "Don't bother me, I'm working" https://www.youtube...watch?v=8bfELN6NskEI used to keep this cool song cued up ready to go in my office, and when my boss came in I'd trigger it [normzone, Apr 11 2024] Hahahahahahaha.. [+]-- Darkelfan, Nov 23 2005 You could have some fun throwing stuff about the office.
Oh, and now that I know that you're my boss and a H'baker, I have no need to change the screen every time you visit my cubicle.-- skinflaps, Nov 23 2005 Can you reprogram the "Copying File" animation to show up even if nothing's copying? Bosses are more forgiving of web surfing if they think you're waiting for a file to finish copying in the background.-- phundug, Nov 23 2005 It would be a good gag to change someone’s screen saver to an inappropriate picture while they were in the bathroom then.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Nov 23 2005 Linky, look in the top right hand of the webpage and click.-- skinflaps, Nov 23 2005 There's a windows shortcut that works quite nicely for all programs: Alt + f4. People love to say things like "press alt +f4 to gain super jump" and have all the newbies unknowingly quit the game right in the middle of a match in Halo. Alt +f4 works for all windows programs.-- EvilPickels, Nov 23 2005 I hate when I rush to minimize a window, only to discover that there's an even more embarrassing window beneath it! E.g. the teen cosplay idols website that I forgot I was browsing... *'O'*-- phundug, Nov 23 2005 When I first saw the idea, I was hoping for a kind of race. The boss walks in, coughs loudly and a timer records who changes screen the quickest.-- Germanicus, Nov 23 2005 Given that tc is currently at a game maker, I have visions of this hapless employee jumping to hide the serious speadsheet he had on his screen.-- DrCurry, Nov 23 2005 Ha!-- theircompetitor, Nov 23 2005 I once had an idea for a plan to "bug" the boss.
At Christmas time, give him an elegant ink pen, that would beep whenever he neared a cubicle. Enough time for the guilty party to switch from the bakery, to a screen saver.
Then I became a boss.-- blissmiss, Nov 23 2005 I just programmed HotKey Control (a great freeware program) to open a picture of an Excel spreadsheet when I hit Windows-Spacebar.
Very useful program; now if only I had a remote control for it under my desk.-- phundug, Nov 23 2005 We GNU/Linux users dont have problems.. Most Desktop environments in GNU/Linux (like KDE, GNOME, orchestra, enlightenment, WindowMaker... and tons of others ) usually come with "Virtual Desktop" feature.
In that, you can have multiple desktops on the same screen.Only one desktop will be shown on the screen at a time. on each desktop, you can open a different set of programs. We usually use it to differentiate between task types.. Like Server Monitoring, current coding and editing, Graphics work, Personal research, News reading and email, etc .
But I think It will be helpful for you too! :-)-- kamathln, Nov 24 2005 I totally came up with this idea 2 weeks ago and forgot about it...rats!-- iamnafets, Nov 24 2005 "Thanks for not firing me, sir. I'll have that Half bakery thingy off of here in a jiffy, I promise."-- sleeka, Nov 25 2005 are all these plus votes from your grateful employees? we've discussed this problem before, many times.
whoops, here comes the boss...-- po, Nov 25 2005 If they know what's good for them-- theircompetitor, Nov 26 2005 I use a great software called Don't Panic by Panicware. You can configure hotkeys and even hotspots for the mouse. So I set it so if the mouse is in the very rightmost 4 pixels of the screen and I right click, it does a "panic". You can define what that is including what apps to "hide" (they even disappear from the taskbar) as well as any applications to open or bring to the front. Great because I can trigger with the mouse (not as obvious as an ALT-TAB or the like).-- GoldChain, Feb 23 2006 There are freeware webcamera programs that let you define areas to motion-detect in, and those programs can actually return some values according to the motion detected. some scripting with Ac'tiv Aid or similar will then change the screen.
there already are USB foot-buttons for sale that do just that, change the screen when pressed, but the motion-sensor idea is much better.[+]-- loonquawl, May 09 2009 [quote]here already are USB foot-buttons for sale that do just that[/quote]
Ah, so the much anticipated 'Control-Alt-Del' footpedal is now a reality for wyndoze users everywhere.-- mecotterill, May 29 2009 This is absolutely brilliant!-- doctorremulac3, Apr 11 2024 Haha thx doc-- theircompetitor, Apr 12 2024 These days with facial recognition and 360° cameras this is a snap! Don't know why it hasn't been baked by now. Can you do your boss thing and bake this? Great idea.-- minoradjustments, Apr 12 2024 random, halfbakery