Working from a Third Place 106
Krishna Dagli writes to mention a USA Today report on the social and business ramifications of working from a third place - somewhere that is neither home nor office. From the article: "An estimated 30 million Americans, or roughly one-fifth of the nation's workforce, are part of the so-called Kinko's generation, employees who spend significant hours each month working outside of a traditional office. This rootless army is growing 10% annually, according to Gartner Dataquest research. The reason? Corporations are increasingly supportive of teleworking for reasons that range from saving money on office space to needing a backup in the event of a natural disaster or terror attack."
There's another reason... (Score:1)
That, and free refills.
Re:There's another reason... (Score:4, Interesting)
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Yeah, except for the whole VPN Passwords.txt file on the desktop
Re:There's another reason... (Score:4, Informative)
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Another reason is it's cheaper to not have to rent space for those employees, if they're willing to work elsewhere.
Another reason is because the economy has been tanking somewhat, with loss of a lot of work to "outsourced" workers, the off site workers are easier to gradually let go, and replace them with outsourced workers in other coun
Just the opposite.. (Score:1)
Or it might go the other way....
PHB - "Uhh, Charlie, listen, don't bother coming in tomorrow, m'kay?"
Charlie - "Sure thing boss."
PHB - "I mean, don't come in anymore."
Charlie - "Great!"
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But, for our mobile workforce, I use WebDAV on SSL for storage, and use IMAP/SSL for email, with SMTP-auth over SSL for sending email.
In short, the "roaming" systems are basically 100% encrypted - the only thing that isn't is HTTP traffic. (and all our stuff is HTTPS)
Yes, you CAN have a secure infrastructure WITHOUT VPNs. (BTW: the best way to do a VPN is OpenVPN - it "just works" once you get it worked out")
Biggest attraction=no distraction (Score:4, Insightful)
(And yes, the state of the US education system is my fault. We give people what they pay for
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If you accept this rule, then using "less" with a plural noun is a red flag; "less distractions" should be "fewer distractions" or "less distraction". However, the rule somewhat awkward. "Less" can be used with a plural noun that explicitly quantified when the aggregation the quantified nou
Re:But don't forget to... (Score:1)
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Thanks anonymous coward.
Halloween (Score:1)
BOO!
Now get back to work!
Cost shifting (Score:2)
AKA Pushing your costs off onto your employees.
Yay, progress.
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I'm quite happy that my company doesn't push the costs (financial as well as time commitments) to travel into the office daily, or to relocate myself near their office.
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Oh, that, plus I still have a cube at the office for those days when I do the 1,998 mile commute...
Coool! (Score:1)
Finally! a real use for the internet which isn't porn related.
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Har, porn sites have more backups than NORAD has blinking lights. In fact, I'd venture that after hearing of a terror attack, your average
Like a screendoor on an employee. (Score:5, Insightful)
Now even more places for data to leak.
Re:Like a screendoor on an employee. (Score:5, Funny)
Fuck it's rebooting again hang on....
HELP!!! MY MOUSE WONT STOP MOVING!!!!
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My laptop is encrypted, monitored, firewalled, virus scanned. I vpn to do everything, use an RSA token for my passwords, i have a forced 15
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I'm sure the risk of a terror attack against Bob's Office Supplies in Podunk, Sd are a great concern to all involved (*duh*).
At least if it would help them make offsite backups, or plan in case of something that actually *has* a remote chance of happening, such as an invasion from outer space, or a fire, a nasty water leak or a burglary... All those things that regularly happen and *can* actually kill a number of companies dead and agai
laptops and security (Score:4, Insightful)
I've heard of a lot of so-called solutions based on USB drives, even bootable ones, but the fact is they all have serious problems security-wise. Even if you're booting - or think you're booting - off the flash drive, by using equipment that's owned or accessible by other people puts your company at risk. The only solution is to also bring your CPU, keyboard input and video output with you; in other words, a laptop PC.
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Hey jack-ass! Guess what, we require windows for many of our applications! Yes, they are idiots. Those in charge of our IT are complete morons and among them just happen to be two people who have won the Fields Medal. You probably don't even know what that is, but trust me only "idots" get them.
Listen. I like Lixux and its great on many of our servers. Sadly our business is jus
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Wow! I've drank WAY too much tonight
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Thanks for the heads-up!
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So, your company is not at all interested in supporting Linux.
Absolutely NOT! We have no interest in supporting ANY technology! We look for technology that can best suppurot US. I realize that is just horrible, but our business i
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But I have no idea how your business plans to do that if they don't want to support the very technology they sell. The only thing I can figure is that your company makes these for some internal purpose and just sells them as a "side business", not a primary income. Which makes them an even less attractive purchase.
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Furthermore... (Score:3, Funny)
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Obesity epidemic solved? (Score:1)
Who eats that much at work?
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Then again, if you're thinking about getting a large chocolate shake from McDonalds, just consider that it has as much fat as a big mac, and
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Ah, finally (Score:2, Funny)
Human interaction (Score:5, Insightful)
It's funny, it didn't dawn on me that spending all day in my apartment would drive me crazy, so quickly. But after a week at home, I was ready to go back to working from my office cubicle :)
Don't underestimate just having people around you all day.
I still "work at home", but I go tour local coffee shops and bookstores. At least now, there's movement in the environment.
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I agree. I've worked from home most of the past 3 years. Its bliss. No one bothers you. If you're called into a meeting, you can still do other tasks. When I go into the office (1 week/month) - I find I'm a lot less productive. Everyone stops by, wants to talk, do long lunches, drag you into meetings...
It is good to have some face time to keep up with the group, but I do get more work done working remotely.
Take care,
Brian
--
SiteChanged.com [sitechanged.com] -- Track your favorite web sites
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in all honesty, i love working from home, but i've found my sanity slipping from the quiet a few times, and that endless productivity that you imagine can turn into what amounts to running in circles if you don't break up your day to clear your head.
i've heard a healthy hab
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(But seriously: I've also gotten hired by friends I made while working in the same coffee shop. With job opportunities and hot chicks at the cafe, why would you work at home all day?)
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I don't want to feel obligated to pump caffeine or sugary bread products into my face all day for the privilege of being somewhere? Also, no strangers == no need for clothes.
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Yes it does get old ... (Score:2, Insightful)
Telecommuting benefits:
* Minimal fuel, vehicle upkeep, shaving, suits, home lunches
* You have the whole day to get in your time. So I might start at 9:30 break at 12:00
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6 figures, pension plan, insurance, 401k (matching), 15k year for training & education, 3 weeks vacation.. you don't get that stuff when working hourly!
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Basically, it can be really tough to focus sometimes. When my kids were young, especially, and we were homeschooling, I basically had to work at night in order to get anything at all done. Of course, the flexibility of the work-from-home allowed this (and my contract jobs did too), and so I got to
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Bert
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A 10% growth is entirely possible without necessarily consuming 10% of the total workforce.
Legitimately working from home (Score:5, Insightful)
1) I'm taking a sickie really and I don't feel like working and look the business has provided me with a good excuse.
2) Legitimate working from home.
Unfortunately the infrastructure at the moment seems to be set up more for type 1, because every employer I've worked for hasn't got their technology right to facilitate type 2. Mind you I'm in IT and require access to a lot more than many non-IT employees might.
I think if you're going to allow work from home, that's a good thing, but for goodness sake unless your business can afford slacking off set some goals that have to be met, and provide the technology.
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because every employer I've worked for hasn't got their technology right to facilitate type 2. Mind you I'm in IT and require access to a lot more than many non-IT employees might.
What do you need, anyway? A high-speed Internet connection, a VPN, IM, e-mail and phone, and an SSH client. That pretty much covers it. What more do you need?
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When you're working on apps that need corporate databases and other corporate resources
I work on apps that need corporate databases and other corporate resources from home. Sometimes it requires a second VPN tunnel inside the first to gain remote access to resources that are not generally available from the corporate LAN. About the only way I can see a problem is if you need access to resources that aren't network accessible.
VPN's that only half work or are buggy don't help.
I haven't run into any
Field Service (Score:5, Insightful)
Working from Customers' offices (Score:2)
The technical issues
Working from an Nth Place (Score:2)
I work "remotely," not some of the time but 95% of the time. I visit headquarters, a few timezones away, once or twice per year. I am in my home office a lot of the time, but if the work I'm doing allows it then I venture out. There is no "third place" for me, however; instead I work from as many different places as I can. My nth place has been a library, cafe, university, park, and even my parents' house.
People are creatures of habit, for sure, and being a regular has its advantages, but I wonder. USA To
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A year ago I did an experiment. Without telling anyone that I work with, right in the middle of a project, I left the country for 5 weeks. I had my (work) cell phone forward to a Skype-in number and went to Tokyo, just to see if anyone could tell the different.
The answer: No, no one knew, suspected, or even really cared when they found out. Though they did wonder why I sounded so sleepy for those 3 pm conference calls.
Starting 4 months ago I went "homeless". I have a p
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It's not what it's cracked up to be (Score:5, Interesting)
#1: My company provided me with a cellular 'broadband' card as my primary connection. It works great in city centers, but is horrible if it works at all outside of major metro areas. I love it when it goes into idle mode as well - drops my VPN login, web pages time out on load, etc etc etc.
#2: My company insists it's important to load bloated corporate spyware that forces updates at inopportune moments and suddenly reboots when it's done - many times in the middle of a large email response. No warning, no choice.
#3: They insist on loading Novell services as they do for internal office workers when everything I need is strictly IP based. I got my hand slapped for backing it out, since that also reports back to the mothership daily.
#4: Many cafes that offer WiFi have minimal electrical outlets, so if you don't vulture other laptop users, you don't get to plug in. Not to mention, these environments are not conducive to making business calls with the grinders and blenders singing their harmonious tune - not to mention the vocals: "DECAF VENTI NON FAT SUGARFREE VANILLA LATTE!"
#5: Recipients of my calls complain of noisy backgrounds, so I have to go out side and talk. Winter sucks for this.
There is some luxury to the practice of being a rootless worker - the scenery does change frequently, I avoid bad coffee/snacks and the people working at these places get to know you and eventually hook you up with a freebie once in awhile.
Shame on companies who try to get off cheap and don't provide proper resources or financial compensation for lack of a decent working environment!
Travelling Consultant (Score:2)
I don't like wo
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it was very much like a gui for rsync, slower and i don't know if it could be hooked in so that it always ran or anything like that. but it did work nicly for moving 1/2G of pictures from a SMB share on my desktop to my lappy.
Terrorist Attacks (Score:5, Funny)
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Extension Cords! (Score:2)
Share the juice!
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It's an ideal combination, as this way I don't have to interfere with the guys that like sitting right at the plug.
I work from home, and couldn't be happier. (Score:4, Interesting)
The secret to telecommuting is community. The people i work with are very friendly and technically savy people - in the community way. They know how to pickup the phone and call, drop me a sametime request and schedule meetings and conference calls to get that person to person chat going.
You have to be organized and willing to work to make it "Work" but it is well worth it. I find myself relaxed, invigorated and the days flying by like no tomorrow.
It does take some getting used to of not having "cube mates" but honestly after working at banks, small shops, development houses, BIG shops and such the small talk isn't exactly worth the hassle of going to work and the real talk i had with people i would consider myself as friends usually ended up getting me in trouble and distracting myself from "working".
I've got a laptop, cable modem, desk, home office (above detached garage) so i even have a place to go to work to and come home from - even though its only 25 feet from the house that can make a difference.
I went from driving an hour each way to walking out my front door and i couldn't be happier. If i want interaction i go hang out at Barnes and Noble, Panera or the local coffee shop and use the wifi to login and get some work done and sip a hot coffee and talk to people often on something that isn't work and the healthy type of distraction that can keep you thinking and out of the day to day drone type work that most of my previous 12 years in IT has been like.
Most importantly, if you work from home or out of the office find a place that respects you for that. Don't accept less money, don't accept less benefits, don't let them treat you like your not part of the team. Places that do that, just don't understand telecommuting, never will and you will hate it.
ah so annoying, let me count the ways... (Score:2)
My third place is my Garage.. (Score:5, Insightful)
I've got comcast, upgraded to the "pro" account for 8mbit/768k, i've got a Vonage voice line, Vonage fax line, my Cell phone, a company laptop, an extra monitor and plenty of space to work, stretch out and be myself.
I bought a nice speakerphone, got a headset for when i simply want to use Skype and layback during a call (hey its still free for the rest of the year!). Headset can travel with me if want to work from Panera, Barnes in Noble, Borders or other local joints with wifi.
I couldn't ask for more! I drop my daughter off at school, pick her up, make it to her activities, i get to see my wife during lunch and for more than 2 hours in the evening. My car went from seeing 25,000 miles a year to seeing about 4,000.
I find myself closer to my friends, i find myself closer to my community, i find myself more invigorated to do more, achieve more and get more work done. I find myself doing more training, i find myself working on furthering my education, i find myself INTERESTED again.
It takes the right company to know your potential and let you live up to it. Believe me they take security measures that can be annoying but after pushing time at a bank sitting around because i was paid to do one thing and nothing else to busting my balls at places i thought were fun but were just beating me into the ground with work an excuses and getting poor results because of it i'm glad to be here.
My life isn't work, its what i do. Now i do it really well because my work is part of MY Life!
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There's Already a Place For This, Called Coworking (Score:1)
"Coworking is cafe-like community/collaboration space for developers, writers and independents.
Or, it's like this: start with a shared office and add cafe culture. Which is the opposite of most modern cafes.
We already have two spaces in San Francisco, one in the Dog Patch area called The Hat Factory (htt
Raleigh Starbucks CHARGE for WiFi (Score:2)
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I value some face time (Score:2)
My employer has a rather liberal telecommuting policy, which is further enhanced by the fact that most people I work with on a day-to-day basis are in offices that are at least 3 hours away. With the exception of the rare times that I get to have real face time with my co-workers, it really doesn't matter where my physical body is when I work.
The third-place working style really does come in handy. It's great when you can drive to the mechanic on a slow afternoon and hop on to their wireless. I've also
What about offshoring? (Score:2)