Yawn. Way to make an arbitrary distinction between the "wannabes" and the "cool kids". That is no more insightful than sitting with the jocks at the pep rally.

Food trucks?

"Anyone who works from home is masturbating all day. I know this because I work from home."

~ Lewis Black

I'm in Virginia Beach too. Cox high-speed is great and we even got to stream the World Cup via WatchESPN on the Roku for free simply for being Cox customers (we only have internet, no cable TV). However, all that streaming did put us over our usage last month, which they promptly informed us lol!

I see your point. However, assuming that you actually do use TPB or something similar (you didn't specify), do you re-seed what you've downloaded? Because if you don't, then you are actually putting the seeders (distributors) at greater risk of getting caught and prosecuted for copyright infringement than you are willing to take on yourself. You would be consuming without paying in any form whatsoever. That would be unethical.

Indeed. And so many of the players are either arrogant thugs or outright criminals. It's a disgusting organization from the inside-out.

I get where you're coming from with regards to "sitting on your ass" and the perception that you as a manager might have of said person. I don't agree with the short-sightedness of that view point, but let's leave that aside for a moment.

What I don't understand is your combative attitude toward this hypothetical employee, and accusing him/her of fraudulent behavior when they've fulfilled their end of the deal -- mainly completing their tasks as assigned within the time allotted. That is what they are paid to do, is it not? That they finished before you thought that they would is irrelevant. If you expect the employee to seek more work above what they were originally expected to perform, then which is the best course of action for you the manager? Or do you think that your subordinates only have a duty to do right by you and not the other way around? Is the business the only entity entitled to act in its own self interest?

So let's be clear here:

Boss (you): "How do you get me these perfectly consistent Excel reports, which I have required of you as part of your job description, so quickly?"

Underling: "Well, you see, sir, I pushed Alt-F11 here in Excel to bring up the VBA Editor and ..."

Boss (you): "GO GET A FUCKING BOX YOU INSUBORDINATE FRAUDSTER!"

Is that accurate?

You sound like a manager. Having a "what have you done for me lately" attitude only demotivates your best employees. How about letting that company-time-saving individual go home an hour early on Friday? For the love of jeebus, that's all it takes to keep him happy!

Also, obligatory Dilbert

To a certain extent, perhaps. However, eyeballing a 100+ line spreadsheet is 100% likely to produce errors. I know, I know ... real geeks don't use spreadsheets! But managers do! I think the article is expressing the woes of the common cubicle-warrior who is damned if they do, damned if they don't in this regard.

I've found myself in this exact situation.

If you have the desire and/or ability to use your computer properly and automate tasks, and your job title is "______ Assistant", your boss will likely not respect you enough to permit automating anything. Therefore, you should do it as quietly as possible, and do not expect any pats on the back for mysteriously having perfect reports in your boss's inbox every morning at 8:31AM, or data requests completed before he/she even has time to walk back to his/her desk. Your boss may "expect" perfection, but will not actually know what to do about a subordinate who is actually capable of delivering it.

Expect to have only Microsoft VBA at your disposal. And amuse yourself daily with this image which sums up your situation perfectly!

Also, smile often! :)

Sadly, there seems to be more support behind teaching the "creationism controversy", than what a mortgage is, or why it is probably not wise to buy Beats-By-Dre speakers with a credit card.

And I am supposed to care about what my fellow students "think" about me, because ...

I'm currently a second year engineering student. Many of my fellow students are blockheads who refuse to buy their books, show up late for class, leave early for class, and then complain when the prof made the test "too hard". Yes, these are Science/Engineering majors who will not graduate, and so I really don't care if they hate me for asking questions to a professor who I've paid to answer my questions.

You need look no further than the Congress/POTUS stealth repealing of the 2012 STOCK Act to know exactly who and what we are dealing with here. We live in a land where "good" laws are fabricated during election years and silently shit-canned once the voters have been duped.

My personal favorite is the enormous headache-inducing excel spreadsheet that somebody has obviously spent way too much time "designing".