Gizmodo: cubicles

Individual Air Conditioners in Cubicles Double Energy Efficiency (Tell Your Boss!)

Dan Nosowitz — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:00:08 EST

Hey, office drones. The next time you're pissed and shivering because Jeff in accounting turned the thermostat down to 65 again, just show him this article: Turns out individual climate control units in cubicles can save up to 50% energy.

It seems pretty obvious, really: There's no reason to cool down the hallways, corridors, entrances and lobbies if you spend all your time in a cube, so why not restrict climate control to places where people actually work? Hell, they even tried it in Singapore, where the weather is definitely worse than Scranton, PA; Slough, England; or wherever Office Space was filmed, and it cut energy costs right in half. Bring that up to Jeff, the next time he tries to lower the temperature enough to freeze your coffee. [New Scientist]

New Dell Keyboard and Mouse Are Destined for Millions of Cubicles Across the Globe

Jack Loftus — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:30:00 EDT

When we're talking office PC accessories today, there's boring, and then there's Dell boring. Regular boring gets you a quick trip to irrelevancy. Dell boring, on the other hand, gets your product onto the desktops of a million cubicle drones the world over. And that's probably where we'll see these pre-release products from Dell. The safe, non-threatening design reminded TechWareLabs of Logitech, which makes sense given the G3/G5 design cues, but we at Gizmodo practically fell asleep. The LED indicator is pretty, but unless you're a typist into some serious keystroke entry porn, we imagine you can easily hold off on buying these and just use them when they show up at work in a few months. [TechWareLabs]

Security Cam Footage of Cubicle Rage to the Extreme is Every Cube Dweller's Fantasy

Adam Frucci — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:28:30 EDT

This is a security cam video of a guy who, to put it lightly, is sick of working in a cubicle farm. If you're looking to get yourself fired in a way that'll legally prevent you from ever entering the office or interacting with any of your former coworkers again, with a free room at the county correctional facility tossed in for good measure, throwing a computer monitor at a coworker and then systematically destroying the entire office is a pretty good way to do so. On the upside, showing your boss this video might be a good way to get him to upgrade you to an LCD monitor. They hurt less when thrown, one would assume.
Update: Hit the jump for video from another angle, a co-worker's cellphone, in color and with sound.

[Neatorama]

Globus Mobile Is Office in a Bubble

Kit Eaton — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 07:19:21 EST

The Globus Mobile is a complete office workstation and chair hidden in a large ball. The concept by designer Michiel van der Kley can be moved to any place using its hidden wheels. When you want to work, you just swivel it open and bingo: you can slot in a laptop, perch on the padded chair and think up as many chicken-and-egg or ping-pong ball jokes as you like. [Michiel van der Kley via Yanko design]

Office Cubicle Reimagined as Office Pod

Adrian Covert — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 18:30:07 EDT

If every corporate American office had workspaces like the Eclipse partition system, I might not be so terrified of becoming a suit. Designer Marcus Curran came up with this concept as part of an industrial design thesis he was working on while in school at the University of Melbourne. The central idea behind this contraption is versatility. Its retractable hood allows for various levels of privacy and access to accommodate to the changing work flow of one's daily job... not to mention room for a few shiny gadgets.

The workspace includes integrated speakers, a wireless recharging mat for your electronics, and a wireless camera/projector built into the hood for teleconferencing. Another cool thing is that the hood can be lowered and optional contoured furniture can be arranged to fit against the Eclipse system. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go shave and prepare my resume in anticipation of these things. [Yanko Design]

Cubicle Alarm System Locks On, Makes Horrible Racket, Fires Missiles

AddyDugdale — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 11:57:21 EDT

Friendless inhabitants of cubicles the world over will be happy with this three-tiered alarm system that guards your work space. Should an intruder penetrate that little gray area you call your office, alarm #1 alerts you to the fact by flashing lights and making a hideous noise, at the same time arming the second and third alarms. Alarm #2 then locks on to the trespasser, targeting them with a red light, before alarm #3 launches a couple of foam missiles at the guilty party. I can't decide whether this $39.99 system is sad or funny. Oh, and any cake-stealing geeks out there, then get in touch with me for basic lessons in how to nick yourself a nice Battenberg and not get fingered for it. Speed is the of the (vanilla) essence, really. [ThinkGeek]