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please help: need to look busy ..on the computer

D

dan330

Extreme Android User
ok.. it is not for me.. it is for my bro.

he works for a major company.
and he works from home a few days a week.

he has to leave the house to drive his kid to kindergarten at noon and pick up at 3. we are only talking about 20 mins each. normally the babysitter does it. he does shorten his lunch time to help makeup for the time lost.
he is worried that the company might notice that the company laptop (vpn networked in to corporate).

currently he.. opens excel and leaves the "enter" button jammed down... so it just scrolls down... endlessly.

of course this is easy for any one that looks to notice that is ... not right.

is there a way to "spoof" a busy keyboard?

i would hate for him to loose his job... for trying to spend a few mins of quality time with the kid.
 
There is a program called Macro Express. It is a keyboard and mouse simulation software. Easy to program. Create a simple loop that hits certain keys... or moves the mouse at certain times.
 
Spread peanut butter over the keyboard and let the dog lick it off while he's gone.

If he's a cat person, sprinkle cat-nip over the keyboard and let him roll around on it.
 
company laptop...
setup and maintenance is provided by company IT.
maybe there was some program that relays .. non-use

I dont know...
 
Open a UNIX command line. Type: "top".

Since it's only like 20 minutes, who really cares though? Sometimes my smoke breaks/coffee breaks are that long.
 
We have instant messaging which will show you as idle.

I don't see the point in finding something make it look busy though, because if someone sends him an email or IM and he doesn't respond...

Why not just tell his supervisor he has to take care of the kid during that time?
Working from home, they expect you to put in extra time anyway since you aren't wasting any time in transit.
 
Well anything he does it detectable. He really chose to have kids, defrauding the company is not exactly honest effort.

Here is the basic problem. 40 minutes is not the end of the world. Not only a few times a week. If they are worry about productivity, then it is the total number of hours at the computer not the actual time at the computer. As long as he hits his deadlines and does not reduce productivity for the rest of the group, they should careless what he does for 40 minutes each day.

There is no way I could sit and stare at a screen for 8-10 hours a day, no one should.
Staring at a Computer Monitor Too Long Can Ruin Your Vision

I would make it clear to the employer that fatigue and stress can and will cause more mistakes and problems then frequent breaks.

I honestly hit a point in my day and go for a walk around the campus, about 3 times 30 minutes a day.

I use the time to think about and plan what I need to get done and or do.

It increases my productivity and my moral. If he chooses to spend with his kids, then that is how he unwinds.

If the employer is honestly demanding every minute of time at the computer, then it is time to get a new employer.
 
i agree.. with all that..

but not my place or his to say...
he just worries... dont create smoke and they wont look for fire.
 
RiverOfIce said:
Well anything he does it detectable. He really chose to have kids, defrauding the company is not exactly honest effort.

Here is the basic problem. 40 minutes is not the end of the world. Not only a few times a week. If they are worry about productivity, then it is the total number of hours at the computer not the actual time at the computer. As long as he hits his deadlines and does not reduce productivity for the rest of the group, they should careless what he does for 40 minutes each day.

There is no way I could sit and stare at a screen for 8-10 hours a day, no one should.
Staring at a Computer Monitor Too Long Can Ruin Your Vision

I would make it clear to the employer that fatigue and stress can and will cause more mistakes and problems then frequent breaks.

I honestly hit a point in my day and go for a walk around the campus, about 3 times 30 minutes a day.

I use the time to think about and plan what I need to get done and or do.

It increases my productivity and my moral. If he chooses to spend with his kids, then that is how he unwinds.

If the employer is honestly demanding every minute of time at the computer, then it is time to get a new employer.
Click to expand...

In this economy, it's not as easy as getting up and walking off. I work 9 hours a day. I get paid for 8. I'm supposed to have a lunch hour. My boss encourages me to take an hour for lunch. If I do take an hour for lunch, I don't get everything done that I'm supposed to do because I'm literally buried in work. Then I get to go home and spend my evening doing work stuff as well. Ain't it grand?

The thing is that with the economy being what it is, employers don't think twice of chaining employees down and making them work until they're burned out and screaming for mercy. Then they bring out the whips and chains and make them work more. Eventually the worker reaches the point where they are no longer physically, mentally or emotionally capable of producing meaningful work. Then the employer chucks them to the side and grabs another employee out of the mass of skilled people who are looking for work. Then the process begins again.
 
I am sorry that your brother is going through this dude :(

I have been trying to search for something that can help you out...
that will enter random data into an Open Office document.

But no luck so far.

I thought there might be like a shell script sort of type thing that auto opens software when you turn on the PC or what ever but I have never heard of a shell script type thing for something like Open Office or MicroSoft Office... :(

Shell scripts I think can make a whole bunch of commands put into a single text file if I recall but I could be wrong

I tried looking here at the extensions / add-ons for open office but found nothing!

Maybe we all can help find something?

Most Popular | OpenOffice.org repository for Extensions
 
set up a bunch of these around the keyboard

drinking-bird.jpg
 
Stinky Stinky said:
I am sorry that your brother is going through this dude :(

I have been trying to search for something that can help you out...
that will enter random data into an Open Office document.
Click to expand...

thanks stinky...

but.. it aint a big deal yet..
just seeing if there is a easy solution...
other than what he is doing now.

lunatic59 said:
set up a bunch of these around the keyboard

drinking-bird.jpg
Click to expand...


that would be funny .. just to do!
then when he does get fired.. send his ex-boss a vid of it!
with a quote "and i was still your best productive employee!"
 
Does PhoneMyPC work with a VPN?

You could probably contact the developer and find out if this is plausible.
 
Worried about 20 minutes? I take longer than that to take the Brown's to the Super Bowl. He's entitled to breaks, these trips should fall under those.
 
Probably the easyest solution is to use a macro. Just get one set up that will open his email client, open the last few emails and close again.
I have used macro express myself, and I know you can put a delay in between each action so the process takes longer. You could also set it up to do searches on the company intranet, or local weather, and just include them into the original macro recording.
it's not that difficult to think of legit tasks that can be done by a macro while hes away from the pc, hell you might as well do something useful and macro a backup procedure for any if his important docs/directories.
 
All this will do is give his employer grounds to fire him: installing software on a company laptop in order to mislead his superiors.

In most cases taking two twenty minute beaks in a day when working from home is not fair grounds for dismissal - provided he isn't been specifically told not to. Even then it's dubious.
 
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