Things change over time in the professional world. It used to be that bringing your laptop to a meeting was rude, as people assumed you were not paying attention. After my long hiatus to lose the stink of being part of the largest-ever US bank failure (We did not fail, we were a sacrificial lamb used to force the Congress to pass the bailout that then benefitted the Big Banks that took us over!), I was surprised when my new retail-and-web-services firm had a culture that expected me to bring my laptop to meetings.
Now, I deal frequently with people who will look to their phones during meetings. I do try to enforce "ringer off, vibrate only", but have learned to allow them to read incoming texts and even send short ones...but take any voice call out of the room, please!
What Do You Think Today?
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rdhopeca
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I try very hard not to take my laptop to meetings, but as a technical manager of a development and operations team, I can't ignore my phone. Pages from system monitors, important emails that need to be handled right away, are part and parcel of my responsibility. There are things that can't wait until a meeting is over.
Rob
"Progress is made. Be warned."
"Progress is made. Be warned."
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peter
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The Health Service in the UK is currently recieving the same 'trickle down' erosion effect as I mentioned above regarding the (soon to be privatised) postal service. The papers are leading on a daily basis with stories of the 'nightmare' health service, and the horrors that await you if you fall into it's clutches [You will most likely die screaming in agony while an army of nurses and doctors engage in banter over cups of tea within hearing distance of your cries(The Mail last Friday)]. What is not reported here is the millions of cases that go right, the people who are alive today only because an NHS was there to give them the life saving treatment they could never have begun to afford in a privatised Service.
The thing is, that there is no faster way to get between a person and their life savings than when they are sick. Ill people are vulnerable and thus easy targets to sepparate from their money (I know - three weeks of tooth problems have near about bankrupted me and so gosh knows what it would be like in the case of a major illness.) The idea of all that potential revenue untapped is anathema to Big Business and the only fly in the ointment is of course that people can get their health care free in the UK. This cannot be tolerated and so expect the 'drip drip' of stories to continue untill a well meaning politician says with tears in his eyes and a catch in his voice "We must, we really must do something about this terrible state of affairs - here, meet this friend of mine from the private sector."
The thing is, that there is no faster way to get between a person and their life savings than when they are sick. Ill people are vulnerable and thus easy targets to sepparate from their money (I know - three weeks of tooth problems have near about bankrupted me and so gosh knows what it would be like in the case of a major illness.) The idea of all that potential revenue untapped is anathema to Big Business and the only fly in the ointment is of course that people can get their health care free in the UK. This cannot be tolerated and so expect the 'drip drip' of stories to continue untill a well meaning politician says with tears in his eyes and a catch in his voice "We must, we really must do something about this terrible state of affairs - here, meet this friend of mine from the private sector."
President of Peace? You fucking idiots!
"I know what America is. America is a thing that you can move very easily. Move it in the right direction. They won't get in the way." (Benjamin Netenyahu 2001.)
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
"I know what America is. America is a thing that you can move very easily. Move it in the right direction. They won't get in the way." (Benjamin Netenyahu 2001.)
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
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peter
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A local paper in my area, this week featured a picture of Jude Law, who apparently was filming in the area, standing next to a chef in a pub/diner where he had stopped for a fish and chip lunch.
Law looked semi p'd off and the chef was mugging up next to him like a dog with two dicks.
Why do people do this - exept perhaps to piss off the bloated self-important celebs when they occasionally deign to 'mix it' with the hoi-poloi. I can think of no (other) reason on earth that would make me want to waste time standing next to some B rated po-faced foot tapper while they grubbed up a bit of free publicity and ego massaging at the expense of my dignity!
Law looked semi p'd off and the chef was mugging up next to him like a dog with two dicks.
Why do people do this - exept perhaps to piss off the bloated self-important celebs when they occasionally deign to 'mix it' with the hoi-poloi. I can think of no (other) reason on earth that would make me want to waste time standing next to some B rated po-faced foot tapper while they grubbed up a bit of free publicity and ego massaging at the expense of my dignity!
President of Peace? You fucking idiots!
"I know what America is. America is a thing that you can move very easily. Move it in the right direction. They won't get in the way." (Benjamin Netenyahu 2001.)
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
"I know what America is. America is a thing that you can move very easily. Move it in the right direction. They won't get in the way." (Benjamin Netenyahu 2001.)
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
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ussusimiel
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Not sure how tongue-in-cheek you're being, peter, but at the risk of saying the obvious, I'd say that it is the public rather than the celebrity who drive most of this kind of thing. People will impose on a famous person for a photograph or an autograph because they love being able to talk about it afterwards. In the case of this chef, no doubt he'll tell the story for the rest of his life, put a framed photograph on the wall and if his business benefits in any way from the free publicity he won't complain. There seems to be very little in it for Law (who's still probably A-list). The only ways he could avoid this would be to not 'mix it' anywhere he would be recognised, or to refuse to engage with the people who approached him, risking getting a reputation for being rude. People love rubbing up against celebrity!peter wrote:Why do people do this - exept perhaps to piss off the bloated self-important celebs when they occasionally deign to 'mix it' with the hoi-poloi. I can think of no (other) reason on earth that would make me want to waste time standing next to some B rated po-faced foot tapper while they grubbed up a bit of free publicity and ego massaging at the expense of my dignity!
u.
Tho' all the maps of blood and flesh
Are posted on the door,
There's no one who has told us yet
What Boogie Street is for.
Are posted on the door,
There's no one who has told us yet
What Boogie Street is for.
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Lefdmae Deemalr Effaeldm
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Careful-careful, watch your words, there are some people here who can understand you incorrectly... or very correctlyussusimiel wrote:People love rubbing up against celebrity!
u.
As for such photos and the like, that doesn't bother me much, unless it gets really over the top. And this is a person who's written in own blood in some books (including the Chrons) speaking
Though if a bit more seriously - I just prefer for it to be not much of a problem for anyone. When it comes to bothering actual people on practice, I tend to be rather quiet, like I calmly ignored guitar picks thrown at the audience on a Deep Purple concert. But I do understand it doesn't feel the same every time.peter, about Jude Law - curious that you appear to think rather... low of him. While not one of my favorite actors, I think he does deserve some respect. What have you seen him in, if anything? If you haven't seen this one yet, I can recommend The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
A role-player, beware
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sgt.null
- Jack of Odd Trades, Master of Fun
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we have computers at the prison. old school ones that I have to cuss to get to work proper. the inmates get their id's scanned so they can eat meals. and the cussing, it works really. when they get all twitchy I just let them know in very obscene language how I would destroy them piece by piece. seems to entertain the inmates.
and I swear it works.
and I swear it works.
Lenin, Marx
Marx, Lennon
Good Dog...
Marx, Lennon
Good Dog...
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peter
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Ok Guys - appologies to JL (who I do quite like really). It was pretty toung in cheek U., but not entierly. But the gentle responses above are all bang on target and are taken on board and my opinion of the business duly moderated . I think my problem is that working in a store where daily I am exposed to HUGE quantities of celeb watching journalinsm and magazines, I can see it for the 'opium for the masses' which it is. OK - it seems to be what people want, but it's also very useful for the powers that be to have the publics attention diverted from say the deconstruction of the health service by who'se sleeping with who on 'Eastenders'. Our obsession with celebrity, as well as being light and frothy on one level, also has a dark side.
Sarge - could I borrow your services in the form of a few well placed expletives directed toward the beast below my fingertips!
. I think my problem is that working in a store where daily I am exposed to HUGE quantities of celeb watching journalinsm and magazines, I can see it for the 'opium for the masses' which it is. OK - it seems to be what people want, but it's also very useful for the powers that be to have the publics attention diverted from say the deconstruction of the health service by who'se sleeping with who on 'Eastenders'. Our obsession with celebrity, as well as being light and frothy on one level, also has a dark side.Sarge - could I borrow your services in the form of a few well placed expletives directed toward the beast below my fingertips!
President of Peace? You fucking idiots!
"I know what America is. America is a thing that you can move very easily. Move it in the right direction. They won't get in the way." (Benjamin Netenyahu 2001.)
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
"I know what America is. America is a thing that you can move very easily. Move it in the right direction. They won't get in the way." (Benjamin Netenyahu 2001.)
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
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ussusimiel
- The Gap Into Spam
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peter
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Ditto - That is very clever. Sarge, you are wasted on us!
President of Peace? You fucking idiots!
"I know what America is. America is a thing that you can move very easily. Move it in the right direction. They won't get in the way." (Benjamin Netenyahu 2001.)
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
"I know what America is. America is a thing that you can move very easily. Move it in the right direction. They won't get in the way." (Benjamin Netenyahu 2001.)
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
-
peter
- The Gap Into Spam
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- Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2009 10:08 am
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Thanks Sarge - the unruly article does indeed seem somehat chastened and eager to please this mornig!
Congratulations to William and Kate on the succesfull birth of their first child.
Congratulations to William and Kate on the succesfull birth of their first child.
President of Peace? You fucking idiots!
"I know what America is. America is a thing that you can move very easily. Move it in the right direction. They won't get in the way." (Benjamin Netenyahu 2001.)
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
"I know what America is. America is a thing that you can move very easily. Move it in the right direction. They won't get in the way." (Benjamin Netenyahu 2001.)
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
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Iolanthe
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Yes, congratulations Wills and Kate. Glad it is a boy; they can call it Richard!peter wrote:Congratulations to William and Kate on the succesfull birth of their first child.
I am playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order!
"I must state plainly, Linden, that you have become wondrous in my sight."
"I must state plainly, Linden, that you have become wondrous in my sight."
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peter
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Hate to be cynical - but I wonder if they (who was 'they' in this case by the way) would have been so quick to say "This baby - boy or girl will be third in line to the throne" if they hadn't been aware of it's male sex already. The announcement of this major change to the rules of sucession was made with what seemed to me to be very little parlimentary consideration, given the significant ramifications that result from it's adoption (ie every aristocratic title and estate in the country follows the same practice of male primogeniture [rightly or wrongly - I make no observation on this score] and thus there are major follow-ons from such a decision).
President of Peace? You fucking idiots!
"I know what America is. America is a thing that you can move very easily. Move it in the right direction. They won't get in the way." (Benjamin Netenyahu 2001.)
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
"I know what America is. America is a thing that you can move very easily. Move it in the right direction. They won't get in the way." (Benjamin Netenyahu 2001.)
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
-
Orlion
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And none too soon, I should say!sgt.null wrote:meh, who cares about the current successor of the throne? King Arthur is coming back, armed with a light saber and a new Legion of Knights.
'Tis dream to think that Reason can
Govern the reasoning creature, man.
- Herman Melville
I am Lazarus, come from the dead,
Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all!
"All creation is a huge, ornate, imaginary, and unintended fiction; if it could be deciphered it would yield a single shocking word."
-John Crowley
Govern the reasoning creature, man.
- Herman Melville
I am Lazarus, come from the dead,
Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all!
"All creation is a huge, ornate, imaginary, and unintended fiction; if it could be deciphered it would yield a single shocking word."
-John Crowley
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Cagliostro
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