Archive for March, 2009

Mar 31 2009

April Fools Cat
It’s that time of year again…it’s getting warmer, the birds are coming back, the Groundhog came and went…and tomorrow is that special day when you’d better watch where you sit. It’s April Fools Day!

Here are some classic April Fools Day pranks you can pull on your co-workers. Feel free to share your own pranks with us!

1) Fill Your Boss/Co-workers Office with Packing Peanuts
Imagine your boss or co-worker’s surprise when they realize their office has been filled with shipping peanuts! But unless you just happen to have a whole room worth of this stuff laying around, and the time to clean it up, how can this trick be pulled off?

All you need is packing peanuts (don’t worry, not a room full’s worth!) a roll of tape, scissors, a roll of paper, and a small box. Use the roll of paper, the tape, and the box to create an”envelope” to hold the peanuts against the glass, giving the illusion that the room is filled to the brim with peanuts. Detailed instructions here! This trick also works with confetti from your shredders.
office filled with peanuts

2) Microsoft Word Overload
Open Microsoft Word and hold down [cntrl] + [N] for several seconds. This will open up dozens of Word documents!
Multiple Word

3) Mouse Trap
Take some tape and place it over the optical laser of the victim’s mouse. When the victim tries to use the mouse the cursor won’t move.
scotch tape mouse

4) The Phone Switcharoo
For two (or more) people who sit next to each other, switch their telephone cords.
Telephone cord confusion

5) Unplugged
Unplug your victims keyboard and/or mouse. Once they figure out the problem, do it again later in the day.
mad at computer

6) Crazy Appointments
When your victim leaves his/her desk, type up some crazy appointments in their calendar, like 12 - 12:30PM “Wax my back,” 3-4:00PM “Pluck my nosehairs.” Throw in a few appointments that are several weeks out for good measure.
Outlook Calendar

7) Switch the Keys
Simply pop out the ‘m’ and ‘n’ key on someone’s keyboard and reverse the two. Any flat tool will work. Just pry it with little pressure and they will easily come right off. Then just sit back and watch the confusion. They’ll go crazy, especially if they are a one-finger peck typer.

crazy keyboard

8 ) Policy Changes
This trick is easy to pull off if your company loves policies or rules. This prank works best if you are the leader of the company or a department. Try to pick categories that are currently causing problems. Then make some kind of ridiculous rule change.

Example 1
Employees will now receive 29.5 minutes for lunch instead of the regular 30. This cost saving measure will allow the company to save enough money to get new pens for all the staff next year. Please note that this new policy will be monitored with the new video surveillance that has been installed in the lunch room.

Example 2
Due to the number of personal calls being made at work we are now allowing friends to visit you while you are working between 9:57 AM and 10:01 AM.

MAN054

9) Quirky Electronics
This also works for quirky mechanical problems with the photocopier or any other electrical device. Tell them they have to tap it three times and then rub the control panel otherwise it won’t work or it will start making blank copies. Best if you put a memo on the machine itself.
broken copier

10) Crazy Email Prank
If the target is logged into their computer and they are away from their desk, type up some emails from the target that make absolutely no sense at all.
Crazy Email

11) Refrigerator Handle Switch
Switch the hinges on your office refrigerator to the opposite side, but leave the handle as is.
refrigerator door jam

12) Mysterious Chair
Tie a piece of cord under the victims office chair to hold down the lever that adjusts the chair. (When you sit on the chair it will slide all the way down, but as soon as you stand up the chair will rise all the way up.)
Chair Lever

13) Stop the Calls
If the victim has a phone with a hook that presses down when the handset is in the cradle, tape it down. When he or she answers a call it will keep ringing.
office phone

14) Tidal Wave
Take about 20 (or more) paper or plastic cups, place them on the victim’s desk and fill them with water. Then take a stapler and staple them all together. You can also put the cups on the floor blocking their door, or just about anywhere.
water cup practical joke

15) While You Were Out
Leave a phone message on a telephone message pad  for the victim that says that a “Mr. Lyon” called (or Mr. Behr also works), and wants to be called back. Then list the phone number of the local zoo.
Lion on Horse

16) Dark Side
On most computer monitors, if you turn the brightness control all the way up and the contrast all the way down, the screen will appear to be blank. Do this to your victim and they will drive themselves crazy trying to “fix” their “broken” monitor.
Blank computer monitor

17) Cursed Cursors
This idea is great for playing a prank on your co-worker in an adjoining cubicle. Plug an extra mouse into one of your victim’s spare USB ports and snake the wire back into your cubicle. When the victim is working away, give the spare mouse an occasional small nudge.

angry women with computer1

18) Spritzer
Take a rubber band and slip it over the lever on the spray handle so that when someone turns the sink on, it will spray him or her in the face.
spray nozzle

19) Spell Wrecker
If the victim uses Microsoft Word, go into the victim’s computer and change the auto-correct feature so it misspells common words. Just open Word, choose “AutoCorrect Options” from the Tools menu, and have it replace common words like “the” and “and” with wacky words like “eggplant” or “Uranus.”

Spell Check

20) Cardboard Cake
Find a box about the size of a cake. Then cover it with frosting, making it look like a cake. Put it out in the office kitchen, or wherever people leave free food. Sit back as one of your co-workers tries to cut a slice.
chocolate cake

21) Ring the Alarm
Get a small alarm clock and set it to go off at 2:00PM. Hide it somewhere in the office where it won’t easily be found but will be heard. Once it goes off, everyone will go nuts trying to find it.
alarm clock

Happy April Fools! Share Your Favorite Pranks!

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Mar 26 2009

Well, actually I put in 17…there are too many good ones! I’ve always thought coat racks were over rated. I would like to take back that thought and share my love for coat racks. They eliminate the need for wasting 20 seconds to put your coat on a hanger, they keep your coat off the floor (even when you put on the back of chair at work it still falls and gets covered in stuff and dragged around) and lots of times they look really nice. Here are 17 coat racks that I would definitely consider putting in my office, if I had my own office. Enjoy!

Stretto Coat rack & mirror

8451141015477936

Saves so much space and look so cool. I love the extra hooks on the bottom. You could put this in an awkward out of the way corner or right in the front of your office where everyone can see them!

Erich Ginder Ghost Tree

2128__dp__e(300x250)

Beautiful simple and yeah you could hang a lot of random stuff. I hate when you try and hang something with a thicker strap, like a back pack or messenger bag, and the hook is too small and it continues to fall off as you are trying to put it back on.

Urban Outfitters Coat Rack

120407coatrack

Yeah yeah urban outfitters is trendy and becoming a little too cool but the orange is such a cheerful color! I would love hanging my coat on it or just staring at it all day.

Clip 9-hook Coat Rack

Clip9HookCoatRckBlkNcklS9

Okay so it’s not a coat rack but I love hooks on the wall. I don’t know why I havent’ invested in more. I hate hanging things on hangers, I really should just have hooks everywhere. These are from Crate and Barrel.

Twist Coatrack by Christoph and Patrizia

9-26-twist-coat-rack-1 Yeah probably too artsy for the normal office but it’s a real beautiful sculpture. One of those conversation pieces I guess.

Handstand

997665

Probably not for your office. But if you have a doctor’s office? It’s a kids’ coat stand. And with such a cute name!! Handstand.

IVY

rare

This is would be such fun hour at your office. You get a bunch of Y shapes and connect them together. And it looks beautiful when you’re done.

Hightower Coat Stands

cooltrees

You should have a forest of coat stands! Every person could have their own. I think they would look just rockin by themselves too. They’re not cheap but ooh they’re so cool.

ODDA Storage Unit and Coat Rack from IKEA
6-18-odda-tree-1

I don’t think any person in the world could hate IKEA. They have great design and they are cheap. This little duo fits two items into one. Hang up your coat and throw you mittens in the drawer. Yeah I need this!

Wild West Coat Rack

LIHI

Love the lasso shape but you do need hangers to put anything on this coat rack.. Not ideal for me but probably would look real cool in your office!

Toda Coat Racks

pl_t05

It’s art..oh and it’s a coat rack! I’m assuming you pop out those pieces, not sure exactly how it works. Looks like it’s made from really nice wood and would really save you some space.

Pin_Coat_Stand_500

I swear of seen something like this before for skis or poles or something. But what a cool idea for a pick in your own size coat rack! You pick how many sticks you want in that little square. You decide how big or small or how they are tilting.

L’uovo

GAWRB002_r

You must go to the website for the whole idea! I’m not sure I love the style but I do love the idea. As a girl living 2 other girls living in a studio apartment, saving space is a must have. So is a mirror. But then so is a coat rack. Check out how they hide a coat rack within a mirror!

Saturn

saturn_schwarz

I don’t even know what’s going on with this one but it definitely fits it’s title. Lots of rings like that planet.

Zanotta

5946.2214C9BF

Love the ad for this one. I wonder if you could paint it any color that you liked. Oh and it folds up and you can store it!

Jester Coat Rack

jester

Looks just like a jester hat! Not so much a hook but a nice little nob.

Wait What?

BSPSM144_400x400

I was looking around at different coat racks and this guy had written an article about the world’s best coat rack and this was the image. Yeah I guess you could count it as a coat rack. If you mean that you will never use it and that you will probably just throw your coat on it when you walk in the door. Or if you think that by having this item by the front door you will be reminded to actually use it when you try to hang your coat on the single bar. There aren’t many things to hang coats from. If they guy came with it, I’d totally buy it.

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Mar 25 2009

garbagelegs
Did you know that is perfectly legal for someone to look through your garbage can?

identity theft dumpster

With identity theft rampant, it’s so crucial to ensure that your documents are disposed of properly. One popular way of doing this is by using a shredder to render your sensitive documents unreadable. It also creates some pretty cool confetti!

Before…

paper to be shred

After!

shredded paper

Shredding documents is nothing new and has been around for some time. With the invention of papyrus in 4000 B.C., the need to destroy documents began.

papyrus

Before that time, cave drawings and stone tablets made it impossible to shred…well…much of anything! The Egyptians used papyrus as paper for writing documents. When a mistake was made, or information needed to be destroyed, the papyrus had be torn up manually. That must have been annoying. I wonder if papyrus gives you paper cuts?

egyptian painting 2

Since then, shredding has come a long way!

The first machine-run shredder was created in Germany in 1935 by Adolf Ehinger, who printed anti-Nazi material. When he was confronted about materials found in his garbage can, he decided to create a device that would allow him to dispose of sensitive material. His biggest inspiration came from a hand-cranked pasta maker, commonly used during that time period. Adolf created a hand-cranked shredder that sat in a wooden frame. He later created a device with an electric motor.

pasta maker hand cranked

At first, people laughed at his device and thought it was pointless. However during the 1940s, he sold the shredders to different governments and embassies. Thanks to the Cold War, the device grew in popularity during the 1950s. Paper shredders were typically only used by government entities from the 1950s to the 1980s.

Shredders have played an important role in history. Shredders are sometimes associated with the term “Cover-Up.” The Nixon re-election committee used a Fellowes Paper Shredder during Watergate. Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North used an Intimus 007-S shredder to shred documents during the Iran-Contra scandal. Cross cut shredders grew in popularity in 1979 after the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun by Iranian militants. Documents at the embassy where only strip-cut, allowing the pieces to be pieced back together by Persian carpet weavers. Due to the Iran incident, the government now requires strict shredding conditions. [via paper-shredder-info.com]

watergate

white house shredded

Today, shredders are used in almost all business environments. New laws such as HIPAA and FACTA require that just about everything be shredded. Shredding now not only applies to paper - items such as floppy disks, DVDs and CDs can be shredded as well.

Protect your identity! Dispose of your business and personal documents securely…learn more about how shredders can protect your information here.

identity theft

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Mar 24 2009

Multi-functional Hand Truck Chair

When my family moved from our first house, we did it all ourselves. Yeah it was a pretty miserable task but it definitely had it’s entertaining moments. Like playing around on hand trucks. I have this image in my head of climbing on to the hand truck, laying back and being whirled around.

These days hand trucks apparently can have a similar use, without the thrill. Think of all the cool old hand trucks you have in your warehouse or basement. Or at the local thrift store.  Not saying I know at all how to make one of these but it looks so clean and simple I want to be able to attempt it. Made by designer Philippe Peyridieu.

I was wondering if anyone had ever created a beautiful chair like this before, and discovered a patent put in for something very similar. I wonder if he was really depressed when he found out that someone else already made his great idea.

From Free Patents Online,

“A chair and hand truck combination is disclosed comprising a platform upon which a load may be set and removed, a pair of wheels partially supporting the platform, a back rest extending upwardly from the platform, and a pair of arm rests extending above the platform from the back rest.”

I guess his serves both purposes rather than one or the other. Don’t steal his idea!!! Just kidding, I don’t even know when that patent is from.

If you attempt it please let us know! And if you’re like me and get frustrated after 5 minutes and try and throw it.. well watch these videos for more productive uses of hand trucks.

Hand Truck Car

Hand Truck 360

Pallet Truck Tricks (I know I’m cheating by adding this one..but it’s really funny to watch people trying to drift on pallet trucks)

Hand Truck Ride

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Mar 19 2009

simpsons-trivia

Bored at work? Take a few minutes to solve our Office Scramble game! No peeking now…

Common Office Supplies


1.)
EANMICAHLC IENCPL

2.) UICLECB

3.) OFEEFC UMG

4.) HEDERSSDR

5.) UPORMCTE OITMORN

6.) ERGBAAG ANC

7.) RPIEASH ERANENPTM ARERMK

8.) WIGLSINEN RLTPESA

9.) UMOJB RAPPE IPSCL

10.) ASELE EAPPR
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.
.
.
.
.
.

Hey! No Cheating!

no cheating
.
.
.
.
.
.

NOOOOOOO CHEATING!
.
.

I See You! 

martha-stewart-wagging-finger

OK Fine…
.
.

But You’re Gonna Have to Wait Until Tomorrow for the Answers…
.
.
.
.

OK since you’re pouting, here are the answers!

1.) MECHANICAL PENCIL

Mechanical Pencils

2.) CUBICLE

cubicle

3.) COFFEE MUG

coffee mug

4.) SHREDDERS

shredder

5.) COMPUTER MONITOR

computer monitor

6.) GARBAGE CAN

garbage can

7.) SHARPIE PERMANENT MARKER

sharpie permanant marker

8.) SWINGLINE STAPLER

swingline staplers

9.) JUMBO PAPER CLIPS

jumbo paper clips

10.) EASEL PAPER

easel paper

Congratulations!

big-prize

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