I’m not sure what it is, but whenever I see characitures of Kim Jong Il, I almost instantly laugh. Of course, the best rendition was in the movie Team America: World Police. Kim Jong Il’s musical number is cinema legend.
This is a pretty funny spoof of both eHarmony and Kim Jong Il. For some reason the eHarmony commercials really annoy me, and Kim Jong Il is just himself.
There’s nothing quite as unique as relationships that are developed while at work. If you think about it, the people you work with are not much different than family. You spend just about, if not more time with them. You don’t get to choose your co-workers either. The only significant different is that you generally hold more personal feelings towards your family than you do your co-workers.
To add on to the idea of continually having to be around one another, there’s the financial factor as well. In order to move up, and become successful you have to compete, while working together at the same time. Given all of the different factors, it can be a stressful relationship.
So, what kind of different relationships evolve at work, and which ones are healthy to engage in?
The Good
Friendly Competition - There’s nothing wrong with competition, having a good rivalry at work can help bolster the quality of your own work. If you and someone else engage in the same kind of work, then keep up with what each other is doing. Provide constructive criticism, and keep knocking your brain around.
Of course, the keyword is ‘friendly’. Competition can be a tricky line to walk. Things can turn ugly quick, so always be sure and stay pleasant. Know how, and when to provide criticism to co-workers, and when to back off.
Beer After Work Relationship - Even in the work place setting, friendships are easily forge. When you’re around others enough, becoming friendly or doing things together just comes natural. Of course liking one another is the big step, but having a friend outside the office can greatly add to the co-worker experience.
If it’s someone you work with quite a bit, it can make working on projects that much more comfortable. Just like anything else, there needs to be balance. While being friends is great, you have to remember you’re co-workers first.
The Bad
Backstabber, and Mutaneer This is easily the worst kind of co-worker that you can come across in the workplace. There’s not much you can do to if a backstabber, or rumor starter decides to lay into. The only real way to keep from falling victim, is stay out of any situation or confrontation with them.
If for whatever reason you do have to work with them, then just keep it simple. Don’t reveal anything to them at all, other than what you need to get done for your work.
Work Stealer This co-worker can cause more damage than the Backstabber, but is generally easier to root out. If you are constantly working as group with others, is about the only situation you’ll see this arise. When it does happen, it can be a tricky situation to handle.
If someone does steal your work, i.e taking credit when talking to your boss, just be honest. First, approach the co-worker who’s taking credit for what the group, or you are doing. Sometimes, the person isn’t even doing it on purpose. If you find they are doing it on purpose, then talk with your boss.
The Ugly
The Office Fling/Relationship There really is only one ‘ugly’ co-worker relationship in the office. The reason being, is because getting involved with someone isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact it can lead to many good things, but it has just as much chance of turning ugly as well. So, what’s the best course of action when getting involved with someone from work?
First, keep it to yourself. No one needs to know anything about what’s going on with your relationship. Unless the company has a policy, then you have to disclose it to HR. As time goes by, everyone in the office will undoubtedly figured out what’s going on. It’s best to just let it happen naturally, and not make a huge spectacle out of it.
Kleenex released a pretty annoying commercial last year, while driving me up a wall had an interesting message attached to it. We touch just about everything. It’s kind of sickening in a way, if you truly think about everything that you touch during the day. But that’s neither here or there. In case you haven’t seen the commercial, here it is (be prepared to hear the word “touch” a lot):
In the past couple of months, I’ve bought two devices that utilize a touch screen interface. I received an iPod Touch for Christmas, and bought a LG VU as an upgrade for a new two year contract. After a month and some change, I love my iPod Touch and can’t imagine using a MP3 player any other way. The LG VU, I’ve only had for a week but so far is a dream to use compared with my old phone. Which I had to always put on speaker just to be able to hear it.
The touch screen technology in both devices is spot on. After using both of these pieces of technology, I’m completely sold on touch screen. I want everything in my life to be touch screen. Ok, that might be going a bit overboard but you get the point. I’m still pondering what drives my fascination with touch screen.
One aspect of the touch screen interface, is how it simplifies the physical layout of devices. Take my LG VU for example. On the front of my phone is only three buttons. It’s a very sleek, and simple design that while being minimalist in approach provides ways of navigating that you can’t get with traditional layouts. I think that touch screen will greatly help those who are less tech savvy as well.
Generally, to execute functions in handheld devices, it requires a combination of buttons, and menu browsing. This is the case for cell phones, smart phones, MP3 players, and blackberries. Learning these combinations can be a struggle, specifically for those who are technologically challenged. Touch screen brings some relief to these poor souls. Sure, it still takes some savvy to get around, but everything is visually on screen for you to click through. You don’t have to memorize anything, because the applications, and executions are right there on screen for you to touch.
For myself personally, I haven’t reached a total conclusion yet but I think I enjoy touch screen so much because it’s second nature. Flowing your finger across the screen just feels right, like you’re writing instead of pressing buttons.
Let me hear back from you. Are you an avid touch screen user? If you don’t prefer to use touch screen, what interfaces do you like to use? Feel free to let loose.
Television is a medium more heavily censored than any other form of entertainment. There’s certain codes that different stations must abide by. The Superbowl probably has a stricter code, as apparent by the Janet Jackson fiasco. The question is, what content gets cut out, and what happens to it if it can’t be shown on TV.
God bless the internet.
Here are a couple of commercials that were deemed inappropriate for the Superbowl. First, is an ad for PETA who is advertising one of the perks of going ‘vegetarian’. Next, is a Bud Light commercial about a simple case of buying a porno mag gone wrong.
iEntry 10th Anniversary
Contact
RSS
