workplace

I joined Texas Instruments as a chip design engineer in 1980, straight out of school. I had thought we partied hard in New York; I realized how wrong I was when I moved to the Lone Star State.

Open containers of alcohol and drinking while driving were actually legal in Texas, back then. That's right, you couldn't drive drunk, but you could pull up right next to a cop with a beer in your hand. Wild.

Lots of guys--including our manager--would sometimes go out drinking at lunch. I'm not talking about a beer with lunch; I'm talking about pitchers of beer with maybe some food. In case you were wondering, we worked on defense projects, like missile and radar guidance systems. We all had secret security clearances.

Our manager used to throw annual keg parties at his home. They were a blast and great for morale.

The timeframe happened to coincide with America's country-western phase. You know, when Dallas was a hit show and everybody wanted to know who shot J.R. A bar called The Corral served, not two-for-one, but three-for-one happy hour drinks. I wish there was a videotape of all those engineers from New York and everywhere else trying to do the Texas Two-Step after a few triple Jack and Cokes.… Read more

Think you can get a good job by blindly sending your resume into human resources and waiting for the phone to ring? Sure, and you're going to be Apple's next CEO, hook up with Scarlett Johansson or David Beckham and live happily ever after.

If you'd like to know how it works in the real world, read on.

I know what you're saying: your job function is in demand, you've never had trouble getting a job before, or you're a top executive who doesn't need advice. That may be true, but a lot can happen over the course of your working life. Your fortunes may change, the market may change, or you may even change career direction.

In any case, there will likely come a time when you will need some advice on how to efficiently land a great job.

For that occasion, here are five inside rules for improving your odds of finding a good, satisfying job as quickly as possible. And no, this isn't about resumes. Having a good resume is par for the course. All I'll say about that is keep it brief - one page if your career is less than ten years, two pages max.… Read more

If nothing else here at Crave, we're all about finding new ways to disrupt your workplace with various toys and robots, especially on a Friday afternoon. And though we generally prefer items that can fly, crawl or jump on command, there are a few more traditional forms of juvenile gadgetry that can draw equally amusing results. To wit: the "Animated Robotic Power Trio."

Armed with a tiny guitar, keyboard and drums, your own personal band will play in sync with any MP3 player to the certain dread of any cubicle mate within earshot if its product literature … Read more

At one time or another, most of us have found ourselves in a work situation that just isn't working out. We agonize and obsess over it and eventually come to the conclusion that it's time to move on.

At that point, if you think you can make an earnest go of a job hunt while employed, then fine, go for it. When you find a job that you think will make you happier, quit and get on with your life.

But for many of us, that's not the case. If you're considering quitting without a new job to jump to, this post may help you.

Quitting has the benefit of instantly ending the pain and providing satisfaction at being the one who pulled the plug. However, you'll be forgoing compensation while you search for a new position, which can be stressful and result in a premature and perhaps ill-advised job choice.

Another option is to get terminated or laid off. The downside is that age-old stigma of getting fired, not to mention feelings of rejection and a blow to your ego. But, if you can handle that, you'll find that this option has a lot going for it. If you play your cards right, you can end up with time to chill and search for a job at a relatively leisurely pace.… Read more

When was the last time you said something but meant another, or embellished the truth just a bit? Even the most honest and straightforward of us do it from time to time.

Sometimes we're trying to save face or spare somebody's feelings. Other times we're trying to make ourselves appear better than we really are.

I suspect that most of the time we're trying to save ourselves from something unpleasant by telling ourselves it's for the other person's good.

Call them euphemisms, embellishments, little white lies, spinning the truth, exaggerations, whatever you like. They're common in the workplace and everybody's guilty. You can either admit it or not, but if you say "not me," we all know you're lying.

There must be thousands of workplace euphemisms; I invite you to share your favorites with us. Here are some common ones that come to mind, just to get us started:

Hiring and firing You said, "We welcome you to the company." You meant, "We can't wait to dump all this crap on you."

You said, "I've got offers from a few other companies." You meant, "I had one other interview but they never called back."… Read more

This post has been corrected to provide the correct URL for Red Line Films.

If you thought Kid Nation was pushing the envelope, wait till you hear about this one. Production company Redline Films has just announced that you can now audition for its latest creative masterpiece, Office Fight. It's exactly what you think it is: it'll take co-workers who don't like each other and make them go face-to-face in a boxing ring.

Do you find this as supremely awesome as I do? Of course! To make it even awesomer, getting involved with Office Fight is easy … Read more

Apparently, what happens on MySpace doesn't always float in Vegas: A substitute judge in the North Las Vegas Justice Court got sacked last week because of some nasty stuff he said on his social-networking profile about prosecutors.

The 34-year-old criminal defense attorney, Jonathan MacArthur, had been appointed as a judge pro tempore in anticipation of a full judicial post that would be available in 2009. Unfortunately, MacArthur wrote on his MySpace profile that his interests included "Breaking my foot off in a prosecutor's a**...and improving my ability to break my foot off in a prosecutor's … Read more

If you've caught the nautical bug but aren't sure you want to live in a pineapple under the sea, consider this. Pirate-friendly game development company Three Rings Design has pimped out its office so that it resembles the interior of the high-seas-steampunk Nautilus submarine from Jules Verne's classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The interior is a mishmash of old maps, eye-catching colors, (fake) wheels and cogs, and Victorian-era styling that's sure to enamor just about anyone who ever thought that Star Trek-inspired interiors just weren't elegant enough. This masterpiece of a makeover was … Read more

MONTREAL -- Ontario government employees will no longer be able to visit Facebook and YouTube at work.

Premier Dalton McGuinty said Thursday that he couldn't see the justification for permitting employees to continue to access the sites. They're now banned like gambling and porn sites.

There is some justification for taking this step, of course. Ontario government workers (it's the country's most populous province, so there are a lot of them) can waste lots of time checking their Facebook accounts and browsing video clips on YouTube. Cracking down on time-wasting by bureaucrats paid for by tax … Read more