Off-topic: new take on the glass-bottom boat

My friends at Translogic point to a neat project to build a boat with a sub-marine pilot compartment (I'd argue against the use of the word "submarine" to describe the EGO, since the boat itself does not go under the water)

I've been fascinated by the sea all my life, and have enjoyed a "submarine" ride (actually, a deep-keeled boat with sub-waterline windows) on a trip to Catalina Island. I've also thoroughly enjoyed numerous snorkeling expeditions on Hawaii, and "do it yourself" snorkeling at the Kapoho Tidepools. If I ever found myself at a resort that had the EGOs available, I'd definitely jump at the chance. There's something truly magical about the world under the waves.

The real interesting thing about the EGO is that it's super-easy to pilot (a plus for the noob boating crowd at a resort) and is pilot-able from under the water.

I only hope that there are good "bumpers" on those pontoons...

Next week is Telework Week

I came across Telework Exchange today, which is hosting Telework Week on Feb 14 - 18, 2011.
I wasn't familiar with the site, but it boasts an impressive collection of links to resources, articles, papers, etc. I don't have time right now to review all of the site content (which is considerable), but skimming it, I see that it's geared primarily to a US and Federal Government audience, which is interesting an interesting focus. Nevertheless, it has resources that would be helpful for non-US and business audiences as well.


In my job, I already telecommute several times a week, enjoying a variety of benefits:

• flexibility (working around kids' doctors appointments)
• multitasking (when on certain boring conference calls that require only a portion of my attention, I've been known to run a load of laundry while waiting for a relevant topic for me to come up).
• fewer interruptions (when going into the office, the "dropin chats" totally kill my day and my productivity).
• clothes savings (Yes, when I work from home, I've been known to slum it in a 12-year old T-shirt that I got at some tradeshow. Helps stretch the clothes budget a bit further.)
• no wasted time commuting
• no wasted fuel commuting
• no wear and tear on my car commuting.
• no time spent trying to find parking (the parking around my office building really sucks, and easily adds another 15 minutes to a given day).
• I get sick less (not going into the office to breath the germ-y air really helps keep me from getting all the bugs that are going around).

My employer reaps benefits from me, in that:

• I tend to work a portion of what would have been my commute time. So if I'm required to work 8 hours, and my commute is 2 hours (1 hour each way), if I telecommute, I'll work from home for 9 hours. Not required by the company, but I feel it's a reward to the company for being willing to let me work from home.
• when I interact with other employees (though Skype screen sharing, for example), our interactions are higher quality than if I was actually in the office with that employee sitting beside me.
• I don't look for another job. Frankly, my job hasn't been amazing lately, so anything they can do to keep me happy will keep my expertise in the company. If they took telecommuting away from me, I'm certain I'd leave in short order.

There are drawbacks to telecommuting, to be sure, both for the employee and the employer. I'll be reviewing this website more closely in the coming days to see what solutions I can find to this.