Return to office

[depletedvespene]

Oh, don't get me started with the restrooms at that particular place! (OR the Elevators Saga).

Let me guess - you had to card in?

I wish things had been that sophisticated.

[apastuszak]

When I went back to the office, I noticed there were badge readers on all the bathroom doors.

I asked someone about them and they were turned off. They were installed in the pandemic to make sure that only person was in the bathroom at a time. A certain percentage of the staff had to work in the building because their job required it. They installed this for those people's safety.

The doors had motors on them too (which have since been removed), to open automatically when you badged, so you would not need to touch the door.

[JCMax]

HHKB
Job Done

nuff' said.

I learned not to bring my Model M when a microphone picked it up during a big Teams meeting. They said it sounded like a machine gun going off... Plus my coworkers were so pissed with the noise.

[apastuszak]

For some reason, Microphones really pick up MK typing and amplify it.

I have a Jabra Engage 75. The noise cancelling on that has blocked out every MK I have used, including the Model M.

[MyDogSaysHi_42]

I was pleasantly surprised the other day to find that Zoom's background noise cancellation completely silences my model M. And this is using a basic Logitech webcam mic, not a headset.

[daemonspudguy]

No one complained about my Model M when I had to do Zoom calls, or Microsoft Teams meetings when my school was still under lockdown. And I know the microphone was picking it up.

[JCMax]

The type of microphone is also important. It was a Hyper X headset somebody left on the desk to pick up everybody speaking in the room. It was in an open office. Just desks, no cubes or walls.

Though, that particular headset was damn good. I swear it could pick up a mouse breathing! I went and got the Cloud II after that.

[apastuszak]

I bought 4 different Bluetooth headsets for use on conference calls. One Blue Parrot headset I bought was so good, I could play music and nobody would hear it. But as soon as I started typing on my Tactile Pro of my Model M, someone would have always say "Someone needs to mute."

I'm in the basement the furnace running full tilt and a CD blasting and no one can hear it, but they can hear me as soon as I start to type.

Then I bought a Blue Parrot BT550XT. The company has a video on YouTube of someone standing next to a a diesel truck revving it's engine, and no one can hear it while he's talking away. I thought that would be my golden ticket. It blocked out ALL noise including my son raging on his Xbox right behind me as I work. But as soon as I start typing: "Somebody needs to mute."

[MyDogSaysHi_42]

Ah, I guess that means my webcam mic sucks!

The type of microphone is also important. It was a Hyper X headset somebody left on the desk to pick up everybody speaking in the room. It was in an open office. Just desks, no cubes or walls.

Though, that particular headset was damn good. I swear it could pick up a mouse breathing! I went and got the Cloud II after that.

[Muirium]

All these mic issues were a fixed problem—[fade to sepia]—back in the days of analog. You’d just put a noise gate into the signal chain, which screens out background noise and effectively mutes you unless you’re speaking.

It’s a pity we’ve gone backwards since then, so that every poor sucker has to expose their full, open mic signal to the world. If only we could rediscover the ancient secrets of transistors.

[apastuszak]

I'm sure all that analog technology still exists. But it's expensive. And it won't auto-mute your Teams calls.

The biggest problem I see with conference calls these days is Bluetooth. Using bluetooth headphones or earbuds like AirPods sounds horrible. A tiny $5.00 wired mic sounds better than a pair of AirPods.