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Make your co-workers sound like Charlie Brown's teacher

You know that person at work who always starts droning on right when you've finally buckled down on that day's project? He wanders by your desk and starts chatting your ear off, while you pretend not to see/hear/notice him.

Or there's the Loud Talker--the one whose voice is somehow several decibels stronger than everyone else's. (Really, how do they not notice that?)

The Sound Guy might be able to help. Its ChatterBlocker software uses an auditory masking algorithm to render background conversations unintelligible. Translation: "Nature sounds" + music + background chatter = "soothing" … Read more

Union disses Microsoft salaries

WashTech, an organized labor group that is pushing Microsoft workers to unionize, is speaking out again, this time over the software maker's pay practices.

According to a Seattle Post-Intelligencer report, WashTech got a hold of some documents that it claims represent Microsoft's pay plans. The paper reports that the documents appear to show no pay increase for several ranks at the bottom of Microsoft's pay scale.

"In terms of what they're paying out in annual increases to employees, they're trying to hold the line well below 3 percent a year," WashTech president Marcus … Read more

Offshoring observers square off

Sick of getting opinions about offshoring filtered through the media? Here's your chance to hear with your own ears some significant voices in the debate over shipping work abroad.

A Webcast is available of an offshore outsourcing discussion earlier this week involving John McCarthy, the Forrester Research analyst famous for predicting more than 3 million services jobs will head overseas, and Norm Matloff, a University of California, Davis professor and long-time advocate for software programmers. Rounding out the speakers were David Foote, president of compensation research Foote Partners, and Dean Lane, chief executive of software company Varitools.

The title … Read more