Super Bowl homeworking

At Poynter, Kenny Irby talks to Gary Hershorn, North American news picture editor for Reuters, about covering this year's Super Bowl. He won't be covering it from the stadium as in previous years, he'll be working on it at home. "Not only will Hershorn enjoy the comfort of working in his home, but he'll be working more efficiently than he would be if he were on-site," says Irby, who adds it will also be cheaper. "Remote editing is perfect for covering events like the Super Bowl, where speed is paramount." Hershon added: "The fundamental belief that editors need to be in a stadium is being put to rest. Having an editor sit in the comfort of their own office or home, working on desktop computers with large screens rather then on small laptops in noisy, crowded and anything but comfortable conditions in a stadium is proving to be a very positive move forward in photo editing." There's also a picture of Hershorn in his living room at the Poynter site, absolutely surrounded by computers.

New homeworker IT qualification

Accoring to James Murray from IT Week, a new IT certification scheme should benefit homeworkers. The scheme aims to "validate the skills of IT professionals and technicians that install and manage digital home and home office technologies". i.e. so that homeworkers would know they wouldn't be dealing with cowboys. According to Murray, the course would be taught across the UK and the exam would cover a variety of subjects such as networking, audio/video, telephony/VoIP, and security. It would also benefit IT professionals looking after remote workers.

Should both husband and wife work from home?

So, is it a good idea or a bad idea? Can you and your life partner share a garden office as well as the school run? Vishal Rao at lifehack is in no doubt about the risks and pressures it puts on a relationship, saying: "There is no thrill of taking a day off from work to do some of the household chores that have piled up or the excitement about saving time on a weekend to complete the shopping that we intended to do. Due to constant presence of the other person, we had probably got too used to being around."

However, Anne Zelenka at Web Worker Daily is less sure and even suggests that homeworking has widened her social circle. "I haven’t found that home-based web work is turning me into a recluse. Quite the contrary. For the most part, I find web workerhood and home-based work even better for expanding my professional and social network than my previous cubicle career. I have made deeper and more meaningful relationships working online than I ever did working in a traditional office setup."

A more robust rebuttal comes from the always readable Grant Griffiths at Home Office Lawyer. "BULL!!!!!" he thunders. "I have had my office in my home now for just over two years. I can honestly say my wife and I have both enjoyed it greatly."

Homeworking with Brother

Brother, who produce clever and compact - not to mention quite natty - all-in-one printers are very much targeting the homeworking market. For example, the MFC-660CN (pictured) can do colour faxing, colour printing, colour scanning and colour copying. If you're looking at buying a new printer, it's well worth having a browse around their site. They also have a large section on homeworking in general including the reassuring section 'Help Me'. I was interested to see from their site that they make sewing machines too.

A different kind of Ikea home office

The wonderfully-named ikea hacker has this interesting post on turning ikea's liljestad kitchen units into a home office. If you're thinking of having a go yourself their top tip is: "The trick with the base units is to attach the blocks but not the legs - if you put the legs/plinth on too then they become too tall. The blocks alone ensures the doors can open easily (clear of floor) and the worktop is the right height for a desk." Easy.

(Not) doing business in your bathrobe day

While I like the idea of the Doing Business in your Bathrobe Day which will be 'celebrated' on February 12, it's obviously not everybody's cup of tea. Donna Toothaker at Virtual Voice says she doesn't like the idea at all and in fact doesn't even like the term 'home office'. "The whole bathrobe thing bothers me, it makes me think of a bon-bon eating, couch potato instead of a busy, successful, professional business person. Where I run my business makes no difference to me. I’m more proud of the fact that I have a successful, established, well-known business than the fact that I run it from my home." I can't say that I've ever done any significant amount of work in my dressing gown or pyjamas, but I do like the idea of marking the fact that increasing numbers of people are now working from home in some way and while 'the homeworker in pyjamas' is a bit of a cliché, it's an arresting image which will be picked up by the mainstream media.

Home office fish

While pets and home offices don't usually mix terribly well, you could always consider an aquarium. The biUbe from Reef One looks particularly intriguing. It comes in black or silver and Reef One assures us that it would work well in a study/home office, as well as being easy to look after. It holds 35 litres of water and you can populate it with tropical or coldwater fish. Comes with a 5 stage internal filter, halogen light, ceramic media, air pump, plug top 12 volt transformer, water treatment, fish food and a full set of instructions. Fish extra.