Those who have visited our office know that we’ve got a very interesting loft space. A drawback to that is that our conference room is especially ‘live’ due to the high ceilings and wood floors. Our pricey Polycom phone is clear for anyone in the conference room, but if you’re on the other side of the line, it’s unbearable. Our temporary solution was to put napkins over the mics to reduce how much noise they pick up. It definitely made an improvement, but there’s still too much echo-i-ness.

We’ve got a new phone we’re trying and are going to carpet the floor of the conference room as a first step. Otherwise we may need to put in some acoustic sound tiles and make the conference room into a part time recording studio. Updates forthcoming…

One of the more interesting recent additions to the office is our radio-controlled flying bat.  Given to me as one of the all-time best holiday presents (thanks to my brother Ben),  the flying bat has been a source of hours of amusement at the Table XI office.  

Consisting of a styrofoam body, mylar wings, and a tiny but potent electric motor, the bat flies amazingly well.  I still can’t believe that you can buy a fully-functioning remote-controlled ornithopter for $30.  On top of its excellent flying abilities, its red eyes glow creepily, and the motor makes a bit of a shriek.  Learn to fly it well, and it’s fantastic for terrifying systems administrators.  

Here’s an excellent video of someone flying the bat very skillfully (if only I was this good a pilot!)

If you’re intrigued, here’s a more in-depth review including a creepy video.  I have scoured the web far and wide for a link to buy one, but to no avail.  If you find one, let me know as I’d like to buy a couple of back-ups

Happy flying!