Cubicle shenanigans

September 20, 2007 5:50 AM

iButton work bathroom conspiracy. Sometime ago I noticed a small silver object blue tacked to the wall high up in one of the executive bathroom cubicles at my workplace.

On closer inspection I managed to prise it off and conspircy theories abound went through my mind. The immediate thought I had was that perhaps it was a bug used for industrial espionage that had come lose say from a table in a meeting room and some well meaning but ignorant person didn't know what to do with it so stuck it on the wall. That said it was in an unusual position and I doubt anyone else would have been as intruiged by the small round circle up near the ceiling. I looked at ibutton.com and could make out no possible use for an ibutton that would be concerning. Since then I keep noticing more and more of them tacked up in the executive bathrooms. Given ibuttons are generally implanted into key fobs for id access, or used as memory chips or data loggers. The first one was attached by blue-tac, the subsequent ones have some epoxy material on one side. Can someone please come with a logical explanation for what on earth they are doing in the cubicles. No doubt it makes perfect sense to someone but I cannot fathom there intended purpose.

posted by numberstation to computers & internet (13 comments total)

I'll bet your Physical Plant folks were having trouble getting the bathrooms cleaned on a regular basis and are using these to make the cleaning staff "check in" when they clean each bathroom.

It sounds weird but I've seen worse. A major apartment community I used to live in had a system for the post office workers to time when they delivered mail to ensure they weren't taking too long. It was a metal box up on the wall they had to open to get the keys to get in the door, but it tracked the time they opened the box with their postal key.
posted by jwells at 5:59 AM on September 20, 2007

There are many varieties of iButton. Perhaps they are logging the temperature in the bathrooms?
posted by public at 6:00 AM on September 20, 2007

I'll bet your Physical Plant folks were having trouble getting the bathrooms cleaned on a regular basis and are using these to make the cleaning staff "check in" when they clean each bathroom.


iButtons are meant to be carried around by people or used as data loggers usually. Sticking one on a wall wouldn't be very useful for tracking attendance. They would need to have a black box on the wall outside the cubicle for the cleaners to swipe in if they were doing that.
posted by public at 6:02 AM on September 20, 2007

This page does what jwells is talking about and I think the page says it uses iButtons in the devices.
posted by tayknight at 6:21 AM on September 20, 2007

My work facility has iButtons placed next to all entry/exit doors. The security guards press a device against them as they check to make sure the doors are secure when do their rounds. I presume this is so they have proof that the doors were checked.
posted by pmbuko at 6:21 AM on September 20, 2007

seconding pmbuko. this is probably part of security's appointed rounds. They have a little stick they press against the ibutton that proves they were there are X time. It's a way to make sure watchmen are actually patrolling.
posted by cosmicbandito at 6:31 AM on September 20, 2007

Ah right I see, that's cunning.

However, isn't it fairly obvious when a room you are paying to get cleaned doesn't get cleaned? I mean, the cleaner going there are poking a little stick at a wall doesn't mean they actually cleaned the place. Obviously if a security guard is getting paid to walk around a building and check doors etc, then his presence at any of the iButtons is a fairly good indication he's doing his job.

And why would you hide it "high up" one of the walls if it was designed for people to actually use on a regular basis?
posted by public at 6:36 AM on September 20, 2007

And who the hell patrols bathroom cubicles?
posted by public at 6:38 AM on September 20, 2007

And who the hell patrols bathroom cubicles?

It's an extremely obvious place to hide if you want to stay after hours. Perhaps they want to make sure the guards check each and every stall.
posted by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America at 6:50 AM on September 20, 2007

Public - it proves they were there, so excuses like "Oh I thought so and so was going to do that" don't have merit any longer. Now that you can prove they were there, if the place still isn't clean the whole investigative process isn't as fickle.

What the people who think this is a good idea don't realize is that such things only encourage rushing to each station and doing a cursory job that'll beat a casual inspection. For my postal example above, it was nearly impossible to have the mail stopped or left on the door step (they didn't have time to care) and it was often stuffed into the box with small tears and the like all over. Real mess.

With the security guards it might work though, if all they need to do is go in the room and ensure no one is in there. They'd do that purely by checking in, but probably slack off elsewhere as a result.
posted by jwells at 7:08 AM on September 20, 2007

"high up" I'll give you though, but then the whole idea is zany so maybe the execution was too.
posted by jwells at 7:11 AM on September 20, 2007

They put them high up to keep people like you from removing them.
posted by cosmicbandito at 7:30 AM on September 20, 2007

This is usually replacing a paper sign-up sheet. The advantages over paper are:

1) Has timestamps, so people can't fill in back entries.
2) Is more aesthetically pleasing. The paper was pretty obvious. The iButtons are only visible to people spending too much time in the bathroom.
3) Is more sanitary. A piece of paper that sits on the wall of the bathroom for weeks and that you have to touch every day? Gross.
posted by smackfu at 7:32 AM on September 20, 2007