ULPT: Teams application in laptop must show me as active

[-]

BryanP1968@reddit

Most of these suggestions can be detected by a competent IT department. The correct answer (and I’ve had to explain this to managers many times) “Teams status isn’t a valid way of tracking productivity. Set achievable goals for your employees and track those goals.”

[-]

EfficiencyHot167@reddit

Fuck goals, I’m a middle a manager and my job is to create misery for those who report up to me.

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Mrs_TikiPupuCheeks@reddit

So this is real life situation. We use Teams at work. I also have Teams on my phones (yes, plural) as I have a work phone and a personal phone. So that's 3 instances of Teams. These 3 instances are supposed to sync their statuses at all times, right? Well, that's not the case. There are many times where Teams on the PC says I'm away, when Teams on 1 phone says I'm available, and the other phone says I'm away. Other times it says I'm offline on Teams on phone 1, away on Teams on PC, and in a meeting on Teams on phone 2.

So, yes, Teams status isn't a valid way of tracking productivity is absolutely true.

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BryanP1968@reddit

Exactly. I’ve had this conversation with more than one manager in our organization. “Teams status isn’t an accurate way of determining if someone is actually at their computer and working.”

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Asmosis85@reddit

So they can track caffeine even if it doesn't have an installation?

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BryanP1968@reddit

With the right setup, yes.

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KrakenBitesYourAss@reddit

Ok, but you can't control how the manager thinks. If he thinks that Teams is a valid way of tracking you still need to work around that

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BryanP1968@reddit

His IT dept needs to explain it to him.

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KrakenBitesYourAss@reddit

Again, you have 0 control over it. Would be nice if the world how it "should" be run

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Annual-Ad-7452@reddit

This. This is the way.

[-]

JonnyZef@reddit

Stack of coins on one of the arrow keys always did the job for me

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Pandy498001@reddit

Our company uses 'ActiveTrack'. I think all of these trackers are horrible though so I don't even look at it for my team.

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OddHippo6972@reddit

Analog take: Put your mouse in a box. Get some kind of kids or cat toy that spins or rolls around and nudges into it every few seconds. Might take some fiddling with but I bet you could come up with the right combination to keep the mouse physically moving.

[-]

divzar@reddit

I use an app called Amphetamine on my mac that prevents it from going to sleep - I’m lucky to not have the culture that relies on tracking your active status, but a super strict IT policy that puts your device on sleep when idle for 2 minutes, which is a pain in meetings and interviews.

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LadyPantsParty@reddit

Run slides or powerpoint in prestation mode and your always in the green! Simple and elegant.

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TheBlacktom@reddit

Not green, a presentation shows up as red with text detailing that user is presenting.

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LadyPantsParty@reddit

Does it show presenting when using Google slides?

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ArcyRC@reddit

This pleasantly surprised me. At our company you show as "presenting" instead of "active" but it keeps your computer from locking up, too.

Someone earlier mentioned how some monitoring software takes screenshots of your desktop every 10 minutes.

So I'd say take 100 screenshots of you working then put them in a PowerPoint presentation and present it on loop with timed transitions.

Gotta work hard at being lazy 😅

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makofip@reddit

I saw this in a movie about a bus that had to speed around the city, keeping its speed over fifty, and if its speed dropped, the bus would explode! I think it was called “The Bus That Couldn’t Slow Down.”

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ArcyRC@reddit

Ohhh the ol' "security cam loop". Excellent metaphor.

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FrankaGrimes@reddit

That is fucking genius.

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8Deer-JaguarClaw@reddit

So I'd say take 100 screenshots of you working then put them in a PowerPoint presentation and present it on loop with timed transitions.

Sir, I would like to subscribe to your newsletter!

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TheBlacktom@reddit

The current time is shown on the screen most of the time. If you make screenshots to put them on a presentation, that may be an issue.

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tyurytier84@reddit

Ferris!

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NameNotRecommended@reddit

This doesn't work on most Teams.

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328471348@reddit

I wouldn't run a software app to prevent sleeping if it's a company owned computer. It's way too easy for IT to detect. Mouse juggler, as the other user suggested, is the way to go. Although still detectable because your mouse is moving 1-3 pixels every second. Pretty easy to profile.

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RusticBucket2@reddit

I’ve wondered this. Can you explain this “profiling”?

Would they be able to run something remotely that flags them that the mouse is just moving around randomly?

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Warpath_McGrath@reddit

If the IT department is in any way competent, they will have the ability to remote into your laptop at any point and they will have software that tracks and saves EVERYTHING.

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RusticBucket2@reddit

Okay, please stay with me because I’m so curious about this.

First of all, I’m a software engineer. I could look this stuff up, but I’d rather have a conversation about it and you said the word “profiling” which got me curious.

I know if they are suspicious, they can remote in.

What I’m wondering is if there’s something that can make them suspicious. Like not something that can just record my screen and they can watch it back, but something that would notify them that the mouse just slowly moves around for hours without them ever looking into it.

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Otherwise_Ebb4811@reddit

EDR (Endpoint Detection & Response - Tanium, CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, etc...) tools already installed on most corporate systems can be set to alert on these programs.

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RusticBucket2@reddit

Alert on what, exactly? Do you know? Is there an algorithm that analyzes mouse movement?

That’s what I’m getting at.

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LeatherAntelope2613@reddit

They look at your mouse movements and say "this looks like it's just randomly moving around in a way that a human wouldn't do".

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RusticBucket2@reddit

How am I not getting the right question asked here?

I’ll try again.

If no one suspects anything and never looks at my screen ever because they don’t need to.

Is there an algorithm that a system will run to analyze the mouse movements and trigger a notification for someone to look further?

As I’ve already said, I know they can look at my screen if they want to.

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LeatherAntelope2613@reddit

That's what I meant. There is likely a program that runs in the background, tracking your mouse movements. That program will look at your mouse movements and see that they are suspicious. This will flag your computer and someone will look manually and confirm you're not working.

When I said "they'll look at your mouse movements", I meant there's likely a program running that is automatically doing it

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RusticBucket2@reddit

Okay. Thanks then.

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Otherwise_Ebb4811@reddit

The applications being installed / running. Most of them show as a running process, some require full installation. EDR can capture and alert on either.

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RusticBucket2@reddit

I think we’re losing each other here.

I’m talking about an external mouse mover. Not an app installed. I know they can track that and do.

Is there an algorithm that can just detect the pattern of the way it’s moving around the screen and prompt someone to look? I think it’s already been answered though.

[-]

Shadow1893@reddit

Early cybersecurity career professional here. In addition to EDR, there is specific software that is used to observe what you are doing on your computer and how you are using your time. An example of this is Terramind, which is “productivity” software that will detect on the behavioral aspect of the activity. For example, a mouse moving every few seconds but no keys on the keyboard typed would likely flag. I’m not saying it’s perfect, a non-software mouse jiggler (IE oscillator of some kind) may fly under the radar, but it could detect it. With the boom in AI, this sort of thing is going to be easier to detect. Unfortunately, it also likely means more false positives that will require someone review the footage of the screen record that happens.

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NaturallyExasperated@reddit

Pretty easy to flag if the mouse doesn't exceed a certain speed or net displacement every X amount of time. EDRs are basically rootkits so you can hook the mouse position function.

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The_Wonder_Weasel@reddit

Oscillating fan and a wooden spoon. Attach mouse to spoon and spoon to fan. Turn on and walk away

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TastelessDonut@reddit

At my work thier investigations goes in stages: stage 1: check logs

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ChesswithGoats@reddit

If a company needs to micromanage employees to this extent, there are multiple failures occurring. 1) employee work is not clear; 2) manager oversite is absent; 3) no accountability. The amount of time & money spent on this bs is staggering.

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washingtondough@reddit

Or it’s easier to just have everyone in the office…

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Sam__@reddit

Who's to say employees are productive when in the office?

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washingtondough@reddit

Who’s to say they’re more productive at home?

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Sam__@reddit

I'm glad we agree.

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Gsogso123@reddit

Totally agree, I work as a consultant, I complete my work and send an invoice for payment, like I completed the 2023 financial statements for Fund 1, it took x hours, they pay y, very straightforward. A friend asked me about my job and asked if I get busy work, I told him, no, my boss doesn’t send me things to do that would result in them paying me for hours that have no purpose, it would actively disadvantage them. I wish all my office jobs were like that, it’s such a perverse situation.

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trebblecleftlip5000@reddit

If I am getting everything done that is asked of me more frequently than my colleagues, then why are we looking at this?

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TastelessDonut@reddit

The only time this comes up is when those people that are not doing much of anything.

You won’t get investigated by IT if you’re just working (NOT me, I’m a peon ). The 3 people (that we know of) are out of about 250-300 in my building

[-]

trebblecleftlip5000@reddit

This is what I like to hear. I'm kicking ass compared to my in-office co-workers and give my direct report everything he needs to cover his own ass. There's no need to come up with some phoney metric I'm just going to game anyway.

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tyurytier84@reddit

Doing the Lord's work dick

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TastelessDonut@reddit

Added edit for clarity: I am a peon just pushing rocks where I’m told to move them as well. We have learned how they are finding and investigating people.

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bastard_child_botbot@reddit

I do more at home than in the office lol.

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boringcranberry@reddit

What if you have two screens? I keep my email up on my laptop and do most of my actual work on a second monitor. If I were to just take a screenshot it would be of my laptop screen where very little action is happening.

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Turtleintexas@reddit

I have 3 screens, I keep teams on one, email on another and our reference database on a third. So good luck doing screenshots. I also have a mouse mover, not a jiggler. I frequently do school work, so I don't know what they might see. I try to stay busy with work, but it's not always possible.

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RusticBucket2@reddit

What’s the distinction between a mover and a jiggler?

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Turtleintexas@reddit

My mouse moves the cursor among the three screens, so it "activates" whatever is open. If I have excel docs open, they enlarge until the cursor moves to the next document or screen. My computer never goes to sleep and I am always showing Green on Teams. The jiggler just keeps teams active, as far as I know.

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RusticBucket2@reddit

Ah, okay. I’m using a mover too.

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Turtleintexas@reddit

Yay for movers!! 😁

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EmergencyAbalone2393@reddit

I have two monitors and when I do a screenshot it is both screens stitched together. Maybe that is a settings thing though.

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boringcranberry@reddit

Yeah I have the ability to screenshot either or together but if I just do a standard screenshot, it's my laptop screen only.

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InclinationCompass@reddit

Companies should just base it on your productivity

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Spudguy@reddit

What are their roles that management would even care?

I’m always curious about this as I’ve worked from home as my main ‘office’ for 7/8 years or so and it’s always been as long as deadlines are met and I’m reachable by phone, no one cares if I’m sat at my laptop or not.

Is it just the companies squeezing every hour their paying for our of staff or are the staff in roles where there’s a constant mountain of work that always needs eyes on it?

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toforama@reddit

It snot the roles being managed, it's how self important and micromanaging the boss is.

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Weed_O_Whirler@reddit

A lot of the work in my field, while we have some basic ideas of how long different tasks should take, it is quite variable. So, I might think a task will take an employee 30 hours or so, but I wouldn't be surprised if it only took 20 but also there's instances where it might take 50.

If my employee takes 50 hours, and is actually working on it? Cool. Took longer to find the problem. But if he charged 50 hours and only worked 20? Well shit, we just defrauded the Government.

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LJski@reddit

Probably a bit of both, with other non-related issues thrown in.

We have a an informal WFH policy, which really boils down to as long as you don’t make it official, director level bosses can allow it on an “occasional” basis.

Some people are complaining about response times from some staff sections…therefore, it must be the WFH.

I expect to see some reigning in of this policy.

[-]

electrotoast@reddit

It's really just bigger corps that do this. I'm an IT guy who could in theory do all the things described above. Never had to do anything so remotely intrusive. It really boils down to a few things. 1, are you showing up as inactive all the time, and 2, is your work getting done. As long as work is getting done at a non-shitty company, no one cares.

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Blessed_tenrecs@reddit

If my company was doing 2-minute screenshots every day I’d straight up quit lol. That’s a ridiculous level of micro-management, WFH or no. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

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FUDFighter1970@reddit

You sound like you got bronchitis.

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TalesOfTea@reddit

I only know this from big tech companies, but one of the known "hidden" facts about so many of the new WFH orders are that they are quite ways of getting people to quit, avoiding the company doing layoffs. If they say working from the office is required and employees won't do it.. well, the employee quits. No layoff but still able to have a workplace reduction.

The fact that this does not take into consideration quality of the software engineer is incredibly stupid long-term but....

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RusticBucket2@reddit

Especially software engineers, because they are treated like kings at some software companies.

But if you’re a software engineer at a regular old company that sells insurance or whatever and they build their own software, you get treated like an employee who is involved with selling insurance.

Good, hardworking, and talented software engineers will go to better companies where they are treated better and what does that mean for the team working on the re-re-rewrite of your internal insurance-selling software?

I’ll tell you. It means that all the engineers aren’t going to be good, hard working, and talented.

Have you ever wondered why you keep having to scrap your software projects because they’re failing?

You should.

[-]

castafobe@reddit

At my work this is how it haopens:

Step 1: nobody checks anything. Our one IT guy has far more to worry about than check if someone is moving their mouse enough or not. It's nice working for a small manufacturer where you're trusted.

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throwaway12345679x9@reddit

I wish you did that at my job, you’ll come to conclusion to take my office days away and let me WFH the whole time.

Seriously, office time is taken by useless meetings most of the day, so the computer is inactive…

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som3otherguy@reddit

Yup. Teams shows inactive while I’m in the boardroom, or chatting with my boss, or at a coworker’s desk helping them with something. But at home all those things would look like solid productivity

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TheOwlHypothesis@reddit

If they are investigating you, you're already fired.

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Bdawksrippinfacesoff@reddit

It’s kind of bullshit. I take a lot of calls where I don’t need to use the pc. I’m still working but if you tracked it the way you say, it would look like I’m not.

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Top-Reference-1938@reddit

I realize this isn't YOUR policy, you're just enforcing.

But, I explicitly told my company that if I'm getting my work done, and it's on time, they don't get to tell me when to do it.

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JohnOfA@reddit

Is this limited to low level employees or can you check out the CEO? I bet they would have some interesting screen shots.

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my_normal_account_76@reddit

Could you please explain step 3?

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DrySpace469@reddit

what explaining do you need? it’s just screenshots

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my_normal_account_76@reddit

My .mistake

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Roboomer@reddit

Mouse jugglers are easily detectible? How? Doesn't it show as a USB mouse?

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Senappi@reddit

A USB mouse juggler shows up as a mouse (unlike installed software which shows up during a scan) but you can catch it by monitoring behavior

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wigglycatbutt@reddit

Surprised there isn't one that you can upload a few of your normal workday mouse movements to replicate.

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No_Accident2331@reddit

Mouse jigglers—get physical ones that don’t plug into the laptop. IT can’t track that—I know, I’m IT. Keep the pointer over Teams. I can be active on screen 1 and 2 but my Teams on monitor 3 still shows as “Away”.

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PuzzleheadedSea3622@reddit

Use an oscillating table fan and Velcro your mouse to it

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erikhagen222@reddit

Duct tape and a dildo, they may think you now have Parkinson’s though, disability claim!!

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kingoptimo1@reddit

Batteries last less than an hour though

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8Deer-JaguarClaw@reddit

\^ This guy dildos!

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itsthe90sYo@reddit

/r/thisguythisguys

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FujiFanatic@reddit

\^ This guy thisguythisguys

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8Deer-JaguarClaw@reddit

I sure do!

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erikhagen222@reddit

Get an old school plug in one 🤷🏻

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awmaleg@reddit

Ask Grandma for hers

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No-Sea-8980@reddit

Lmaoo I’m dying thinking of scenario where you gotta explain to your grandma that you need to fake activity on teams and that’s why you need her dildo

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erikhagen222@reddit

Even worse when she opens her hope chest, and the gimp jumps out

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moystpickles@reddit

Not again

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erikhagen222@reddit

Somebody call Zed!!

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TexasPete1845@reddit

r/BrandNewSentence

just spit out my coffee laughing at this

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Heisenripbauer@reddit

alternatively, get an analogue wrist watch and place your mouse’s laser right on the center of the dial

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Herosinahalfshell12@reddit

Lol the idea of rows of mouses attached to moving fans at empty workstations.

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SoMuchCereal@reddit

Beuller... Beuller

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Rebel_bass@reddit

Straight out of a mike judge movie.

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MrHankRutherfordHill@reddit

Mike Judge should do a new office space with remote or hybrid working. I just showed the original to my teenager last week and she loved it.

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JangJaeYul@reddit

Holy shit, this one is genius.

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cant-think-of-anythi@reddit

I'm not sure how it works but I have a wireless Microsoft keyboard from 2009 which has a USB dongle, when it's plugged in my laptop will not go to sleep and my Teams status shows green all the time

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PetahOsiris@reddit

Mac Version of caffeine is called Amphetamine

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Own-Sheepherder-8937@reddit

Create a daily meeting with just you. Set your status to show yourself as "Free" during the meeting. Whenever you want to move away, just join the meeting ;)

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Firm_Diver_5892@reddit

Open a spread sheet, put something heavy on the down button.

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Honky_Town@reddit

Set ws = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

Do

Wscript.Sleep 30000

ws.SendKeys "{F15}"

Loop

Save in a .txt and save it as filename.VBS

It presses the F15 button every 30 seconds.

If its not working get a mouse jiggler app on your phone. run that app and put mouse on.

Alternatively use a analog watch with seconds and place mouse on top so each second your coursor rotates a bit.

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tmc_dl@reddit

An adjustable mouse mover cradle can be bought on eBay or online for about 10 bux. You place your mouse on it and it shakes it every so often. It doesn't have to be plugged into the computer too.

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pipinngreppin@reddit

Cheap mouse jiggler from Amazon will work. I’m seeing comments that they are detected by IT, but I’m in IT and use one myself from time to time. They install as mice and systems really can’t tell them any different. Now, i could detect and block them if i bought and cataloged their hardware in some of my security systems, but the likelihood of a department doing that would be very slim. Most would be too afraid of a false positive stopping a productive employee, so it’s a safe bet you’ll be fine.

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ActualDoctor1492@reddit

Put YouTube videos of some skill you can learn on repeat

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Butterwhat@reddit

my work has a library of linkedin learning videos and their own for whatever bs management/business topic. they have playslists of them as well and I just start one and let it play during my naps. I can just say they were covering something really interesting if they ever figure out my gap in actual work overlaps with this for longer than acceptable. and the topics I can easily bs myself on the spot. it's been several years and they haven't even asked about it yet.

[-]

ActualDoctor1492@reddit

You’re a valuable employee! Keep up the good work

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Puzzleheaded_Quiet70@reddit

"How to increase your productivity without costing your company"

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xxPOOTYxx@reddit

Join a teams meeting with yourself. Change your status from in a call back to active.

I do this all the time.

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ignatzami@reddit

Just set your status as active. It’ll stay active.

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Shirkaday@reddit

I put a piece of cardboard on a turntable with a piece of a wire coat hanger stuck into it and the other end clamping the wire of my wired mouse.

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latinaMixed@reddit

I have a supervisor that is always set to busy and a coworker who is never online

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wawa2022@reddit

Send yourself an invitation to a meeting, accept it, then go take a nap (or whatever you do when you’re bidding on teams. Computer won’t go to sleep and you’ll look busy

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QP873@reddit

Put a physical watch under your mouse. Every minute the second hand will pass under the sensor and nudge the mouse slightly.

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CanuckBee@reddit

Most employers have a policy against this and systems to tell if you are doing this. It can get you fired.

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Victorious1MOB@reddit

🤓

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Fair_Gas_1674@reddit

I used to put my mouse on top of an analog watch and it did the trick!

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ElodyDubois@reddit

On top of the screenshots… Some companies are implementing keystroke monitoring to identify folks using the heavy object on keyboard method or the mouse jiggler method. They can also track navigating from different windows. If you haven’t typed anything in say, 2 hours, you show up on a report. If you’re typing the same key for 10 minutes, you show up on the report.

If you enter a fake meeting and manually turn yourself to green, you risk missing a message from your boss or a rat coworker who wants to know what took you so long to respond.

It’s sucks out here.

I prefer the mouse jiggler with teams on my phone so I can answer any messages that come through

[-]

TurkeyZom@reddit

Pair of 3D printers is the only solution, one to type and one to move the mouse. Cheap DIY kits for $50 bucks and the software for creating the movement sequence is easy to learn

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Arthur2478@reddit

Buy a 2 ounce triangle shaped fishing weight. Open text editor and put your cursor in the doc. Place weight on the backspace key.

You’re welcome

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greyone75@reddit

Open a Word document. Put something heavy enough on the spacebar.

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mopsyd@reddit

Take an old ball mouse apart, and keep the wheel detector intact with the board. Acquire a gerbil, cage, and gerbil wheel. Affix the mouse ball detector hinge to the gerbil wheel. Place under desk, and activate by plugging in the usb connector for the once mouse now gerbil afk device. Since the gerbil has permanent adhd and only one outlet, he will scroll the mouse randomly and organically, therefore thwarting software detection and mouse movement profiling.

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LiaInvicta@reddit

Instead of buying a mouse jiggler, I just put a spoon on the laptop’s touchpad. Seems to work just fine - keeps me green, which is all mgmt cares about 🙄

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rdrcrmatt@reddit

Install teams app on an iPad and leave it open. The set display to never turn off.

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Wave20Kosis@reddit

Similarly, on android you can splitscreen teams and a 4hr youtube video to keep it on/awake.

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slit-wrist-syndrome@reddit

This is probably the best one here tbh.

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haiphee@reddit

The best one I read is to have a meeting by yourself, share you screen, then manually change your status to active.

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Top_Parking5366@reddit

By the way, this can be seen in the teams admin centre that you had a meeting with only yourself as a participant. We've had people get a disciplinary for it for leaving their workstation unlocked and unattended.

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haiphee@reddit

Could you elaborate on how that shows up? Like, is there a report? I work for a large org so figured no one was really looking...

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Top_Parking5366@reddit

You wouldn't just come across it if you weren't looking for it. For each user there's like a call/meeting history, on here you can open the entries up and see duration, participants, hardware info, stuff like that. The instances I've been asked to have a look are when a user hasn't responded to their managers messages/calls and they've asked me to have a look to see if anything is off, then I see the user has been in an 18 hour meeting with just themselves but their status is currently available lol.

If you work in a large org, no one will be looking unless they have a reason too. Depending on your sector/company policies, the usernames may even be obfuscated making it considerably more effort to figure out.

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InclinationCompass@reddit

Really weird for MS Teams to collect hardware info of meeting participants

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HadopiData@reddit

We can see all the meeting details. If someone joins at 00:08:32 after meeting started and leaves 00:01:26 later, we can see it. We’ll know if that user joins the meeting again later, and even their participation (how many messages, reactions, screen sharing time, …)

Hardware info is inly available for users inside the company. It’s meant to help us debug if users run into issues with their headsets/webcam or other network trouble.

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InclinationCompass@reddit

Is the share screen part necessary?

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haiphee@reddit

I've found that teams started saying I was away during meetings if I left the computer

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InclinationCompass@reddit

Weird. I've never seen anybody go away while in any of my meetings.

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haiphee@reddit

I didn't notice it at my last org. Maybe I'm going crazy

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namek0@reddit

100% had my back for years with this one

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quesabirriatacoma@reddit

This is the answer.

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gingerslice5678@reddit

This is so smart. I've had myself as presenting in meetings by myself for awhile and with my job that is pretty common, but updating it to active is next level genuis.

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darksteel1335@reddit

Pretty sure there’s Caffeine for Mac as well.

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SmokinSweety@reddit

Get a watch with a second hand and set your optical mouse on top of it.

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andrej24able@reddit

When I don't want my computer to lock, I open new word document and put something on the keyboard. 😬🥸👍

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Citron_Defiant@reddit

Open excel or some other table calculation program, and put something heavy on the down error. Will keep you green in teams in a very simple way.

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Seattlehepcat@reddit

Get a mouse juggler on Amazon.

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Tarynntula@reddit

They make little pads that just keep your mouse moving!

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McJaeger@reddit

Open teams and put something heavy on your shift key. It'll keep you active and online. I use a 9V battery.

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Mediocre_Cat242@reddit

Call your cell or home phone from teams, try that.

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fgjofxxs@reddit

Amphetamine is a good Mac alternative

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justiceT@reddit

Caffeine for Windows works great. Runs as a Service, not an installed program/app

[-]

farfegnewgen@reddit

This.

[-]

RichardBottom@reddit

I think I read an article about a bunch of people getting canned recently at a major company for being caught with mouse moving software. If you're on a work computer they have a very, very good idea of what you're doing. They don't need to put energy into monitoring everybody because the software they run is very good at flagging the stuff worth investigating. It's not a battle you're going to win, at least in the name of taking long shits at work.

One thing I used to do, when I had the opportunity to walk away from my computer, was put my mouse on a concave glass candle lid. I had to do it just right, but once you hit a certain glass curvature it makes the mouse go ape shit and move all over the screen. The movement is random and it's at the input level so nothing could detect it. I was on Skype when I did that, and I was able to go take 1-2 hour naps on the clock if I got all my work done in advance.

[-]

DARKDYNAMO@reddit

Get a Logitech mouse with on device memory. Write simple macro of some key press that does not affect the teams like pressing space and then backspace. Then put this macro on toggle mode so it will keep repeating when enabled. Assign it to a button push it to device memory. Now when you push tat button it will keep repeating space and backspace. Do the macro setup on other device.

[-]

emvnul@reddit

open a teams chat and just place something (tv remote works well) on the spacebar

[-]

Nutterbutter_Nexus@reddit

What you do is go to the most cutting-edge genetic research facility and be cloned. Then you have someone to help with your workload and you can take some personal time. Just make sure they aren't able to clone themselves, things get a little squirelly if that were to happen. Oh, and your clone will definitely fuck you wife - so know that going in.

[-]

The_Sensual@reddit

Automatic mouse clicker software. Place the cursor over where ever and the software will automatically click it, even if its not clicking anything. I actually used it to progress me through some mandatory videos without having to sit through them for 10 hours

No physical hardware needed

[-]

Lexubex@reddit

Do not use a software program. Buy a physical mouse mover that you plug in separately. Much harder to track. They're like 30 bucks on Amazon.

[-]

Takakikun@reddit

Fill the rest of your calendar with meetings called “Private” and then set them to “Private” in the settings, then you’ll be shown as “Busy” at least, instead of “Away”.

[-]

minijellyfish@reddit

Open a word document and leave something on one of the keys so it keeps typing (I use an alan key set in a triangle position). You end up with a 100 page document saying "aaaaaaaaaa..." but it keeps you online.

[-]

cccaaatttsssss@reddit

Here’s what I do, if you have teams on your phone, keep the app open and in the settings make sure the screen never closes on its own. Then, as long as ur phone is open, ur status will stay active!

[-]

Complex_Variation_@reddit

Open Notepad or word. Heavy object on spacebar.

[-]

vanalle@reddit

This doesn’t work, it looks like it works for you, you’ll stay green, but for everyone else you’re away. Did it for months, then decided to check whether it really worked via an other account on an other device. Was pretty surprised by both the result and my company’s lack of caring about my always away status lol.

[-]

InclinationCompass@reddit

Weird that Teams would show different status for different people

[-]

SirNoodlehe@reddit

That sounds more like an issue with Teams - there's no reason that the status being shown to you is different to what other people see your status as

[-]

gingerslice5678@reddit

This may have been a fluke on your system but it does work for other folks. I had a work colleague check to make sure I was still showing green for am hour break I took with a weighted space bar and I was.

I don't think teams is smart enough to decide that you are fake typing and show you as green to only yourself as revenge.

[-]

UPdrafter906@reddit

that’s legit terrifying and hilarious

[-]

JMol87@reddit

I definitely don't do something similar with excel and something heavy in the down key

[-]

Complex_Variation_@reddit

How many rows was your max count?

[-]

JMol87@reddit

No idea, probably the high thousands, though I doubt I've hit 5 figures.

[-]

system32420@reddit

Or leave any app open and put something. On the right arrow key. 90% of apps it won’t actually do anything, but it’s enough to keep your computer active. I just put my mouse on my keyboard arrow keys

[-]

Responsible-Sundae25@reddit

Go into the Teams app, click on yourself, click in the message box, place a heavy object on the Ctrl key

I have found that a notepad with the above trick will show me away after time

[-]

Upbeat_Rock3503@reddit

I've placed something heavy on escape and leave the system on a web browser.

[-]

narnababy@reddit

This is the way

[-]

malcolmhaller@reddit

Arrow left works too

[-]

ManfredBoyy@reddit

That’s what my buddy would do so we could go play golf

[-]

Okcool8880@reddit

This!!! gold

[-]

john-fievre@reddit

My personal choice. Works onsite too if your desk is cluttered enough.

[-]

InclinationCompass@reddit

Join a random MS Teams meeting room and dont send the invite to anybody else. It will keep you as “in a call” until you leave the room.

[-]

bryan4368@reddit

Caffeine works in Mac’s too. I use it everyday

[-]

mikemiller-esq@reddit

Join a meeting, you'll show as red and the laptop will stay awake.

[-]

WhisperToARiot@reddit

An analog watch with a seconds hand sitting flat on your desktop with your mouse sitting on top keeps the pointer moving

[-]

Aarvos@reddit

Open Terminal on MacOS.
Type in "caffeinate -dimsu -t 3600"

This keeps the system and your user active for an hour. Press CTRL + C to exit early or adapt the time in seconds as You wish

[-]

mrchowmein@reddit

Get a mouse jiggler. It’s a usb dongle that simulates a mouse. It’s hardware coded as a mouse too so the computer will treat it as a mouse.

[-]

pvt9000@reddit

Old Teams or New Teams?

[-]

FrankaGrimes@reddit

I found a very heavy but very small weight and I place that on the Alt key. It shows me as online as long as that's there. I have no idea what the Mac equivalent would be. But I would highly recommend using a physical prop vs something that can be potentially uncovered like software or something plugged into a USB slot.

Is this a work computer or your personal computer?

[-]

Maltempest@reddit

Mouse jiggler, mechanical caffeine like device.

[-]

ReXyysS@reddit

Put a heavy object on your Ctrl button it keeps the status green have fun doing whatever :)

[-]

reptilianmonk@reddit

Look up mouse jiggler on line. Little usb stick that has 3 speed settings. Works like a charm. Just turn it off when you actually go to lunch. Haha

[-]

ColloquialShart@reddit

Jesus Christ get one of these and plug it into your wall.

INFOTOP Mouse Jiggler, Ultra Slim, 20dB Quiet & Noiseless, Undetectable Mouse Mover Simulates Realistic Movement, Driver-Free Shaker for Keeping The PC Active and Secure https://a.co/d/aci7f1B

[-]

ErgoPuppers@reddit

Wait, Caffeinate isn’t native on MacOS anymore?! TIL: macOS’ Hidden Gem – The "caffeinate" Command!

[-]

fuzzyshocker@reddit

I had this issue back then on Windows. I created a script who presses the F13 every 10 seconds, which is enough to keep Teams online. I'm not a Mac expert, but I believe something like this could work.

[-]

927ash@reddit

Could try putting your mouse directly on a clock with a second hand. Works with my watch.

[-]

redditVoteFraudUnit@reddit

There is a terminal command

Caffeinate -d

That will prevent your computer from sleeping and requires no installation.

[-]

Edoian@reddit

Open word document, place heavy object on spacebar, back to sleep

[-]

notreallyhowifeel@reddit

Keeping teams open on your phone and disabling screen off, it stays active.

[-]

ChunkySalsaMedium@reddit

Thats not enough. You need to go into “status” changer menu in top left corner, and stop where you are just about to pick another status.

[-]

notreallyhowifeel@reddit

My wife and I test each others statuses on the phone teams from our respective computers after different time frames. Never had a non available status just doing as I described.

[-]

ChunkySalsaMedium@reddit

I get “away” at any other place in the app.

[-]

CharlieBrownOfficial@reddit

How do I do this

[-]

terminater577@reddit

turn off auto lock on your phone, and leave the teams app open on your phone

[-]

SnooSnooSnuSnu@reddit

Mouse jiggler.
Welcome to 2020.

[-]

Choice-Ad6376@reddit

Doesn’t work if in a vm for work. Allegedly

[-]

MintyFresh668@reddit

You need to edit the vm settings to allocate the physical usb port to the virtual machine. A friend told me, I’d never do this you understand…

[-]

icecoldyerr@reddit

But then your management can see you have “Mouse_Jiggler_5000” as a device running on your VM. Get a mouse jiggler ran by outside power

[-]

MintyFresh668@reddit

The force is strong with this one…. Excellent tip dude!

[-]

Pleasant_Expert_1990@reddit

They do not because the VM doesn't have a physical mouse/KB attached but...

I have found that by using a powershell script to toggle the scroll lock hey on and off keeps the VM awake as long as the mouse jiggler on my workstation jiggles. I cannot fully explain it but my J1 has a farm of 11 VMs I babysit with RDM and as long as my physical mouse jiggles and the script is running in the VMs, they all stay awake.

[-]

DrummerHead@reddit

It's jiggling all the way down

That's why we have brownian motion

[-]

razordcoder@reddit

I wrote a batch script to press ctrl key every 5 seconds in a vm.

[-]

Eisie@reddit

My work blocked that app after a few people were busted using it.

[-]

SnooSnooSnuSnu@reddit

App?
Physical device.

[-]

Eisie@reddit

Mousejiggler.exe and other famous apps.

[-]

SnooSnooSnuSnu@reddit

Just get a $20 physical device.

[-]

matthiasgh@reddit

Go to chapgt and ask it to write you a powershell script that moves the mouse and clicks at random intervals. Call it test.ps1. Right click - run - go have fun.

[-]

TNCrystal@reddit

Homer Simpson has got some ideas for you

[-]

mesun0@reddit

Rest your optical mouse on an analogue wrist watch. The moving hands will show your mouse as active.

[-]

beemer2011@reddit

All you have to do is right click on any photo (if you're on a Windows computer) and Open With > Windows Media Player. Problem solved.

[-]

Acidfie@reddit

Open editor and put something on a key

[-]

albertogonzalex@reddit

Start a teams meeting with yourself.

Manually set your availability to active/green dot.

Run a YouTube playlist in a different window.

Teams will keep you green the whole time the video and meeting are open

[-]

avesthasnosleeves@reddit

Make sure the meeting is set to private.

[-]

rebelcork@reddit

12 hour aquarium videos are great 👍

[-]

sillybroccoli@reddit

If you have an iphone/ipad with teams downloaded, play a live youtube video and have teams open at the same time

[-]

cadburyeggnugget@reddit

Try this, it’s not software which I like

[-]

TommyyyGunsss@reddit

Open up a chat with yourself and wedge something in the backspace key to hold it down.

[-]

LoveWagon@reddit

Stick something heavy enough on your spacebar and open a blank word document.

[-]

beebo12345678@reddit

just start a teams meeting with "meet now" and it puts you in busy and doesnt let comp lock

[-]

Golf-Guns@reddit

I run a script in power shell that clicks on and off the number lock ever 300 seconds.

[-]

FrankNSnake@reddit

Open notepad and the put the cursor there and put something on the space bar so that it just keeps going until you get back

[-]

Hour_Panda7955@reddit

Here is a way how I am doing it. But I am not 100% sure its working correctly. I got myself an older iPhone on which I open Teams and set the screen to never go off.

[-]

Historical-Spirit-48@reddit

Get an old watch with a hand that moves. Put watch under optical mouse. The hand moving will keep the mouse active without any additional software or settings an IT guy might find someday.

[-]

DartNorth@reddit

Analog clock, with a seconds hand, and put your mouse on it.

Or there is usb mouse jigglers for about $10 on Amazon.

[-]

tyler0fm@reddit

Second this — an analog wristwatch works wonders. I’ve also kept a wireless mouse in my hoodie pocket while doing chores around the house.

[-]

smokingcrater@reddit

Any decent security or desktop employee can spot usb jigglers in 2 seconds. Our edr software has built in rules that catch all of them, and will even find some physical non usb devices.

[-]

Pidgey_OP@reddit

Start a meeting with only you as the attendee and you'll show busy (they can't get mad at you for that because that's what it shows automatically when you're in a meeting). If you share your screen with yourself it will show that you're presenting.

I know a guy that uses that to be left alone

[-]

FunkHavoc@reddit

MEKASS Mouse Mover with... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C947KF99?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

You’re welcome. Plug it into the wall, not directly into your PC

[-]

PurplePango@reddit

Can just mark your status as busy? That doesn’t switch to away until you manually change it I think?

[-]

Nemesis651@reddit

Does running a movie keep it from sleeping? Most streaming websites will.

[-]

michoriso@reddit

Look for a mouse jiggler on Amazon.

[-]

NothingMovesTheBlob@reddit

Whatever you do, software means don't work.

I have a 50g industrial weight that I put on my keyboard and keep a Notepad window open for it to write to.

Theoretically yes, IT could detect that you're writing a lot of a specific letter, but that would require that they have a keylogger, in which case they have WAY bigger security concerns.

[-]

EnjoiThatGinge@reddit

Put yourself in a call and then set your status to Active, it will stay like that until you end the call

[-]

bornsuckindiedfuckin@reddit

Analog mouse jiggler?

[-]

Tutorsad690@reddit

Book yourself in a meeting or get a mouse jiggler.

You can also watch the 10 hour YouTube video of the hobbits going to isenguard

[-]

bobs_yur_uncle@reddit

Use the Mac version of excel and write a macro that moves among cells, types out words, flies to Word, types, flips back again and repeats over and over. No IT system out there will be able to tell the difference between this and someone working in excel and word. I made my own back when I worked for a company that checked all this, never once was questioned and this was a super large bank with very uptight rules.

[-]

BigGuyNorthSide@reddit

Why don’t people just enter a super old teams meeting then change your status to green? Find a meeting with someone who’s an ex employee…. Or what I’ve done is start a meeting with myself titled “teams test” but schedule it last month so it’s not on your schedule.

I’ve been doing this for so long, what’s the issue?

[-]

peanutismint@reddit

If you work in a small company, surely people will be like “wait, peanutismint doesn’t have any meetings today?”, or also what if your boss is like “hey how did that meeting go? What did you discuss?” Etc?

[-]

BigGuyNorthSide@reddit

I think you missed the part where I said “change your status to green”. So once you start the meeting, you can change your “in a meeting” red state to “available” green and it will stay on green indefinitely as that meeting is just open in the background… it’s pretty foolproof as far as I’m aware

[-]

surelythisisnttaken-@reddit

It doesn’t stay green, it changes to ‘in a call’ randomly so you have to constantly change it back

[-]

yotdog2000@reddit

Wrong

[-]

HNI__@reddit

This is what literally happens

[-]

surelythisisnttaken-@reddit

I’ve watched it do it for months lol feel free to provide a solution tho

[-]

peanutismint@reddit

Oh right, so you can still be contacted but your status won’t ever go to ‘away’. Gotcha.

[-]

Instantbeef@reddit

You could change the status to green but your boss would ask you why your light is red? Don’t you just get random calls that you need to take care of and stuff that turns it red?

[-]

Iconic_Iguana@reddit

"ah, I was checking my calendar and I misclicked and started a meeting for a second."

"I was checking my camera settings and chancing my background for the upcoming meetings."

[-]

BigGuyNorthSide@reddit

I think you missed the part where I said “change your status to green”. So once you start the meeting, you can change your “in a meeting” red state to “available” green and it will stay on green indefinitely as that meeting is just open in the background… it’s pretty foolproof as far as I’m aware

[-]

JJBat150@reddit

Find another unethical coworker who is also looking to show as active all the time. Have yourself a private meeting that accomplishs nothing.

[-]

albertogonzalex@reddit

You can also just start a meet now meeting with yourself and have YouTube running in the background.

[-]

ItsHigh@reddit

I do this too but if someone tries drop calling you then it goes straight to voicemail and you don't get any notification

[-]

Fr3sh3stl4d@reddit

Settings> general> "set status as being away for...."

[-]

ddaadd18@reddit

This is the most 1984 style problem I’ve ever encountered. Are you really expected to sit there tap tapping for 8hrs a day. What if you wanted to read a document. What if you needed to read an 8 page printed document? Do companies really observe a lack of mouse movement and pull employees on it? What a complete lack of trust in people.

The most unethical thing I can think of to avoid this scenario is to just kill your bosses.

[-]

VintageChemistry@reddit

I don't understand - sometimes I can be flat out working and do nothing with my computer for 5-10 minutes. Between reading technical papers, notes, calculator bashing, phone calls etc. also when I nip upstairs for my third cheeky wank of the morning.

[-]

Natural_Double2939@reddit

Probably already mentioned, but Amphetamine is the Caffeine for Mac.

[-]

2AorDie@reddit

Take a analog watch and place your mouse on it , the ticking hand will move the cursor

[-]

greenrivercrap@reddit

You know, I think there would be a market for a robot that actually types. You could couple it with chatgpt and have it "type" out emails or stupid tps reports .......

[-]

TheOwlHypothesis@reddit

You can use something like this to simulate real input

https://shop.hak5.org/products/usb-rubber-ducky?srsltid=AfmBOorNzGeEQOTCbez2TrT8RZamNpHxADqnX7DhemkXI-q58DEtHkP6

It's meant for hacking/pranks but can be used for this if you're savvy.

When you plug it into the machine it looks like another keyboard. So it won't get flagged. Then it has automatic input. It can run indefinitely.

For someone like me who codes I could just load up some complex looking python script and let it type in my editor (with random gaps between key presses for even less detection) forever.

[-]

Wooden_Cartoonist954@reddit

I work in IT, on my downtime I watch 4 hour videos on how to print hello world in java

[-]

lbc1358@reddit

Buy an external mouse jiggler from Amazon and power it from something other than your work computer.

[-]

ether_reddit@reddit

Try Amphetamine (the software, not the drug)?

[-]

yotdog2000@reddit

I do this everyday. join any teams meeting (you can make one with just yourself or click “meet now”) and then in the upper right click your name and over write your status to available. It will stay that way until you change it again so remember to change it when you close out for the day

[-]

InevitableCraftsLab@reddit

mouse jiggler

[-]

IBartman@reddit

Just tell them that you are working instead of chatting with people on Teams if they ask you about it

[-]

MonkeyWithIt@reddit

I run a powershell script that presses the num lock key every 90 seconds. Good enough for me.

[-]

Rapid-Decay1@reddit

My last remote job, I had a boss that “hovered”. He would check our RMM every 5 minutes to see if anyone was idle.

I used Autoit to write a script that ran on a loop.

Move the mouse every 10 seconds 3 pixels..

Open a google web page , do a random search etc.

Even if he popped on and watched the screen I had it looking somewhat legit.

Good luck

[-]

Bdawksrippinfacesoff@reddit

I believe if you just run a zoom meeting (maybe you have to share screen) it will keep your pc unlocked. I would advise against using software if you have an intense security department. They can find that shit.

[-]

MourgiePorgie@reddit

Mouse jiggler with external mouse was the best purchase I ever made.

[-]

XRP_Wizard@reddit

In covid times id place my mouse on my phone while playing videos. That fooled the sensor enough to slightly move the cursor constantly

[-]

jsoccerboy@reddit

Amphetamine

[-]

boringcranberry@reddit

I'm not sure if it works, but I read if you get an external mouse and set it upon a ticking watch it's enough movement to keep you as active.

[-]

johnparris@reddit

Use the Hot Corners feature in macOS to disable the screen saver. Move the mouse to the configured corner and the screensaver will not come on and the computer will not sleep.

[-]

GingerHottie666@reddit

A watch with a second hand. Place mouse on top. Confirm mouse gots triggered.

[-]

Daedalrex309344@reddit

Create a meeting with just your self and then join said meeting and then change status to available

[-]

BeerLeague@reddit

Not sure why this hasn’t been mentioned before, but assuming you have all of the Microsoft integrations, put ALL of your different duties on your outlook schedule weekly. Fill each day with your tasks segmented into time sections. Leave zero time in between your tasks.

The program will always show you as busy.

[-]

FriendlyVermicelli25@reddit

Doesn't just starting an empty gmeet or zoom work?

[-]

markdbliss@reddit

Go to your kitchen and fill a Nalgene bottle with water. Return to your computer. Open a Microsoft Word document. Rest the water bottle on the space bar of the keyboard. Then, Walk away. It will fill pages and pages for hours of blank spaces, making you appear working. I have done this for years working in a big corporate job. I work 25hrs a week legitimately and “the rest” this way.

[-]

ManfredBoyy@reddit

What if it’s not a Nalgene bottle

[-]

_night_cat@reddit

Then the largest, heaviest dildo you can find

[-]

monique1397@reddit

I use a rubiks cube

[-]

pilgrimboy@reddit

Well, he gets paid to mention Nalgene.

[-]

workitloud@reddit

Product Placement Promotion.

[-]

AidenMoody13@reddit

Instruction unclear, I sat on the Nalgene bottle and am now at the ER, thanks a lot!

[-]

MalarkeyMcGee@reddit

There is a caffeine app for Mac

[-]

intdev@reddit

1) Open a conversation with yourself on Teams

2) Weight down the backspace key

3) Profit.

[-]

prattl95@reddit

Open teams and put your curser in the search block. Find something that is heavy enough to push the space bar (I use a smaller tape measure) and put it on top and walk away. It will keep your Teams showing you as active.

[-]

Upstairs-Algae-7931@reddit

Go to your calendar, klick „meet now“. Now you have a phonecall with just you in the room. Change your status manually to online. And as long as you are in the meeting your status won’t change.

[-]

PittalDhora@reddit (OP)

Thanks a ton for all your tips! I've honestly never heard of mouse jigglers and it was a fun discovery for me. Opening notepad and putting a weight on the space bar did not work for me either because quickly notepad would stop recording the spaces. I've seen so many ingenious solutions here fellas! You're crazy good.

I have a spare phone which I don't use and its just lying there .. so I found this in youtube and it works for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO2voOf9Oso&ab_channel=SimpleThings

[-]

SchizophrenicDel@reddit

There is a Mac built in software called automator.

Just record your actions writing a sentence and clicking and loop that action indefinitely.

[-]

necromancer_barbie@reddit

Open notepad and rest something heavy on one key. I use one of my husband’s dice boxes on the space bar. I used to use a tape measure, the metal tab at the end fit perfectly on one letter. Godspeed

[-]

TerrTheSilent@reddit

I always wedged a toothpick into the insert key to keep it pressed. The insert key did nothing on teams and kept me active.

[-]

Remeberthebrakshow@reddit

Get a mouse jiggler off Amazon.

[-]

Away-Tackle-6296@reddit

I just put my mouse on a glass turned upside down. A whiskey glass with a design on the bottom works best. The laser in the mouse will bounce off the glass and keep trying to focus. Mine will stay solid for a second, and then start blinking like crazy, thos means the mouse wont turn off and teams will stay active. Youtube has plenty of examples. When I travel I can even use a water bottle smashed flat. I keep one mouse on my glass all day and then use an ergonomic one for my actual work. I use the Microsoft mouse and keyboard pair with one dongle. That way, if they ever ask why 2 dongles are plugged in, I can say the one I use is ergonomic, and the other one is only plugged in so I can use the wireless keyboard. This trick has allowed me to work here for 2 years from home with an active teams status!!! Good luck!

[-]

DastardlyDuce@reddit

I learnt recently that the mobile version of Teams shows you as active for as long as it's open. Cue me watching films and having naps with my phone sat on the Teams app, I just changed the settings so my phones screen never goes off.

[-]

Wonderman290@reddit

Disable idle screen when on charge and it will stay on forever

[-]

No-Independence548@reddit

If your screen goes off, does it show as away or offline?

[-]

DastardlyDuce@reddit

Away, I think it shows as offline if you have been away for days at a time or if you manually change it.

[-]

MeanBadMan@reddit

Get a mouse for the laptop. Take a wrist watch with moving hands and put it under the mouse’s laser. Viola. Always active.

[-]

Puzzleheaded-Ad7650@reddit

Mac has caffeinate that does this.

[-]

OddTheRed@reddit

There is a program that you can download that moves your mouse icon around for you. My ex used it to play video games whilst scamming her work.

[-]

BobSacramanto@reddit

Lazy snail dot net has an excel macro that keeps you active.

[-]

RedditIs-Not4Chan@reddit

!remind me 1 day

[-]

pussyisbeardshampoo@reddit

You can open your calculator and set a golf ball on a number key, works like a charm for me. It just acts as if you keep pressing that number.

[-]

willem124@reddit

If you have a mouse with a red light, just get an old phone, install the app 'Mouse Jiggler', and put your mouse on the screen of the phone.

The app scrolls an image at regular time intervals that will move your mouse cursor.

[-]

cassinatkinson@reddit

Have a teams meeting with just yourself all day. Enter meeting, then manually change your status to green. The status will stay green.

[-]

thermal_shock@reddit

pit the mouse on an analog watch or clock.

[-]

CHERNO-B1LL@reddit

Hey a new job, fuck that life.

[-]

B0l0gnese@reddit

Open Editor and place some heavy object on your space bar.

[-]

GeoHog713@reddit

Get a dachshund. Spray some canned cheese between the keys on the keyboard. Doxie will active on your keyboard for hours

[-]

Kwerbo@reddit

Open notepad
Put something heavy on your spacebar

[-]

des196@reddit

Not sure how intrusive IT is at your company, but i've always gotten away with creating a fake teams meeting though outlook & changing the status from in a meeting (red) to available (green).

Unless you close the meeting your golden.

[-]

domnation@reddit

They make mouse movers. Get a usb mouse and plug it in set it on top of the mode mover and walk away

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Volkove@reddit

Don't know if this works on Mac but I open YouTube and watch a Livestream, the random music 24/7 ones work best. If you're on a VPN and get asked about it just say you're listening to music. Lower the quality to the worst you can to save bandwidth if that's an issue, and mute the tab if you want. Your teams will always show active and not have to worry about showing away.

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elVanPuerno@reddit

Create a Teams meeting for just yourself at anytime. Join that meeting without vid and mute yourself. Your computer will not go to sleep and will show you as busy. You can even use the mobile app to answer other messages without it showing as your on your phone.

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Neither-Box8081@reddit

Did read that leaving PowerPoint in presentation mode keeps teams active.

No first hand experience, just read from other posts like this.

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Juptin@reddit

Just start a meeting with yourself, then change your status from “In a Call” to “Available”.

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goshdammitfromimgur@reddit

Open PowerPoint and put in presentation mode. Can also have a meeting with no one and present the powerpoint.

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heedrix@reddit

Place you mouse on a analog watch with a sweeping minute hand.

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gcapi@reddit

I open up a word document and just keep my right arrow key pressed down with a weight. Keeps me showing as online all day.

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DarthBen_in_Chicago@reddit

Open a PowerPoint presentation and begin the slideshow. Then walk away. I did this once (accidentally) and came back hours later with the windows session still active (as opposed to the screensaver activated, etc.).

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Critical-Snow-7000@reddit

10 years ago looping the free video of the horses running that windows installed was enough to stay active, I miss those simpler days.

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DryDesertHeat@reddit

There are mouse jiggling devices that plug into a USB port. The computer thinks it's a mouse that's continually moving. The "CRU MJ-1" is one such device, available on Amazon. Your normal mouse will work like it's supposed to, there won't be any visible movement.

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murbike@reddit

There’s been many times I’ve been working, and Teams shows idle.

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neduranus@reddit

You do realize now that I'm your boss and that I've just caught you. We will have to have a little talk in my office. We will be having a very serious conversation. You knew I was a hard boss when you first started. Why do you think I have those controls on your computer? I knew from the beginning that you were a sneaky little shit. I'm not going to tell you what I'm going to do to you here. But I guarantee that you will not like what we are going to talk about next time I see you.

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neduranus@reddit

Get a cat or a monkey

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remilol@reddit

What does it matter if it shows you as away?

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NeitherMaterial4968@reddit

Do your job pussy

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sandersd101@reddit

Just leave the chat with yourself open, and put something heavy on the tab key, You'll be typing to yourself until you return to your computer.

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sandersd101@reddit

Another trick I used to use - I would hit 'Meet Now' and start a meeting, set my status back to active and leave myself dialled in.

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lokkiek@reddit

Start a meeting with yourself. It'll mark you as Busy.

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pr0ntacular@reddit

You can also just change it to geeen. I use this the most

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pr0ntacular@reddit

Start an empty teams call. Mute and cam off. Go back to main Teams screen and change to green.

No need for jiggler (I have one and use it about as much as the teams call) and it keeps you green as long as you on the call

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RoosterCogburn_@reddit

Don’t use any software or anything you plug into your computer. All are detectable. Instead, go to Amazon and find a “mouse jiggler” that you stick your mouse on top of and it physically moves a round disc underneath the mouse, simulating mouse movement. Most are usb powered but just use a wall adapter.

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CriticismThink7229@reddit

Play a video on repeat

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Garth-Vega@reddit

Go low tech all this can be found out and will get you in violation of your acceptable use policy. I use a domed paper weight inverted on the mouse tracker pad, will keep teams alive all day and is undetectable.

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FireHead42096@reddit

Open a fresh Excel sheet and lean your mouse on the space bar. It will infinitely do spaces, and you just have to close the program when you are back

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BigBoss0893@reddit

Place your mouse sensor on a watch

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clapflam@reddit

Ask ChatGPT to write you a vbs script that quickly toggles the numlock key once every 59 seconds

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ImDeadBossMe@reddit

An analogue watch with a seconds hand - place the optical part of your mouse on the face of it

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_woowapdabam@reddit

Open a Google meet tab meeting?

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Jonesy135@reddit

For windows I asked chat GPT to write a short batch file to automatically hit the Num lock key every few mins.

I’m sure you could ask it something similar for Mac - a shell script or an automation or something similar.

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eggo_burger1@reddit

Or you can just do your job

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bow_down_whelp@reddit

Dunno if it works for mac but I just set a macro on my logitech mouse to click and it worked before

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Old_Man_Benny@reddit

Get a cheap watch with a second hand and put the mouse on top of it.

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Iwant2beebetter@reddit

Play a long work video - hour plus......

Play a power point

Get the mouse jiggler app and put your mouse on the screen

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