Bring back the Boss Key

So the other day I was doing a little personal research on the internet and had to alt-tab to other programs when I saw a manager or senior member of the team walk by. This made me think back to much earlier days of the personal computer at work and of a hot key that seems to missing from newer software. What ever happen to the boss key? Not everyone knows about the boss key. It’s not like the any key and really on savvy workers new of existence. Well at least the smarter of the slacker’s knew of it anyway. The boss key was a key combination programmed into video games. Back before windows when computers were dominated by the use of MS-DOS you could only run one program at a time. So if you wanted to use the computer at work for amusement and not get into trouble there needed to be a solution.

The better game programmer’s provided this. When you hit a key combination a fake excel sheet with generic formulas and number would be displayed on the screen. This was great. You would load the game using the 5 and ¼ inch floppy drive, taking time to load 3 or 4 disks to run the program. The last thing you would want to do is reset the computer with ctl-alt-del when your boss comes by. This way everyone wins. You get to play your video games and work goes fast. Your boss is happy because he always sees that you are working. I guess now days you could consider the Alt-tab function to be a Boss Key. The problem with this is that you have to actually have an excel sheet running with your own made up data to switch to, and your taskbar still shows the game is running. Solitaire for instance displays a nice obvious deck of card to let anyone know it is running. So no one is happy. Your boss thinks you are a slacker and you have to accomplish more at work.

So I say bring back the boss key. With today’s technology we could improve it, make it better. First it could randomly create a power point, excel, and work documentation. It could scan works already on your computer to have subject titles that would make sense for you occupation. Next it could hide any web browsers, games, or other time killing software at the same time and keep them from being displayed on the task bar. Finally a RFID system could be sold that you could plan on your boss so you computer would automatically switch modes when your boss approaches. This would keep you from having to continually be on the lookout! There could even be an upgrade that answer’s your email for you by randomly forwarding work to other coworkers. Why not? Life is to short not to have diversions, at least once in a while, even at work….