Because of efforts to put the U.S. on the metric system, you may eventually have to order all new typing, photocopying and fax paper. The old reliable size we`ve all come to know and love is is 8 1/2-by-11 inches. But the U.S. Commerce Department`s National Institute of Standards and Technology is promoting a size designated A4, Fortune magazine reports. It`s a complicated metric formula, but what you wind up with is a sheet of paper that`s the equivalent of 8.3-by-11.7 inches.
– It`s too quiet out there: This one gives all new meaning to the phrase the hum of activity. Work tends to get done faster and better in a lively setting, according to a recent Gallup study done for Accountants on Call that`s cited in National Business Employment Weekly. Workers under 40, manual laborers and employees who didn`t attend college are most likely to prefer a noisy office atmosphere.
– The last laugh: You could call it the business revenge of the nerds. In Falls Church, Va., there`s a new consulting firm called Rent-a-Nerd that will come in and clear up your computer problems. The fee is $1 per minute, whether the job takes 10 minutes or 10 weeks. Asked about the company`s name, Mike Wyckoff, whose business cards proclaim him to be Head Nerd, says: ”That`s what we are, we`re nerds. It just means that we know a lot more about computers than most people.”