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This article is part of the On Tech newsletter. You can <\/em>sign up here<\/em> to receive it weekdays.<\/em><\/p>\n In the debate about whether the pandemic will permanently end office jobs, Bob Bergen has a compelling message about the enduring power of personal collaboration.<\/p>\n Bergen is the voice behind Porky Pig and a zillion other animated movies, television shows and TV commercials. For voice actors like him, the pandemic shifted work that had already been mostly done at home into an entirely remote profession.<\/p>\n Bergen told me he is grateful to have a job suited to our upended lives, but he can\u2019t wait to work with people again.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t have to get on the freeway and drive from job to job so I can do more work. I don\u2019t have to wear pants if I don\u2019t want to. There are lots of pros to doing this,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I do miss human interaction.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In a way, Bergen\u2019s job is ideally suited to these weird times. Gradually over the last decade or so, most of the voices we hear in commercials, movie trailers and audiobooks have been recorded from in-home sound booths or closets.<\/p>\n But Bergen said that animation was one of the last corners of voice acting where people were recorded at movie studio lots or other out-of-home spots, in part given the complications of mixing multiple cartoon voices.<\/p>\n Then the pandemic hit. \u201cLiterally, within 10 days, I along with most of the cartoon actors I know upgraded our home studios\u201d to be able to do any job from home, Bergen said.<\/p>\n A technical expert coached Bergen over Skype to download extra software, and he upgraded some audio equipment for his home recording booth. Bergen estimates it cost him about $2,000.<\/p>\n Bergen showed me his updated workplace over Zoom. (And, yes, he did slip seamlessly into the voice of Porky Pig when we talked.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n His workplace is not much bigger than a closet, with soundproof walls and one window that lets in outside light. From a wall-mounted iPad, Bergen connects over online video with a voice director, writer and other collaborators during recording sessions. It\u2019s a cozy, possibly claustrophobic office that he called his \u201cmoney box.\u201d<\/p>\n Bergen\u2019s work life hasn\u2019t dramatically changed. Now instead of having nightmares about forgetting his lines, he worries about forgetting to press the record button. He\u2019s debating whether to shift the voice acting classes he\u2019s taught for decades into virtual coaching.<\/p>\n Given how much hasn\u2019t changed for Bergen, I was surprised that he stressed the deficits of working alone at home. How is it different, I asked, than recording by himself in an animation studio?<\/p>\n He said that he now appreciates how much human interaction there is when you have to physically go somewhere for work. You can hug the director instead of waving hello over an iPad, and spontaneously see people as you walk around a movie studio.<\/p>\n I think many of us now working from home can relate to missing those unplanned interactions for which Zoom meetings are a poor substitute.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the stuff outside of recording that I absolutely miss,\u201d Bergen said. \u201cI think when this is all over, we\u2019ll absolutely be going back into the studio.\u201d<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t already get this newsletter in your inbox, <\/em>please sign up here<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n Brian X. Chen<\/em>, a personal technology writer for The New York Times, has a couple of handy tips for people using Google\u2019s email service for professional purposes:<\/em><\/p>\n It often surprises me how many people are unaware of some of Gmail\u2019s special features, like scheduling emails to send later and blocking senders.<\/p>\n I suspect it\u2019s because so many of us have used Gmail for so long \u2014 with a design that has barely changed in over a decade \u2014 that we don\u2019t expect it to add features.<\/p>\n It\u2019s better late than never, especially while many of us are working from home.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how to schedule an email to send later:<\/p>\n Compose your message and click the icon next to the Send button. On a computer browser, the icon is shaped like an arrow; on the Gmail mobile app, it\u2019s three horizontal dots. Then click \u201cSchedule send\u201d and choose a time and date for the message to go through.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Here\u2019s how to block someone from sending you emails, using an email from Target as an example:<\/p>\n I find scheduling emails especially useful for important work memos that I want to land in someone\u2019s inbox first thing in the morning.<\/p>\n And blocking emails from a sender is a great option when you don\u2019t want to go through the hassle of clicking on the \u201cunsubscribe\u201d option at the bottom of a marketing email.<\/p>\n This story is just WILD: <\/strong>A person with the screen name \u201clol.\u201d Peering into the employee chat system at Twitter. A craving for short user names like @y and @6. My colleagues Nathaniel Popper and Kate Conger have the strange tale of a group of young people \u2014 one of whom lives at home with his mother \u2014 who orchestrated the takeover last week that targeted the Twitter accounts of more than 100 well-known people.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n This changes everything. Or maybe not: <\/strong>Several times in the last few years, there has been a cascade of people speaking out about what they said was rampant sexual assault and inappropriate behavior in the video game industry. There have been fresh accusations of mistreatment since June, but many gaming experts say they doubted these will change a video game culture that has often been hostile to women, my colleague Kellen Browning reported.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The man behind a series of dangerous online hoaxes: <\/strong>An investigation by The Washington Post found the 38-year-old man who started a number of false online rumors \u2014 including a campaign to confiscate guns and a planned flag burning at Gettysburg \u2014 that have led to real-world confrontations. The man, Adam Rahuba, told The Post that he had used multiple online aliases for years to manipulate the fears of conspiracy-minded Americans, mostly for his own entertainment.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Did you know that cattle love eating bananas \u2014 peel and all<\/a>? (You should definitely follow everything from this unfailingly cheerful Twitter account<\/a> of an English farm.)<\/p>\n We want to hear from you. Tell us what you think of this newsletter and what else you\u2019d like us to explore. You can reach us at <\/em>ontech@nytimes.com.<\/em> <\/em><\/p>\n If you don\u2019t already get this newsletter in your inbox, <\/em>please sign up here<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Getting to know your old pal, Gmail<\/h2>\n
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Hugs to this<\/h3>\n
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