It's 8:30 in the morning. Your desk is piled up with papers faintly resembling a metropolis sprawling with high-rise buildings. Screaming from his office, your boss reminds you that those documents need to be done before your lunch break or else it's your head. So you heave a deep sigh, pull out your trusty iPod and start getting the work done. Nothing beats an adrenaline rush from the Prodigy on a stressful day.

You go through the papers, banging your head rhythmically to "Breathe". Suddenly, the music stops. You turn your head in disbelief only to face your boss, who reminds you that you all electronic gadgets are banned in the workplace.

Welcome to the corporate world  of Canada, where 49% of local businesses ban laptops and 30% prohibit the use of  MP3 players due to the growing fear that employees might steal precious information from the company.

However, one can't say that the said policy stems from some whimsical paranoia. A survey finds that only 32% of the companies interviewed successfully prevent security breach in their respective workplaces. As such, seven out of ten executives who were interviewed are willing to try new things to prevent security breaches in their respective companies. And if banning electronical devices for the personal use of the employees will prove to be an effective measure against information theft, then most businesses will be eager to apply it in their own work areas.

So taking a break from the techno beats that pump your mood may actually play an important role in your company's welfare. Who knows, if your boss becomes really happy with the results of the "No Laptop or MP3 Player At Work" policy, he might just give everyone a raise (or maybe not just give everyone a hard time at work, eh?). But, if you really can't separate your iPod from your cubicle, maybe you might need to look for a job nowhere near Canada.

It seems that a new kind of hate crime is hitting various metropolis nowadays. The crime? podRage. The victims? iPod users. Just recently, we reported about a teen who was convicted because of an iPod related killing, now lawyers for other podRage victims want to sue not only those responsible for these senseless crimes, but also the top Apple honcho himself - Mr. Steve Jobs.

Gary Tugai of the London lawfirm Tugai Zanner Dogg, says that his client has not been able to work because he was traumatized. In his own words, Mr. Tugai said that his client - John Speakman, "was sitting quietly on a 341 bus, listening to his iPod, when he was attacked without provocation. He had the ear buds ripped from his head, and his iPod thrown from the moving bus. Not only was that a danger to passers by, but Mr Speakman was in the middle of The Fugees moving rendition of Roberta Flack's 'Killing Me Softly', and his inability to finish the track was most distressing." I don't know about you, but if ever that happens to me, I won't care about the song, I'd run for my life.

Although the attacker remains unknown and is still roaming freely up to now, witnesses said that the assailant was becoming increasingly agitated by the noise coming from Mr. Speakman's ear buds. According to the witnesses, they overheard the suspect saying that it was unfair that the whole bus should have to listen to Mr. Speakman's choice of music.

And here is where Steve Jobs could be prosecuted according to Mr. Tugai. "The design of the iPod earphones is clearly defective - It is perfectly possible to design earphones that do not emit ambient noise, and there are some aftermarket brands that do this - Instead, Apple and Mr Jobs have recklessly endangered my client by marketing a product that, when used normally, is a menace to other people." You're suing Mr. Jobs? Lots of luck to you. You're going to need it.