
Ask HN: Your Hacker Workspace - dryicerx
Every hacker has a workspace and coding/working environment that has been personalized, optimized, improved, tweaked and hacked for countless hours and days. This is one of the, if not the most, sacred things each hacker posses.<p>Share it with the community so we can learn from each other while improving our own.<p>Share yours.
======
dryicerx
I will start.

My two primary work horses include a desktop computer and Thinkpad with Fedora
core 10.

 _Desktop server:_

\- Gnome -> 8 workspaces on two monitors { Web (regular), Web (work), Emacs,
Emacs, Emacs/Compile, Emacs/Debug (GDB/DDD), 4 shells,
Thunderbird/IM/IRC/Music }

\- Fluxbox on VNC with 4 virtual { 4 Shells, ServerStats, Void, Void }

\- Screen session just in case I want to drop in

 _Laptop:_

\- Gnome -> 5 Virtual { Web, Emacs, Emacs/Compile/Debug, Void,
Thunderbird/IM/Music }

 _Both:_

\- Emacs (all instances are new-frame so shared buffers, heavily use gdb-mode,
and for compiling)

\- Synergy desktop sharing Keyboard/Mouse with Laptop

\- Zsh + scripts for common tasks (backups, syncs)

\- NFS shares mounted both ways

 _Other_

\- Pencil Sketch pad (no rules) as my idea pad, doodling, I keep several of
these everywhere

\- Post-it's for quick notes

\- Emacs/C/C++/Python cheat/reference sheets printed and posted

 _This is modest if not simple by hacker standards, but it makes me feel
comfortable for my usual tasks and most at home_

~~~
abstractbill
_This is modest if not simple by hacker standards_

I'm not so sure about that ;-) My setup is simpler than yours:

I do all my development on one machine - a macbook pro (Tiger, haven't got
around to upgrading yet).

I run only three applications pretty much all the time, and they're all full-
screen - Firefox, Emacs and iTunes, and alt-tab between them. Occasionally I
also start a Terminal, if I want to ssh into a server somewhere.

Usually my Firefox tabs are gmail, yammer, ganglia, <http://irc.justin.tv>,
and often some documentation to help with whatever I'm working on.

Typically I have a dozen or so Emacs buffers open - mostly python, javascript
and haxe source code.

I never write notes by hand. I either write them in an Emacs buffer, or I send
myself an email.

This is where I work (at justin.tv):
<http://abstractnonsense.com/workspace.jpg>

~~~
mrduncan
Do you actually work from that couch all day? I can't imagine that being
comfortable for more than a few hours.

~~~
Silentio
I have the smaller version of that couch (Ikea) and I can attest to the fact
that it is a uncomfortable piece of shit. But it was cheap.

------
pg
(Fairly) soundproof room; lots of lamps, none too bright; Aeron chair; new
desk designed by Kate Courteau (the architect who designed the YC offices),
with a steel frame and butcher-block top; Macbook Air; bluetooth mouse; 23"
Apple monitor; a bunch of terminal windows running either vi or the Arc
toplevel or tail -f of some server log; Firefox windows with Gmail, HN, and
localhost; cup of tea; UHU tac earplugs (disengaged); postcard of smiling
Wodehouse, age 92, with dachshund.

<http://wodehouse.ru/photo/phdach.jpg>

~~~
prakash
Why Wodehouse? BTW: If Stephen Fry invited you as a guest on QI, would you go?

<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0380136/>

------
scumola
It's dirty, crappy, no dual-screens, no mac prettiness, no butcher-block
table, no glass, no stainless steel, but it's awesome and it's very
productive. :)

<http://www.flickr.com/photos/scumola/3508980363/>

~~~
Tichy
I don't understand why you wouldn't switch to a place with sunlight eventually
(after 9 startups)?

~~~
icey
You must not be very superstitious.

------
swombat
_Every hacker has a workspace and coding/working environment that has been
personalized, optimized, improved, tweaked and hacked for countless hours and
days. This is one of the, if not the most, sacred things each hacker posses._

Sorry, don't buy that. Many hackers just work from anywhere, and many who do
work from a regular spot don't care about it as much as you do.

This is a valid question, mind you, I just disagree with your first point.

~~~
phugoid
Between work and home I interact directly with more than one hundred machines,
from IBM Risc 6000 running AIX to Ubuntu laptops to WinXP drones under
corporate lock-down. These machines are not even speaking to each other. My
most important piece of kit is my thumb drive, which I keep chained to my car
keys.

I'm not big on aliases or scripts to do simple things. Better to make a one-
liner or throw-away script to do exactly what I need now, something that will
work on many machines. Automation is only useful if it can significantly
reduce repetitive effort.

I'm no master or hacker, I just get on with my projects without much frosting.
I'm partial to a cheap (dropable?) Ubuntu laptop with emacs, gdb, wireshark,
k3b, and lots of medium-length cables and adapters.

------
mahmud
Two thinkpads, one running XP and the other running slackware. LispWorks and
emacs/slime/sbcl on the win32 box, tested there first, and when I need to
implement Unix FFIs I have two putty terminals to the linux box. I have been
using linux since 1996, and I don't think I ever ran a full Unix desktop for
more than a year (FreeBSD and xfce then)

Stuff get passed around between the XP and the linux box until I am happy with
them, then they're sent to 2 slackware VPSes and a Solaris box elsewhere.

More important than code is my Skype phone. Half my work is done walking
around with a phone glued to my ear.

Essentials include, a yahoo currency converter bookmarklet, a timezone time
calculator, various inhouse tools for lead management and tracking (I have a
mailer I wrote in Lisp that I paste email text to and rewrites all URLs as
mysite.com/redir?url=FOOBAR; I use this to track who read my emails, when and
how. Couldn't live without it.)

OpenOffice and Unipad for funny Arabic text handling. Copernic Desktop Search
for the massive library of documents that I have and need to share.

2-3 notepad windows open at all times. An emacs org-mode buffer that contains
my life's work.

A separate Firefox installation that has the annoying but very essential SEO-
Quake plugin for doing _stuff_.

GNU GPG integrated with Thunderbird. 20+ email accounts in thunderbird,
Pidgin, Chatzilla and a twitter window open at all times.

Paint.NET for the necessary graphics editing. MS Paint for quickly resizing
images. Mingw and MSYS to make Windows habitable.

Various Lisp implementations to check my sanity when something doesn't work
with SBCL.

Opera, left running at all times with the home page set to the Common Lisp
hyperspec, the hunchentoot manual in another tab.

Skype running at all times, but goes to my cellphone when I have a call.

Various powershell and bash scripts to make life easier.

Firefux plugin to remember passwords for 100+ social networking websites that
I submit press releases and other stuff to.

Mozart/Oz, Ocateve and R for prototyping "stuff"

[Edit: I wouldn't use a laptop other than a Thinkpad if it was given to me for
free. I am a proud owner of 4 Thinkpads at the moment, about 10 of them in the
last 10 years.]

~~~
Herring
which password plugin?

~~~
mahmud
lastpass. more security addons here:

[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-
US/firefox/search?q=&cat=1...](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-
US/firefox/search?q=&cat=1%2C12)

------
llimllib
Nope, I hack most of the time with a macbook on my dining room table.
Sometimes on the coffee table.

At work I have a 30-inch screen for Vim next to the macbook, but it's
optional.

~~~
TJensen
Upvoted since I just got done with six hours of tweaking my iPhone app on my
macbook on my dining room table. :) More often, I'm reclined on the couch,
though.

I used to be a cave-type, but now I find that I'm more productive when I'm
around people (as long as they aren't actively engaging me). So I'll work from
home with the kids playing around me and get more done than I do in my
isolated cube at the office.

------
thomanil
Physical whiteboard in the same room.

Big screen.

A command line (Terminal on mac, cmd.exe on windows).

A launcher app (Quicksilver on mac, Colibri on windows)

An editor (TextMate in mac os, NetBeans in windows).

A mindmap editor for planning, design and notes. (Freemind, cross platform)

(I purposefully stay cross-browser, cross-OS, going back and forth between my
MacBook and my Wintel desktop pc. This forces me to keep using and testing
both my product and dev environment in several different OS'es and browsers -
plus it provides redundancy; if one env blows up in some way, I can just fall
back on the other.)

~~~
Raphomet
Physical whiteboard is a very good idea. I think I'll be taking that from you.

~~~
durin42
I've been able to make do without a whiteboard at my current job by keeping
tons of scratch paper around. I'm given lots of 1-sided printouts I never
need, so I just throw them in a drawer for when I need to sketch something.

------
davidalln
If you're interested in that, check out:

<http://www.deskography.org/>

There are some pretty crazy and inspiring setups on there, and you can share
your own.

------
pookleblinky
On the screen: Gentoo running Xmonad in simpleTabbed layout. Opera, emacs,
terminal with Screen multiplexing 5 zsh terminals (emacs -nw, irssi, ghci,
irb, guile at the moment), Xchat, Pidgin, Skype, and Quodlibet; all running
mostly in separate full-screen tabbed workspaces.

Meatspace: a battered wooden desk I found in the trash years ago, and a
similarly battered armchair missing most of its upholstery. The desk surface
is hidden beneath ashtrays, coasters, coffee mugs. My cat peers over the
monitor, half asleep.

~~~
jimmyjim
Screenshot, please?

~~~
pookleblinky
Screenshots of Xmonad aren't that interesting. They don't show you how easy it
is to do stuff without ever using the mouse.

------
jimmyjim
Just a request to all those who'll be responding: Please add screenshots!

I'll be setting up xmonad and working on my layout for the next few days, if
this post is alive until then, I'll post my screenshot.

------
asnyder
I couldn't live without my 5 screens:

[http://www.deskography.org/people/yjg1097qMx/desks/786/photo...](http://www.deskography.org/people/yjg1097qMx/desks/786/photos/1254/)

~~~
quizbiz
[http://www.deskography.org/people/FgR504TfT/desks/359/photos...](http://www.deskography.org/people/FgR504TfT/desks/359/photos/517/)
has you beat :P

~~~
gurraman
And:

[http://www.deskography.org/people/oPi254rbd/desks/197/photos...](http://www.deskography.org/people/oPi254rbd/desks/197/photos/405/)

:)

~~~
siculars
this guy wins... but ill throw mine in for good measure...

<http://www.flickr.com/photos/9864615@N06/756229467/>

------
Herring
The problem with these threads is that skill is largely in how you use these
tools. It's very hard to communicate techniques with just a list of tools. I
have no solution.

~~~
silentbicycle
Furthermore, there are very diminishing returns in obsessing about your tools
themselves. Sometimes, tinkering with your emacs config (or whatever) is just
procrastinating.

~~~
pookleblinky
Sometimes, though, this procrastination does wonders. Like bonzai tree
gardening, or a Zen gravel garden.

As someone who uses Gentoo, Xmonad, Zshell, and Emacs, there's more than
enough config code to tweak than there are hours in the day. The happy result
is that if I'm stumped, I always know I can pop open a buffer and hack
something a bit.

Hell, the alternative to wasting your time in a fully hackable environment is
wasting your time on the interwebs.

If you're going to procrastinate, you could do worse than by hacking .emacs.
Like Runescape.

~~~
silentbicycle
I don't think the problem is so much that it's procrastination, but it's
procrastination that _seems_ like work. Like people noodling around with their
"productivity systems". Having the option to customize things is worthwhile (I
use Emacs, dwm, and screen, and have accumulated a lot of settings for each),
but it's a means to an end.

When I'm hitting a dead end, I usually find it more helpful to get away from
the computer entirely and go for a bike ride, work out, talk to someone, have
some fruit, etc., and see the problem with a fresh mind later.

------
mstefff
2 desktops connected with synergy..a laptop..huge speakers..bottle of
scotch..and a coffee pot.

------
neuromanta
Here is mine... both :P

<http://tobal.extra.hu/karik/PICT4672.JPG>

<http://tobal.extra.hu/karik/PICT4673.JPG>

<http://tobal.extra.hu/karik/PICT5571.JPG>

------
njoubert
<http://njoubert.com/images/workspace1.jpg>

Dual 22" monitors hackintosh running OSX 10.5.6 6 spaces, normally 2 spaces
per project and one for random stuff. (I like to arrange all my code in one
space and all the docs and the like in another and switch between the two as
necessary).

You'll notice the Macbook peeking out from underneath the desk on the left -
if I need more screen space I pop that one open. Or if I'm not at home!

M-Audio speakers are crucial - good music is a help! And lots of paper /
binders / books to refer to all the time.

At least 3 lights sdjustable to whatever conditions I prefer, and black shades
in front of the blinds to block out sunlight and heat.

~~~
alnayyir
I've struggled with hackintosh for freakin' ages. Please share info.

Big problemo was usually the 9800GT 512mb.

~~~
njoubert
Funny, I'm running a 9800 GTS 512mb, with no issues.

My secret was using the iDeneb 10.5.5 distro, that thing works wonders on my
system. I'm running an Asus P5E-Delux motherboard, with is also a well-
supported system. Everything I did is textbook from insanelymac.com

------
wehriam
The office: White enamel, 92" Oval Ikea table 24" Dell monitor on articulating
arm Macbook Pro Speakers on Airport express

The rest of the house: Old Macbook Pro connected to 42" LCD TV, mounted on the
wall running Bittorrent with RSS subscriptions / iTunes Logitech 5500
connected to MBP + speakers built into the wall About 700GB NAS

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/wehriam/369719626/in/set-181528...](http://www.flickr.com/photos/wehriam/369719626/in/set-1815288/)
(Slightly old photo)

~~~
DTrejo
I hope you don't buy cable :)

------
jdoliner
Well here you guys go, pretty simple small desk, although it is all glass
which is kinda nice looking. Nice big monitor, but only one. And then my
computer which is really the reason I'm posting it has an acrylic case and uv
lighting over reactive tubing, neato huh?

<http://tinypic.com/r/2eewug5/5>

here's one of the computer all alone: <http://tinypic.com/r/15qufc2/5>

------
timtrueman
MacBook + 24" Dell

[http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3130/3219406843_af228d3a04.jp...](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3130/3219406843_af228d3a04.jpg)

(Not pictured: Airport Extreme with a USB drive for Time Machine--critical
stuff I backup to Github if it's source code and Drop Box if it's not source
code)

Software-wise I work with IntelliJ, TextMate, vi or Xcode depending on the
task at hand.

------
Raphomet
I've got a Hackintosh tower - the first PC I've ever built (and I learned a
LOT doing it!). I threw a Core 2 Quad, a Velociraptor drive, and 4GB memory in
there. This is attached to a 30-inch monitor and a split, ergonomic keyboard,
upon which I type in Dvorak.

Considering how much time I spend in front of this machine (e. g., most of
it), I don't mind investing a little more in my setup to make the experience
as comfortable as possible.

I've got a refurbished Rev. A MacBook Air to carry around with me when I'm out
and about. I'm thinking of buying a wireless card or a MiFi to have Internet
access everywhere.

I synchronize all important files over Dropbox and use The Cloud for
everything else. My brain goes into Evernote. Bookmarks are synchronized
across my browsers with Xmarks.

I use Spaces heavily and Expose a little. I use Launchbar and mouse gestures
through xGestures to get around the computer.

My code is synced up using git.

------
abyssknight
At work, I have a standard issue cubicle with L-shaped desk. We all have
docking stations and one monitor, but I have _acquired_ a second one from the
cubicle's previous inhabitant. So, I run dual 19" 4:3 monitors from the
docking station.

At home, I've tried to match the environment as best as possible. I bought a
simple Ikea table that I use as a desk and a thrift store bargain task chair
that really needs to be replaced. I run dual 19" 16:10 monitors on an
identical docking station, acquired from my father. When I work from home I
just plug in my USB keyboard and mouse, dock the laptop, and the monitors
auto-detect and switch over. If I'm not working, my i7 gaming rig powers the
dual displays.

For general computing. email and web development unrelated to my day job I use
a MacBook Pro from 2007. I wouldn't trade it for anything; except maybe a new
unibody MBP.

------
dbul
Mac Air with Philadelphia Brewing Co. sticker over the Apple logo for iPhone
dev; cheap Toshiba laptop for web hacking; Chromium for browsing;
Firefox/Firebug for dev; Gimp; Postgres; whatever aesthetically pleasing
environment the coffee shops around me offer; sometimes getting pumped up
listening to good musak on the iPhone; from time to time use one of the many
white boards at Wean Hall at Carnegie Mellon.

MacAir (lil guy next to it will soon drown):
[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_QdVzmQAz0JQ/ShEHWvpIW1I/AAAAAAAAAE...](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_QdVzmQAz0JQ/ShEHWvpIW1I/AAAAAAAAAEg/X3uQWoazUTM/s1600-h/IMG_0133.JPG)

White boards (my friend is in the pic):
[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_QdVzmQAz0JQ/ShEHIm3Q9vI/AAAAAAAAAE...](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_QdVzmQAz0JQ/ShEHIm3Q9vI/AAAAAAAAAEY/fTcBW777660/s1600-h/IMG_0851.JPG)

------
yason
I have a MacBookPro running Ubuntu 9.04. It boots to Gnome with StumpWM which
has three groups (virtual desktops):

\- emacs and terminal (fullscreen, I'll just swap between those two) \- mail,
irc, and cplay (screen split between alpine / ssh+irssi, with a horizontal
pane for terminal running cplay) \- browser (split vertically about 1:4, with
nautilus on the left in the smaller pane and Shiretoko in the larger pane,
usually in one window). I also watch movies, view pictures, PDFs etc. in this
larger browsing pane.

I've settled for three virtual desktops that wrap around: this way I can
always move to any of the desktops with just one move command, either left or
right.

------
wheagy
Here are a few pics of my workspace. It's essentially an unfinished room in
the basement. I keep my computers, power tools, collections...everything in
this room. It's not fancy, but I can get things done. The main computer is an
imac with VMWare and VirtualBox for Linux and Win XP. There are also a few PCs
scattered around for robotics work. I use the Netbook for microcontroller
interfacing...in case I fry something. The Netbook is cheap enough that I
won't be too upset if it get ruined.

<http://www.flickr.com/photos/wheagy/sets/72157618418142512/>

------
iuguy
I travel _a lot_ so I keep everyhthing I need for hackery on my Dell XPS m1530
with a lot of VMWare images.

Currently this gets synchronised with a Debian server, due to be replaced with
a Mac Mini in a week or two.

------
uggedal
Couch, laptop in lap, and Norwegian soap operas in the background.

------
chewbranca
My current desk. Macbook for dev work, server under the desk. Fairly simple
setup but I've got a lot of space to work and room for my betta fish.

[http://www.deskography.org/people/TME1103EMJ/desks/789/photo...](http://www.deskography.org/people/TME1103EMJ/desks/789/photos/1258/)

[Edit: running macvim, terminal and safari with either vlc or itunes for
music]

[Edit 2: forgot to mention quicksilver. Kind of funny, but quicksilver is the
only osx application I absolutely cannot live without.]

------
dfox
Large self-designed and self-built U-shaped desk. workstation on one edge,
permanently cluttered workbench on other, clean empty space in middle segment.

Three displays + old character-cell terminal (useful for looking on logs and
such things) for workstation (with one monitor going thru KVM switch to few
other computer for testing on obscure architectures). Sun Type 7 keyboard and
mouse.

Old NCD thin client on edge of workbench part (incredibly useful).

------
gtani
2 apple laptops, previous gen(late 2007 / early 08), same software everybody
runs: leopard, WinXP, FreeBSD, openBSd, ubuntu 8.04, openSUSE 10.3, vim,
textmate, komodo;

\- current-gen apple, matias keyboards

\- whiteboard (me too)

\- moleskine notebooks, postit notes, Bic 4-color pen

\- cheap Ibanez-clone guitar; Duncan , diMarzio pickups;

\- m-audio MIDI controller, garage band, ProTools, digidesign mBox

\- looking to get piccolo, flute or alto sax

\- yoga mat and props from Iyengar studio

------
modoc
My MacBookPro is the heart of everything. Usually running are: Eclipse, Mail,
Adium, Safari, iTunes, OmniFocus.

When I'm at my desk, that's usually hooked up to a 30" display, wireless
keyboard and mouse, and SoundSticks.

I'm actually about to build a custom desk and shelving in my home office to
make things _perfect_. I use an Aeron chair which has saved my back.

~~~
modoc
On that note, does anyone have any good experience with building a good desk?
Any tips or tricks? Grommet plugs you love, great cable management techniques,
etc..?

My current plan is to use pre-finished maple plywood as the surface, and I
haven't figured out exactly how I'm going to handle cables, power, etc...

------
jfd
My desks: <http://www.deskography.org/people/jfd/>

------
csomar
i found this site too : <http://www.deskography.org/>

------
gurraman
A few different desks:

<http://www.deskography.org/people/gs/>

Current setup includes:

\- Aluminum MacBook

\- Apple Cinema Display (24")

\- Apple Wireless Mighty Mouse

\- Apple Wired Aluminum Keyboard (recently switched from wireless)

\- A functional IKEA desk.

\- A not-so-great IKEA chair (we're getting new chairs!)

\- vim (and MacVim)

\- mutt

\- Python (automate tedious tasks)

\- CS4 Suite

Total revamp as soon as we've found the office of our dreams.

~~~
gurraman
Forgot to mention one of the most important parts of our work environment: the
whiteboard! We make pretty good use of that.

------
dot
macbook air, a mouse and a rtw ticket.

~~~
rjurney
Seconded. I buy a new loaded Apple notebook every 3-4 years, and each cycle I
debate on getting a Mac Pro that will wipe the floor with the notebook for
even money. I never do, because I can't stand to be chained to a desk.

~~~
bjelkeman-again
A MBA for working in the sofa and in the garden. A Mac Pro for when you are
chained to the desk. Happiness.

~~~
rjurney
I can't disagree. I just haven't had the budget :)

------
nickfox
Here is my workspace. I really like the 3 Acer 22" monitors. They were cheap
and work well. I also have a laptop with Mac OS X for my iPhone work.

<http://www.websmithing.com/my_workspace.jpg>

Nick

------
andrewljohnson
Here's our space. We recently added a third desk to the room.

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/33766454@N02/3146045372/in/set-...](http://www.flickr.com/photos/33766454@N02/3146045372/in/set-72157611757081379/)

------
alanthonyc
To facilitate traveling to client sites for my day job: MacBook Pro, vim,
firefox and a (paper) notebook. When I work out of town, the one thing I miss
the most about my home workspace is my 3x4 foot whiteboard.

------
travisjeffery
Here's a picture: <http://is.gd/AU6T>

Typically I have Emacs, Safari, Terminal.app, and iTunes open all the time.
Once in a while I open up MacVim and do some editing.

------
Jem
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/jemjabella/3296058718/>

Really need to get off my butt and get some shelves up.

~~~
abyssknight
Wow, that's tiny! I vaguely remember working on counter tops bolted to a wall,
and our space was about that size per developer.

~~~
Jem
This is only my space at home, thankfully (not that my work desk is much
bigger). I actually quite like my little cupboard because it's dead space in
the house. I can shut myself in if I need privacy or time to myself and not
have to worry about anything :)

------
csomar
I have a PC with 17" screen, also a HP laptop, Microsoft Mouse and Genuis
Keyboard, Wifi Router, External Disks, lot of CDs and MP3 Player.

------
vaksel
the only "tweaking" I did to my workspace, was build a cover for the desk's
surge protector Power button. I always kept hitting it and its pretty
inconvenient having your computer die in the middle of working on things.

------
etherael
I used to have a pretty normal desktop setup, the one thing that was the
constant catalyst which finally pushed me over the edge to "fix stuff" was my
uncomfy series of chairs (read: all of them, any chair under 500$ I've ever
tried, for extended periods of seating is absolutely not something I am
capable of effortlessly maintaining concentration during).

At first I thought, it's been over ten years you've been at this game clearly
you're going to be at it for a long time more, why don't you just spring for a
very expensive chair and get it over and done with? Well, I wasn't entirely
certain that an Aeron or Leap or Freedom would actually fix my issues. Sure,
people talk about them, but I wanted to _know_ for sure that it would be the
end of my problems once I had gone and fixed everything up, and the only way I
could know that would be to actually buy one. Seemed like too much of a gamble
so I skipped that.

It seemed strange to me that all these chairs at the high end were more than
I'd spend on a new midrange system altogether, so I started to think about the
entire problem rather than just the chair aspect and came to the conclusion
that a nice recliner is probably about the most comfortable chair I've ever
had, so why not work a system around that? I ran into several examples in the
DIY sphere of people doing exactly this and being rave review happy with the
results, as well as examples of high end full solution workstation setups like
the Zero-Gee one and a few others based around the same idea that I based my
initial plans on.

Interestingly enough, a good recliner will run you less than half the cost of
an aeron, but seeing as I just wanted to prototype a setup I thought well what
can I use that I have just lying around the house to make it happen? I had a
broken chair (high backed / gas lift / 5 roller castors setup) and an old flat
bottomed entertainment unit, so I ripped apart the chair and took the gas lift
part of it and drilled and bolted it to the bottom of the flat bottomed
entertainment unit, this resulted in kind of a mobile trolley with enough desk
space for my display items (24" widescreen, 15" acer aspire 5630 notebook, 17"
4:3 1280x1024 for the mini) with stowage space underneath the main desk for
all the necessary driving hardware (mac mini + powerboards + cables + USB 3.5
SATA docking stations, speakers).

Having the entire setup on an easily movable / swivelling caddy means that it
actually ended up serving as an entertainment unit for the household too, XBMC
+ 1080p 24" = happy housemates when it's time to kickback and relax, I just
swivel the caddy 180 degrees and then it faces 2 large sofas in the living
room. Or I can move the caddy in front of a larger couch for collaborative
sessions with clients and colleagues. Synergy links all the systems together,
the mortals can use OS X on the mini and I have my heavily customised multi
workspace ubuntu compiz system on the laptop, and I can take over their
session w / synergy.

When working solo I face the caddy toward my single seat comfy old sofa and
pull it in and equation complete, extremely comfortable working environment,
enormously productive and adaptable, all in all extremely happy with it, and
I'll be even happier when I invest a little more for an ergonomic recliner
which will just be a dropin replacement for my current sofa. That said, this
current one is so many more times comfortable than my old office chair + desk
setup that I'm in absolutely no rush to do so.

Other potential ideas for upgrading are perhaps a kinesis evolution split
keyboard setup mounted on the seat arms instead of the current lap mounted
keyboard + right arm mounted mousepad setup, frictionless matting for the
frequent different positions of the caddy, and an intuos to replace my
sketchpad habit.

------
c00p3r
Browser, pdf and chm viewers, IM.

Nokia E90

Dell D830 (1920x1200), last Ubuntu x86_64/Fedora-development i586 (for Wine).

