
Show HN: Workstation – Showcase Your Setup - dope
https://workstation.is
======
PascLeRasc
If anyone's really into "setups", I'd highly recommend checking out
usesthis.com. There's some great discussion on _why_ people like certain
tools, and some high-profile people on there from all walks of tech life
(writers, podcasters, musicians, mechanical engineers). Here's a few of my
favorites:

Aaron Schwartz:
[https://usesthis.com/interviews/aaron.swartz/](https://usesthis.com/interviews/aaron.swartz/)

Mike Hoye (Mozilla):
[https://usesthis.com/interviews/mhoye/](https://usesthis.com/interviews/mhoye/)

Drew DeVault:
[https://usesthis.com/interviews/drew.devault/](https://usesthis.com/interviews/drew.devault/)

Naomi Wu:
[https://usesthis.com/interviews/naomi.wu/](https://usesthis.com/interviews/naomi.wu/)

~~~
SexyCyborg
You can't really see it in my article there, I use a rolling cart with my
laptops (Apple or Xiaomi depending):
[https://i.imgur.com/0OB23tw.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/0OB23tw.jpg)

Better look:
[https://i.imgur.com/ydgpMus.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/ydgpMus.jpg)

I avoid having a desk surface because it just gets overwhelmed with crap. This
way I can't just set things down- they need to be put somewhere. Also I can
move it out of the way for shooting YouTube videos, roll near the window when
I want more daylight, roll near the printers when I am tweaking them etc.

~~~
Theodores
It is crazy that we have some trade war and xenophobia going on at the moment,
I think your channel and comments here are helpful in challenging assumptions
commonly held in the West.

I have a rig like yours with a hospital style adjustable height table that has
wheels and can be used in a bed (if need be) to pile the junk on. The lip
around the edge of the table top stops small things rolling off, plus it has a
cup holder, unlike most tables.

I will be subscribing even though your content is not my normal fayre and I
commend you for making the world that bit more interesting and surprising!

~~~
SexyCyborg
Thanks Theodores! It's a bit crazy, I'm trying to be very, very careful...

------
ukyrgf
Hey, another site that was built on a Mac and not tested on anything else.

So, Avenir Next is not a system font on Windows or Linux. On Windows, this
means you get the browser's default stylesheet fallback, which means Times New
Roman. So your site essentially looks like a Word 97 document to all your
Windows visitors, and who-knows-what on the various Linux distros.

Take a look at [https://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/system-font-
stack/](https://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/system-font-stack/)
[https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2015/11/using-system-ui-
fon...](https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2015/11/using-system-ui-fonts-
practical-guide/) and get yourself looking correct for those non-macOS users!

What did you use to build that stylesheet? A framework of some sort?

~~~
dope
Fixed! Thank you for flagging that. I'm actually just using custom CSS files
per component pulling in a global variables.css file.

------
vijucat
Suggestion:

a) let the user add their commentary and

b) get folks to mention which chair, too. Some of us invest in ergonomic
chairs, and those who don't would benefit from opinions on which chairs are
good

For what it's worth, I got this chair recently (a Torch Iris Gold) in Hong
Kong, and found it incredible value for money, at least compared to a Herman
Miller Aeron, Mirra etc; : it has a bunch of adjustments that the Aeron and
Mirra do not. Obviously, this advice isn't that useful if you're not in Hong
Kong.

[https://shop.freemax.com.hk/eng/product/%E9%9B%BB%E8%85%A6%E...](https://shop.freemax.com.hk/eng/product/%E9%9B%BB%E8%85%A6%E6%A4%85-office-
chairs-torch-iris-gold)

~~~
augstein
Indeed. Added my setup just now, comments (and votes) would make this much
more interesting.

Also please fix scrolling in the submission form on mobile (iOS) with the
-webkit-overflow-scrolling CSS property.

------
maxaf
Please tell me you're stripping EXIF tags from all images; otherwise this is
just a "rob these people now" list.

~~~
dope
I'm not, I completely overlooked this :/ I'm adding this to the upload form
now and I guess will have to go through and manually remove everyones exif
data. Thanks for raising this.

~~~
JaimeThompson
Can't you just script the removal with something like the tools mentioned here
[https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2654281/how-to-remove-
ex...](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2654281/how-to-remove-exif-data-
without-recompressing-the-jpeg) ?

------
grumpy-cowboy
There is a lot of "fake" workstations: everything is so clean! No Fritos bag,
no Coke bottles, no paper, no trash, ... just clean desks! Fake! lol :D

~~~
781
Here you go:

[https://workstation.is/station/4s1IHxshFb4BrTxTHjeG](https://workstation.is/station/4s1IHxshFb4BrTxTHjeG)

~~~
wafflesraccoon
Did you draw the figure drawing on the wall? It is wonderful.

~~~
DoreenMichele
It's also kind of NSFW.

Hello, haters. A NSFW warning is a detail of etiquette on the internet. It has
nothing to do with being judgy about the content. It is solely about
protecting someone's job while they surf the internet.

Thanks.

------
iraldir
Images aren't loading (anymore I guess)

Failed to load resource: the server responded with a status of 402 (Payment
Required)

relevant commit strip: [http://www.commitstrip.com/en/2019/05/20/monitoring-
everythi...](http://www.commitstrip.com/en/2019/05/20/monitoring-everything/)

~~~
dope
Haha - that strip is perfect. but yes, fixed!

------
dope
Sorry for the NSFW image, it's been removed. Also temporarily removed the
ability to add a station while I figure out next steps.

------
aaronarduino
This is a cool idea. One suggestion though, it would be nice when viewing a
setup to be able to use arrow keys to advance to the next setup.

------
heroHACK17
I love the single-screen setup. I have tried dual-monitors, laptop + monitor,
etc., but found that everything else on the screen is just a distraction. Most
of the time I'll just work on my laptop or plug in a monitor & close my
laptop!

~~~
codyb
That’s me as well.

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bovermyer
The battlestations subreddit has a lot of really epic setups.

~~~
mhd
Most of those I saw were pretty much the same. Towers with windows and those
ugly LED wall triangles, often aiming for a "vaporwave"/CGA look.

There was definitely more variety when beige cases were the rule and you had
to paint and dremel things yourselves…

------
arendtio
I am a bit surprised there is no vertical multi-monitor setup there yet. I
have my 2nd monitor above my first since a few years now and I don't want to
go back to the traditional horizontal layout.

The only thing I might change is adding more monitors or increasing sizes, but
that isn't really a priority as I tend to have enough space most of the time.

However, I love the idea, of this site as the photos offer a better impression
of the work experience in those places (e.g. compared to usesthis.com).

~~~
phyrex
Could you explain why you like this better than a traditional multi monitor
layout? And how wouldit compare to vertical monitors horizontally next to each
other?

~~~
arendtio
> Could you explain why you like this better than a traditional multi monitor
> layout?

With the (traditional) horizontal layout you have to turn your head or your
complete body towards a monitor. With a vertical setup, you can always
sit/stay in a symmetrical way towards your monitors and instead of turning
your head you have to tilt it.

In the end, it all comes down to how your body fits into that setup, but I
feel a lot more comfortable if I don't have to turn my head. Tilting just
feels better (less asymmetrical stress on my shoulders when you keep your head
in a fixed position).

> And how wouldit compare to vertical monitors horizontally next to each
> other?

I never worked with vertical monitors for a long time so far, but I guess
three would be a better choice for me than two, as I could have one centered
monitor. A pro for vertical monitors would be that at least they would reduce
the angle I have to turn my head.

------
codr7
Heh, I feel _very_ tempted to go all in with pictures.

After 15 years of using nothing but the latest and greatest, I'm now stuck
with a refurbished HP desktop that smells like burned plastic and an arbitrary
collection of questionable-quality accessories on top of a retired kitchen
table with a garden chair to sit on.

And the only thing that really bothers me is that the computer might stop
working any second and I can't afford a new one.

Life moves in mysterious ways :)

------
alexott
It’s interesting to see that’s there are not so much systems with ergonomic
keyboards mice... Are people underestimate importance of that?

~~~
bsmith
I don't use an ergonomic mouse. I am using my keyboard probably ~20x more than
my mouse, so it just doesn't seem that important. Mostly I am using my mouse
to scroll around and navigate webpages, but when coding it's mostly Vim,
tabbing between windows, typing commands in the terminal, etc...

~~~
alexott
it was about keyboard/mice :-)

I'm pretty much switching between stuff using keyboard, and mouse is mostly
for "fine" scrolling, selection of bookmarks, and links, in most cases just
page up/page down

------
vmurthy
As a regular visitor on /r/macsetups, I find your site's navigation cool! I
look forward to more setups :-)

------
wa1987
Something's up with the retrieval of images. Getting errors (402 status code)
from Firebase storage / Google. — EDIT: seems to be fixed!

Fun project though! What are your plans with it? Like to hear about your
ideas.

Some – unsolicited – suggestions (feel free to ignore):

\- describing (primary) usage(s) – e.g. workstation, gaming, web dev, music,
audio, etc.

\- describing setup components by selecting items from a parts list

\- adding benchmark results

\- filtering / searching setups by varying properties

\- breaking down components even further.. there's a huge community around
mechanical keyboards for example, these come in all kinds of shapes.. users
may have desires along the lines of: "I'd like to see setups with wireless 60%
keyboards"

\- listing similar setups ("if you like this, you might like..")

\- capturing setup updates (and displaying VCS-style diffs :-))

\- recently updated systems

\- in the same vein: build logs

\- image annotations

\- up- / downvoting

\- comments

Fun stuff to come up with.

~~~
dope
These are great suggestions, thank you and it's exactly what I've posted it
for tbh - It feels like this project could have endless possibilities but I
also want to know what others care about too.

My next steps (I posted below but happy to post here too)

\- Multiple image upload support

\- Like setups

\- Build collections out of setups

\- Search (tags, product names, setup titles etc)

\- Tagging products on setups (like how Facebook does but you know, respect
peoples data etc)

I think after that or even during, I'll need to definitely come up with a more
structured roadmap.

Again, thank you for the suggestions!

~~~
novok
+1 for comments. Would like to be able to ask questions.

------
xwdv
Cool, but I’m sad that a picture of my “workstation” is basically just a
Thinkpad.

~~~
themacguffinman
The computer itself isn't the only interesting part of a workstation setup,
your desk layout can be pretty interesting too

~~~
xwdv
Just a bare desk and an occasional smart phone next to the laptop :(

------
bitwize
Soooo... everybody's a neat freak with a Ph.D. in cable management.

~~~
linux2647
Not here:
[https://workstation.is/station/vbNm9bew5artQwD02SqW](https://workstation.is/station/vbNm9bew5artQwD02SqW)

~~~
wishiwasaninja
This is the best keyboard I've ever used.

------
chair6
Suggestion - one-click navigation from one setup to the next would be nice,
instead of having to click back, reload the list, and choose another...

------
technological
I wish something like this exists for UI or work bench setup. How people work
with different screens and how editor or other tools setup

------
dope
Working on the image fix now _slowly dying inside_

Edit: Fixed!

------
jolmg
I was expecting this to be about software customization, but I guess not.

BTW, what is that on the wall below the desk on the 2nd picture? I'm not even
sure how to describe it. It looks like a cat door with 4 mini laundry baskets
stacked on one another and like a plastic bag in a hole on the top. What is
that?

~~~
NeedMoreTea
Victorian (probably) bedroom coal fireplace that's been painted over. There's
even a few hearth tiles still in front of it.

Random image of a restored one: [https://www.oldfireplaces.co.uk/wp-
content/uploads/2015/03/2...](https://www.oldfireplaces.co.uk/wp-
content/uploads/2015/03/256B-1168-1024x7681.jpg)

------
sbr464
Great idea. I used to be active on the CGTalk forum back in the day and always
loved the workstation threads.

------
vishnuks
Awesome. A feature suggestion. Add option for users to enter details of their
laptop, keyboard, mouse model etc when they submit the photo. You can probably
create a rank list of popular gear from this. Also can link the gear to Amazon
and make some money via referral links ;)

------
galfarragem
While I think this is cool (workstation porn :), it seems an overkill, you
could achieve most (if not all) with a simple tumblr blog/account. Even NSFW
upload protection and affiliate marketing. Aren't you folks tired of so many
accounts?

------
jberry93
I was greeted with an extremely NSFW picture but it seems to be gone for now.
Not sure how to guard against that except to be vigilant in deleting such
images. Love the website though! Reminds me of /r/battlestations on reddit

~~~
benatkin
I think it's currently technically feasible on top-of-the-line phones to
implement real time nudity detection and hiding by default. I can see it being
a solved problem in 5 years. Maybe it will display at first but be blacked out
after a few milliseconds.

~~~
vmurthy
I sure hope this blocking thing is opt-in ;-). How will adu.. ahem ..
entertainment websites live otherwise ?

~~~
benatkin
I imagine it will be like SafeSearch on google and bing, where it's opt-out.

------
pkaye
I wish the cabling could be made a little neater with desktop setups. Power
cables, video cables, USB cables. I use a KVM so even more cables. Hopefully
Thunderbolt/USB4 will simplify things a bit in the future.

------
calcifer
Unfortunately, all the images are returning "402: Payment Required" for me
[1].

[1] [https://i.imgur.com/WWuN4Tw.png](https://i.imgur.com/WWuN4Tw.png)

~~~
dope
Thanks for sending that over - fixed now!

~~~
zrobotics
Just an FYI- there was goatse as the 3rd image when I loaded the site,
username was also goatse. You'll probably want to remove that.

------
tzfld
All seem to be nice and ordered places, which is definitely not my case.

------
raehik
A nice setup is something I'm really, really looking forward to once my
student life is over. So I can't upvote this, viewing it makes me too sad :'(

------
ChristianBundy
The first image on this page is goatse and there's no way to report an image.
What's your plan for content moderation?

------
Koshkin
Not much to see there... (No wonder, when in a movie they want to destroy a
computer, they attack the screen.)

------
burnt1ce
This is a refreshing fun project. What are your plans for this site if you
don't mind me asking?

~~~
dope
Thanks! It started as a conversation between a friend mostly off the back off
/r/battlestations and how I'd love to be able to see more of peoples setups.

Initial steps where just to throw something together to allow people to upload
multiple setups and view others.

Next steps on the roadmap

\- Multiple image upload support

\- Like setups

\- Build collections out of setups

\- Search (tags, product names, setup titles etc)

\- Tagging products on setups (like how Facebook does but you know, respect
peoples data etc)

Later later steps would probably be allowing the user to build collections out
of popular products that get uploaded.

------
otterpro
How do I upload my own setup photo? I see nothing under profile or on the
website itself.

~~~
dope
I had some trouble earlier with people uploading dumb images, so in order to
upload images now, you need to verify your email address. There should be
messaging at the bottom of the screen and I probably need to make that design
clearer.

------
mej10
Cool! I am working on almost the exact same thing. Grats on shipping!

------
ssalka
How is this different from /r/battlestations?

------
kevinherron
Weird, no images load for me on this site.

------
neoktheone
I would like to see likes :)

------
lkschubert8
Might need some moderation as an image in the first row was about as NSFW as
could possibly be and not remotely related to computers.

~~~
benatkin
Or to use some web service to detect nudity in images.

I was getting my college degree during peak goatse and have gotten good at
tuning out goatse, so it hasn't hurt my impression of the site. It's a great
idea to bring usesthis to the masses, and I wish success for OP. I'd consider
excluding things that are primarily gaming because there are already places
for people to show off their gaming rigs (such as battlestations on reddit).

~~~
asark
IIRC Google Cloud, Azure, and (least certain of this one) AWS have machine
learning driven adult image detection (among other things, like recognizing
famous people's faces) as a service.

------
benbristow
Seems to be gore/porn on the frontpage... perhaps some moderation wouldn't be
a bad idea?

~~~
jolmg
Jesus! NSFW!!

------
kellygarvy
Oh man you may want to make sure you are monitoring for bad actors. Really
didn't need to see that before hopping on a call.

------
sureaboutthis
This has been around for years and you'll spend just as long trying to find
something worth looking at and, perhaps, replicating. Most of them are just as
drab and dreary as you'll find making the site, to some extent, pointless
without doing any vetting for something unique.

------
SnowingXIV
You might want to consider adding some form of moderation. Viewed this at work
and some very classic nsfw images were uploaded instead of workstations.

------
jswrenn
You have a NSFW image in there...

~~~
phragg
yeah seriously... RIP my job - waiting for that ASK HN: Who's hiring June 2019
edition.

------
Dennip
Very NSFW image has been added

------
c3534l
It's been a long time since I've been linked to goatse.

------
meroje
Nice nsfw frontpage

------
brachi
oh, great, first image it's extremely explicit NSFW. I guess there's no
moderation nor machine learning to check the upload.

------
porbelm
Thanks for the goatse lol

------
huntie
First thing I see is goatse.

Nice.

------
phragg
wow nice goatse on the front page...

------
ikarandeep
NSFW

