THESETUP

I always love learning about other people’s workflows, habits and office setups. So now that mine is quasi-finalized, I figured I would share my own.

Being a freelance interface designer and web developer is no easy task. Combine that with being a full-time student (including the heavy workload associated with being a pre-med major), extracurricular activities, and working another part-time job and you have a mental breakdown waiting to happen.

I realized that having an organized, clean environment that allowed me to really buckle down and get to work was crucial. Without further ado, I present to you, my office:


Click the image to go to the tagged Flickr version

All of the computers running in my room, my main MacBook, file server and test PC (under the desk), and development server are laptops. They’re quieter and consume less power, which is a great thing because they’re always on. Plus, I can control both right from my MacBook.

Switching to Mac OS X, and specifically an Intel-based Mac has had a tremendous impact on my productivity. That portable LaCie hooked up to the MacBook houses all of my Parallels virtual machines. Working away from my home network means that remote access can be frustratingly slow. With Parallels, I have quick access to an array of Internet Explorer versions as well as some more obscure browsers for those picky clients.

Portable HDD

The servers

After that pesky week-long power outage, I realized that UPS behind the server rack in my closet might not cut it for my clients, so I’ve moved all client servers to an offsite host. For my own needs however, I decided to keep my data close.

My old laptop has become a headless file server named Isis. It’s hidden behind the mess of cables that I gave up on long ago. I don’t want to jinx it, but uptime is at 145 days on Windows XP.


Click the image to go to the tagged Flickr version

The other laptop was stolen from my sister. It’s running Ubuntu Edgy and acts as the development server called Osiris. Ruby, Rails, Subversion, Trac, you name it and it’s probably installed.

All of my regular three (sub)freelancers have full root access including VNC to the machine so it has also become a whiteboard of sorts.

The Office II

The mounted television, a Viewsonic, is often connected to my MacBook for extra screen space or some Front Row action, but is also hooked up to my new 360.

I was hesitant to put my office in my bedroom, but my apartment is simply too small to allow for any other option. I’ve luckily been able to isolate the two regions of my room (work/sleep) and building a pre-sleep routine has been a great help to that end.

There it is, my setup. Now it’s your turn, what does your room/office look like?

  1. OMG, that is one sweet setup man! Very nice! You’re very own creative corner.

    Jorge Quinteros

    Mar 12, 05:41 PM #

  2. “I’ve luckily been able to isolate the two regions of my room (work/sleep)”

    Not so lucky in isolating work/xbox though?

    Ha ha. Cool setup. Jealous.

    Dempsey

    Mar 13, 06:46 AM #

  3. Thanks Jorge! I like it :)

    Dempsey:
    That xbox is for serious work only. You konw, playing Gears of War to nail down the “grunge” look…Crackdown for the cell shading.

    Thame

    Mar 14, 10:28 PM #

  4. Great setup. I think I might ‘borrow’ a few of your ideas.

    Noel Hurtley

    Mar 16, 11:43 AM #

  5. I knew it! Your designs were inspired by the games you “work” with. :D

    Tom Martin

    Mar 28, 01:30 AM #

  6. pretty nice. i’m impressed the way you made everything up in such a small space.

    maybe i’ll post about my setup as well :P

    // chall3ng3r //

    chall3ng3r

    Apr 14, 05:15 PM #

  7. Looking great,I like it.

    Richie

    Apr 29, 06:53 AM #

Add a Comment

Phrase modifiers:

_emphasis_
*strong*
__italic__
**bold**
??citation??
-deleted text-
@code@

Block modifiers:

bq. Blockquote
p. Paragraph

Links:

"linktext":http://example.com


Show Articles By:

You can show articles by time or category.

  • 260.

    Prodigious Savants and their Abilities

    Savant syndrome, a condition occurring most often in autistic patients, is a rare disorder where mentally retarded individuals have incredible abilities in isolated fields like memory, mathematics,...

    Read More

  • 260.

    Why Medicine Again?

    Medicine isn’t what it used to be. I’ve talked to alot of physicians, researchers and residents recently and I’m not encouraged by what I’ve heard. What seems to motivate many...

    Read More

  • 260.

    What of the Soul?

    I received a question recently that asked what I thought about the existence of a soul given the relative secularity of most of the content on this site. Soul, Mind, whatever you call it refers...

    Read More

  • 260.

    Turtles All the Way Up

    That pervasive question, “what are we doing here”, or more accurately, “what’s the fucking point” continues to steal away my attention (and sanity). Looking up is one impetus, but more...

    Read More

  • 260.

    Frozen Worlds: a Time Puzzle

    I got a bit giddy when we got to the “Space and Time” portion of my Metaphysics class. Most of my semester was spent deciphering bizarre accounts of matter (where two theories’ definitions...

    Read More

  • 260.

    Ineffable Understanding

    Near-death experiences, hallucinogenic trips, meditation, you’ve probably read about (or felt firsthand) the odd nature of these “out of body” experiences. A philosophically interesting...

    Read More

  • 260.

    The Neurobiology of Freedom

    So, consciousness is accompanied by an experience of freedom, which phenomenologically speaking, does not seem illusory. But, what exactly does that mean about consciousness and our brain? There are...

    Read More

  • 260.

    Natural Kinds in Chemistry

    One of my favorite courses so far was last semester’s “Natural Kinds”. Everything from the unique subject matter to the seminar-like structure made the class a blast, up until the...

    Read More