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Outdoor Computing with a Deck Desk

mgsloan.com

51–60 of 63 posts

Re: Outdoor Computing with a Deck Desk

#51
post #32

Stephen Wolfram “ties/hangs” a laptop from his body so he can work while on the move. https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/02/seeking-the-prod... Personally, I'd like a better mobile solution so I can walk to, or around, a park, etc and work for an hour. What’s really missing is a better way to input into a device while not sitting. Add a little voice input, eye tracking, and gesture input: https://atap.google.co…

Just sharing for inspiration, this is the setups the google glass researchers have used (2015): https://youtu.be/sk7cjmYrKck?t=473 - mentions the twiddler: https://twiddler.tekgear.com/ - ..and emacs speak: http://emacspeak.sourceforge.net/ - not mentioned, but there's also been more recent startups like tap: https://www.tapwithus.com/

Look at your blog. Looks like you’re working on some sort of input device?

https://www.vivekgani.com/

Did you finish?

Re: Outdoor Computing with a Deck Desk

#52

I share the author’s preference to being outside. I have comfortable chairs outside on both the eastern and western sides of our house so that I can sit in the shade and work or read most of the day. I use a flat E&M shield to put my laptop on, with a small flat pillow under the E&M shield. Low ceremony and works well for me. Even though I have a great home office, sitting outside, or at our kitchen table, or at the…

jealous

Re: Outdoor Computing with a Deck Desk

#53
post #31

i use: - wrist band to hold a smartphone; - use VNC client on it to connect to rpi4 in a running vest; - twiddler keyboard and joystick paired to rpi as input device. This hybrid approach with smartphone as a display works better for me than head-mounted display.

This is an interesting setup. Do you have pictures or video?

Not yet, sorry. Have plans to publish this in coming months.

Re: Outdoor Computing with a Deck Desk

#54
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just sharing for inspiration, this is the setups the google glass researchers have used (2015): https://youtu.be/sk7cjmYrKck?t=473 - mentions the twiddler: https://twiddler.tekgear.com/ - ..and emacs speak: http://emacspeak.sourceforge.net/ - not mentioned, but there's also been more recent startups like tap: https://www.tapwithus.com/

Look at your blog. Looks like you’re working on some sort of input device? https://www.vivekgani.com/ Did you finish?

So, I worked on https://thimblemac.com (which was a plugin, not an input device) between 2013-2017, and had some beta releases. Didn't quite get the traction I wanted, so put it on hiatus.

Been meaning to find a place to revamp it in some fashion but been busy with other projects/work since.

Re: Outdoor Computing with a Deck Desk

#55
post #15

I moved my desk outside in the last couple of years when the British weather obliged. A few notes: - temperature. if the temperature is right for you, chances are that it's a bit too warm for your electronics. Chips get hotter, which can result in all sorts of problems (particularly with big screens and graphics-intensive apps, but modern storage as well is often at risk by poor cooling). - cables. Even if you are in…

> Chips get hotter, which can result in all sorts of problems (particularly with big screens and graphics-intensive apps, but modern storage as well is often at risk by poor cooling). Why would you want to run non-trivial compute and storage in a non-temp-controlled environment anyway? That's an obvious use case for a thin-client setup. I'd surmise that some products intended for industrial, rugged etc. use can be a…

Our office (NZ) has no aircon and in summer (ie now) my passively cooled 2015 MacBook is constantly throwing up thermal warnings imploring me to quit apps to maintain performance.

Re: Outdoor Computing with a Deck Desk

#56
post #18
post #3

I used an identical zero gravity chair and a lap keyboard. After about 8 months, I developed serious issues with my wrists (pain all the time) I went back to a traditional setup with an ergonomic split keyboard so my wrists were completely straight, and my wrists only slowly recovered. I'm now on 6 months of not using a computer at all and finally feeling close to 100% My advice is leave ergonomics up to people who k…

I wonder how much of the wrist pain has to do with diet and exercise. In my teens and early twenties I had chronic wrist pain. Now in my mid twenties I've been doing weight training that includes wrist/grip strength exercises (wrist curls, dead hangs, plate pinches) and making sure I get enough protein. The wrist pain is gone and hasn't come back for years. The reason I'm mentioning protein is that apparently joints…

I had sore wrists from overuse for about 3 years. It cleared up when I started cross country skiing and jogging. It took about a year to clear up. This was 20 years ago and it hasn't bothered me since. I do make a point to take breaks, exercise including weightlifting. I also eat more protein now relative to when I had the issue.

Re: Outdoor Computing with a Deck Desk

#57
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how much of the wrist pain has to do with diet and exercise. In my teens and early twenties I had chronic wrist pain. Now in my mid twenties I've been doing weight training that includes wrist/grip strength exercises (wrist curls, dead hangs, plate pinches) and making sure I get enough protein. The wrist pain is gone and hasn't come back for years. The reason I'm mentioning protein is that apparently joints…

I don't think it has much to do with it. I've been working out and am in pretty good shape and I have chronic wrist pain due to many years of repetitive manual labor involving my wrist. And recently I've also started to feel pain in my right hand from using the trackpad so much... will go back to a mouse soon.

Do you do any wrist/grip work? It took me several months just to do small increases in grip strength. I could only do 5lb wrist curls and 20 seconds pinching a 10lb plate. Dead hangs didn't come until later and that was also very slow to progress.

Re: Outdoor Computing with a Deck Desk

#58

I wonder how feasible it would be to make a color e ink laptop screen with a decent refresh rate. That would solve glare problems.

Not color, but this is the cheapest eink (thing that can be used as a) monitor that I've seen. [1] I don't own one, so I can't speak to quality, but I am interested in getting one to try it. I'd love a non-illuminated screen.

1. https://onyxboox.com/boox_max3

Re: Outdoor Computing with a Deck Desk

#59

I share the author’s preference to being outside. I have comfortable chairs outside on both the eastern and western sides of our house so that I can sit in the shade and work or read most of the day. I use a flat E&M shield to put my laptop on, with a small flat pillow under the E&M shield. Low ceremony and works well for me. Even though I have a great home office, sitting outside, or at our kitchen table, or at the…

Cool, sounds like we're very likeminded about this stuff! (I'm the author)

By E&M shield, is that for electromagnetic stuff? Interesting, hadn't considered that. While I suspect that the effect of EMF is negligible, it also makes sense to me to limit it where possible - who knows what might be discovered in the future.

I also live in walkable distance of a trailhead and have hiked to spots to spots to work. More on this in some upcoming posts, I have some unconventional approaches to this that have been highly effective so far. The hiking time isn't wasted at all, I think! Very mentally clearing.

Great idea about the walking time and encouraging walking meetings, will consider how to encourage that at work.

Re: Outdoor Computing with a Deck Desk

#60
post #3

I used an identical zero gravity chair and a lap keyboard. After about 8 months, I developed serious issues with my wrists (pain all the time) I went back to a traditional setup with an ergonomic split keyboard so my wrists were completely straight, and my wrists only slowly recovered. I'm now on 6 months of not using a computer at all and finally feeling close to 100% My advice is leave ergonomics up to people who k…

Hey, author here. Sorry that happened to you, glad you're on the mend. What kind of keyboard did you use? A normal keyboard is indeed going to be really hard on the wrists in this posture, since the hands need to come together. Normal form factor keyboards are just ergonomically awful imho. With a Kinesis advantage keyboard it seems quite comfortable to me, as the key wells are spaced quite wide.

That is very good to know, though, I've updated the post to emphasize that standard keyboards won't work well with this posture.

I respectfully disagree with leaving ergonomics up to the people who "know what they are doing". That said, I just realized my footnote clarifying that I am an ergonomics hobbyist wasn't properly referenced - fixed inhttps://github.com/mgsloan/mgsloan-site/commit/4a3cb2442eaed...

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