Outdoor Computing with a Deck Desk • Hacker News Board

Re: Outdoor Computing with a Deck Desk

#21

Post by zozbot234 » Sat, Dec 21, 2019, 2:09 PM UTC

toyg wrote: 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 bit more resilient to extreme environments than your average laptop, and performance would be a non-issue.

Re: Outdoor Computing with a Deck Desk

#22

Post by mark_l_watson » Sat, Dec 21, 2019, 2:28 PM UTC

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 library adds variety when I am working or consulting.

I am fortunate to live in Sedona in the mountains of Central Arizona with a trail head 100 meters from my front door. I spend a lot of time reading and very often I will do a 20 minute “mini hike” to one of two places where I have shade, comfortable red rock formations to sit on, and pine trees. This does add 40 minutes of “wasted time” walking when I want to site down and read for an hour, but that is OK.

I have always liked to vary my work environment. I had my office in La Jolla California for about 12 years over looking the ocean and La Jolla Cove. I put pressure on co-workers to hold business discussions while walking around town or on the cliffs by the ocean. A small time overhead, but conducive to good conversations. For every company that I have worked at, I always went (when weather allowed) for two 20 minute walks a day, which is good thinking time.

Re: Outdoor Computing with a Deck Desk

#23

Post by fulafel » Sat, Dec 21, 2019, 2:33 PM UTC

JamesLefrere wrote: post #12

fulafel wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless you quantify this further, it doesn't mean a it's a net negative for wellbeing, longevity or anything. By getting out of bed you're at increased risk of falling down, etc.

Wellbeing is one thing (I know I would enjoy this a lot more than an office) but long term UV exposure is not forgiving for longevity. I could find sources, but it’s not my area; my partner is a dermatologist and I take her advice on this. It’s worth wearing sunscreen every day (even in the winter), though I believe you have to be careful about choosing products in some places like the US, where sunscreens can be zin…

Sorry but I think this does not really sound convincing regarding longevity, since there is no consideration of the net effect in light of the well-known positive health benefits of being outdoors. At risk of stretching my bed analogy, there are probably things you could do to mitigate risk of falling over in your home if you do get out of bed, such as wearing a helmet...

See eg this article:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26992108 "Avoidance of sun exposure as a risk factor for major causes of death: a competing risk analysis of the Melanoma in Southern Sweden cohort"

"CONCLUSION:

The longer life expectancy amongst women with active sun exposure habits was related to a decrease in CVD and noncancer/non-CVD mortality, causing the relative contribution of death due to cancer to increase."

Re: Outdoor Computing with a Deck Desk

#24

Post by mensetmanusman » Sat, Dec 21, 2019, 2:33 PM UTC

Outdoors = air quality, lighting

With advancements in high NITs lighting and decreases in outdoor air quality, it might be easier to recreate the solar spectrum indoors (with a very high nits monitor) than to work outdoors during wildfire season.

Re: Outdoor Computing with a Deck Desk

#25

Post by misnome » Sat, Dec 21, 2019, 2:57 PM UTC

Cpoll wrote: post #20

toyg wrote: 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…

> 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). This is a very AC-centric mindset. I make it a game to hold off on the AC in the summer. I have experienced graphics card overh…

> This is a very AC-centric mindset

This is probably a very US-based mindset. Parent mentioned British weather - Over here it's almost unheard of to have AC at home, most homes just don't get warm enough for it to be worth the cost vs shading, regular fans, other management techniques.

FWIW I've found that my electronics tend to get overly warm also when sitting outside in nice weather.

Re: Outdoor Computing with a Deck Desk

#26

Post by analog31 » Sat, Dec 21, 2019, 3:10 PM UTC

lostmsu wrote: post #2

The rain is the one I am concerned about the most. And it is covered very lightly.

A minor issue is that most furniture made of "wood" is a thin veneer on particle board, which can't survive rain. The water gets between the gaps in the veneer, and the particle board swells up.

I'd think in many climates, a screen porch would be a viable option.

Re: Outdoor Computing with a Deck Desk

#27

Post by z3t4 » Sat, Dec 21, 2019, 3:20 PM UTC

Normal_gaussian wrote: post #9

fulafel wrote: post #5

Some questions if there are outdoor hackers around: What are some laptops that work well with Linux and have max screen brightness suitable for outdoor use? A web site comparison said one Dell XPS 15 model[1] could do 626 nits - what kind of outdoor conditions would this be suitable for? It seems advertising displays advertise an order of magnitude more nits[2] so I assume the laptops would at best be suitable for ov…

A good way to work it out is to compare phone brightness. In the UK, I've found 450 nits as fine for outdoor use, provided I'm not directly reflecting the sun into my eyes.

It also helps with higher contrast and larger text

Re: Outdoor Computing with a Deck Desk

#28

Post by jSully24 » Sat, Dec 21, 2019, 3:24 PM UTC

I’m fortunate to have a great screened in porch to work from in summer. (I live in the northern US so much to cold from late fall to late spring to work out there).

My favorite thing is when I’m on a call and someone asks if they are hearing birds! It’s just wonderful being in the fresh air.

Re: Outdoor Computing with a Deck Desk

#29

Post by Mountain_Skies » Sat, Dec 21, 2019, 3:31 PM UTC

Working outside is great and the author has put considerable amount of effort into making it work for him. Hopefully with computing becoming more ubiquitous, hardware will become more tolerant to the outdoors. For me, our screened in porch works best but still there are only a couple of months per year where doing computer based work outside is viable. The big annoyance here is in the spring when the temperature and humidity are nearly perfect but the pollen count is off the charts. I don't have allergies but also don't want my electronics covered inside and out with a yellowish green blanket of ultra fine particles. Sealed devices that are easily cleaned off would help here but the need for ventilation means most devices can't be sealed.

Our four to six weeks of autumn though... that's spectacular, though I'd much rather hike that time of year than tap away on a keyboard.

Re: Outdoor Computing with a Deck Desk

#30

Post by Normal_gaussian » Sat, Dec 21, 2019, 3:32 PM UTC

z3t4 wrote: post #27

Normal_gaussian wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A good way to work it out is to compare phone brightness. In the UK, I've found 450 nits as fine for outdoor use, provided I'm not directly reflecting the sun into my eyes.

It also helps with higher contrast and larger text

Absolutely. Black white is also lot more usable in this case than the 'dev edition' white on black.