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    How do you "work"..assuming that a computer is a relatively big focus

    This is not about "me" ..I am just abstractly interested in how people "work" in an office/computer/paper/internet/ environment.

    However, I'll start with me because..... of how things have so STRANGELY ended up.... especially after watching Castle and Bones t.v. episodes intensely about how the producers "think" people might work.

    To put it in a nutshell, they are big on "the whiteboard" and also "large screen computer monitors...like feet across".

    a) because of the thread on living on the edge with NeonOS i now have a neon computer, although it could be Kubuntu with some tweakage...on my big screen t.v. and when I get up in the morning, making coffee etc. it loads Kontact and I can "stand and think" while drinking coffee etc. about the activities of the day/week/month, e-mail information, RSS feeds etc... --- Not having to "go and sit at the computer and stare at it" , and run around making breakfast, etc...has been a LIBERATING experience....

    It has worked much better than my MyEebo tablet... I tried really hard with the thing and it "did" everything...buuuuttt...

    Note: I use an "air mouse" and the associated wireless keyboard, but I do it standing.........I can wander over and look out the window...

    It has been LIBERATING...

    b) The "office"....
    i) Because of my new high end machine, which does not work with a parallel printer, (as stated in another thread), I now have two monitors....the high end on a smaller but higher res flat screen in landscape mode, and an old Toshiba lappy dedicated to "rotated screen" and the former fllat screen monitor is now in portrait to do intensive text editing.

    ii) Wordprocessor on Android and standard note proggy....I can talk to both of them, don't do very much at all with the keyboard, to do "on the fly" document stuff, and then either e-mail or use KDE connect to move them to a machine.

    iii) Basketnotes.... it is good, and is IMPROVING, in terms of doing "small arrangements" of information etc. It would work very marvy if I had a true touch screen large screen television and also allow very large arrangements of information ....a - la.... Castle or Bones or CSI Miami....

    iv) The "whiteboard"...I could not figure a way to easily get a painted pressed wood panel into the apartment and from the store, they work fine, I used one for years in my classroom when I taught high school.

    So, I bought self sticking "paper to make a whiteboard" on some large pieces of cardboard and it very nicely attached with just three small nails in the sheetrock..

    NOTE on this stuff..........always use FRESH whiteboard markers....I started with a very old one and the text is just STUCK on there...a new marker cleans easily..

    However, I have REALLY been using it to diagram out, and write about, large projects.........it works, for me, very fine.

    NOTES:...I started taking the text from the whiteboard to the computer by talking to the android.... However.........duuhhh, I also discovered....dumb woodsmoker.......that the wireless keyboard works fine ten feet away facing the whiteboard........now......... you have to TRUST your touch typing.....lol........ to actually be what you are typing...lol......but...

    My workflow, in my present stage of life and work, has just become SO EASY........using the mixed array of the above.......

    So...........back to the question.......

    Can you do all of your work on the computer.........?

    Do you mix and match in any way.....?

    Particular pieces of software used "normally" or in a "different way"?

    I think that folks would really like to know.........so that they might try YOUR ideas....
    Last edited by woodsmoke; Aug 10, 2014, 02:05 PM.

    #2
    Nice post Tenuis!

    any others!

    woodsmoke

    Comment


      #3
      Computers have been the focal point of my work life for many years now, dating back to the '80s and my days as a data entry operator before and during college. From the point where I put my medical school plans on hold to take a "created for me" position installing, programming, and administering a UNIX system, I've basically had a keyboard attached to my fingers.

      I LITERALLY have at least one computer in almost every room in my house, including a laptop I keep out on my patio. I got tired of carrying a laptop out there every day [here in SoCal being out on the patio is a nearly 365 day a year thing] and carrying it back inside, so I started leaving my Chromebook [which runs Kubuntu] out there. The patio is covered and very well sheltered, so it's not like it's out in the elements.

      Since becoming disabled my 'work' now consists of occasionally creating a new design and uploading it to one of my CafePress or Zazzle shops. It also involves plodding through bazillions of photos I take of peacocks and other critters, and plants, in my yard, and creating products from photos.

      But, for the most part, I'm at a computer throughout the day to do humdrum things like e-mail, pay bills, read news, post on forums, play games, etc. I would be lost...I mean LOST!...without computers.
      Xenix/UNIX user since 1985 | Linux user since 1991 | Was registered Linux user #163544

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        #4
        I sit on my couch with my laptop computer on my lap connected to the Internet, reading and writing about other computers and networks, how to make them faster, how to keep them from getting hacked by bad guys using the Internet to damage computers, so that good guys can use their computers and the Internet with reasonable performance and safety while sitting on their couches.

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          #5
          And this raises questions I've had about using laptops, also a relevant item here under this topic, kind of.

          I guess the thing I have in mind (in the following questions) is the safety of the conventional hard drive (HDD), as well as any other considerations. (I'm assuming there would be fewer issues with an SSD?)

          1 Sitting on the couch with the laptop. Is it safe (i.e., causing no damage to the laptop or its components like a HDD) to move a laptop "around" like that while it is on (power on, connected to Internet, and usually the hard drive light is on or blinking)? For example, setting the laptop aside as you get up?; perhaps carrying the laptop while it is on to another location (couch)?

          2 The power: Say the laptop is working only on the battery (not plugged in to the electrical outlet). Then, while working, you decide to plug it in to the electrical outlet nearby. Is it necessary to first shut down the laptop before plugging it in? (Then, after plugging it in, you would power ON again and resume working)? Or is it safe while working with the laptop to simply plug it in to the outlet without shutting down first?

          3 Similarly, let's say the laptop is plugged in to the electrical outlet, your battery is OK and charged, you are doing work on the laptop, and now you wish to unplug the laptop and operate only on the battery. Is it safe to simply unplug the laptop while it is ON, without first shutting down?
          An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski

          Comment


            #6
            1. Yes. HDDs are 'shock' rated to several Gs. Casual movements aren't going to cause any issues.
            2. No. Yes.
            3. Yes.
            Windows no longer obstructs my view.
            Using Kubuntu Linux since March 23, 2007.
            "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data." - Sherlock Holmes

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              #7
              @Snowhog: 1--thanks; 2--and thanks for that one (in 2 parts); and 3--thanks, again, for this one!
              An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski

              Comment


                #8
                interjecting a direct reply to the original-post question:

                In the old days, circa 1981-1998 ... using a PC Desktop to do technical and business consulting--word processing, computing (math, speadsheets, BASIC), needing a good word processor to write good and BIG reports, needing a decent printer to print such and make them look good (like HP LaserJets); early on, not much need really for the Internet, not until at least around 1998 or so?
                >> Now ... semi-retired, hum-drum uses for a computer: researching subjects of personal interest, like cosmology, Linux, computers, health issues, nutrition, hobbies, et cetera. Not much need for a cool printer (any will do). Not doing much computing (I accept the computation results of others). But the Internet is great, even a necessity. As you all know, researching a subject: clicking on links and opening new tabs and using search engines to get instant expansion and elucidation of topics and subtopics. And people: keeping in touch with email and Skype, very important.
                >> Thus, the machine changes (as does the "office") ... don't really need a full, big desktop PC attached to a thousand-dollar printer, though that's what I'm using now (PC attached to a $39 HP printer). A laptop is nice, does the trick. But, really, a good tablet would also work now (am awaiting Google's next Nexus entry this year, rumored to be an 8 or 8.9" etc.).

                And there ya go.
                An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski

                Comment


                  #9
                  Note that I answer these questions only with my own personal habits, not whether they're good or right.

                  Originally posted by Qqmike View Post
                  1 Sitting on the couch with the laptop. Is it safe (i.e., causing no damage to the laptop or its components like a HDD) to move a laptop "around" like that while it is on (power on, connected to Internet, and usually the hard drive light is on or blinking)? For example, setting the laptop aside as you get up?; perhaps carrying the laptop while it is on to another location (couch)?
                  I sure hope so, since I do this ALL THE TIME.

                  2 The power: Say the laptop is working only on the battery (not plugged in to the electrical outlet). Then, while working, you decide to plug it in to the electrical outlet nearby. Is it necessary to first shut down the laptop before plugging it in?
                  I never do.

                  (Then, after plugging it in, you would power ON again and resume working)? Or is it safe while working with the laptop to simply plug it in to the outlet without shutting down first?
                  Never.

                  3 Similarly, let's say the laptop is plugged in to the electrical outlet, your battery is OK and charged, you are doing work on the laptop, and now you wish to unplug the laptop and operate only on the battery. Is it safe to simply unplug the laptop while it is ON, without first shutting down?
                  Sure hope so!

                  Xenix/UNIX user since 1985 | Linux user since 1991 | Was registered Linux user #163544

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Qqmike View Post
                    But, really, a good tablet would also work now (am awaiting Google's next Nexus entry this year, rumored to be an 8 or 8.9" etc.).
                    Late last year I bought a Kindle Fire HD 8.9" tablet. After rooting it and turning it into a real Android tablet, as opposed to its original Amazon-restricted self, I LOVE it. And I got it for a song [compared to other tablets of similar size].
                    Xenix/UNIX user since 1985 | Linux user since 1991 | Was registered Linux user #163544

                    Comment


                      #11
                      I've been following this long, drawn-out drama ...
                      http://bgr.com/nexus-8/
                      An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Qq, how invested are you in wanting that Nexus? Which features, if any, are you really firm on wanting? Just wondering if you might be satisfied--like I am--with a rooted Kindle Fire HD 8.9". My tablet does everything I want/need it to do. It has a beautiful display, it's fast, I've customized mine so it looks the way I want it, and the best part was its <$250 price!
                        Xenix/UNIX user since 1985 | Linux user since 1991 | Was registered Linux user #163544

                        Comment


                          #13
                          If you like to tinker with the software on an Android device, any of the Nexus products from Google is definitely the way to go. They're completely unlocked and they enjoy flourishing developer communities at XDA.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            I'm not yet that well versed on tablets except at the exact time I am reading detailed reviews and comparisons, like this one, typical:

                            http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the...ndroid-tablet/

                            Geeks I've read on Internet: Nexus, hands-down for tablets. Galaxy is flashy, has front-row seats at Best Buy displays, but no comparison to Nexus on tech specs (the Nexus 7").

                            The only question is what the new 8" (if there is to be one) will be and how will it be priced?
                            An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski

                            Comment


                              #15
                              The current Nexus 7 is a mid-2013 design. It's still being actively developed -- Google released a preview build of Android L for it. But as tech goes, the device is probably already past its peak. Depending on the validity of the rumors, it might be worth waiting. Personally, I'm hoping the rumors for the Nexus 6 phone are true, and we'll see it come out in October. Seems likely that a Nexus 8 tablet would appear at the same time.

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