This is WIP (work in progress). Because there are no evening activities (thank you, Corona), I decided to rearrange my workspace at home.
Goals:
rewire everything. Cables suck. Wall warts suck even more.
use space better
fight Corona-boredom
Please don’t nag about the cables, I will try this setup for some days, and if I don’t rearrange anything, I will tie them down. That’s why I didn’t take a picture from the underside of the desk; it’s still…messy.
I bought 2 “cable trays” and screwed them under the table. All the multiple connectors, wall warts, etc., go into them. There won’t be a single cable hanging down or on the floor.
Setup:
Desk:
EIZO CG monitor (also USB hub)
OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock. Just one cable to my MBP (power, data, monitor, everything)
Epson V600 Photo scanner (I am into photography…this one is a must…but I still struggle with the placement)
Apple Extended Keyboard II (the best keyboard ever made by Apple)
Mighty Mouse
I care about sound: Shiit (no joke, that’s the name of the brand) Modi 2 Uber DAC and Shiit Magni 2 Uber headphone amp, Beyerdynamic 990 Pro cans. Glorious sound!
Sideboard:
top left: ScanSnap iX500 - before you argue, it’s not easy to reach: it used to have a more prominent space, but I managed to move almost everything (credit card, utilities, rent, bank statements, payslips, most invoices) to PDF. And at work, I earned the reputation of “hating paper.” So, it doesn’t get much use. I keep it because scanning multiple pages with the V600 is a PITA, and I have several workflows set up.
top right: Intuos Pro L tabled with grip pen and 3D open
low (from left to right): HP OfficeConnect 1820/8G switch, Synology DS 1019+, Drobo 5D (just keeping it because I don’t want to create more e-waste), Mac mini+2 HDs, Samsung laser printer (10+ years old, good enough for the occasional print)
To-dos:
tie down all the cables (behind the monitor, behind the sound stuff)
I just saw that you also love your Schiit! Mine is just the Fulla but It’s one of the reason I still plug my wired Grado SR325 headphone even though its much more convenient to use the wireless Grado GW100.
I do! I was considering the Fulla but went for the Modi/Magni. Especially because I wanted to drive high-impedance headphones. The 990ies are 500Ω and sound significantly better than the low-impedance models.
As for Schiit: great value. You won’t get more hi-fi per buck with others.
Not so much the office but the library. A place to reflect, read and do research. New IMG Space 57.57 chairs arrive soon. (Billed as Eames but better! Certainly cheaper! )
The key to productivity is the second 27" monitor. A Dell something but it works just fine and I am really impressed how the Mac software manages having side by side monitors easily moving windows from the Retina Mac screen to the non-Retina Dell without any glitches. When you are actually doing graphic design work, it is nice to have both monitors to see the product in the two environments.
Bare minimum number of reading glasses (three) and two scanners (Scan Snap on ancillary table and Epson Flatbed on floor) Couple of pens and scratch paper for notes (sadly does not sync). Broken left arm rest makes slipping in and out of desk chair easy.
I am guessing a rotatable Dell monitor DELL P2717H.
Great monitor! I use it exclusively instead of my 13" Macbook Pro screen.
I often switch landscape → portrait with a script too:
The .applescript command
I call the script with Raycast, hence the comments.
#!/usr/bin/osascript
# Required parameters:
# @raycast.schemaVersion 1
# @raycast.title Flip Screen 90 Big
# @raycast.mode silent
# Optional parameters:
# @raycast.packageName ybbond
# Documentation:
# @raycast.description Flip screen 90° on big monitor.
use scripting additions
if running of application "System Preferences" then
quit application "System Preferences"
end if
tell application "System Preferences"
activate
reveal anchor "displaysDisplayTab" of pane id "com.apple.preference.displays"
end tell
tell application "System Events" to tell process "System Preferences"
set currentCount to 0
repeat while currentCount < 5
-- display notification "Inside first 'repeat' loop. Run for" & space & currentCount & space & "times"
if exists tab group 1 of window "DELL P2717H" then
set currentCount to 5
else
delay 0.5
set currentCount to currentCount + 1
end if
end repeat
if exists tab group 1 of window "DELL P2717H" then
tell window "DELL P2717H"
tell tab group 1
tell pop up button 2
if (value) contains "Standard" then
set currentAction to "Flipping"
click
click menu item "90°" of menu 1
-- click button "Revert" of sheet 1
-- click button "Confirm" of sheet 1 of window "DELL P2717H"
else
set currentAction to "Reverting"
click
click menu item "Standard" of menu 1
end if
end tell
end tell
end tell
end if
end tell
log currentAction & space & "display succeed"
tell application "System Preferences"
quit
end tell
tell application "System Events"
quit
end tell
)
Looks like just the thing to relieve my Eames envy.
