A Tour Of The Phoronix Office

[MonkeyPaw]

Just noticed that when I went to comment from the article, I was coming from a 5 page set:
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pag...our_2012&num=1

But your OP links to here:
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pag...item&px=ODA0Mg

Then I realized you resurrected an old thread. People were talking about monitors facing windows, and I'm thinking, what windows?

[Detructor]

It's filled with CPUs, RAM, and SSDs.

yeeeah sure...

[ninez]

To the dismay of some Phoronix readers, I choose software based upon technical/feature merits and not solely upon a license.

<sarcasm>
Unacceptable. You are only allowed to use GPL software... LOL.

Choosing software based on technical/feature merits rather than choosing it based on license alone, is ridiculous... what are you trying to do here, use the best tools for the job or something?
</sarcasm>

...Next would come the part where we all scream calling you an Apple-fanboy whore, a sellout and that Phoronix is a linux only website and that you have betrayed us all. lol

Nice tour, thanks for posting. You have lots and lots of fun toys.

cheerz

[Michael]

*edit2
and a question: In the first picture, on the lower right side is a brownish suitcase...what is that doing between all the high-tech stuff and what is in there?!

It's filled with CPUs, RAM, and SSDs.

[susikala]

I would actually donate to this site if you didn't use Evil hard/software, but meh. To each his own, it's a free world (up until evil locks us all in, I guess).

Otherwise, interesting report. Regardless of whether one likes your methods of working, your passion for work is really noticeable, and that's something I can appreciate.

[bulletxt]

Cool pics! Thanks for sharing.

[allquixotic]

Interesting to see a little bit of the behind the scenes, Michael. I've been enjoying the recent spate of articles and this one is also interesting. Your setup is chock full of awesome geek toys that I'd love to have, and mine doesn't come anywhere close to that. But I do have:

• A 32" 1920x1080 Panasonic 3d HDTV (connects via HDMI) as my main desktop display and as a digital TV (airwaves) when I want to watch TV
• An aging 24" 1920x1200 Dell LCD
• An aging 22" 1680x1050 Dell LCD
• A mid-tower with the very latest equipment: Core i7 3770K, 32GB DDR-1600, Adaptec 6405E, 2 x 4TB 6GB/s HDD, and the Radeon HD7970
• A ThinkPad X60 and X61T, both still in working order and occasionally used; I've got a T530 currently in the process of being manufactured by Lenovo (Ivy Bridge model!)
• A ThinkPad Tablet Slate, the original Android tablet by Lenovo
• About 4 desktops from previous generation builds in various states of working order -- the most recent being a Core i7 920 with 16GB of RAM and a HD5970, and it gets older and less well-working from there

I've got my share of geek toys, but obviously your commercial contacts are going to land you a higher quantity of "stuff" because you get a lot of free stuff (and you spend a large portion of your income on stuff you buy yourself, I'm sure).

Also my desk is a plain rectangle desk built in the pre-computing era, which I picked up in a junk sale where I work; I got it for a couple bucks and it's been sturdy and works fine, but I don't really like the height and it isn't adjustable at all. It also creaks loudly whenever I apply significant force to the tabletop (such as vigorous mousing); I think the joints holding the table up are rubbing metal against metal and it sounds like nails on a chalkboard.

I'd supply pictures but I don't have the willpower to show my cramped and very messy room on here You do seem to manage your environment fairly well. I definitely do not, however. Random junk, personal affects, etc. are scattered everywhere.

[schmidtbag]

Nice setup, I'd say the only thing I would change is get some KVM switches to make work easier. For laptops used strictly for testing purposes I'd say remove their screens, stack them all on top of each other, and attach them all to the KVMs. I'd then use a networked PXE drive to boot your test suite off of.

As my personal opinion, I think you should get a more distinct set of hardware like this:

* 1 desktop computer for each major and relatively recent CPU socket (so ignore some of the minor in-between sockets intel made, and ignore AM2+ and AM3 sockets since those can all be covered by AM3+)
* 1 laptop for each major mobile specific processor generation (so like a Pentium M, Centrino, i3, Atom, Turion, Neo, Zacate, etc)
* 1 low end and 1 high end CPU and GPU for each relatively recent generation, which would be interchanged in the available desktops.

I'm not sure if you already have a system similar to that but I feel like it'd help give a wider variety of results while also being easier to compare at the same time. Something like this might also help clean up your setup a little more, which isn't messy but is starting to get a little cramped IMO.


You may do things as you like obviously.

[MonkeyPaw]

I'm guessing your heater doesn't run too much in the winter.

When you say accounting software, are you talking home budget stuff, or more business class applications? I ask because we use YNAB for our budgeting, and it runs on Adobe AIR, which can still be shoehorned into Linux.

As for you running a MacBookPro, I can't really fault you there. Generally speaking, Apple's build quality is quite good (just wait for revision hardware first). Maybe a little overpriced, but you might also go through 3 $500 notebooks before the MBP dies. I'm just hoping my meager HP ProBook can run for a while.

[Detructor]

sweet dual monitor stand...I didn't know such things existed, now that I know I've to get one...(my monitors aren't very...'configurable' when it comes to their relativ position)

*edit
also: I don't want to see Michael's energy bill. Seriously if he turns everything on, I bet they need to power up another coal or oil plant.

*edit2
and a question: In the first picture, on the lower right side is a brownish suitcase...what is that doing between all the high-tech stuff and what is in there?!

*edit3
the backpack in picture 16 (only the left half is visible)...is it a Wenger/Swissgear backpack? Possibly the Pegasus model? I've that one and after now 3 years of usage it looks kinda...shredded. How does yours look and how long did you use it? (Mine is used to carry at least 2.5 kgs per workday for 30 to 40 minutes)

sorry, in picture 17 you can clearly see that it's not a Pegasus model. :/