Is there some kind of website where people can upload their office/desk pictures including better descriptions (like those plus-icons) and a little Text?
I don't know why, but to me it's motivating and just interresting to see how other people work. And i don't mean websites presenting huge offices of big companies. I mean homeoffices etc. A few years ago this was really big on Flickr, but since "nobody" is really active on Flickr anymore, i feel like those days are gone.
I bet there is a good number of interesting peoples workplaces to look at. :)
Closely related is https://usesthis.com/ , which focuses more on text description of people's working tools and habits than screenshots. Joey Hess' interview [1] was particularly memorable.
I tried it, but i couldn't get it to work for me. I was coming from an Apple Wireless Keyboard and the size of the 4000 was just to big for my taste. I got pretty used to having my mouse pretty near my keyboard and not have to spread my arms very far.
I had a mechanical keyboard for a while after the AWK, but my hands did hurt after long programming sessions. So i gave the Sculpt a go.
It took me a while to get used to it, since it's also wider than the AWK, but not as wide as the 4000. Since i had to fix my hand-hurting issues, i powered through it and now i'm pretty happy.
So to answer your question: Since i was using an Apple Keyboard for years, the click-clacky laptop-style keys were not in issue for me. :)
Excellent thank you for the response, the 4000 seems to be getting replaced by the Sculpts so it's good to know they are still good, I have a 4000 at home, work and a spare in it's box for if either breaks (they are that important to me now) but I might give the Sculpt a go, I rarely use the numpad and the 4000's are indeed huge.
This kind of gets at what you're asking. It's more for people who might be better known in their sphere of interest. http://lifehacker.com/tag/how-i-work
Yes. I recall someone describing their setup with a specific Ikea desk, and how he mounted all their switches, wires, splitters under the desk which made all cable mess on the desk disappear. This motivated me to completely replicate that setup, down to buying that exact same Ikea desk. Still too hardware related for your taste I guess, but I think there would be overlap in the communities.
Would make sense if this would be consolidated in a reddit community, seems like the right place for a hobby like this.
That's pretty cool, but it seems more like an interview format (like usesthis.com). I'm looking more for a project where people "tell their own story" and show how they work.
I really like Murakami's work- my favourite is 'The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle'. But I've just finished reading 'Kafka on the Shore' and came away thinking it was too much fantasy and a bit shallow. Because of his masterful style he sometimes gets away with unresolved plots and mysteries but this was just too much.
I like magical realism though. Any recommendations for other writers?
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov is possibly my favourite magical realism book. I found that some of David Mitchell's writing is similar to Murakami, specifically number9dream, Ghostwritten and Cloud Atlas.
Through reading Murakami I've gotten into Kobo Abe, he shares that weirdness with him and are very Kafkaesque, I loved The Woman in the Dunes and The Box Man.
The Master and Margarita and Wind Up Bird Chronicle are two of my favorite books at the moment, so this seems like a good bet. The way both authors blend physically/spatially/temporally distinct characters and settings into one narrative is very similar, and incredibly satisfying.
Midnight's children is his most popular work though.
For both books, having even a basic knowledge of Indian history would make the experience much better.
The ground beneath her feet is incredible too. Shame is intense, and if you're feeling thin on South Asian history I'd go with either.
Or if you want to go with European/world history, enchantress of Florence is a good one. Very well reviewed but I personally never read beyond the first thirty pages.
His new book 1001 nights is coming out this Sept. The short excerpt published in new yorker from it was incredible, so that might be a good option too.
East/West is a great short story collection, but has less magic than his novels.
If you like magical realism, you might enjoy One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It is a metaphoric interpretation of Columbian history based upon the lives of many generations of one family.
I loved it (it took a few attempts to finish it though).
I think Marquez's work is more realistic (and not always evident when he strays into the magical); Murakami sometimes crosses straight into fantasy. If that makes sense at all.
Borges short stories - some of my favourites are very accessible: The Garden of Forking Paths and The Aleph. Some of his stories are difficult to read and make more sense as you know the author better. He wrote interesting works such as reviews on fictitious books. If you are looking for 'not shallow', he's your man. I also second 'The Master and Margarita' recommended by iambatman.
Interesting, I've only read 'Kafka on the Shore' and haven't read another Murakami because I didn't connect with it at all. Maybe I should try 'The Wind-up Bird Chronicle'?
Definitely try 'The Wind-up Bird Chronicle', I think it is regarded as one of his best works although it is a bit slower paced.
For me 'Kafka on the Shore' contained a bit too many magical events that were then left unexplained and unexplored- but I didn't think it was bad at all.
The other novel I really liked was the 1Q84 trilogy.
I would start with Wild Sheep Chase (an unusual quest/adventure story) or Hard Boiled Wonderland (a bit of Lovecraft meets P.K. Dick). Wind-up Bird is slower, a bit graphic and less fun.
As other have said, read Mikhail Bulgakov, including his "Heart of a Dog".
Also try Italo Calvino, his short stories are especially good. Calvino writes in many different literary styles, and magical realism is often at the core of his stories. "The Baron In The Trees" was one of the first books I read by him.
For when you have the mental space, a rather interesting / meta Calvino book: If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
Stick with Murakami, he's pretty much absorbed the entire Western canon and now left us with his charming "shuffling" of it. Hopefully you also read Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball 1973. They were his first two and recently reprinted ( this month, August 2015 ) in English.
Note that it's vinyl on his shelves, not books. Safe to say nearly all of it is jazz. Nice loudspeaker in the corner too. When you love music you play it loud so you can be more immersed in it rather than have something merely in the background.
I thought that too, but it looks like it would be pretty easy to slide over behind the keyboard for serious use. Maybe that's what he does. (Although I do know people who work crooked like that all the time!)
I'd really like to know more about the other desktop, i.e. what software he uses (both to actually write and collect thoughts/infos). Writers tend to differ a lot there, with some just using the newest Word, some keeping around ancient copies of WordStar and some even using Emacs...
uh, you can't even see what type of chair he uses.
> hardly an office
So to be an office there is some strict requirements that it has to fulfil? I'll tell the local startup incubator in Phnom Penh where developers sat outside in 40c on wooden benches (with plastic container over power outlet for protection on rainy days) because the few rooms inside were occupied (no a/c).
I don't even need to see the chair. Just the mere positioning of the screen makes me cringe.
The article mentions vinyl records, a coffe mug, a baseball figurine... That's hardly the kind of equipment that comes to my mind when I think of an office. How does it make it a dream office when the only relevant material mentioned are a bunch of pencils?
This is just some guy showing off his music collection.
Or even to non-creative workers that have to spend 1/3 their life in that space. You want it to be comfortable. Either by literal ergonomic comfort, or by the creature comforts of the familiar and pleasing.
http://m.eet.com/media/1116686/williams%20desk.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Williams_%28analog_designe...