cgf - I don't know how much any of this will help, especially since I
fancy myself rather low on the list of those you would entertain for
*advice* - anyhow, here goes.
I sympathize with you *completely* about struggling to find a way to
multi-task your life. I work at least a 100 or more hours a work on the
computer routinely - and am married (no kids yet). Before I even got
married, I KNEW I'd have to come up with a creative solution if I wanted
to continue working those kind of hours AND keep a wife *relatively* (I
entertain doubts that ANY wife is ever *truly*) happy.
I've been enjoying my solution for three years now, and its been BEYOND
wonderful. It's exceeded my expectations a hundred fold. Basically I
saved my money and bought a commercial grade projector. I own an Infocus
950 with a 2400 Lumen value. It originally retailed for $11,000.00. I
bought it on closeout for the unbelievable price of $4000.00 from BH in
Manhattan. The quality is outstanding, and with the high lumen rating,
the sun can be shining in the window and the screen quality is
undiminished. My living room is small, so I had to buy a screen since I
had no white wall big enough. A 100 inch portable screen from Da-Lite
ran $700.00. It's worth every penny. It actually covers a window - and
when not in use, can be collapsed in 5 seconds to again show the window.
I spent $1000.00 buying a new three piece sectional and did not use the
middle section. Instead I moved together the couch and left-armed chaise
lounge to create a rather unique living room *bed*.
I built a stand-alone rack system from PVC and 2 inch electrical conduit
(all from Home Depot) to suspend the projector AND computer from the
ceiling since you don't want a very long digital monitor cable between
the video card and the projector. The digital cable I bought cost $80.00
and is only six feet long. It was the longest one I could find without
getting one custom made. Otherwise, beside the projector cable and
screen, everything else can be bought routinely at Best Buy or CompUSA.
Fact is, I custom built my computer myself so I could build in exactly
what I wanted. I bought the ATI All-In-Wonder Card so that I could pipe
DirecTV directly into the computer. Now I have not only a VERY
comfortable and productive work environment, but also a KICK-AA$$S home
theater entertainment system that LAUGHS at all the money people are
spending on new plasm TVs. (It does HDTV as well). I run 2000 Server on
the machine so I can do RAID and other high end things. I have NFL
Sunday ticket, so I can watch my pathetic Detroit Lions, drink a beer,
check my e-mail for more cgf meanness and work on my projects all the
while *reclined* on my chaise lounge. I use a Logitech wireless
ergonomic keyboard and wireless trackball mouse. Since the computer is
suspended from the ceiling, the actual range is increased to almost ten
feet. That's ten feet radius, so in fact I can use the keyboard and
mouse with a twenty foot circle - pretty much covers the whole room.
Because of the sectional setup, my wife can sit next to me and watch TV
- we can share a blanket, watch a DVD -WHILE- I debug and code my Perl
projects (using cygwin of course). I can be online with work via secure
dial-up (because I'm a contractor they won't give me VPN - stupid).
I also have a laptop, which I just plug into the DSL router and access
via DameWare Mini Remote Control and/or cygwin (ssh, nfs - you know the
drill). (Laptops - Darn things fry your mannhhood off when parked in
your lap for too long - but a wireless keyboard can sit there ALL day!)
Because of this setup, I'm always in the MIDDLE of the action. My wife
never feels alone and abandoned and often cuddles with me to read a book
while I work. When I'm away, she uses the *construction* as she calls it
to shop e-bay, build puzzles on JigZone.com, e-mail her friends and
family, etc. She loves it as much as I do.
This setup has DEFINITELY increased my productivity 25-30%, PLUS upped
my quality of life SUBSTANTIALLY. Anyone who sees my setup is blown away
impressed - you can actually see the *awe* in their eyes. And the whole
setup cost less than $10,000 in total to build (not to mention a few
hundred hours of time to build and setup). Not cheap by any stretch, but
something I now CAN'T POSSIBLY imagine living without. I'd recommend
this solution to anyone who does computing for a living (and anymore
that includes almost everyone).
There is a drawback however - putting in a new lamp cost a $1000.00.
OUCH!
But when considering how much I use it, it's actually a small price to
pay.
As for the computer, because it's an ordinary small server case housing
common components. If something goes wrong I just swap it out. I do
nightly incremental backups to an external hard disk via USB2 and
NovaBack.
You should SERIOUSLY consider something similar - if you can swing it.
Brian Kelly
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