Post Your Desk - The 2009 Edition

[Strazos]

Nice P3 figure.

[Yegolev]

I was talking to Strazos.

Me too.  I think I will have to do more quoting, been getting lazy.

Why do you put your make-up on in front of your computer? 

Hmmm.  The best I can come up with is the silver lid and/or mirror on my work desk.  Is that it?

Although the answer is: "So I can be pretty for the internets."

[schild]

I just noticed Yeg has luggage on his work desk photo.

Packed and ready to gtfo, eh Yeg?

[Signe]

I was talking to Strazos.

Me too.  I think I will have to do more quoting, been getting lazy.

Why do you put your make-up on in front of your computer? 

Hmmm.  The best I can come up with is the silver lid and/or mirror on my work desk.  Is that it?

Although the answer is: "So I can be pretty for the internets."

No.  There is an actual make up case next to your work laptop.  I PAY ATTENTION!  I'm glad you take pride in your internet persona, though. 

[Yegolev]

No.  There is an actual make up case next to your work laptop.  I PAY ATTENTION!  I'm glad you take pride in your internet persona, though. 

Oh, my Clinique bag.  You know, I've had that thing for so long that I forget it's a makeup case.  Mostly because it's a makeup bag from a Clinique Bonus Day and I don't know anyone who uses them to actually carry makeup around.  I took it to AZ when the F13 people got together, and it was old then.  Hell, I had it in 2004.

I just noticed Yeg has luggage on his work desk photo.

Packed and ready to gtfo, eh Yeg?

You mean the container of scotch?

[Signe]

You shouldn't keep some make up for longer than  a year or so.  Mascara, only 18 months. 

[Cyrrex]

Oh, my Clinique bag. 

You say it so casually.  Like it isn't a big deal.  And now you've got Signe giving you beauty advice.  I hope you're happy.

[fuser]

Desks, gaming computer, cablemodem, firewall (soekris 4801 w/ m0n0wall), laptop, work surface:

God I love those things, was looking a project ~1-2years ago using one with a 3G wireless pcmcia card. I regret the money I have dumped into a linksys xyz wireless vs picking up a 5501.

[Yegolev]

Oh, my Clinique bag. 

You say it so casually.  Like it isn't a big deal. 

It isn't a big deal.  It is full of DS games.  Currently the DS and charger are near an outlet, but fit neatly into the bag.  It's far nicer than any purpose-made DS case I have used.

And now you've got Signe giving you beauty advice.  I hope you're happy.

Yeah, I am a bit.  Although she just gave me advice on makeup expiration.  Too bad for her that I already knew that.

Ask shitty questions, get shitty answers.

[Signe]

Well, you did say it was very old and I didn't know what was in it.  I'm glad you keep track of those sorts of things, though.  It will help preserve your girlish good looks. 

[Merusk]

since Yeg shared his depressingly barren workspace, I figured I would as well.


Missing in the picture is the 4' tall columnar fan I have in case it gets too hot.  My office is 70% women and they control the thermostat.

[NiX]

My office is 70% women and they control the thermostat.

Had I not worked in an office with women I wouldn't know what you mean by this, but I do. There's no reason for an office to be 75-80F in the middle of summer.

[Quinton]

For fun, some terrible pictures of my desk at work, pretty much exactly as it was today, minus a couple of pieces of prototype hardware that I moved out of the way:

http://frotz.net/misc/office_work1_l.jpg

http://frotz.net/misc/office_work2_l.jpg

EDIT:  If I remember to bring a real camera sometime, I'll update these with less fuzzy pictures.

[Quinton]

Desks, gaming computer, cablemodem, firewall (soekris 4801 w/ m0n0wall), laptop, work surface:

God I love those things, was looking a project ~1-2years ago using one with a 3G wireless pcmcia card. I regret the money I have dumped into a linksys xyz wireless vs picking up a 5501.

Yeah, they're pretty awesome.  Everyone tells me "oh use a WRT54GL with the custom lunix firmware, you only have to reboot it every now and again."  My 4801 has never been rebooted except for power failures (long enough to drain the UPS) or to move it to a new location.  I'm sure it had over 500 days uptime at one point. 

[Ookii]

For fun, some terrible pictures of my desk at work, pretty much exactly as it was today, minus a couple of pieces of prototype hardware that I moved out of the way:



EDIT:  If I remember to bring a real camera sometime, I'll update these with less fuzzy pictures.

What's the award for and what's the deal with the telephone?

[Quinton]

What's the award for and what's the deal with the telephone?

The tall, oddly shaped lucite thing reads "World's 1st Android Phone Launch / Dream Project / October 2008 / HTC / Google / Qualcomm" and the smaller puzzle-piece lucite thing reads "Google / Thank you for filing your 1st patent application! / Your innovation is a key piece to Google's success. / The Google Patent Team".  (I haaaate software patents, but every now and again I cannot avoid being named on one).

Harder to see and further back is a (now empty -- must replace) bottle of Laphroaig single malt scotch.

The phone is just a boring 'ol deskphone.  It usually sits out of sight on top of the macpro under the desk but I grabbed it for a conference call last friday or something like that.

[fuser]

BEOS plate

I miss that OS!

[Segoris]

My office is 70% women and they control the thermostat.

Had I not worked in an office with women I wouldn't know what you mean by this, but I do. There's no reason for an office to be 75-80F in the middle of summer.

QFT. Out of 60 people, there are 4 guys in my office (5 if you count the lead IT guy, which I don't since I've had to remove his mancard many times over for talking while we're at the urinals as well as other issues), and even when it's anywhere between 85F-100F outside they still want the heat set to 78-83F. I wouldn't mind as much if shorts were allowed, but until then being the minority sex by a long shot in an office is crap.

[IainC]

At a previous job, we would conspire to 'break' the thermostat approximately twice a year so that you could dial in whatever temperature you liked but it wouldn't change anything and the office would be pleasantly cool in summer and pleasantly cool in winter.

[Ookii]

At a previous job, we would conspire to 'break' the thermostat approximately twice a year so that you could dial in whatever temperature you liked but it wouldn't change anything and the office would be pleasantly cool in summer and pleasantly cool in winter.

You don't like things pleasantly warm in the winter? Do you live here in Phoenix?

[Hoax]

More Razer mice.  Also, boring tables are awesome.

This may be my favorite.  The lamp + figure + wallpaper = win.

[Chimpy]

BEOS plate

I miss that OS!

God damn the memories of installing it on my computer because the one other Mac guy in the dorm didn't have a PowerPC but he had a copy he wanted to show everyone.

[Quinton]

BEOS plate

I miss that OS!

I miss working on that OS!

Sorta on-topic, here's a picture of my desk at 3F, 800 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, CA in 1999, when I was responsible for SCSI, USB, and MIDI subsystems on BeOS and that license plate was on my car:

[schild]

Wow. They had you sitting in a really shitty chair back then. The one at your android station looks like a Herman Miller, at least. You should demand better seating.

Edit: From that shot your right monitor looks like The Matrix screensaver.

[Quinton]

Be was cheap.  Really cheap.  The company survived for 10 years mostly by being absurdly frugal.  Most of my hardware was hand-me-down stuff.  Nobody ever threw out a machine unless it was unbootably dead and only after it was scavenged for any useful parts.  I wish I had some pictures of the carpeting in the 800 building.  It was filthy.

The machines there are a dual PIII (under the desk), my primary "high end" workstation, bebox (on the shelf), for serial debug (it had four serial ports) and because I hacked on the bootloader at times, an x86 test box, a 486 with a SCSI bus analyzer (back right), and an old beat-up mac clone for ppc (far right) testing.

That is indeed a matrix screensaver.

The chair at work now is a used aeron that I brought from the startup when we got bought.  Sadly, the right arm broke off the other day.  Google provides okay chairs, but usually not that nice.

[Yegolev]

Hooray for chair-retention.  I inherited a cush manager-grade leather chair from someone when he left the company and have hung onto it for a while now.  I like it more than the Aerons people get around here, partly because I don't have to take the ergo class but mostly because my leather chair is very plush and leans back like a mini-recliner.  I wish I could figure out how to steal it; I don't expect to be sitting in it much longer.

[01101010]

I see a fish tank, 10gal?

[Quinton]

Probably 10gal.  It was a small tank with small fish.  Been a while.

[01101010]

Probably 10gal.  It was a small tank with small fish.  Been a while.

Not to derail too far...

I ask because my gf breeds fish now and I get sucked in by association. Think she is up to 48 tanks so far, 30-some in use atm.

[Merusk]

I wish I could figure out how to steal it; I don't expect to be sitting in it much longer.

I'm guessing you have to badge-in or keypad in to get into your area.  Otherwise; chair goes "missing" on a late Friday evening, and you return Monday and complain loudly some asshole has taken your chair over the weekend.

Damn those filching assbags!

[Chimpy]

I wish I could figure out how to steal it; I don't expect to be sitting in it much longer.

I'm guessing you have to badge-in or keypad in to get into your area.  Otherwise; chair goes "missing" on a late Friday evening, and you return Monday and complain loudly some asshole has taken your chair over the weekend.

Damn those filching assbags!

His chair probably has one of those satellite beacons they use to track whales hidden in it because they are 'letting' him keep it as bait to see how long until he tries to do just that :p

[Yegolev]

Actually, yesterday I put a lot of personal effects in a cardboard box (invalidating the previous picture) and tried to walk out to my car.  I was stopped by physical security and the box was examined, the security console was called, I was informed I needed to fill out an asset removal form which I could get from my manager, and eventually they decided to let me go after my shocked expression, confession of ignorance due to taking actual company property out many times over ten years (including boxes of hard disks and entire servers), and my unstoppable charm.

The topper to this was when the security guard had said I could take my box out, she commiserated with me and said things are different around here now (she was forced to turn contractor recently), and would be even more different a month from now; I agreed with her completely, then she says "Yeah, you might come back and drive your car through the front glass and take all kinds of stuff, we wouldn't be able to stop you."  I pointed out, on the record, that I would never do anything like that, then took my box and hurried out.  It's like the fucking Titanic except there's no Billy Zane.

I passed my manager in the elevator well later and told him about it, and he was obviously new to this particular process.  Things around here are pretty much Opposite Land from just a few years ago, nevermind back in the 1990s.

Besides all that, I'd never be able to wheel a leather chair out of here even in the best of times.  Way too obvious.

[Quinton]

Wow, that sounds surreal...

Besides all that, I'd never be able to wheel a leather chair out of here even in the best of times.  Way too obvious.

No no, you hide it in a closet or something, take it apart, and sneak it out a piece at a time.

[Yegolev]

Come on, I'm sure other people have site security besides me and Murgos.

[schild]

Actually, yesterday I put a lot of personal effects in a cardboard box (invalidating the previous picture) and tried to walk out to my car.  I was stopped by physical security and the box was examined, the security console was called, I was informed I needed to fill out an asset removal form which I could get from my manager, and eventually they decided to let me go after my shocked expression, confession of ignorance due to taking actual company property out many times over ten years (including boxes of hard disks and entire servers), and my unstoppable charm.

The topper to this was when the security guard had said I could take my box out, she commiserated with me and said things are different around here now (she was forced to turn contractor recently), and would be even more different a month from now; I agreed with her completely, then she says "Yeah, you might come back and drive your car through the front glass and take all kinds of stuff, we wouldn't be able to stop you."  I pointed out, on the record, that I would never do anything like that, then took my box and hurried out.  It's like the fucking Titanic except there's no Billy Zane.

I passed my manager in the elevator well later and told him about it, and he was obviously new to this particular process.  Things around here are pretty much Opposite Land from just a few years ago, nevermind back in the 1990s.

Besides all that, I'd never be able to wheel a leather chair out of here even in the best of times.  Way too obvious.

Bet you can take your chair out once everyone is fired. Just be there on the last day.

I'VE WORKED HERE FOR 15 YEARS, A CHAIR IS THE LEAST OF YOUR WORRIES WITH ME. JUST LET ME TAKE MY COMFORTABLE SEATING DEVICE. GAWD.

Come on, I'm sure other people have site security besides me and Murgos.

My building has a 22 year old I've caught sleeping at the desk.

Austin is a little... relaxed.