Folks in the
Arma forums were posting pictures of where they game, so I thought I'd post some myself. I'm a sysadmin for a small company owned by some friends of mine, so I'm kind of my own boss and I work at home, managing a couple networks of Linux servers. Having a quiet and personal space to work was really important to me, so my girlfriend and I moved into a new place with a finished basement that I could use as my home office. Besides the office, I have a full bathroom and full sized refrigerator down here in the basement, so I can be completely shut off from the world! Click each thumbnail to enlarge.
My main computer is a triple-screen setup. Each monitor is a Dell 27-inch wide-screen that runs at 1920x1200 in 16:10. There is also a laptop off to the side with another 20-inch monitor in portrait mode. You can see the new TrackIR 5 on the center monitor, along with a Logitech webcam. I do a lot of video conferencing with the developers at my company as we build a lot of custom stuff for clients. Skype is a godsend for telecommuting.
It's hard to capture it in a picture, but when you are sitting at the desk and looking at the center monitor, the two side screens completely envelop your peripheral vision. I have two Radeon 5870 video cards, and when I use Eyefinity for triple-screen gaming it's absolutely brilliant. I'm still waiting on ATI to release drivers that will let me use Eyefinity with Crossfire.
Here is my little Dell laptop and spare monitor on the side. Portrait mode is great for web browsing, and it's nice to be able to have a spare system with a web browser accessible when I'm playing a game on all three screens using the desktop. I don't have to alt+tab to keep an eye on email, respond to AIM, etc.
I just received my new Logitech G940 HOTAS flight system yesterday. You can see the throttle here along with the backlit keyboard. I don't usually leave the joysticks out on the desk when I'm not using it, but I thought it would be nice for pictures.
Here is the G940 Joystick. It uses a pretty powerful hydraulic system for Force Feedback, and includes trim dials on the base. The wood on my desk is pretty smooth, so I'm probably going to get some of that rubber sticky-padding at Target to put under the stick and the throttle so they don't slide at all.
Jazz runs in the family. My father is Jazz guitarist and has been a teacher for over 30 years. That's John Coltrane in the picture. I have a lot of these kinds of photos, including a good one of Miles Davis (whom I was named after) that I have yet to hang up. I'll get around to it some day.
Gotta stay organized! Random stuff that I like to keep handy near my desk. I'm a clean freak about grease and dust around my desk, so I go through monitor wipes like crazy. That's another Dell desktop system on the floor with a GeForce 8800GTX that isn't being used right now.
I have about 800 CD's that I've collected over the years. Music is a big part of what I spend my money on. Living 10 minutes outside of D.C. means there is live music of the highest caliber nearby almost every night. Jazz is best consumed live, and I try to get out and support the one true American art form as much as possible.
There is a lot of space in the basement not being used right now. I'm planning on putting some weights and a treadmill down here so I can get some much-needed exercise while I'm monitoring servers throughout the day.
Here is a full shot of the office area. The old love-seat comes in really handy for when my girlfriend wants to hang out with me while I'm working, or if I'm pulling an all-nighter, it's nice to get out of the office chair and stretch out a little while working on my laptop. I can also take a nap near the computer so that a server alert or important IM ding will wake me up to deal with it. That's a big deal for me when I've been working crazy hours and grabbing a few hours of sleep at irregular intervals. I have a pretty sophisticated monitoring system for my network, so if the slightest thing goes wrong, an alarm will sound and I'll wake up and be dealing with it right away.
Under my desk you can see the rudder pedals for the G940 flight system. I just leave them there as they make a good foot-rest while I'm working. I have to keep my desktop chassis under the desk so that the DVI cables from all my monitors can reach it. I just finished custom building that computer a few weeks ago and it's pretty much the best components you can buy right now. Maybe I'll post pictures or videos of that at some point. It's my first fully water-cooled system, so I can overclock the pants off it! It's hard to get the wiring cleaned up much more than it is already, because I have components spread all over the desk, so I can't bundle them up together very easily. Plus, I mess around with how things are connected often enough that it would be a pain to have everything taped down.
And finally, since I haven't posted a picture of myself yet, I bring you the man, behind the man, behind the man.
My Home Office
Ultima |TG-303rd|
