Making Modifications to Your Computer Workspace? 136
Anonymouse Cowherd asks: "I've got an ancient engineer's desk at work, and the thing is seriously not very comfortable for long-term computer usage, so I'm trying to think of things I can do to it to make it more livable. Has anyone had to live with this situation and been forced to hack their own office furniture, or wished that they had? If you did, what modifications did you make to improve your space?"
Perhaps the most important thing of all... (Score:5, Interesting)
I would definitely consider looking at upgrading your chair before you worry about the actual desk itself.
Re:Perhaps the most important thing of all... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Perhaps the most important thing of all... (Score:1)
-Peter
Re:Perhaps the most important thing of all... (Score:2)
Re:Perhaps the most important thing of all... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Perhaps the most important thing of all... (Score:2)
2. I've been working 8-16 hours a day sitting in front of a computer for about 12 years. It's pretty typical for us in that situation to develop specific injuries and weaknesses, one common one of which is weakened lower back muscles, leading to back problems. I've been to chiropractors on and off for much of that time. Most of them fix the symptoms, but not the underlying cause.
3. I only built the chair six months ago. Before that I'v
Re:Perhaps the most important thing of all... (Score:2)
Go to elitefts.com and buy a Reverse Hyper machine, and use it.
Re:Perhaps the most important thing of all... (Score:2)
It's pretty typical for us in that situation to develop specific injuries and weaknesses, one common one of which is weakened lower back muscles, leading to back problems
Like the other guy said: do situps and hyperextensions (the other way) and your back will feel better.
Beyond chiropractors (Score:2)
Re:Beyond chiropractors (Score:2)
The last line of my post was 'I've also been working on the more "conventional" advice for people with the same problem, i.e. slowly strengthening those muscles, taking short breaks periodically to stand up and move around more.'
I didn't go into more detail b
Re:Beyond chiropractors (Score:2)
You forgot to add something... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:You forgot to add something... (Score:2)
Hey, if you can run that by your superiors, I'm sure you can get away with just napping and claiming that you're "Meditating on a solution to the problem" or "Harnessing cosmic energy to leap great hurdles"
Re:You forgot to add something... (Score:3, Funny)
But when your desk starts to vibrate that's when they worry. Nine times out of ten it's an electric razor, but every once in a while... it's a dildo. Of course it's company policy never to imply ownership in the event of a dildo... always use the indefinite article a dildo, never your dildo.
Re:You forgot to add something... (Score:2)
If my desk vibrates, it's usually me getting paged.
Re:Perhaps the most important thing of all... (Score:5, Funny)
I agree.
-- Steve Ballmer
Re:Perhaps the most important thing of all... (Score:2)
Older Office Chairs Newer (Score:1)
Also oblitory room shots. Room [iparkedyouin.com] I've recently moved since this photo, but, this was the most glorious setup I ever had. I had to crawl to get into it, but I liked it.
Re:Older Office Chairs Newer (Score:2)
Steve? Steve Ballmer, is that you?
Re:Perhaps the most important thing of all... (Score:2)
The chair. Seriously.
Agree completely.
A good office chair cost $350 13 years ago, when I got mine. So perhaps $700 today. It will have a multitude of flight controls that are so easy to microadjust that you will have no trouble getting into the habit of changing height, tilt, etc just a little bit once an hour or so. Those minor changes in posture and pressure points make a huge difference in comfort during long sessions. They also make a huge difference in productivity-- people who don't get physicall
Re:Perhaps the most important thing of all... (Score:2)
For comfort reasons, he added some angled foot rests under his desk, and angeled his keyboard. (He was talking
Re:Perhaps the most important thing of all... (Score:2)
Re:Perhaps the most important thing of all... (Score:2)
Re:Perhaps the most important thing of all... (Score:2)
You can always get a regular racing seat [corbeau.com] and mount it to a swivel base.
Re:Perhaps the most important thing of all... (Score:2)
Of course not, that's what the steering wheel was for.
Re:Perhaps the most important thing of all... (Score:1)
Just as long as you keep your boss from finding out about your new confy chair.
I've noticed that bosses in general aren't too happy with you having a better chair than them...
Re:Perhaps the most important thing of all... (Score:2)
The one thing I would add is that if you can find it, steel springs in the seat make a huge difference in how long you can sit comfortably. Cushioning that conforms to pressure (foam padding etc) is terrible because it loses most of it's effectiveness under dynamic loads.
Re:Perhaps the most important thing of all... (Score:2)
Bingo!
The thing to do is watch the local newspaper to find office furniture closeouts - or even relocations. We were lucky enough last year to find a business that was relocating. They didn't want to move all their inventory, so they slashed their prices quite a bit. We picked up two Steelcase fully adjustable chairs from Thomas Ruff for a total of a couple hundred. Each, brand new online was something like ~$699 at the time. Granted, they were slightly used - and one's a not particular
Re:Perhaps the most important thing of all... (Score:3, Funny)
I disagree. The most important thing for me is the three hot blonde Swedish girls that welcome me every morning when I enter my cubicle. Every few minutes, they massage my legs, fetch me a coffee or otherwise make sure I'm comfortable.
Architect's desk (Score:2)
TV Tray tables (Score:1)
I hope I'm picturing the right type
Re:TV Tray tables (Score:3, Funny)
You might be a Redneck if you put your computer...
Sorry, but this just isn't working out.
You might be in Redneck IT if (Score:2, Funny)
the first serious posting (Score:1)
basically you want almost everything you need (software/ books/monitor ect) to be at arms reach and this is after your chair is correct. first adjustment needed is your arms should be more or less parrellel to the ground (and your hands should be straight).
but ask somebody that knows this kind of thing.
Re:the first serious posting (Score:2)
Just shimmy some phone books under your desk to elevate you to overlord. After you've intimidated everyone else, you wont need a comfortable workspace.
They should do the work. That's what they're best at. You should do the overlording. That's what you're best at.
Or you can just take the advice of the parent post.
Wall-mounted stuff. (Score:5, Insightful)
The idea is you have nothing on the floor, so you have free rein for the cables.
My setup is wall-shelves for the books (always handy), and a much sturdier wall-shelf for the monitors and b0x3n (LCDs still suck at colour, so I'm still with a 19" behemoth).
I use a normal folding-legs table as a desk, which I can use elsewhere if needed without having to dismantle the computers. Bonus is that I can move the table around to suit the eye-distance to the monitors.
As I had spare brackets, I added a small shelf below the table level for the subwoofer...
Re:Wall-mounted stuff. (Score:2, Offtopic)
Grow up...there are plenty of LCD's out there with a wider color range and better delta tracking than CRTs.
Not that I actually believe that you have any use for that amount of color accuracy considering every single professional photographer I know (and I know many more than most people) uses LCDs on a daily basis.
Offtopic (Score:1)
Re:Offtopic (Score:2)
Re:Wall-mounted stuff. (Score:1, Funny)
And I bet you buy those Monster $50 gold plated RCA cables for your A/V stuff, and have a massive spoiler on your economy car to make it go faster...
Cables do NOT go on the floor! (Score:2)
My desk at work as a power strip right behind the monitor. Allows for plugging in a laptop, along with the desktop, WITH CRAWLING on the floor.
Re:Wall-mounted stuff. (Score:2)
Now that's an expression I never thought i'd hear!
Re:Wall-mounted stuff. (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Wall-mounted stuff. (Score:2)
Well I haven't tried the ergonomics posture of crufixion in the office, could you ellaborate more how you are going to accomplish any work if you are so tied up with your posture?
Re:Wall-mounted stuff. (Score:2)
Modded insightful. Only on slashdot...
Re:Wall-mounted stuff. (Score:2)
Re:Wall-mounted stuff. (Score:2)
Re:Wall-mounted stuff. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Wall-mounted stuff. (Score:2)
better make the 'hacks' undo-able (Score:5, Insightful)
When it comes time to move to another desk, the next employee or the people in charge of keeping track of the office furniture may not appreciate your modifications. Some nit-picky manager may even consider it willful destruction of company propery. So make sure you can return it to the condition it was in when it was assigned to you.
Also, what's your definition of 'long term usage'? If it's uncomfortable after 2-3 hours, get up and take a break. You don't have to live at your desk.
Re:better make the 'hacks' undo-able (Score:1)
I was about to answer "You must be new around here" when I noticed your four-number id.
Best way to comfort (Score:1)
I sit on an old chair at work, and whilst its not uncomfortable, its not the best thing in the world. I do this because if I get comfy in a big old chair I won't work as hard.
Get up, walk around. At the very least your eyes will thank you.
Here ya go (Score:5, Funny)
If that doesn't do it, throw in this [industrialtapedepot.com] too.
Re:Here ya go (Score:2)
Obviously he was talking about IE Mac. Have you tried it? It was of course the best Mac browser at the time, but if it had been maintained in pace it would still far surpass Safari and Firefox today. There were a lot of good features from browsing tools to CSS that it simply supported well.
Oh, and I think it was a completely different team that built it. The only thing that was similar was the in
Re:Here ya go (Score:1)
Non-destructive office hacks, kthx. (Score:3, Interesting)
Unfortunately, it can't fix the damage you did to your office equipment (from the perspective of your employer). Companies are often irrationally resistant to non-destructive, 100% reversible alterations to office equipment, but they are 100% rationally resistant to destructive, irreversible alterations to office equipment.
The trick is to work within the system you're given, adding things you can remove, and removing things you can put back later. O
Keyboard + mouse tray (Score:5, Informative)
1) If the keyboard and mouse are at the wrong height (forearms should be basically horizontal to the ground while keying / mousing) look into one of the under-dek mounted slide-out keyboard and mouse trays made by folks like Kensington, Steelcase, etc. Ebay or a local used office furniture or used computer store are places to look for this stuff on the cheap. Look for a tray that adjusts height, angle and left/right orientation, and also make sure that it slides under the desk to get it out of the way when not in use.
2) At the minimum, get a comfotable chair that either a) fits you natively, or b) has enough adjustment to make you comfy.
3) If the monitor is not at the right height (Your eyes should be level with the top edge of the viewable area when you are looking at it with your head tilted slightly down) either adjust the stand or place something STURDY and flat underneath the monitor to raise it to the proper height.
4) For optimum comfort, make sure that your mouse is located as close to your centerline as possible. This is a bigger deal than many people think - having your arm angled out to the side while mousing can be a major casue of Repetitive Stress Injuries.
And oh yeah, take frequent breaks!
Re:Keyboard + mouse tray (Score:2)
I'm using a el'cheapo BENQ Internet Keyboard and a Microsoft Trackball. (By the way, I love my trackball. It's way easier on the wrists than pushing around rodents all day long. Anyways, let's get back on-topic.) There are more expensive ones like the Microsoft Natural Keyboard. I have test-typed them at some stores, but to me they feel way too flimsy.
That said, my ideal keyboard would use the IBM key springs
Re:Keyboard + mouse tray (Score:2)
Re:Keyboard + mouse tray (Score:1)
Re:Keyboard + mouse tray (Score:1)
The canonical monitor boosting platform is a few reams of paper. You may need two side by side to be wide enough, depending on your monitor base. You can stack them two high, if you need that much height. While they a
Re:Keyboard + mouse tray (Score:2)
To add to parent poster: if you're working in X, the xwrits [lcdf.org] package is great for this.
I moved the dirty plates (Score:4, Funny)
Re:I moved the dirty plates (Score:2)
Surrounded. (Score:5, Informative)
I think with chairs, I've just gotten lucky. The chair I use is the pefect size for the desk and I rarely feel any physical fatigue even over long sessions.
I have most of my systems on the shelves oriented in such a way that the power supply fan blows toward the window, so I can easily open that up and exhaust the hot air that builds up. In addition, I have the machines which have cables I may need to unplug or switch on a regular basis on the shelf perpendicular to the short edge of the desk, so I can easily walk around behind the shelves and have full access to the back of the case.
A picture of how I did this with shelves is here:
http://www.computerrooms.org/viewer.php?pointer=1
Those Gorilla Racks are worth seeking out, by the way - I buy them at Costco and they have a capacity of something like 600 pounds per shelf (!) I never get close to this of course, but they feel steady in such a way that I don't mind piling equipment on there. The shelves can be adjusted to just about any height - you choose.
Preserving desk space is key to my own sanity since I often have books or printouts I am working from, along with my lunch, etc.
Another thing which helps is lighting. I have found that the best lighting for me is not very high above my desk. This allows my desk space to be flooded with light for reading, without diminishing the contrast of the monitor. Accordingly I use a light with a lampshade on it and have the lamp actually on my desk, at the edge.
Re:Surrounded. (Score:2)
Off topic (about Ekiga 2.0) (Score:2)
Regarding SIP and Ekiga I'm not sure if there are any chances to use SIP behind a NAT without any forwarded ports (in that case using STUN but I doubt it.)
What ports are used are application dependant, but this is what I use and I have no troubles with any application or provider so far:
5060 TCP/UDP (SI
Sit-stand desk (Score:2, Interesting)
An article from the other day about geek health problems [slashdot.org] brings up the issue of low back pain, an ergonomic sit-stand desk might be a great choice for long hours of computer work. If you don't want to shell out for the high-cost adjustable desks, you can sometimes make do with a workbench type desk that you can stand at and type, and a tall chair to go with it for the times you want to sit.
Re:Sit-stand desk (Score:2)
He had an amazing desk that was balanced with pneumatics. You simply had to grab the desk and pull a bar to adjust between sitting and standing.
I have since always wished I had something similar.
sleep? (Score:1)
good article (Score:1)
darker wall (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:darker wall (Score:2)
Both at work and at home, I have a small desk lamp behind the monitor, illuminating the wall in front of me. There's absolutely no glare and my eyes don't have to work so hard to readjust between the bright screen and a dark wall. I know others have posted similar experiences here before. Consider why dynamic range is so important in everything from game engines
No shelves (Score:1)
Lower the Keyboard (Score:1)
my ghetto hack... (Score:2)
Re:my ghetto hack... (Score:2)
On ergonimics: I have appalling posture and used to get a bit sore, then I started doing lots of chinups. My posture is still terrible, but I guess my back can take it now.
Buy a new desk (Score:2)
If management won't pony up, make thinly-veiled claims of RSI (don't worry, you'll get it eventually). If they still won't pony up, just buy your own. Working at a terrible workstation isn't worth it.
Sound system (Score:2)
Re:Sound system (Score:2)
On a more serious note, my $15 wrist rest should have been purchased about six years ago. It doesn't help my cramped work area much, but my nerves aren't totally flat anymore. I could have done better with the mouse gel pad t
Please don't use RMS when you say "Watts" (Score:2)
Please leave RMS measurements to the electricians.
Re:Please don't use RMS when you say "Watts" (Score:1)
Re:Please don't use RMS when you say "Watts" (Score:2)
I was just using RMS to distinguish it from PMPO, which is often used by unscrupulous vendors to make an impression on people who know nothing about audio.
500W PMPO doesn't get very loud at all. My sound system however can deliver audio in volumes which make it seriously hard to get any work done. That's why I usually keep it turned down to 1.5 :-)
Re:Please don't use RMS when you say "Watts" (Score:2)
say 500W because we know what you mean... you really mean average power.
Nah, you gotta be specific. Also, I wonder what happens if you drive that speaker at 4 Ohms.
Interestingly (Score:2)
A 'hacker' is "one who makes furniture with an axe".
Congrats! (Score:2)
Buy the ugliest desk you can think of (Score:1, Troll)
Re:Buy the ugliest desk you can think of (Score:2)
Weird... (Score:2, Informative)
When it comes to keyboard/mouse I can buy whatever I want and get reimbursed on my salary. I work for that big blue IT-company btw. (Excuse any spellingerrors etc etc, English is not my first language).
Re:Weird... (Score:1)
Ergo Guide (Score:2)
A few important points according to me:
1. make sure that your chair and table height are correct/comfortable for you, you should not have to bend forward (refer to ergo guide for what correctness means)
2. invest in a good chair with sufficient lumbar support & hand rest, should cost around $150 (adjustible arm-rests wud be great too)
3. make sure that the keyboard and mouse are placed properl
OH&S (Score:2)
My employer fixed it for me (Score:2)
I found out later that the company had just been sued by an employee for disability over a similar issue (though apparently that was someone with a history of questionalbe lawsuits).
Note: not my current employer
What I did years ago (Score:3)
When I was in my 20's, (about ten to fifteen years ago), I had an arrangement where the computer and monitor sat on a low coffee table at one side of the room. A 3m extension cord was added both to the mouse and keyboard. I then sat in a beanbag chair with the keyboard in my lap and the mouse sitting on a tray on my right. The tray had short legs on it, which lifted it up about 20cm off the floor. This was positively the most comfortable computing arrangement I have ever had, and I miss it.
Unfortunately, my eyesight will no longer support me looking at a monitor from that distance without replacing it with a much larger model (I used a 14" monitor back then).
Talk to your boss (Score:2)
Even if they don't, most companies I've been exposed to make a point of telling employees about the value of good ergonomics and how to properly set up one's workspace. Until they eliminated the position, my former employer's company nurse would come to your desk, help you get everything adjusted, and if money needed to be spent (modifications, equipment, etc.), she'd get it pushed through your boss to mak
Re:Talk to your boss (Score:2)
Make sure you're in a relaxed, natural position (Score:2)
1. A lot of people have already mentioned it, but a good
hack the chair instead (Score:2)
What *not* to do. (Score:2)
Re:recipie (Score:2)
Bill!? Is that you?