Category: Update

Making a little difference

For the first time in a long time I’ve been able to build a solution that will have a direct impact on people during this crazy time. I can’t discuss what it specifically does due to client confidentiality, but suffice it to say it makes people’s financial lives just a little less painful when trying to manage right now.

It’s amazing how far this type of thing can go both motivationally and emotionally. We all feel a loss of control right now and to be able to help people get a little bit of that control back means a great deal to me. It’s all about silver linings right now, isn’t it?

Status• Posted on by artgelwicks
Posted in Tools, Update, Working from Home

Changes to the office

Posted on by artgelwicks

I’ve been struggling a bit lately with the configuration of my home office to make it more functional to work from full time again. There was a time several years ago when I was working from home that the layout and hardware were different and I could function effectively. Now, my office is not only used for my full time job but also podcasting, writing, development, and many other things (not to mention the occasional gaming session.)

One of the main challenges has been running a laptop and a desktop all-in-one machine as my central monitor without having two different keyboards and mice AND sharing one webcam (since that’s a critical thing now.) It took a little planning and an order from Amazon but it has all come together.

The Amazon purchase was for a 10 port powered USB hub with three charging ports built in. The second part was a manual switching USB hub. The way the set up works is: the keyboard, mouse, webcam, boom mike, headset, and phone charging dock all plug into the UBS hub. The hub is plugged into the switching hub which in turn is plugged into the laptop and the all-in-one desktop. (I’ll include non-affiliate links to the two at the bottom.)

This configuration means that by pressing two buttons (one to switch the hub and one to change the all-in-one monitor’s input from internal to external) I can effectively jump between machines without changing a single cable.

When working on configuring your home workspace make sure you are setting it up so it works for you rather than trying to emulate the artificial standards placed on you at work. Finding the configuration that works for you can make all the difference in the world.

Links:

Tek Republic TUS-200 USB Sharing Switch – 2 Port Manual Switch One USB Device…

APANAGE Powered USB 3.0 Hub, 11 Ports USB Hub Splitter (7 High Speed Data Tra…

Posted in Update

Being Ridiculous

Posted on by artgelwicks

Made my first run to the grocery store since this whole virus issue got out of hand and guess what I found…

A whole lot of nothing. Seriously. What is the point of this behavior. Yes, I understand we are all to be staying home and that means we are consuming household items at an accelerated pace but good grief people this is absurd.

Panic buying like this (and this is nothing new, I’m in Pennsylvania, just let it threaten snow then try to buy eggs, bread, and milk) creates more problems than it solves and shows the lack of concern for other so prevalent today.

This doesn’t have anything to do with productivity aside from a rant so let’s put the proper spin on it. When working on a project you take time to estimate the resources needed for the time and scope to minimize the cost and maximize the utilitization. This is highly applicable here. Knowing how much you would normally consume and buying that rather than acting as if there will never be any more means there is more left for others and we all wind up in a better place.

Acting with thought rather than emotion, control over panic, and an awareness of the limited pool of resources from which we all draw can make all the difference, whether it’s on a project or buying toilet paper.

Posted in Update

Staying home the digital version

Posted on by artgelwicks

It feels like a never ending quest to find the right home for my blogging but I think I’ve settled on a landing place based on a bit of an epiphany I had last week. What occurred to me is I needed a place not only for long form thoughts but also short comments and ideas; these smaller entries usually went to social media platforms.

The current home of my blog is WordPress.com and this is where it will stay for the next 12 months. I’ve changed the visual design to a more “social media friendly” look and feel (we’ll see how well that works) as I start to ramp up my posting in volume but focusing on shorter form content intermixed with longer form content.

This is all experimental for the blog and for me so don’t be surprised if you see this strategy changes. If it does, have faith I’ll share the what and why as it happens.