Arnt Gulbrandsen
About me • About this blog

My office suffers from COVID-19

I have a purpose-built office at home. We bought the neighbouring apartment and I cancelled the lease on my former office. So in the morning, after my 60cm morning commute, I sit down to work, and then…

Ten minutes pass, or twenty, I start to focus. One child interrupts. I help with whatever. I try again, half an hour passes. Another interruption — a child perhaps, or my wife wants to discuss food for next week or wonders whether it's time for an espresso, or the DHL chap who knows very well that I'm there and can pass parcels to the neighbours. Hi Arnt he says, I have a parcel for a <name>, can you…? Later the neighbour will ring the doorbell too, but that's usually after the end of my working day. Usually.

After the third interruption it's really difficult to gain focus at all. The corona virus has turned my lovely office into almost a regular one.

Sitting down to work

This is my answer to so how should the office be, then? and so how does your office look?, both of which are are entirely reasonable things to say to me, particularly this month. If you haven't talked to me about work environments and productivity, this post may be one to skip. […More…]

Sharing keyboard across Mac and Linux

Computers are good. More computers are better. But more keyboards are not. Swapping keyboards all the time was how I first ruined my wrists, almost twenty years ago.

That's why now, with a Mac Mini under and a linux box near my working desk, I definitely don't want to use two keyboards. One is the right number, and Synergy is the way to share keyboard and mouse. […More…]

A new gadget: Nuforce Icon μDAC-2 amplifier

My neighbour is putting up another concrete building and I don't like noise.

For the past few days I've used a Nuforce μDAC-2 together with Bose QC15 headphones. I tried the QC15s alone, but they don't suppress the construction noise very well on their own. They do better when fed music.

The μDAC-2 does well. It's not exactly highend (for context: I think Musical Fidelity makes highend gear, and I consider most Bose devices to be overpriced beep-beep gadgets). But it also doesn't offend me like most computer audio gadgets. It's pleasant, and allows me to work in complete disregard of the $#$@# concrete mixers. Well worth the price.

My old custom-made Cherry keyboard

Tidying my office, chapter 17, in which beloved hardware is less beloved than a usable shelf.

I'm throwing away the keyboard Cherry made for me sometime around the middle nineties.

It has an AT keyboard plug, so I haven't been able to use it in a while, and it's worn out […More…]

My desk is tidy

Stronger: I have two desks, and both are now reasonably tidy.

I've had a tidy desk before, such as when I moved to a new office in 1998, but this time no force majeure is involved. I tidied my desks, and kept at it until I was done. Three days.

I congratulate myself. My mother would, too, if I were to tell her.

Office!

I'm sitting in my office, pondering whether my location is best described as an office, an office, an office or perhaps (overwhelmingly correct) an office. I think I like room. Simple words are so… unruffling.