Office a nerd and his cave

The Cave - Intentional Germination

Germination … what is that all about? The answer, dear friend, comes courtesy of Michael Lopp, aka Rands.

In one of the most definitive pieces of literature on modern culture, Rands describes why each nerd (aka geek) needs his cave, some of the characteristics of a nerd cave, and some parameters for how to treat the nerd in his preferred environment. If you are a nerd, or have one in your life, go read this now.

It’s an ominous name: Cave. It alludes to a dark, damp place where you are likely to be eaten by a grue. The irony is that the purpose of a Cave is not to insulate, its purpose is to germinate.

True words. Great words.

And for me it could be said that I suffer from an unhealthy obsession with viewing other people’s caves — their desk, the equipment around the cave, what software they use, and how they use it. But it is what it is.

And so, for those who have the same cave fetish, I share my own setup.

Hardware

  • A 13” Unibody Macbook with 4 GB of RAM and a 128 GB SSD
  • A 23” Apple Cinema Display (matte screen)
  • A Magic Mouse and/or a Magic Trackpad … some days I’d trade them both for a high end mouse
  • An 8 GB white iPhone 3GS.
  • A 16 GB Wifi iPad.
  • A 500 GB Time Capsule.
  • A 750 GB WD Passport.
  • A 1 TB external drive
  • A pair of Sennheiser HD 515 headphones.
  • A LCD arm mount from Ergotron
  • A custom built kitchen island for my desk, an ideal standing set up
  • A Henge dock
  • mStand from Rain Design for when I want that second monitor
  • Assorted notebooks from Rhodia and Behance (available here)
  • Coffee from Gus and the good folks at Ethical Coffee Chain

Software

Great software was the reason I switched to a Mac. The third party apps and the passion of the people who create and use this software was so much more attractive than what I saw in the corporate world. And it was the community that caught my attention as much as the nice looking computers and gorgeous, easy-to-use software.

I do my best to employ a minimalist mindset to my tools. I purge my Applications folder from time to time and I’m getting better at ignoring the newest bright and shiny apps that come out weekly. The following tools are the ones that have stuck around over the years.

  • iTunes/Rdio: iTunes had been my most favorite piece of software — it was always on and accompanies whatever type of work I happen to do on my computer. These days I use Rdio about 90% of the time for music, but iTunes is still always on.
  • Yojimbo: It’s not the prettiest piece of software for the Mac, but it does just enough and I’ve never seen it crash. If there is one thing the crew at Bare Bones Software do well, it’s write rock solid applications.
  • Droplr: One of the best additions to many of my workflows in recent years came courtesy of Droplr. A desktop utility to share text, images, screenshots, and links, this tool is slick. Whether I’m working on a project with teammates, sharing meeting notes, or tweeting links, I use Droplr to do it.
  • Numbers: Another application from Apple, Numbers has endeared itself to me. It gives a guy like me a pleasant way to crunch the numbers for a home based business. With style.
  • Acorn: My experience with Adobe software has been limited to Photoshop and Reader, but they simply do not have the feel of a Mac app. In contrast, Acorn has been an absolute pleasure to use. It has never crashed on me, it has a sensible interface, and it does everything I’ve ever needed it to. The application embodies everything I love about the Mac developer community: it’s offered by a one man shop, created by a guy who’s not afraid to take on the monolithic big corporation by re-envisioning how an application in this category should work.
  • Textmate/Coda/Espresso: A text editor is not something you take lightly. Not if you’re a nerd anyways. I used Coda extensively for a year, switched to Textmate for the past 18 months, and have just recently started learning the subtle beauty of Espresso. All are great, although Textmate is getting a little long in the tooth.
  • LaunchBar: When I use another Mac, I feel slightly naked. LaunchBar is why. It’s an indispensable tool that I use to navigate my computer, with configured shortcuts and other fine magical properties.
  • Typekit: I remember working on my first few web designs, having to look into web safe fonts and never feeling happy with what I could use. Every site looking so similar. Typekit, and other services like it, have change the game. And Typekit has been in my tool belt since it’s launch. The prices are great and the type availability even better.
  • Other honorable mentions: Dropbox, Alarms, Fantastical, Tweetbot, Mint (no, not that one, that one), YouVersion, Highrise, Instapaper, Gimmebar, Dribbble.

The Desk

Working in front of a computer for ten years, mostly sitting in a piss poor position, has taken its toll. Not everyone is affected in the same way, but I know that my body needs sunlight and movement. So I make sure to get both through the day.

The easy part is using a room that gets a lot of sunlight for your office. The second part is harder. Prolonged periods of sitting is toxic to this old body, so I use a standing setup (seen above). My desk is a custom made island that doesn’t fit the kitchen of our current house. The butcher block is a fantastic surface to working on.

If you are going to spend 8 or more hours a day in your cave, it should be an enjoyable environment. I’m blessed to have an office that is exactly that.