{"id":766,"date":"2021-02-15T18:18:36","date_gmt":"2021-02-15T22:18:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paulbegley.com\/?p=766"},"modified":"2021-02-16T18:31:29","modified_gmt":"2021-02-16T22:31:29","slug":"these-are-a-few-of-my-favorite-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.paulbegley.com\/?p=766","title":{"rendered":"These are a few of my favorite things"},"content":{"rendered":"

UPDATE \u2013 added to the list.
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Like everyone else, I’ve been working remotely since March 2020.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Ergonomics is a huge issue for me, and something everyone should consider. In my home office, I have the following setup:
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    \n
  1. Chair \u2013 I have a Staples brand chair, and I upgraded the wheels from a Reading, PA based company\n<\/li>\n
  2. Desks \u2013 I have old Steelcase desks that are circa 1960’s (think Mad Men) and I think my father purchased them from RCA at some point. They work well for me, they are deep, lots of storage, and they are very sturdy.\n<\/li>\n
  3. (2) 24″ monitors \u2013 for now, 24″ monitors are my sweet spot, your mileage may vary. I recommend getting identical monitors so you don’t hang your mouse as you move from screen to screen which can happen with different resolution monitors and it’s maddening.\n<\/li>\n
  4. Desk mat \u2013 think of it as a giant mousepad, but you can put you keyboard and mouse. It covers up any imperfections in the desk surface, and I find it more comfortable in warm weather.\n<\/li>\n
  5. Keyboard \u2013 I use a mechanical keyboard. Personal preference, I don’t judge, but I started computing on one of the original IBM PC metal keyboards (which I still have), and I’m a touch typist, and it works for me.\n<\/li>\n
  6. Mouse \u2013 Logitech wireless mouse and buy the Unify USB dongle which allows you to switch mice any time you want. I own many wireless mice. MX Revolution, Performance MX, M705 or M720 (battery lasts for *years*).\n<\/li>\n
  7. Headphones \u2013 Plantronics. My BIL Mitch gifted me with a headset when he worked for Plantronics “back in the day”, and it continues to be my go-to headset.\n<\/li>\n
  8. Camera \u2013 I’m using an old Microsoft HD camera, but any of the Microsoft or Logitech cameras should work. I work with my laptop closed, so I can’t use the built-in camera, and using a USB camera means I can unplug it when it’s not in use. Also, 720p is more than enough resolution for personal and business video conferencing.\n<\/li>\n
  9. Network \u2013 this is a huge issue for work-at-home. ISP’s are scare mongering you to upgrade to Gigabit speeds. After analysis, our home subscription is 100 Mbps\/6Mbps down\/upload speeds. This is more than enough to support two of us working concurrently on video calls while someone is watching Netflix or YouTube TV.\n<\/li>\n
  10. Printer \u2013 get a laser printer. Period. They are fast, inexpensive, and toner lasts forever. If you need to print in color, take it to Kinkos, CVS, or similar. After you print your draft in grayscale. I’ve used Brother multi-function laser printers since 2007. Also, get duplex capabilities, it’s easier for scanning, and saves paper when printing. Third party, high-capacity toners is both inexpensive and high quality.
    I have an older model that includes FAX, so the link below is for the equivalent, but without FAX.\n<\/li>\n
  11. USB charging block \u2013 for my office I have an Anker six port, 60W USB charger. It’s a monster that can charge six devices at a time and it has a permanent location in my office with every type of charging cable I use already plugged in and fed through a cable organizer to keep things (relatively) neat. I charge lights for my bike, headphones, cell phones, fitness devices, anything and everything that charges with a USB cable.\n<\/li>\n
  12. Password manager \u2013 if you don’t already use one, get one. I use LastPass, but 1Password and similar products are quite good. I recommend selecting one that works well with your platform (Windows, Mac), your browsers (Firefox, Microsoft, Chrome, and derivatives), and your phone. Make sure it works well with your phone.
    Import all the passwords from your browsers, then disable password save feature of the browsers.
    Check your accounts for re-used passwords \u2013 start with critical accounts like financial services
    Next, review all your accounts and update passwords using the password manager to generate secure, unique passwords.\n\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Reference links <\/strong>
    \n\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

    Microsoft LifeCam HD-3000, Retail
    https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Microsoft-3364820-LifeCam-HD-3000\/dp\/B008ZVRAQS<\/a>
    \n\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

    CM Storm QuickFire Rapid \u2013 Tenkeyless, red switches
    https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B007VDLVD4<\/a>
    \n\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

    Brother MFCL2750DW Monochrome All-in-One Wireless Laser Printer, Duplex Copy & Scan
    https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B0763X6TCW<\/a>
    \n\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

    Home Network description and recommendations
    https:\/\/blog.paulbegley.com\/?p=749<\/a>
    \n\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

    USB Wall Charger, Anker 60W 6 Port USB Charging Station
    https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B00P936188<\/a>
    \n\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    UPDATE \u2013 added to the list. Like everyone else, I’ve been working remotely since March 2020. Ergonomics is a huge issue for me, and something everyone should consider. In my home office, I have the following setup: Chair \u2013 I … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6YWFc-cm","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.paulbegley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.paulbegley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.paulbegley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.paulbegley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.paulbegley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=766"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.paulbegley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":781,"href":"https:\/\/blog.paulbegley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766\/revisions\/781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.paulbegley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.paulbegley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.paulbegley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}