A peek into Shawn’s toy box
Since my "Trying to Tame the Tablet" article was published in the February 2013 issue of L], I've been getting a steady stream of e-mail messages asking about what tools and programs I use on a daily basis. Because this is our How-To issue, I figured it would be appropriate to give a rundown on how I do the things I do. I must warn you though, I'm not going to pull any punches—I use multiple operating systems every day. Thankfully, Linux is still king, so I'll try to keep my other dallyings to a minimum. The Hardware—Desk I have two main workspaces in my office. The first is for my day job, which requires me to use a giant Wacom monitor and Windows 7. I do Linux training during the day, so that Windows 7 machine has about a dozen Linux VMs and uses Camtasia for recording. Everything else I do is at my personal workspace. That's the area I focus on here, because it's the place I've configured exactly the way I like. Figure I shows my workspace. The chair is just a cheap office chair from an office supply store. You'll notice there aren't any armrests on the chair, which is because I took them off (Figure 2). Armrests annoy me while I work, and if I'm doing any recording, I find the headphone/ microphone cables get tangled. Plus, I sometimes sit cross-legged in my office chair, and that's not possible with armrests in the way. The computer I use was purchased based on the TonyI\/lac Hackintosh Mini-Mac build (http://snar.co/ customac). l\/ly hardware is actually from last year's recommendations, but it still is able to dual-boot OS X 10.8.4 and Xubuntul3.04.l'm l’ve had wonderful luck with Brother printers through the years, and they always seem to have decent Linux support. very fond of Apple's Chiclet-style keyboard, so I'm using that and a Magic Mouse for input. For simple recording or VolP calls, I a year ago, and it's been problematic ever since. My hatred for inkjets has been renewed 1000%. Because this article is meant to reflect my work use my wireless Plantronics C550 USB environment, I can tell you that I headset. The software for the device is Windows-only, but as a headset and microphone, it works just fine. I think the button on the side is a gimmick anyway, so I'm not upset by the lack of software support. If I'm recording something where sound quality matters, I have a Sennheiser USB headset and microphone combo. The model I use is long discontinued, but I love the quality of every Sennheiser I've ever owned. My monitor is just a 24" 1080p monitor I got from http://woot.com for $350. My dream monitor is the 30" Dell Ultrasharp, but so far, Santa Claus hasn't brought me one. I'm connecting to the computer via DVI, but only because I couldn't find an HDMI cable in "the big box of tangled cable”. Currently, I don't have a printer. It's not due to my desire to go paperless, but rather because, like a fool, I went back to an inkjet printer hope to purchase a Brother color laser printer soon. I've had wonderful luck with Brother printers through the years, and they always seem to have decent Linux support. I haven't chosen a model number yet, but it will be a Brother for sure. (I'm trying to decide whether I should buy the multifunction machine with a FAX, or just let the old technology die. The problem is, I still need a FAX from time to time.) The Hardware—Mobile My mobile hardware recently has undergone a change, at least partially. My last job provided an iPhone, so that was what I used for years. My new training job allowed me to get whatever type of phone I wanted, so I chose the Samsung Galaxy S4. I tend to use my smartphone a lot during the day, so even with the S4's impressive power management, I had to buy an oversized battery. I bought
the Hyperion 5200mAh battery (http://snar.co/s4battery), which came with a custom phone back to fit the bulge. Hyperion also offers a case to fit the bulging phone, so I bought that as well (http://snar.co/s4case). It certainly isn't as svelte as the out- of-the—box S4, but I think it's less bulky than my old iPhone with the Mophie Juicepack (Figure 3). I do still have my Google Nexus 7 tablet, whose original tale inspired this article. I've purchased at least five cases for that tablet, ranging from a neoprene sleeve to a Bluetooth keyboard case. In the end, I've defaulted to using a simple clamshell case. I also have the same stylus mentioned in the earlier article, and although I don't write with it, l find the precision of using a stylus helpful at times. (Crayon Physics, I'm looking at you.) For the past ten years or so, my daily driver laptop has been a I\/lacBook Pro, because that's what was provided by my employer. (No, not Linux Journal!) I don't have a work-provided laptop anymore, so I spend my couch-surfing time largely with the computer I'm typing on right now: the same Dell D420 I was given by a reader when our house burned down four years ago. It's been upgraded with a PATA SSD and a new battery, but this laptop has been faithful for years, and now as my full-time machine, I have no complaints. It's showing its age in that the screen hinges are loose, but that's truly my only complaint. I also have a Samsung Chromebook (the ARI\/I-based one Bill Childers reviewed in the July 2013 issue), and although my original plan was to use that as my main computer, my kids have had other plans. They use my Chromebook constantly, and I rarely get to play with it. If you wonder whether a Chromebook would be a good tit tor your kids, given my experience, the answer is a hearty yes. I do still have my old Samsung Galaxy S2 phone, which no longer has cell service. I've been using it as an audiobook player and GPS in my car. I keep the audiobooks updated by having FolderSync (an Android app) run over Wi-Fi from the driveway overnight. As long as I route my trip while still in the driveway, Google I\/laps seems to cache the entire trip without the need for a constant data connection. If I need to route a new trip while away from the house, I iust activate the mobile hotspot on my S4 and leave it on long enough to create the map cache. So far, it's been a good solution, and it keeps my phone in my pocket so I don't leave it in the car. The Mobile Software Let me start with my mobile devices. For the software section, I'll lump my Figureli I m an addict I dream about laptops in with my desktop, because striped candy and power balls they use the same applications. |\/ly phones and laptops, being Android, run separate programs. Here's a list of things I regularly use: Candy Crush Saga: yes, I'm addicted, I'll admit. I resisted for a long time, because I didn't want to connect to Facebook and pollute mv timeline with Candy Crush requests It turns out if you don t connect to Facebook you still can keep playing by completing quests If you ve never tried Candy Crush I m not sure whether I should recommend it You will become addicted (I mcurrently on level I33, and I've never purchased anything in the game, nor do I plan to.) find and start, but no more. I really do use this every day, sometimes several times a day. Kindle: I've tried many e-book I Camera: I try to take funny photos readers on many different platforms. The Kindle interface isn't my favorite, but I love the cross- device Whispersync, and I find E Ink to be my favorite for long reads. Because I can read a chapter or two on my phone, then continue as often as I can. Like everyone els on the planet, now I have a camer in my pocket. Like the flashlight, the ability to launch the camera from the lockscreen makes it more convenient, and more used. reading on my Kindle keyboard I Google I\/lusic: I don't listen to mus (Wi-Fi-only) later that night, it's often, but I keep a few albums become my go-to reading app. Now that Whispersync works for personal documents, Kindle doesn't even annoy me anymore. Gas Buddy: this was more useful on Google I\/Iusic, because I know I can reach it anywhere. I most often use it to play a Jonathan Coulton song for someone who's never heard it before. when we lived in Grand Rapids, I Linux Journal: I honestly don't use I\/Iichigan, because gas prices could vary 20-25 cents a gallon at stations just a couple miles apart. Now that we're back in Small-Town USA, I don't use this as often, because the prices always are the same. LED Flashlight: I can't believe the Linux Journal app very often. By the time the issues go live, I've already been reading through them during the entire production process. I keep the app for the sam reason I use Google l\/Iusic though- to show others cool things! how much I use this app. I think I Yaste: we lose our television I use it more now than ever before, because it's possible to launch from my phone's remote more often than I care to admit. Yaste is a great XBI\/IC remote. It's not as nice as using I I lockscreen. I ve always found flashlight apps cumbersome to the regular I\/ICE remote, but its usually easier to find.
Dock Clock: I haven't had a clock radio in years, but I still miss the large digital time next to my bed. Dock Clock automatically activates when I plug in the charger, and it allows me to create the clock radio feel while still using the far-superior cell-phone alarm system (Figure 5). Chrome: Same here. I almost didn't include it, but I realize there are other Web browsers, and not everyone uses Chrome. The only annoyance I have is that there's no way to enable the "bookmark bar” like in the desktop version of Chrome. I understand it would be cramped Figure 5. My clock radio in I993 only Google IVIail: well, yeah. I almost wishes it looked this cool. forgot to include it, but I use it constantly. I\/IP3 files for audiobooks and sync them with FolderSync. Social media: I'm a social-media junkie, so I have Twitter, Facebook, FourSquare, Instagram, SnapChat, Flickr and 6+. I usually initiate most things with Twitter, but try to respond on most networks. on my phone, but on the tablet, The Desktop Software it would be awesome. These days, most of my desktop applications are really just Web apps. Smart Audiobook Player: Best. There are a few native apps that I Audiobook. Player. Ever. I can't live without though: love everything about Smart Audiobook Player. I listen to most I Pithos: this plays music from the books at I.-4x or 1.5x depending on the narrator, and I don't notice any “chipmunk” effect at all. I do have the Audible app too, but I try my best to use straight up Pandora network. It works flawlessly, and I love it. If I ever want to hear some music, I usually just turn on Pithos, because my personal music collection is rather small. TextRoom: in a pinch, I still use the Everything else I use regularly is a Chrome app Writebox, but for most Chrome extension or plugin. writing (like what I'm doing now), I still use TextRoom. For a while, Web Apps it was difficult to use, because it One of the reasons I love Chrome/ wouldn't install on modern Ubuntu Chromium/Chromebooks is that versions. Thankfully, a man named extensions sync just like bookmarks. Otto has created a PPA for TextRoom If I install an app on my laptop, it's that works perfectly. I owe Otto a beverage of his choosing! Dropbox: thanks to my Chromebook, I now have more than IOOGB of space in Google Drive. I've been using Dropbox for so long, however, that it's hard to switch. Perhaps the program I mention in this issue's UpFront section, Insync, will help me transition, but for the present, my 24GB of Dropbox is where I keep most of my writing. Calibre: I have a fairly large collection of e-books, and without Calibre, they'd be a mess. Calibre has plugins for automatically sending books to my Kindle account, so I find myself using it often. Chromium: this really ends the list of native apps I use regularly. I'll occasionally play a game or something, but not very often. waiting for me when I go back to my desk—even if that desk is running a different operating system! Here are the apps I use regularly: I\/IightyText: now that my family has IOS devices and I don't, we can't use il\/Iessage to talk to each other. Thankfully, I\/IightyText brings texting to my browser, so while I'm at a keyboard, I can text at full speed. Evernote: I don't use Evernote as much as I did when I was working in an office setting as a manager, but I still use it as a knowledge repository. The Web app is really nice, and it's usually all I need. Lastpass: I forced myself to migrate all my passwords to Lastpass, and now that I use it all the time, I've come to love it. I'll admit, I didn't care for it at first. Tweetdeck: I've been on a quest to find the best Twitter client since my I SSH: truly, truly the Swiss-Army knife beloved Twhirl died away. I haven't on the command line. Remote shells, found one l love, but Tweetdeck's tunneling traffic, remote/reverse Chrome app comes the closest. tunneling, keypair authentication, file copying...SSH is amazing. I use it I CommaFeed: my Google Reader every day, all day long. replacement, mentioned in the UpFront section of this very issue. Now for the Interactive Part of Our Show... ireen and Black So there you have it. That's my ’ Kyle Rankin wrote this article, every computing world in a nutshell. pplication would be replaced with Perhaps you see something helpful, CLI equivalent. Although I have or perhaps you're appalled at my mazing respect for Kyle's way of lack of tool usage. Either way, I'd omputing, I also like shiny things. love to hear from you. In fact, if you till, there are quite a few applications have a unique application or method rely on that have nothing more than for accomplishing your day-to-day reen text and a black screen: tasks, send me an e-mail! I love to highlight new or cool (preferably I vim: you know you're a vim user both) applications or Web sites in when you are annoyed by "easier" our UpFront section. If you send me text editors like nano. I can open, something awesome, and we publish edit and save a file quicker than it, I'll be sure to give you credit for most people can find Ctrl-x on their the heads-up. Just drop me an e-mail keyboard to exit nano. at shawn@Iinuxjournal.com and put something like "[I\/IY WAY]" in the I lrssi: for IRC chatting, it's hard to subject. I can't wait to hear how beat lrssi. For me, this isn't because everyone computesll I prefer the lrssi interface. Truth be tOld, I prefer the way Pidgin handles Shawn Powers is the Associate Editor for Linuxjournal. IRC. I like tO stay logged in tO IRC all He's also the Gadget Guy for LinuxJournal.com. and he has an the time, however, SO I can respond interesting collection of vintage Garfield coffee mugs. Don't let tO questions posed While I'm away. his silly hairdo fool you.
Dock Clock: I haven't had a clock radio in years, but I still miss the large digital time next to my bed. Dock Clock automatically activates when I plug in the charger, and it allows me to create the clock radio feel while still using the far-superior cell-phone alarm system (Figure 5). Chrome: Same here. I almost didn't include it, but I realize there are other Web browsers, and not everyone uses Chrome. The only annoyance I have is that there's no way to enable the "bookmark bar” like in the desktop version of Chrome. I understand it would be cramped Figure 5. My clock radio in I993 only Google IVIail: well, yeah. I almost wishes it looked this cool. forgot to include it, but I use it constantly. I\/IP3 files for audiobooks and sync them with FolderSync. Social media: I'm a social-media junkie, so I have Twitter, Facebook, FourSquare, Instagram, SnapChat, Flickr and 6+. I usually initiate most things with Twitter, but try to respond on most networks. on my phone, but on the tablet, The Desktop Software it would be awesome. These days, most of my desktop applications are really just Web apps. Smart Audiobook Player: Best. There are a few native apps that I Audiobook. Player. Ever. I can't live without though: love everything about Smart Audiobook Player. I listen to most I Pithos: this plays music from the books at I.-4x or 1.5x depending on the narrator, and I don't notice any “chipmunk” effect at all. I do have the Audible app too, but I try my best to use straight up Pandora network. It works flawlessly, and I love it. If I ever want to hear some music, I usually just turn on Pithos, because my personal music collection is rather small. TextRoom: in a pinch, I still use the Everything else I use regularly is a Chrome app Writebox, but for most Chrome extension or plugin. writing (like what I'm doing now), I still use TextRoom. For a while, Web Apps it was difficult to use, because it One of the reasons I love Chrome/ wouldn't install on modern Ubuntu Chromium/Chromebooks is that versions. Thankfully, a man named extensions sync just like bookmarks. Otto has created a PPA for TextRoom If I install an app on my laptop, it's that works perfectly. I owe Otto a beverage of his choosing! Dropbox: thanks to my Chromebook, I now have more than IOOGB of space in Google Drive. I've been using Dropbox for so long, however, that it's hard to switch. Perhaps the program I mention in this issue's UpFront section, Insync, will help me transition, but for the present, my 24GB of Dropbox is where I keep most of my writing. Calibre: I have a fairly large collection of e-books, and without Calibre, they'd be a mess. Calibre has plugins for automatically sending books to my Kindle account, so I find myself using it often. Chromium: this really ends the list of native apps I use regularly. I'll occasionally play a game or something, but not very often. waiting for me when I go back to my desk—even if that desk is running a different operating system! Here are the apps I use regularly: I\/IightyText: now that my family has IOS devices and I don't, we can't use il\/Iessage to talk to each other. Thankfully, I\/IightyText brings texting to my browser, so while I'm at a keyboard, I can text at full speed. Evernote: I don't use Evernote as much as I did when I was working in an office setting as a manager, but I still use it as a knowledge repository. The Web app is really nice, and it's usually all I need. Lastpass: I forced myself to migrate all my passwords to Lastpass, and now that I use it all the time, I've come to love it. I'll admit, I didn't care for it at first. Tweetdeck: I've been on a quest to find the best Twitter client since my I SSH: truly, truly the Swiss-Army knife beloved Twhirl died away. I haven't on the command line. Remote shells, found one l love, but Tweetdeck's tunneling traffic, remote/reverse Chrome app comes the closest. tunneling, keypair authentication, file copying...SSH is amazing. I use it I CommaFeed: my Google Reader every day, all day long. replacement, mentioned in the UpFront section of this very issue. Now for the Interactive Part of Our Show... ireen and Black So there you have it. That's my ’ Kyle Rankin wrote this article, every computing world in a nutshell. pplication would be replaced with Perhaps you see something helpful, CLI equivalent. Although I have or perhaps you're appalled at my mazing respect for Kyle's way of lack of tool usage. Either way, I'd omputing, I also like shiny things. love to hear from you. In fact, if you till, there are quite a few applications have a unique application or method rely on that have nothing more than for accomplishing your day-to-day reen text and a black screen: tasks, send me an e-mail! I love to highlight new or cool (preferably I vim: you know you're a vim user both) applications or Web sites in when you are annoyed by "easier" our UpFront section. If you send me text editors like nano. I can open, something awesome, and we publish edit and save a file quicker than it, I'll be sure to give you credit for most people can find Ctrl-x on their the heads-up. Just drop me an e-mail keyboard to exit nano. at shawn@Iinuxjournal.com and put something like "[I\/IY WAY]" in the I lrssi: for IRC chatting, it's hard to subject. I can't wait to hear how beat lrssi. For me, this isn't because everyone computesll I prefer the lrssi interface. Truth be tOld, I prefer the way Pidgin handles Shawn Powers is the Associate Editor for Linuxjournal. IRC. I like tO stay logged in tO IRC all He's also the Gadget Guy for LinuxJournal.com. and he has an the time, however, SO I can respond interesting collection of vintage Garfield coffee mugs. Don't let tO questions posed While I'm away. his silly hairdo fool you.
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