diff --git a/content/journal/dispatch-11-january-2024/index.md b/content/journal/dispatch-11-january-2024/index.md index f64f6b9..f63e830 100644 --- a/content/journal/dispatch-11-january-2024/index.md +++ b/content/journal/dispatch-11-january-2024/index.md @@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ references: url: https://analogoffice.net/2023/05/31/the-lifechanging-magic.html date: 2024-01-10T19:09:00Z file: analogoffice-net-xmnih2.txt +- title: "Kasia's cozy crafting den in Berlin | Hacker Stations" + url: https://hackerstations.com/setups/kasia/ + date: 2024-12-17T16:54:12Z + file: hackerstations-com-osre5p.txt - title: "Tech Independence | Derek Sivers" url: https://sive.rs/ti date: 2024-01-11T03:31:06Z diff --git a/static/archive/hackerstations-com-osre5p.txt b/static/archive/hackerstations-com-osre5p.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fa93920 --- /dev/null +++ b/static/archive/hackerstations-com-osre5p.txt @@ -0,0 +1,247 @@ +[1][logo]Hacker Stations + + • | + + • [3]Newsletter + • [4]Search + • [5]Tags + • [6]Archives + • [7]About + +Kasia's cozy crafting den in Berlin + +Nov 2022 +[8][main] + +Hi! Tell us about who you are and what you do.[9]# + +Hi! I’m [10]Kasia and I’m a tech lead living in Berlin, Germany. I like +tinkering with stuff, be it code, space and objects around me or various art +mediums. Other than for programming, I use my work space for sewing, drawing, +knitting and other kinds of craft. + +It was quite a challenge to design such a multi purpose workspace which allows +for easy switching between different activities. While designing it, it was my +goal to have a setup which is functional and minimizes the effort to start on +any activity I want to do. But in the same time, I strive to create an +esthetically pleasing, cozy space with a vintage touch and to be able to +showcase various trinkets and art pieces that I accumulated over the years of +travelling and visiting fleamarkets. + +What is your hardware setup?[11]# + +For work, I use Macbooks provided by the company, models vary. After hours, I +use an old, 13in MacBook Pro, early 2015 edition which is still going strong! I +also use an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, mostly for drawing and taking notes. + +[speaker] + +I usually keep the laptop aside, and work on an external, 27in Dell monitor. I +got rid of the basic leg attachment and mounted it using ICY BOX monitor mount +which is super convenient - it saves quite a lot of space on my desk. I also +have a small, but feisty speaker - Klipsch The One in walnut finish. + +When it comes to ergonomics, I really like my standing desk with custom walnut +top from Standidesk. I only use a vertical, wireless mouse - touchpads or +traditional mouse are triggering my wrist pain. For personal use I have a mini +wireless Apple keyboard (without numeric panel on the right) as I need to move +it around a lot when I’m crafting. For daily work I prefer using split +keyboard. My all time favorite is Kinesis Freestyle 2, along with padded palm +support and tilt accessories. I love the low profile, low force keys - I find +that both factors contribute to much less tension in my wrists and hands. + +I tested different ergonomic chairs, but surprisingly a game changer for me was +a simple, rotating chair from Ikea. Hard surface encourages me to maintain a +neutral, ergonomic position with my back straight and not to be completely +still. One good advice I got was to make sure you can breath using your +diaphragm fully while sitting and I found that crucial thing here was lowering +the desk - it was too high and created the tension in my arms. Using soft, +ergonomic chairs was often leaving me with tension in unexpected muscles, so I +just switched. + +[sewing] + +For sewing I use two different sewing machines: for basic usage I have Juki XZL +DX3 and for finishing I use overlock/coverlock machine Juki MO-735. Juki is a +japanese brand that I found quite reliable, and they provide excellent +technical drawings of all the components and configuration. Especially in case +of overlock sewing machine, which deals with up to 5 spools of thread, having +clear, visual instructions is crucial. The second machine is quite unique - +less than 5 minutes of reconfiguring and it transforms into a coverlock, which +usually is a different kind of a sewing machine. So it’s very versatile. + +[drawing] + +I also have a bunch of different art & craft supplies - I love my huge cutting +mat and rotary cutter, inks and nibs, Polychromos colored pencils, watercolors +and ceramic palettes. I also have a hobby Daylight LED lamp which is super +useful for working with details. + +And what are the favorite items in your workspace?[12]# + +In general, I really appreciate that all of my passions come together here. I +used to feel bad for having that many creative outlets - I thought it makes it +harder for me to be a good engineer, but the truth is - it does the opposite. +And now I embrace all sides of my craftsmanship. + +In the process of designing this workspace I had to ask myself - what is my +usual process for brainstorming the design for a new feature? What do I need to +be comfortable and focused during video meetings? What do I need to stay +focused and inspired when I’m sketching a new illustration? How do I use the +space best when I need to cut into 5 meters of fabric? It was super +enlightening to give so much thoughts to how I work and try out different +settings - I learned a ton about myself and my creative process. + +[objects] + +Aesthetically, I love my Rohrer&Klingner ink bootles, my apothecary drawer +shelves with all the trinkets and fencing chinchillas’ art print by Paweł +Ponichtera. I started epee fencing last year and love to have this little +reminder in my personal space. I also love the beetle plushie holding a piece +of cheese and a spool of thread commisioned by my husband from Little Hugsters. + +I like having a couple of different sources of light - fairy lights and LED +candles, strong LED lamp for crafting and small lamps providing ambient light. +I’m not a fan of super bright light and need a couple of dim light sources to +be the most comfortable. The artificial white light is one of the reasons I’m +not coming back to the office on a permanent basis! + +Any favourite programs/apps/tools?[13]# + +My current editor of choice is VSCode with Vim bindings, I quite like its pair +programming feature (Live Share) too. And there’s so many other extensions that +make my life easier, like tabnine. + +I use flux on max yellow setting all day so that my eyes don’t get tired. I +also use the lowest brightness on my monitor - if you have sensitive eyes I +strongly recommend doing that! + +On my iPad I use Procreate - great for sketchnoting and drawing. For more +traditional text notes that I would need in digital form I use Nebo - an app +that transforms your handwriting with Apple Pencil to digital text. It’s also +useful for writing my German assignments as it supports a bunch of languages +and to me it’s easier that changing keyboard settings over and over. I also +tested Nomad - a 3D modelling app with an amazing UI, and I would love to come +back to it and explore the topic of 3D printing more. + +Lat but not least - for brainstorming I really like using a physical notebook - +the bigger the better, along with colored pencils - they are great for +sketchnotes. I love Faber Castell Polychromos colored pencils, they have +amazing color range and feel super smooth on paper. They are expensive when you +are getting a big set, since those are artist grade pencils, but you can buy +single colors in art supply store - and for sketchnoting you won’t be needing +more that 3-5 colors anyway. + +What are your favourite programming or scripting languages?[14]# + +Definitely Ruby! I like that it’s verbose and concise. On top of that I +appreciate the Ruby community a lot - great at discussing conventions, good +design and adopting new concepts and practices. I was inspired by so many great +folks in the community - Sandi Metz, David H. Hansson or Eileen M. Uchitelle +just to name a few, as well as plenty of my colleagues with whom I had a +pleasure to work over the years. + +I also find it quite a remarkable entry level technology for building web apps. +I was teaching Ruby in a couple of workshops (mostly, Rails Girls) and I love +how convenient Ruby is in showcasing basic programming concepts as well as +explaining how web apps work. In the same time, it really is a solid technology +with good tooling (not just for development, but also monitoring, benchmarking +etc.) that can be used to build great, scalable applications solving real world +problems. + +Is there anything you are missing in your setup?[15]# + +I would like to get a camera that I can mount on top of my screen - for now, in +order to have video calls, I need to get my laptop back in front of me. + +I also want to 3D print [16]this ink and nib holder. And to hang all of my art, +prints and postcards that I’ve gathered so far, but haven’t gotten around yet. + +What book comes to your mind that you would like others to read?[17]# + +One book I can recommend to everyone working with web applications is “System +Design Interview” by Alex Xu - it’s technically meant to help in interviews, +but the title doesn’t give it justice. It’s such a good read - the author +basically takes different cases of scalability problems and takes us through +designing a system that meets the requirements and iterates on improving it. It +is very engaging and so interesting to read - you can finish it in one weekend. +Maybe it’s just me, because I really enjoy those kinds of system design +challenges, but I think it is also super informative. It gives you a nice +framework to go about scalability problems and thus it’s not that intimidating +anymore. It’s a great basis for any further deep dives. + +I also enjoy reading stories a lot. One that I read and appreciated not so long +ago would be “Revenge: Eleven dark tales” by Yoko Ogawa - it’s a book of short, +quirky stories, which are all interconnected. I love the atmosphere that gets +you immersed in the stories very quickly and lingers even after you read it. +There’s a strongly bizarre feeling to it, which you may know from the works of +Haruki Murakami - if you like it, you should enjoy those stories too! + + • [18]Developer + • [19]Mac + • [20]Macbook + • [21]Ipad + • [22]Apple + • [23]Ergonomic + • [24]Kinesis + • [25]Artist + • [26]Drawing + • [27]Sewing + • [28]Ruby + +[29]« Prev +James Stanier's effective remote work setup in Cumbria, UK [30]Next » +Denys' workspace in Berlin is a "hack with scotch tape and zip ties" + + • [31] + • [32] + • [33] + • [34] + • [35] + • [36] + +© [37]Hacker Stations 2024. Logo by [38]icons8. Powered by [39]Hugo & [40] +PaperMod[41] + +References: + +[1] https://hackerstations.com/ +[3] https://hackerstations.substack.com/ +[4] https://hackerstations.com/search +[5] https://hackerstations.com/tags +[6] https://hackerstations.com/archives +[7] https://hackerstations.com/about +[8] https://hackerstations.com/setups/kasia/images/main.jpeg +[9] https://hackerstations.com/setups/kasia/#hi-tell-us-about-who-you-are-and-what-you-do +[10] https://www.instagram.com/kszkszsz/ +[11] https://hackerstations.com/setups/kasia/#what-is-your-hardware-setup +[12] https://hackerstations.com/setups/kasia/#and-what-are-the-favorite-items-in-your-workspace +[13] https://hackerstations.com/setups/kasia/#any-favourite-programsappstools +[14] https://hackerstations.com/setups/kasia/#what-are-your-favourite-programming-or-scripting-languages +[15] https://hackerstations.com/setups/kasia/#is-there-anything-you-are-missing-in-your-setup +[16] https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-fountain-pen-and-calligraphy-desk-organiser-125541 +[17] https://hackerstations.com/setups/kasia/#what-book-comes-to-your-mind-that-you-would-like-others-to-read +[18] https://hackerstations.com/tags/developer/ +[19] https://hackerstations.com/tags/mac/ +[20] https://hackerstations.com/tags/macbook/ +[21] https://hackerstations.com/tags/ipad/ +[22] https://hackerstations.com/tags/apple/ +[23] https://hackerstations.com/tags/ergonomic/ +[24] https://hackerstations.com/tags/kinesis/ +[25] https://hackerstations.com/tags/artist/ +[26] https://hackerstations.com/tags/drawing/ +[27] https://hackerstations.com/tags/sewing/ +[28] https://hackerstations.com/tags/ruby/ +[29] https://hackerstations.com/setups/james_stanier/ +[30] https://hackerstations.com/setups/denys/ +[31] https://x.com/intent/tweet/?text=Kasia%27s%20cozy%20crafting%20den%20in%20Berlin&url=https%3a%2f%2fhackerstations.com%2fsetups%2fkasia%2f&hashtags=developer%2cmac%2cmacbook%2cipad%2capple%2cergonomic%2ckinesis%2cartist%2cdrawing%2csewing%2cruby +[32] https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3a%2f%2fhackerstations.com%2fsetups%2fkasia%2f&title=Kasia%27s%20cozy%20crafting%20den%20in%20Berlin&summary=Kasia%27s%20cozy%20crafting%20den%20in%20Berlin&source=https%3a%2f%2fhackerstations.com%2fsetups%2fkasia%2f +[33] https://reddit.com/submit?url=https%3a%2f%2fhackerstations.com%2fsetups%2fkasia%2f&title=Kasia%27s%20cozy%20crafting%20den%20in%20Berlin +[34] https://facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3a%2f%2fhackerstations.com%2fsetups%2fkasia%2f +[35] https://api.whatsapp.com/send?text=Kasia%27s%20cozy%20crafting%20den%20in%20Berlin%20-%20https%3a%2f%2fhackerstations.com%2fsetups%2fkasia%2f +[36] https://telegram.me/share/url?text=Kasia%27s%20cozy%20crafting%20den%20in%20Berlin&url=https%3a%2f%2fhackerstations.com%2fsetups%2fkasia%2f +[37] https://hackerstations.com/ +[38] https://icons8.com/ +[39] https://gohugo.io/ +[40] https://github.com/adityatelange/hugo-PaperMod/ +[41] https://hackerstations.com/setups/kasia/#top