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