{"id":1034,"date":"2010-09-06T08:15:33","date_gmt":"2010-09-06T00:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2010\/09\/06\/industrial-grade\/"},"modified":"2010-09-06T08:15:33","modified_gmt":"2010-09-06T00:15:33","slug":"industrial-grade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2010\/09\/06\/industrial-grade","title":{"rendered":"Industrial Grade"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve been neglecting my blog for quite a while now. Super busy with work, and all that jazz.<\/p>\n<p>But I guess the highlight of me being <em>incommunicado<\/em> would be my forced &#8220;revamping&#8221; of my room\/work area.<\/p>\n<p>It all started when my airconditioner (a\/c) of 48 years <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_1034_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1034_1_1');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_1034_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1034_1_1');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_1034_1_1\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">1 <\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1034_1_1\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">In truth, I&#8217;ve had it since grade-school<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1034_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1034_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script> finally died. Since I didn&#8217;t really want to have to think too much about what new one I should get, I asked my brother in law about it. <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_1034_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1034_1_2');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_1034_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1034_1_2');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_1034_1_2\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">2 <\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1034_1_2\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">since their family business is installing air conditioners on an industrial\/enterprise scale<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1034_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1034_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script> I simply asked what was best for my room assuming 24\/7 operation and energy efficiency.<!--more--><!-- \/\/ --><\/p>\n<p>This is what he told me to get:<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4107\/4957218624_c18322fefa_o.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"You may click on the image for more details\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4107\/4957218624_1576c283f7_m.jpg\" class=\"wb\"><\/a><\/div>\n<p>It&#8217;s a 1 horsepower (comparable to a 1.5hp window-type)  Samsung split-type inverter powered a\/c. Which, as of now, has the highest energy savings rating (I last time I checked it was 60%)<\/p>\n<p>You may be asking what that has to do with me re-arranging my work area, here&#8217;s the deal:<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s a long glass table in our living room which used to be Dad&#8217;s &#8220;manager&#8217;s table&#8221; before he retired. I&#8217;ve always wanted to use it <strong>but couldn&#8217;t<\/strong> because it would block the [window-type] a\/c then. So I had to settle with tiyr <a href=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4067\/4686707137_7384f00d28_o.jpg\">standard office table.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Now that I was using a split-type&#8230; that naturally meant that the area the window-type used to take up was now free to be&#8230; er&#8230; &#8220;obstructed.&#8221; \ud83d\ude09 So I swapped the two tables, and ultimately came up with this:<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4127\/4956467817_fb155e40dd_o.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"You may click on the image for more details\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4127\/4956467817_252bcb70ed_m.jpg\" class=\"wb\"><\/a><\/div>\n<p>On the previous table, most of the wires would run through its <em>opaque<\/em> back, so all I had to worry about was when they would hit the floor. Getting something like a <a href=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2724\/4259151196_1f37d97ee9_o.jpg\">cable box<\/a> was enough for those times. But the new table forced me to re-think my cable-management strategy as <strong>everything was now transparent<\/strong> (i.e. you can see the cables running through the back as well as the floor).<\/p>\n<p>Here are the fruits of my cable-management labor:<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4149\/4957059020_64d5b28e1b_o.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"You may click on the image for more details\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4149\/4957059020_d542c0da85_m.jpg\" class=\"wb\"><\/a><\/div>\n<p>Which is quite an accomplishment given the sheer volume of cables invovled. To put things in perspective, here&#8217;s the gear that&#8217;s connected in this area:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>(2) Monitors<\/li>\n<li>(3) speakers (L\/R\/sub)<\/li>\n<li>(1) Drobo<\/li>\n<li>(1) USB self-powered hub<\/li>\n<li>(1) JBL MSC-1<\/li>\n<li>(1) PC\/Tower<\/li>\n<li>(1) DSL Modem<\/li>\n<li>(1) Apple Airport Extreme base station<\/li>\n<li>(1) Landline unit<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And those are just power cords&#8230; let&#8217;s now enumerate data\/audio cables included.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>(4) JBL MSC-1 to 3 speakers (L\/R\/sub), and to the PC&#8217;s soundcard<\/li>\n<li>(2) L\/R out from soundcard (Audiophile 192) going to JBL-MSC1 aux in (secondary source)<\/li>\n<li>(1) Phone line to splitter<\/li>\n<li>(2) Splitter to DSL modem and landline unit<\/li>\n<li>(1) Modem to Airport Extreme<\/li>\n<li>(2) Airport Extreme to PC and wall (to rout ethernet to Dad&#8217;s room)<\/li>\n<li>(1) Drobo to Airport Extreme (USB)<\/li>\n<li>(1) PC to wireless reciever (mouse\/keyboard)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For a total of 26 wires\/cables to be <em>ninja&#8217;d<\/em><\/p>\n<h1>Pros<\/h1>\n<p>As you can see, everything <a href=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4127\/4956467817_fb155e40dd_o.jpg\">turned out quite nicely.<\/a> There were also a bunch of unexpected &#8220;perks&#8221; that came out of changing the table\/workspace layout.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Elegant<\/strong><br \/>\nOf course, it&#8217;s undeniable that glass surfaced tables have this &#8220;world-class&#8221; look about them which nothing can compete with. To me it sorta has the aesthetic edge when compared to other tables similar to how Apple products compare to regular stuff.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>More space<\/strong><br \/>\nBoth length and width of the glass table was bigger than the previous one&#8230; but thanks to the way its frame was constructed, I could afford to move it back till it was practically flush to the wall <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_1034_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1034_1_3');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_1034_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1034_1_3');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_1034_1_3\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">3 <\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1034_1_3\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">The old table required some allowance for cable-management and accessibility<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1034_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1034_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script>. This surprisingly had the effect of giving me <strong>more<\/strong> free floor space than I had with the older table.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Easier to do some jiggery-pokery<\/strong><br \/>\nBecause of the glass surface, as well as the table base&#8217;s &#8220;open design,&#8221; it&#8217;s much easier to make adjustments without having to move the table. It&#8217;s also easier to eyeball and evaluate what&#8217;s going on under the table before you fiddle with anything.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Foot rest<\/strong><br \/>\nI liked the fact that one of table base&#8217;s beams was perfect for putting your feet on. Kinda like a built-in foot rest if you ask me.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Air flow<\/strong><br \/>\nIt just so happened that <em>all<\/em> of the &#8220;heat-critical&#8221; equipment is now located to the left (<a href=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3006\/2655078633_6e221219f7_z.jpg?zz=1\">Drobo,<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4046\/4262816314_827ea0054e_z.jpg?zz=1\">Airport Extreme,<\/a> DSL Modem, and <a href=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4049\/4684753915_2c13a7ea73_b.jpg\">CPU<\/a>) &#8211; exactly where the air from the a\/c tends to hit first once it drops from the ceiling. Every bit helps when you&#8217;re running these sorts of things 24\/7.\nAgain, the table base&#8217;s being open made the flow of air better even at the bottom. Not like it was ever an issue, but at least I can be sure that even the power adaptors [hopefully] won&#8217;t overheat.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cleaning<\/strong><br \/>\nCleaning the areas with lots of wires was always a bitch to do &#8211; to the point that I usually just leave it alone. But now that it&#8217;s <em>really<\/em> organized and clean, there are very few (if any) wires running amuck. And because of point #2, sticking a vacuum cleaner in there and going to town on would be a piece of cake.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>That, my friends, is what you call <em>foresight<\/em> \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<h1>Cons<\/h1>\n<p>There&#8217;s only <em>one<\/em> drawback I noticed from this setup; glass surfaces <strong>do not<\/strong> play well with optical mice. <\/p>\n<p>But I didn&#8217;t want to have to use a mousepad as it would wreck the aesthetics. So, to &#8220;elegantly&#8221; solve this issue, I chose to make a &#8220;permanent&#8221; opaque area where the mouse is usually located\/operated by using one of those self-adhering surface laminates (similar to the decorative vinyl for glass I used to make my <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2006\/11\/21\/do-it-yourself-laptop-wrist-rugs\">DIY wrist rugs<\/a> &#8211; only that they&#8217;re now opaque)<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4112\/4956467659_40dd6f0069_o.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"You may click on the image for more details\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4112\/4956467659_98b836b9c7_m.jpg\" class=\"wb\"><\/a><\/div>\n<p>This was a much better solution as you could arbitrarily decide the size of the area you want &#8220;mouse-able&#8221; instead of getting a mouse pad and moving it around <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_1034_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1034_1_4');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_1034_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1034_1_4');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_1034_1_4\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">4 <\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1034_1_4\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Because those darn things are almost always too small<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1034_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1034_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script> &#8211; which in turn, allows me to have more freedom of positioning myself on the table without having to worry if my right wrist would fall in a &#8220;mouse-able&#8221; location. That, and it&#8217;s super thin (being a surface laminate) &#8211; so it&#8217;s seamless where the glass stops and the laminate starts.<\/p>\n<p>Having said that, I plan to apply this on my clothing cabinet as well \ud83d\ude09<\/p><div class=\"speaker-mute footnotes_reference_container\"> <div class=\"footnote_container_prepare\"><p><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_label pointer\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_1034_1();\">Notes<\/span><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button\" style=\"display: none;\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_1034_1();\">[<a id=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_1034_1\">+<\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/div> <div id=\"footnote_references_container_1034_1\" style=\"\"><table class=\"footnotes_table footnote-reference-container\"><caption class=\"accessibility\">Notes<\/caption> <tbody> \r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_1034_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_1034_1_1');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_1034_1_1\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8673;<\/span>1<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">In truth, I&#8217;ve had it since grade-school<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_1034_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_1034_1_2');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_1034_1_2\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8673;<\/span>2<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">since their family business is installing air conditioners on an industrial\/enterprise scale<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_1034_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_1034_1_3');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_1034_1_3\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8673;<\/span>3<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">The old table required some allowance for cable-management and accessibility<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_1034_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_1034_1_4');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_1034_1_4\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8673;<\/span>4<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Because those darn things are almost always too small<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n <\/tbody> <\/table> <\/div><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> function footnote_expand_reference_container_1034_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_1034_1').show(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_1034_1').text('\u2212'); } function footnote_collapse_reference_container_1034_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_1034_1').hide(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_1034_1').text('+'); } function footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_1034_1() { if (jQuery('#footnote_references_container_1034_1').is(':hidden')) { footnote_expand_reference_container_1034_1(); } else { footnote_collapse_reference_container_1034_1(); } } function footnote_moveToReference_1034_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_1034_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } } function footnote_moveToAnchor_1034_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_1034_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } }<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve been neglecting my blog for quite a while now. Super busy with work, and all that jazz. But I guess the highlight of me being incommunicado would be my forced &#8220;revamping&#8221; of my room\/work area. It all started when my airconditioner (a\/c) of 48 years 1 In truth, I&#8217;ve had it since grade-school finally &hellip; <p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2010\/09\/06\/industrial-grade\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Industrial Grade&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","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":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,13],"tags":[473],"class_list":["post-1034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-technology","tag-general"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}