Elevated laptop for better ergonomics

Not strictly Ubuntu-related, but I thought I'd post it anyway. This is the elevated monitor platform that I use as a riser for my laptop. I had been thinking of getting one for the past few weeks. This, after realizing that the LCD screen was well below the ideal height for working.

For a long while, I was eyeing a plastic holder with an adjustable leg from CD-R King, but it was too expensive at P580. Then I dropped by Columbia and I saw they were selling these monitor stands. Original price was P1,200, but since they couldn't get rid of them, they offered them to me for P300. Sold!




So that it would match with my laptop's color, I bought a can of black spray paint. One quick-drying paint job later, I was good to go.



It's so much more comfortable working with the laptop now. The riser brings it up the laptop good 8" and now the screen is at eye level. Such a simple solution!

Yes, I could've just used a few old books, but I thought it would be more expensive if my laptop fell over. And the books could never bring it up to the height the riser does.

New directions?

In answer to the obvious question: yes, I'm still here. It's just that I've been hit with a case of blogger's block for Ubuntu Living. When I started this blog, it was with the idea that I would post tips and tricks about how I use Ubuntu on a day-to-day basis. The approach has been more successful than I expected, though perhaps not as successful in comparison to some. There are quite a number of Ubuntu blogs out there, I learned not long after I started, and many of them better ones at that.

The reason for the blogger's block is that I've reached a plateau for how I use Ubuntu. Everything is set up just the way I want it, and no matter how many animals we go through, I'll probably be using the same setup for the foreseeable future: VirtualBox, Screenlets, Avant Window Navigator. Not to mention the other things that have been obviated by new ways of working, e.g., I no longer use GPRS to connect with my laptop (I use my cellphone for that now).

So what new directions do I take this blog in? For sure, I'll still be posting tips as I come across them, but I think I'll be covering a bit more of Ubuntu development from here on. Oh, other blogs do the same, and better, but I've found that I really blog best when I'm blogging for myself. And I guess that's what this blog is about: notes to myself.

I do appreciate your following this blog, though, and will continue to value your feedback. Thanks for the company!

Indignation

Ubuntu-related, but not entirely technical: a funny incident at the school where I'm teaching.

Winning Ubuntu converts

Managed to get more Ubuntu converts this afternoon -- about 22 new ones, in fact.

Since I'm teaching a class on open source technologies, I decided on Ubuntu as the basis for the laboratory component. Installation was a breeze, care of Wubi. After that, the kids just ran with it.

I gave a series of challenges, all of which they passed with the greatest of ease: changing the background wallpaper, changing the login theme, logging in to Yahoo Messenger using Pidgin, determining their IP address and free disk space, and, finally, completing a game of Freecell. Some folks had trouble with Freecell, but all in all, they finished everything in just a little over an hour.

There were supposed to be 36 students in my class. Of these, 13 already had experience with Ubuntu via VirtualBox in my Information Security class. Two were absent today (you can do the Venn diagrams later.)

After the class, some guys stayed behind to ask more questions. A very heartening experience altogether.