Okay boys and girls, here is what total impulsiveness, fiscal irresponsibility (though not as bad as Wall Street these days) and a deep seated desire to be the Captian Kirk of your very own bridge will get you:
My Command Center
Some of the details:
First, the "foundation" - the Ikea "Jerker" desk with every single attachment they offer - this was the coolest computer desk I could find and it was something like $400 with all the shelf units - I am running way over the weight limit, but it seems steady so far. Also, if you buy one, just don't drop it on your toe in the parking lot like I did - took my toe nail two months to grow back!
Second, for my own "foundation," please note the Herman Miller Aeron chair - favorite of non-productive dotcom offices from NYC to SF, displayed in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC and Captian Kirk and Picard did not sit in a finer chair. $650 online and worth every penny.
The computer -
G4 - 450, 512 MB RAM, 2 20 GB drives, 2 Rage 128 Orion video cards (I am due for a new Mac - this one is my 8th)
2 each 19" Hitachi Superscan 776 monitors for a two screen set up I will never give up - once you have gone dual monitors, you just can't go back.
OS's
4 partitions - 2 OS X, 1 Classic and 1 Suse Linux for PPC 7.3
Audio -
Lexicon "Alex" digital effects processor, and Alesis Micor Limiter all routed through a Tascam PortaStudio 424 mk II 4 track cassette recorder I use as a mixer. All of this ends up in two Tannoy PBM 6.5 studio monitors - a little dated, but with fine seperation and bass.
Networking -
Comcast cable modem with near T1 speeds and a Linksys router.
Input/Output Devices -
Epson 740i printer
Iomega CD-RW
Toshiba Allegretto M4 digital camera
2-1 Midi Translator
Alesis QS6.1 synthesizer
Logitech cordless mouse (with right button and scroll wheel)
Macally USB keyboard
Belkin 4 - 1 USB hub
Palm VX
Headset mic and headphone for use with IBM ViaVoice - it really works!
Misc:
Meade 8" f6 newtonian reflector telescope with 100 pound, steady as a rock "Research Grade" german equatorial mount (1.5 inch stainless steel shafts and real bearings), 3" f15 guide scope and 3" finder. Jim's Mobile Electric focuser and slow motion control on both RA and declination axis - I once had it hooked to a up PC for auto guiding - but not now. It may be big and hard to move around, but optically this baby kicks butt on any 8" Schmidt Cassegrain and gives 10" a run for their money! This baby cost over $4000 new in 1985 - I got it used and good as new for $1000! Some day I will build a little dome for it.
V-Tech cordless phone base (use Palm OS to dial it)
Sharp UX P100 fax (use Palm OS to dial it)
Garmin GPS III+ GPS
Oh yea, an IBM Thinkpad T21 (owned by my work)
