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trilobite terror
Oct 20, 2007
BUT MY LIVELIHOOD DEPENDS ON THE FORUMS!

Spring Heeled Jack posted:

Basement desktop chat: With the addition of a 2nd child my office space in a room with Windows has disappeared. Any tips for improving my work space that has no natural light? Any houseplants that can survive in a basement?

Fake ones. Or get a cheap LED tabletop/etc grow light and then grow whatever houseplants you want, the lights (or screw-in bulbs, if you already have socketed lamps) are super inexpensive. You can set them on a reverse day/night cycle so they run at night if they’d bug you during the day.

Also get a fishtank or something that can be lit and provides pops of life and movement.

I built my nano reef for like $50 before adding coral frags and it’s been a joy.

I’ve had to work out of my bedroom for a lot of quarantine and my desk is by a huge window that faces straight into a bedroom in the neighboring house. I end up keeping my curtains closed a bunch, and having the tank has been pretty great for livening up the room.

Also just make sure to spend lots of time on the surface and outside. Go for a long walk every noon.

Basic pleasurable sensory stimulation goes a long way toward fighting depression (although nothing’s a perfect substitute for making sure to just get some periodic light and normalized circadian rhythm) so invest in a nice speaker system and art. Make the space look good. Bring down a turntable if you have/want one. Who gives a poo poo, this is your basement dad office. Smoke weed in it.

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Fantastic Foreskin
Jan 6, 2013

A golden helix streaked skyward from the Helvault. A thunderous explosion shattered the silver monolith and Avacyn emerged, free from her prison at last.

Unshaded 100w equivalent white LED bulbs do a passable impression of sunlight.

trilobite terror
Oct 20, 2007
BUT MY LIVELIHOOD DEPENDS ON THE FORUMS!

Some Goon posted:

Unshaded 100w equivalent white LED bulbs do a passable impression of sunlight.

Yeah but you still have to put that somewhere or behind an object or diffused, unless you’re gonna hang out in your office with an unshaded 100w equivalent bulb just blasting. That would give me a headache so fast.

Fantastic Foreskin
Jan 6, 2013

A golden helix streaked skyward from the Helvault. A thunderous explosion shattered the silver monolith and Avacyn emerged, free from her prison at last.

Ok Comboomer posted:

Yeah but you still have to put that somewhere or behind an object or diffused, unless you’re gonna hang out in your office with an unshaded 100w equivalent bulb just blasting. That would give me a headache so fast.


I put one up bare in my living room during the cloudy months (October - May), mostly because the bulb is too big to fit the glass cover over, but its fine as long as you don't look directly at it. Its hilariously bright, but I didn't have any trouble (as long as, again, you do not look directly at it, ever, for any reason). In a smaller room or with more reflective surfaces a diffuser of some sort is probably necessary, though I don't know how much that would effect its psychological abilities as a sun replacement.

Photex
Apr 6, 2009




Daylight temp bulbs help a ton, I just recently finished/moved down to my basement and they help, then get a nice warmer lamp for your desk for later at night.

ColHannibal
Sep 17, 2007

Spring Heeled Jack posted:

Basement desktop chat: With the addition of a 2nd child my office space in a room with Windows has disappeared. Any tips for improving my work space that has no natural light? Any houseplants that can survive in a basement?

Lucky bamboo, worst case get a uv map on a timer.

wolrah
May 8, 2006
what?

Photex posted:

Daylight temp bulbs help a ton, I just recently finished/moved down to my basement and they help, then get a nice warmer lamp for your desk for later at night.

Variable color temperature bulbs are pretty much made for this scenario. You can have them on a cooler "daylight" color temp during daytime hours and then shift I've had good luck with the Hue line, but they're not cheap of course. My girlfriend recently bought one of Philips' cheaper "Wiz" line bulbs and it's a lot better than I expected considering it was a quarter the price of the Hue equivalent.

If smart bulbs aren't your thing someone (IIRC it might actually also be Philips) makes a bulb that you flip the power off and on quickly and it changes between a daylight mode, a soft white mode, and a nightlight mode. I have one of those in my laundry room and it's great.

HalloKitty
Sep 30, 2005

Adjust the bass and let the Alpine blast

Spring Heeled Jack posted:

Basement desktop chat: With the addition of a 2nd child my office space in a room with Windows has disappeared. Any tips for improving my work space that has no natural light? Any houseplants that can survive in a basement?

CoeLux.. I don't have one of these light sources, but I remember seeing this all over the internet ages ago and being utterly amazed. I have no idea how much they cost though. Probably an absolutely absurd amount.

Better off just buying a full-spectrum SAD lamp. You can buy big ol' ones in diffuse lightboxes. I think it's your best bet.

HalloKitty fucked around with this message at 18:11 on Jun 2, 2020

wolrah
May 8, 2006
what?

HalloKitty posted:

CoeLux.. I don't have one of these light sources, but I remember seeing this all over the internet ages ago and being utterly amazed. I have no idea how much they cost though. Probably an absolutely absurd amount.
$35-50k installed according to https://www.cepro.com/news/coelux_the_40000_fake_skylight_everyone_will_want/

When googling it however I did find a link to this Imgur album with someone's DIY implementation of a similar concept that may be relevant here. https://imgur.com/a/r31Gb

end result:

Not bad for $150ish.

3D Megadoodoo
Nov 25, 2010

wolrah posted:

$35-50k installed according to https://www.cepro.com/news/coelux_the_40000_fake_skylight_everyone_will_want/

When googling it however I did find a link to this Imgur album with someone's DIY implementation of a similar concept that may be relevant here. https://imgur.com/a/r31Gb

end result:

Not bad for $150ish.

I don't know that I like it. When you're sitting at your computer and hear the cops busting the front door and you eat all your dope and jump out the window but it's a wall. Not a good scenario!

It wasn't even the cops just the pizza guy knocking.

wolrah
May 8, 2006
what?

3D Megadoodoo posted:

I don't know that I like it. When you're sitting at your computer and hear the cops busting the front door and you eat all your dope and jump out the window but it's a wall. Not a good scenario!

It wasn't even the cops just the pizza guy knocking.
Thanks for that mental image, I'm giggling like an idiot here.

Saukkis
May 16, 2003

Unless I'm on the inside curve pointing straight at oncoming traffic the high beams stay on and I laugh at your puny protest flashes.
I am Most Important Man. Most Important Man in the World.
Years ago I built a wake-up light out of a normal 2x18W fluorescent fixture, a pair of Philips MASTER TL-D 90 De Luxe 6500K 90+ CRI tubes and a programmable timer. I also got a dimmable electronic ballast for it, but I never got to building the circuit to enable gradual startup. I can definitely feel the difference on the mornings I don't have the light on.

Nowadays it's easy to find cool daylight LED panels, but harder to find models with high-CRI too.

Photex
Apr 6, 2009




Finally put the finishing touches on my recently remodeled basement

Neurosis
Jun 10, 2003
Fallen Rib
Thanks to everyone for suggesitons earlier in the thread. Am looking at them now in anticipation of moving in a few months.

barnold
Dec 16, 2011


what do u do when yuo're born to play fps? guess there's nothing left to do but play fps. boom headshot

Photex posted:

Finally put the finishing touches on my recently remodeled basement



:stare: oh gently caress how are you running that clock/sports ticker? I need a sports ticker in my life. It looks like some kind of RasPi setup maybe with the outlet all the way up there?

The Gunslinger
Jul 24, 2004

Do not forget the face of your father.
Fun Shoe
That's the sign I saw before in here but got interrupted before I could copy the URL. Someone mind linking the store?

Edit: I think it's this one? http://ledtickers.com/ But their etsy store says they're down, argh.

The Gunslinger fucked around with this message at 14:07 on Jun 9, 2020

Photex
Apr 6, 2009




that's correct it's from ledtickers.com it's the largest model they had at $399. I posted it a few months back after I finished the desktop area

llibja
Sep 13, 2007

Wasabi the J posted:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-62-in-Adjustable-Height-Work-Bench-Table-HOLT62XDB12/301810799

Got mine for $200 even.

takes a while to go up and down, but it's not as big of an issue as I thought.

I got it because my chair also sucks but the desk was cheaper to replace so I can stand when I want to stretch for a minute.



Lawnie posted:

I went with the Husky 62 in. adjustable table. I'm really impressed with the quality of the top. The protector for the cross-rod was slightly bent, but I was able to bang it into place despite the slight warping. All in all I'm extremely happy with this for ~$300 brought to my doorstep.




I realize these are older posts but this desk looks perfect for me. Any issues adjusting the height with load on the desk? I'm looking at the 72 inch version and I'd like to put my tower, two 27" displays and a printer on it. One video I watched about this desk mentions the manual says that there should be no load on it when cranking, have either of you run into any problems with this?

IUG
Jul 14, 2007


Jesus, have some class. You shouldn't be asking strangers on the internet about how they crank their load.

The Gunslinger
Jul 24, 2004

Do not forget the face of your father.
Fun Shoe

Photex posted:

that's correct it's from ledtickers.com it's the largest model they had at $399. I posted it a few months back after I finished the desktop area

I think I tried to get one the last time you posted (just before COVID-19) and they were out of stock. I tried again today and it just says "taking a break" which is a bummer. They're in Minneapolis too, bit of a double whammy there. It's frustrating because I can't find something else at this price point that looks that good and has a nice custom API. I'm not super interested in DIYing one with a Raspberry Pi but maybe that's what I'll be forced to do. I emailed the owner to see if hes reopening soon, fingers crossed because that sign is awesome.

trilobite terror
Oct 20, 2007
BUT MY LIVELIHOOD DEPENDS ON THE FORUMS!

The Gunslinger posted:

I think I tried to get one the last time you posted (just before COVID-19) and they were out of stock. I tried again today and it just says "taking a break" which is a bummer. They're in Minneapolis too, bit of a double whammy there. It's frustrating because I can't find something else at this price point that looks that good and has a nice custom API. I'm not super interested in DIYing one with a Raspberry Pi but maybe that's what I'll be forced to do. I emailed the owner to see if hes reopening soon, fingers crossed because that sign is awesome.

Just get a monitor/TV and a RPi and use one of the fifty bajillion Star Trek or whatever-inspired dealies that are out there.

Theophany
Jul 22, 2014

SUCCHIAMI IL MIO CAZZO DA DIETRO, RANA RAGAZZO



2022 FIA Formula 1 WDC

IUG posted:

Jesus, have some class. You shouldn't be asking strangers on the internet about how they crank their load.

Man, do I have a pornhub comment section to show you.

Wasabi the J
Jan 23, 2008

MOM WAS RIGHT

llibja posted:

I realize these are older posts but this desk looks perfect for me. Any issues adjusting the height with load on the desk? I'm looking at the 72 inch version and I'd like to put my tower, two 27" displays and a printer on it. One video I watched about this desk mentions the manual says that there should be no load on it when cranking, have either of you run into any problems with this?

No issues. It's a little harder to crank up, but I only have maybe 30 lbs of monitors and mounts, etc. on it.

My computer case is like 30 pounds alone so it stays on the ground.

I think the internal gears are plastic, which is why they're weaseling in that warning.

Lawnie
Sep 6, 2006

That is my helmet
Give it back
you are a lion
It doesn't even fit
Grimey Drawer

llibja posted:

I realize these are older posts but this desk looks perfect for me. Any issues adjusting the height with load on the desk? I'm looking at the 72 inch version and I'd like to put my tower, two 27" displays and a printer on it. One video I watched about this desk mentions the manual says that there should be no load on it when cranking, have either of you run into any problems with this?

Mine seems fine, I have a pair of fairly heavy speakers and two 24 inch monitors on a solid stand on it so I have to give it a bit of a push to make it up the last little bit while cranking, but otherwise it’s been great. I’ve been especially impressed with the finish which has stayed basically perfect since I got it.

Canna Happy
Jul 11, 2004
The engine, code A855, has a cast iron closed deck block and split crankcase. It uses an 8.1:1 compression ratio with Mahle cast eutectic aluminum alloy pistons, forged connecting rods with cracked caps and threaded-in 9 mm rod bolts, and a cast high

I have a 52 inch Husky with a mid tower + single 27 inch on it and it cranks up and down just fine. I really like it, but I only change the height a few times a week. I'd maybe want something motorized if I was working from home and up and down all the time.

Wasabi the J
Jan 23, 2008

MOM WAS RIGHT
Yeah I kinda wish it was motorized but repositioning only takes less than a minute.

Tedronai66
Aug 24, 2006
Better to Reign in Hell...
Do any of you goons do something for sound dampening? That isn't giant-foam-triangle-stuff?

Not trying to set up a studio feel, but something to knock out my talking when im in my office, right below the owners BR, as well as maybe dampen the sound from that bedroom as well.

That, and maybe something to have in the upstairs hallways/stairway, because I can be in the kitchen and hear my wife talking in a normal conversation voice as if she were in the room.

trilobite terror
Oct 20, 2007
BUT MY LIVELIHOOD DEPENDS ON THE FORUMS!

Tedronai66 posted:

Do any of you goons do something for sound dampening? That isn't giant-foam-triangle-stuff?

Not trying to set up a studio feel, but something to knock out my talking when im in my office, right below the owners BR, as well as maybe dampen the sound from that bedroom as well.

That, and maybe something to have in the upstairs hallways/stairway, because I can be in the kitchen and hear my wife talking in a normal conversation voice as if she were in the room.

I simply keep my room unmanageably messy and it does a pretty good job of trapping any bouncy waves.

Koskun
Apr 20, 2004
I worship the ground NinjaPablo walks on

Tedronai66 posted:

Do any of you goons do something for sound dampening? That isn't giant-foam-triangle-stuff?

Have you tried area rugs?

For your office, sounds like there isn't any insulation in the ceiling, which isn't uncommon. Some simple foam tiles should help there.

Pablo Bluth
Sep 7, 2007

I've made a huge mistake.
Start a waifu pillow collection.

bobmarleysghost
Mar 7, 2006



Just cover your walls with these

Tedronai66
Aug 24, 2006
Better to Reign in Hell...

Koskun posted:

Have you tried area rugs?

For your office, sounds like there isn't any insulation in the ceiling, which isn't uncommon. Some simple foam tiles should help there.

aside from the kitchen/dining area, it's all carpet in the house. But it's 10-foot ceilings, which is probably why the noise bounces so much.

If we ever get around to hanging up the larger artwork stuff we have, im sure I could also hide foam along the walls behind that.

trilobite terror
Oct 20, 2007
BUT MY LIVELIHOOD DEPENDS ON THE FORUMS!

Tedronai66 posted:

Do any of you goons do something for sound dampening? That isn't giant-foam-triangle-stuff?

Not trying to set up a studio feel, but something to knock out my talking when im in my office, right below the owners BR, as well as maybe dampen the sound from that bedroom as well.

That, and maybe something to have in the upstairs hallways/stairway, because I can be in the kitchen and hear my wife talking in a normal conversation voice as if she were in the room.

Realtalk- how much do you wanna spend? How much do you care about aesthetics? Do you like the look of sound dampening panels? What if they were colored? What if they were not? You can buy them in sets of different sizes/amounts. Think about where you might need them in terms of spots with standing waves, particularly loud echoes, etc. You don't have to blanket the room in them. Maybe try walking around with a microphone and a db meter/app (I think an iphone and possibly even Apple Watch can?). Definitely put some around your computer/place you talk and listen to poo poo. What about sound diffusers? Yeah those things with the blocks of different heights. They look pretty cool but maybe they aren't to your taste,what if you painted them? They're not nearly as expensive as you might think. What about just some art and carpeting, and maybe a couch or chair or large furniture object that can break up and absorb sound? And some plants? Did you know that you can turn canvases into decent sound panels with some rockwool/foam/old textile/costco towels/apparently newspaper but that's a mess/just by putting up canvases with nothing inside them in many cases? If you or your wife are crafty you can make some pretty solid minimal-effort wall coverings that way with a trip to Michael's/AC Moore. Most canvases are light enough to hang with 2-3 command strips and there's a lot of neat painting styles you can try,, or pay an artist to make you some stuff and support your local arts community.

trilobite terror fucked around with this message at 23:49 on Jun 11, 2020

Koskun
Apr 20, 2004
I worship the ground NinjaPablo walks on

Tedronai66 posted:

aside from the kitchen/dining area, it's all carpet in the house. But it's 10-foot ceilings, which is probably why the noise bounces so much.

If we ever get around to hanging up the larger artwork stuff we have, im sure I could also hide foam along the walls behind that.

Ahh. Not knowing some specifics, it was a guess based on how so many modern buildings are going without carpet everywhere.

If you don't mind them, acoustic curtains should help. There is also Acousti-coat Paint. It isn't going to do the same as a tile, but reportedly it does help.

For your office, maybe give a few of these a try (though the cost could be a bit high for a "well, it might work") - ATS Acoustic Panel.

rickiep00h
Aug 16, 2010

BATDANCE


Tedronai66 posted:

Do any of you goons do something for sound dampening? That isn't giant-foam-triangle-stuff?

Not trying to set up a studio feel, but something to knock out my talking when im in my office, right below the owners BR, as well as maybe dampen the sound from that bedroom as well.

That, and maybe something to have in the upstairs hallways/stairway, because I can be in the kitchen and hear my wife talking in a normal conversation voice as if she were in the room.

Highs and mids you want diffusion and absorbtion. High ceilings and flat, bare walls are absolutely gonna keep everything live always. What do you have for window coverings? Nice thick curtains would help. Otherwise like Comboomer said, furniture might work. Textiles in general are your friend. Diffusion panels are handy, but you need to make sure they're not in an area where they're likely to get run into.

(Incidentally, if you're having bass problems, physical decoupling is the only really foolproof way to go about things, but you can put bass traps in the corners if necessary and that will help with nodes.)

Edit: It's also going to depend heavily on what kind of art is going up. Sticking a flat panel of non-porous material (especially glass) in front of your treatment isn't gonna do much of anything, and might actually make things worse.

Tedronai66
Aug 24, 2006
Better to Reign in Hell...

Ok Comboomer posted:

Realtalk- how much do you wanna spend? How much do you care about aesthetics? Do you like the look of sound dampening panels? What if they were colored? What if they were not? You can buy them in sets of different sizes/amounts. Think about where you might need them in terms of spots with standing waves, particularly loud echoes, etc. You don't have to blanket the room in them. Maybe try walking around with a microphone and a db meter/app (I think an iphone and possibly even Apple Watch can?). Definitely put some around your computer/place you talk and listen to poo poo. What about sound diffusers? Yeah those things with the blocks of different heights. They look pretty cool but maybe they aren't to your taste,what if you painted them? They're not nearly as expensive as you might think. What about just some art and carpeting, and maybe a couch or chair or large furniture object that can break up and absorb sound? And some plants? Did you know that you can turn canvases into decent sound panels with some rockwool/foam/old textile/costco towels/apparently newspaper but that's a mess/just by putting up canvases with nothing inside them in many cases? If you or your wife are crafty you can make some pretty solid minimal-effort wall coverings that way with a trip to Michael's/AC Moore. Most canvases are light enough to hang with 2-3 command strips and there's a lot of neat painting styles you can try,, or pay an artist to make you some stuff and support your local arts community.

I like the idea of doing our own canvases (and didn't really think about that having dampening properties), especially in the upstairs hallway/stairwell. it's a pretty long hallway, and right now it's bare walls (kid came a couple weeks early before we could finish unpacking - go figure). Some of our "art" is generic prints from big box stores - but that's largely canvas.

She's pretty crafty, I can do stick figures and splash paint about.

Koskun posted:

Ahh. Not knowing some specifics, it was a guess based on how so many modern buildings are going without carpet everywhere.

If you don't mind them, acoustic curtains should help. There is also Acousti-coat Paint. It isn't going to do the same as a tile, but reportedly it does help.

For your office, maybe give a few of these a try (though the cost could be a bit high for a "well, it might work") - ATS Acoustic Panel.

The panels might work in my office. I was even thinking white tiles spaced on the ceiling checkerboard style (white ceiling, light gray walls), The curtain might do wonders in the stairwell, as there's a window there that we generally want to not have fully open. Right now all our window treatments are temporary/paper blinds, as the only quote we got was ~15k for hunter douglas top of the line crap without really thinking about it.

rickiep00h posted:

Edit: It's also going to depend heavily on what kind of art is going up. Sticking a flat panel of non-porous material (especially glass) in front of your treatment isn't gonna do much of anything, and might actually make things worse.

Largely canvas, though there's some non-porous stuff too. We'll have to play around with the configuration once we're at the point of putting art back up.

trilobite terror
Oct 20, 2007
BUT MY LIVELIHOOD DEPENDS ON THE FORUMS!
Those Hunter D blinds are nothing to shake a stick at. Those things will last you 30 years easy

Tedronai66
Aug 24, 2006
Better to Reign in Hell...

Ok Comboomer posted:

Those Hunter D blinds are nothing to shake a stick at. Those things will last you 30 years easy

Oh for sure. We just couldn't afford the 15k to do the whole house. We'll probably do it a room at a time though.

trilobite terror
Oct 20, 2007
BUT MY LIVELIHOOD DEPENDS ON THE FORUMS!

Tedronai66 posted:

Oh for sure. We just couldn't afford the 15k to do the whole house. We'll probably do it a room at a time though.

get the snazzy internet-connected ones

then make a thread and a patreon and recoup the cost by letting random goons control your blinds

do it webcam model-style, have people buy tokens to raise/lower them

trilobite terror fucked around with this message at 22:31 on Jun 13, 2020

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Lawnie
Sep 6, 2006

That is my helmet
Give it back
you are a lion
It doesn't even fit
Grimey Drawer
Has anyone else with the Husky adjustable desk affixed anything custom to the bottom of the tabletop? I want to make a rack to hang my tower from, but I’m not sure how to go about it exactly.

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