the setup is interesting.
Self-described as “a bunch of nerdy interviews,” they basically ask “What do people use to get the job done?”
The interview questions are all the same, consisting of four questions:
- Who are you, and what do you do?
- What hardware are you using?
- And what software?
- What would be your dream setup?
Like most good introspective exercises, you can approach it on different levels–and with more or less rigor. Here are my answers:
Who are you and what do you do?
Michael Montgomery. Husband, father, lawyer, technology fan, internet afficionado, speaker, organizer, and write with a fountain pen.
I blog sometimes, and work for Christopher & Weisberg as a registered patent attorney and intellectual property lawyer. On the web, I play with markup & styling, teaches, presents, help with Godbit, RefreshLauderdale and RefreshMiami.
What hardware are you using?
At work, I use a nondescript box from a company I won’t name, that’s been downgraded to XP for compatibility with ProLaw, our office back-end. The displays are a 19″ HP f1905 and another 19″ nondescript second monitor.
At the office, I have a 30Gb iPod driving Tivoli Audio Model Two stereo speakers.
My laptop is an HP G70 with 4Gb of RAM and Vista Home Premium. It came with a free upgrade to Windows 7, but I haven’t yet had the courage. At home, I use a 19″ HP L1945w and the laptop as a second monitor.
I tend to carry an 8Gb iPhone, and usually either a book or Moleskine notebook. And a pen.
And what software?
For browsers, I use Firefox and Chrome (mostly for apps like Gmail). For text and code, Notepad++ rocks. For documents, I use OpenOffice Writer by choice and MS Word when required.
For websites, Textpattern usually, ExpressionEngine for larger projects, and WordPress for blogs. Dropbox (love it!) for synchronizing, and Jungle Disk (meh) for backup. Delicious for bookmarks.
Online I use Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Reader, Remember the Milk, Readernaut, Etherpad.
I go by Montgomery most everywhere. For games, LotRO, EVE and Babas Chess.
What would be your dream setup?
Vastly improved voice recognition capability–so good it doesn’t require a headset. I don’t understand why we’re all still typing!
Corollary: kill the keyboard and mouse. Long live the pen!