HN Reader

> We must reserve a back room [une arriereboutique] all our own, entirely free, in which to establish our real liberty and our principal retreat and solitude

And thus the man-cave was born :)

My dream house would have a big study with books covering the walls floor to ceiling and a big wooden desk in the middle, like the one in Palazzo Revoltella in Trieste[0][1] (by the way, goo see the Museo Rivoltella if you ever go to Trieste).

The current small room I work from is something already. At least I can close the door when I call customers and team-mates. Heaps better than when I had to work from the living room. But a bit more room (and not having to share the space with the pantry) would be nice.

[0] https://i.pinimg.com/originals/33/47/20/3347206a9602a062ee8f...

[1] https://i.pinimg.com/originals/04/99/fb/0499fb98b756a2511c40...

When I was in undergrad, I worked with Barry Wellman (one of the early proponents of Social Network Analysis). One of his research projects back in the 1970s-90s was interviewing people about their home offices, and they'd have them take photos of their desk, computer setup, etc. Really cool stuff to see how people decide to focus. I wonder how much it's changed?

This is a nice article going in the other chronological direction!

A man's desk/workbench or an equivalent is a glimpse into his thoughts; everything exists and is where it is for a reason.

Any time I look inside my SSDs and HDDs I am satisfactorily horrified.

My study is the library. My favorite place.

Whats going on with all the drawn-in stuff on the photo of WEB Dubois?

My study is modest: just a spare bedroom that serves as a home office, sanctuary, and musical practice room... and with a few cheap bookshelves to turn it into a "library" as well.

Still, I have not always had the means nor the space for such a luxury, and it's one of those things that I never take for granted.

Very much worth reading. Excellent. I didn't know publicdomainreview before either.