What’s Within?
This post contains a breakdown of how I use a computer, laptop and phone. I’ve made some significant changes over the last few years due to worsening health hassles. Everything here has been iterated over time in order to create a compute environment that makes my life easier to manage. Especially when my my health hassles are at their worst.
Feel free to borrow ideas, adapt things and generally use the contents of this post as you see fit. As always: this is a highly individual approach to computering. Take what works, leave the rest.
A Quick Warning
I’m not including links to software mentioned in this post. The software I use is specific and alternatives exist. The main purpose of this post is to layout how I compute, not what apps I use. If you feel what I put forth may work for you, I strongly advise looking into the apps I mention and their alternatives. There are varied options that’ll let you create this style of computering and I leave it to the reader to choose what software they use for implementation.
Table of Contents
Laptop
Simple put: I do not use a laptop anymore.
Editors note: If you’re happy using a laptop, everything below about desktop computers applies to laptops. This section simply details why Kemo doesn’t use a laptop.
Why?
Over the years I’ve used a variety of laptops ranging in size from 15" down to 10". All were good machines, facilitated on the go computing and were my main compute environments for a very long time. I even went so far as docking them to nice monitors at my desk.
However, I eventually needed a more flexible setup as a primary computer. One that could be upgraded over time, didn’t cost a small fortune for high end specs, etc. I needed a desktop computer to manage my photography, process music I buy, play video games with a controller, use virtualization and a lot more.
After setting up a desktop computer that met my needs, I started using my laptop less and less. It got to the point that whenever I went to use my laptop I had to install updates, reboot, and generally wait half an hour for the machine to “catch up” as it had sat idle or powered off for weeks or months on end. This quickly frustrated me and my attitude towards using my laptop became steeped in loathing. Not Good.
Thankfully this was about the time modern Android devices became useable as a proper mobile computer for me. I started to gradually gravitate toward using my phone by default when away from my desk. As I was slowly shifting to “phone only”, when away from my desk, I discovered Android has a hidden desktop mode. I’ll spare you the finer details and you can assume this discovery brought me great joy.
The discovery of desktop mode on Android clued me into the uPerfect and Nextdock Lapdock hardware. Basically a Lapdock is a fancy USB dock for your phone and works the same way other, more common, USB docks work. The “fancy” is that Lapdocks are laptops without brains. They have a display, a keyboard, a trackpad, a large battery, no brains and when connected to a phone, turn your phone into a laptop.
Android desktop mode (DEX for Samsung devices), combined with a Lapdock, allowed me to migrate away from a laptop completely.
I’d like to point out that I feel laptops are valid, useful and are great primary computers. They just don’t “fit” with my needs or approach to computering these days. I generally do not recommend migrating from a laptop to a phone (or tablet) plus Lapdock but it is a good thing to consider if you don’t use a laptop or want to migrate away from using a laptop.
Editors Note: Android desktop mode (and support) has shifted around a bit since Kemo shed their laptop. If you’d like to know more about how they shed a laptop in favor of an Android phone plus Lapdock; see the Samsung Galaxy Fold 4 post and then the Death of the Laptop post. Both linked posts lay out the specifics of Kemo’s migration away from laptops.
Phone
My phone is probably one of the biggest, yet simplest, wins I’ve had for accessibility needs. Particularly when away from my desk.
I use a folding phone, the Samsung Galaxy Fold 4, and it’s been an amazingly flexible device. I can use it as a smart phone, Android tablet and laptop. The phone even has native stylus support on the tablet screen and includes DEX. DEX is a competent desktop mode built atop the core Android OS. It also has a good CPU, a reasonable amount of RAM and roomy storage. It’s essentially a mid-range laptop in a different form factor.
I use this phone in 3 primary ways:
- As a smart phone
- The “usual” that you’d expect
- As a small tablet
- Reading
- Drawing
- Note taking
- Basic multi tasking with side by side apps and apps as “pop up windows”
- As a laptop
- DEX with a Lapdock behaves like a standard laptop
- Login to my $dayJob remote environment
- Server management
- Writing
- Various forms of multi-tasking
I can use this so called “phone” for damn near anything I’d need to accomplish when away from my desk. What I cannot accomplish, when away from my desk, can usually wait until I’m back at my desk. If it can’t wait, I can always login to my desktop computer remotely to perform more complex tasks. Thankfully the need to login to my desktop computer from the phone is a rare event and easily accommodated.
This is a 3-in-1, converged device that works well for each mode of operation and sacrifices very little utility. The main limitations are due to the way Android works, not the hardware.
Because of this flexibility I can easily switch the phone’s mode of operation to the one that best meets my immediate needs. It adapts to the requirements imposed by my health hassles. A huge win for my accessibility needs.
The only “real hassle” I ran into with this phone was notification fatigue. Modern software has a notification problem and… I just don’t give enough of a shit to be notified for every tiny, little thing that mega corps and app developers feel deserve attention. I’ll get to things when I get to things. I like my focused time and having a non-stop parade of notifications quickly became a problem.
To solve the notification fatigue problem, I set every app to have silent notifications and then slowly turned on non-silent notifications for things I actually need to interrupt me. Things like messages from my Significant Other, messages from my bank, incoming phone calls and… that’s it really. All other notifications will materialize in the notification area of the phone and I can review them when I have the focus to spare. I even outright disabled notifications for some apps, like games and utilities that I don’t need to be bothered by unless actively using the app.
I even setup my fitness tracker app to only forward notifications that are non-silent. Now the only time my wrist vibrates is when a notification I want to interrupt me pops up on the phone. A win given I wear a fitness tracker non-stop these days.
A flexible phone that doesn’t constantly jump up and down screaming for attention was a huge win for me in terms of accessibility. Enough of a win that I won’t use other phones or mobile device setups anymore. This is too accessible to give up.
A Laptop Reminder
Because I want folk to register this fact: the information below about my desktop computer setup DOES APPLY TO LAPTOPS.
Modern laptops and modern desktop computers use the same operating systems, essentially the same hardware and are functionally equivalent except for human interface devices (HID). HID being things like keyboard, mouse, monitor and similar. Even then, a laptop can use the HID of a desktop computer thanks to expansion ports like USB and docks that are available.
There is great info below for anyone using a desktop computer or laptop.
Desktop
The Fundamentals
The first thing I do with my computer is setup dark mode and red shift. My eyes are very light sensitive and dimming the displays via dark mode and shifting the colors to the red end of the color spectrum really helps. I have less eye strain, less eye fatigue and do not get headaches. Prior to these becoming common options I struggled badly. I struggle so badly without dark mode and red shift that I’ll intentionally tweak a monitor’s internal settings to be red shifted and I’ll setup apps and/or plugins and/or extensions to make applications display things in dark mode (I’m looking at you web sites and web browsers). If you deal with eye strain, eye fatigue and/or headaches when sitting at a screen for long periods: look into red shifts, blue light filters, dark mode and similar. They make a huge difference.
The second thing I do with my computer is I disable all notifications at the OS and app level. Seriously: ALL. My phone has internet access and is hooked up to my various forms of communication, todo list and similar. If I need to be notified about something, my phone handles this need and does so in a reliable manner. As I noted above: notification fatigue is real for me and I don’t want everything screaming for my attention non-stop. On my computer I don’t need notifications except to be notified there is an update available and I only want to be told this when actively using an app. Thankfully this is easily accomplished as most apps will tell you about an update when launched despite “global notifications” being turned off. It’s not 100% perfect but it works well enough that I’ve not bothered to dig deeper.
For my mouse, I use a “finger trackball”. It’s a standard, no frills trackball with the ball on top of the device so it’s moved by my index and middle fingers. The main reason I switched to a finger trackball is a standard mouse will give me tennis elbow and swimmers shoulder. These aren’t fun and using a finger trackball solved these problems nearly overnight for me. Trackballs with the ball on the side cause my thumb problems and I cannot use them for extended periods. About the only thing “fancy” with my trackball is I set one of the buttons to minimize application windows. I have a few app windows that are minimized unless actively used and having minimize as a mouse button is helpful when working with these windows.
My keyboard, on the other hand, is something very special. I use a split, 40% sized keyboard that has only 32 keys, low profile switches and low profile keycaps. It runs a custom firmware with two modes of operation: truly one handed typing and two handed typing. Due to my health hassles causing an arm tremor, there are days I can only type one handed. I currently use a customized form of the 40% Ardux keyboard layout. 40% Ardux allows me to type using a purely one handed layout using only half the keyboard and it allows me to type two handed with a mostly standard 40% QWERTY layout. All I have to do is boop a key combo to switch between one and two handed typing modes. This keyboard is the biggest, most important accessibility item I use with my computer. It’s definitely not for everybody but if you ever need to type one handed: look into Ardux.
Monitors
At my desk I have three monitors: a single 13.3" monitor and two 24" monitors. All three are 1440p (2k / 2560x1440) resolution which is my preferred resolution currently. I also prefer a 24" or 13.3" monitor as they are the “right size” for my biology and posture. They also give me the information density I prefer. I’ve used many other monitor sizes and resolutions over the years and can use other setups, but they are not my preference.
I’ve arranged these monitors in a row horizontally with the left most monitor being the 13.3". This arrangement lets me “spread out” app windows like I would spread out paper on my desk. I also use a lot of reference material so having physical monitor layout that facilitates good side-by-side app window management is a benefit for my needs.
The only tweak I’ve made to these monitors is I’ve adjusted the UI scaling. I set the 13.3" monitor to have 150% UI scaling to help with readability at a distance. The two 24" monitors are set to 100% UI scaling (ie. no scaling). Interestingly this adjustment makes the 13.3" monitor’s text and UI components match the size of the 24" monitors. I didn’t specifically set out to accomplish this but the consistency in the text and UI element sizes has proven beneficial for me. It’s a bit easier on the mind when my health hassles are particularly bad.
In practicality, the horizontal layout of the physical monitors is the key point here.
Desktop Environment
My desktop environment is Windows. The UI paradigm works for me and is my preferred these days. Thankfully what I’ve setup for a desktop environment can generally be setup on MacOS and Linux.
On Windows, all but the virtual desktop config is achieved using the Power Toys app from Microsoft. For virtual desktop support, on Windows, I use the native, built-in functionality.
On MacOS a lot of this should be built into the OS, if not everything.
Linux is it’s own can of worms and I leave implementing my desktop environment approach on Linux as an exercise for the reader.
Virtual Desktops
One of the key items I setup for my desktop environment is virtual desktops. This allows me to create “zones of focus” and also tame the sheer volume of app windows to pick from when switching between windows. I’ve got a “main” virtual desktop, a “gaming” virtual desktop, and transient virtual desktops for tasks that require focus and I want separate from my main virtual desktop.
The main virtual desktop contains the misc items that pop up day to day and the remote desktop setup for my job (when actively working, closed otherwise). The gaming virtual desktop is where Steam and my video game sessions live. The transient virtual desktops are created when I work on denser topics like photo editing, programming, performing research and similar. Basically the transient desktops contain things I work on sporadically but are information and app window dense. Keeping these things separate from my main virtual desktop helps me stay focused and helps me avoid being overwhelmed by the volume of information present on screen.
Tiling
Beyond virtual desktops, I also setup Fancy Zones. Fancy Zones brings tiling window management to the Windows UI.
Since tiling window management isn’t an obvious term: you know the “window snaps” on your computer when you drag a window to the left or right edge of your screen or into a corner of the screen? That is a form of tiling window management. Tiling window management is essentially dividing your screen into a “grid” and creating “zones” where windows will live when dragged into a zone’s boundaries. Setting up a usable grid is an open ended pain in the ass, but is worth the effort.
Prior to setting up Fancy Zones I had a set of custom “window sizer” scripts to re-size windows into my preferred widths and I had “standard locations” where I kept app windows. Basically I wrote tools to manage my app windows so I could lay them out on a horizontal grid and keep them in consistent locations. I had effectively re-created the tiling window management paradigm without even knowing the term.
Thankfully I have friends who are aware of the tiling window management paradigm, use it and suggested I look into Fancy Zones. Almost immediately after setting up the fundamentals of Fancy Zones, I realized I’ve used tiling window management for decades.
There are good tiling layout examples online and Fancy Zones comes with some basic layouts. These are great if you’re new to tiling but I had already developed a tiling layout that I knew worked. I implemented my existing tiling layout and, over time, added some additional zones and refined my approach.
In the end, my tiling layout is comprised of the following:
- Windows take up the entire vertical space of a monitor
- Windows can be sized to 1/3 the monitor width, 1/2 the monitor width or 2/3 the monitor width
- Horizontally I can layout both 1/3 and 1/2 windows in a “left, center, right” pattern
- In the case of 1/2 center, it overlaps the left and right zones slightly
- 2/3 splits have only left and right, no center
- For 2/3 splits, they overlap with both 1/2 and 1/3 zones and are used when I need a “wide window” next to a “skinny window”
- Example: My code editor in a 2/3 zone next to a terminal in a 1/3 zone
This approach to tiling lets me “spread out” very similar to how I spread out across my desk when using analog. I can see a ton of information side by side and I can easily layout my windows according to need. This has been so helpful for me, I refuse to use a multi-monitor setup that lacks tiling window management.
Misc Tooling
In addition to virtual desktops and window tiling, I setup a few different tools that I’ve found immensely helpful over time.
I setup Advanced Paste and it’s quickly become a critical tool in my box. Advanced Paste gives me a clipboard history and a few different options for pasting the contents of the clipboard. I didn’t realize I would benefit from a clipboard history until I had it available. Having a history for your clipboard is quite helpful and I strongly suggest folk give it a try. It’ll come in handy any time you need to copy/paste heavily or accidentally copy two different things in rapid succession unintentionally.
I setup Peek because it allows me to quickly preview the contents of files, particularly images (like my photography), via my file manager. This was called QuickLook on MacOS when I was a MacOS user. Whenever I’m looking for files or reviewing files, Peek lets me press a key combo to get a pop-up window that shows me the selected file’s contents. It’ll even update in real time as I navigate the filesystem. This is incredibly helpful when looking for a file or reviewing files in bulk.
Power Toys Run I initially setup but ultimately stopped using. It’s a quick launcher that is essentially a more robust Start Menu. MacOS has a similar feature but I do not know its name currently. This will let you do simple calculations in the prompt, perform more complex actions than simply “open an app” and has better auto-complete than most other ways of launching apps. I used this setup heavily in the past when I needed a fancier launcher. These days I don’t do as much “advanced computering” and no longer have a need. I’ve included it here for completeness as I know more than a few people who swear by this app and its alternatives.
I setup an app that allows me to mark app windows as “always on top” so I can ensure something like a Pomodoro timer is always visible on-screen. I really only set this up to ensure I can have a Pomodoro timer always visible. I have used this for other purposes like showing my streaming music Firefox tab on top of all other windows but little else. This has limited utility and scope but can be quite helpful at times.
App Window Layout
Having multiple monitors changes the way you lay out app windows in a big way. Especially if you have three monitors arranged in a single, horizontal row. You’ll quickly discover you “spread out” in a way that works for your brain. Given the flexibility of my tiling setup, I don’t do anything too specific with my app window layout. However, there are a few, key things to point out.
The center monitor, a 24" panel, is my “main monitor” where things I’m actively working on live. The right monitor, also a 24" panel, is my “secondary monitor” where information related to what I’m working gets placed. Sometimes I’ll put package tracking information or my music streaming in a 1/3 window on the far right zone of my right monitor. I usually do this just so the information is easily seen if I turn my head, yet far enough outside the main scope of my vision to avoid a focus pull.
The contents of my main and secondary monitor are not stable. I use my computer for a number of completely different tasks that benefit from different window layouts. Photography, coding, server management and gaming are all very different things with different needs. I won’t give specific examples because the contents of these two monitors are wholly contextual and change according to needs and whims of any given moment. These two monitors represent my brains focus and flow more than anything.
My third monitor, a 13.3" panel, is the monitor that unlocks an incredible amount of utility for me. I call this monitor my “kicker” as it’s off to the side, smaller and generally unassuming despite how important it has become.
On this monitor I keep my chat apps (Matrix, Signal, Telegram), my todo list app (LogSeq), my note taking and 2nd Brain app (Obsidian) as well as two Firefox windows. One Firefox window contains the singular social media account I have and the other Firefox window contains tabs for working with “the smart home stuff”, my e-mail, my RSS reader, Wallabag (an alternative to Pocket and Read it Later) and my bookmark manager.
This third monitor is dedicated to “daily life”. It’s used haphazardly, yet heavily, over the course of a day. It’s where I instinctively look for information related to daily life. The best part is: it keeps anything that can pull my focus off to the side and not within the main scope of my vision.
This third monitor has become so important that I even found a way to mimic having a third monitor at my job, prior to work from home, despite having only two monitors at my job’s desk. To achieve this, I put my phone on a stand and open the chat and email apps used for my job. I use my phone to interact with these two apps instead of my computer. This really helps keep me focused as I go about my day and it keeps the primary focus pulls outside the main scope of my vision.
One thing to note: I tend to discourage setting up more than two monitors. More than two monitors is still not “generally supported or assumed” by applications and operating systems. You also need a fairly competent graphics card which can accommodate more than two monitors. This is not common outside of desktop computer setups in my experience. Instead, I recommend folk setup what I setup at my job: two monitors with a phone or mini tablet on a stand with the “daily life” items readily accessible on the phone/tablet. If this setup proves cumbersome due to typing speed, I usually suggest looking into Frogpad keyboard alternatives or a Bluetooth split keyboard. This will let you have 2 keyboards at your desk: one for the computer, one for the phone/tablet. If the setup proves cumbersome because the screen needs to be tapped “too much”, a Bluetooth track ball can help.
Parting Thoughts
That’s the main info on how I computer day to day.
The keys to my success were:
- A highly competent, flexible, adaptable and accessible mobile compute node (aka: folding phone)
- An actually accessible keyboard
- An actually accessible pointing device (track ball)
- At least 2 monitors, preferably 3
- Tiling app window management
Granted, I’ve put forth more but these are my key needs. The rest of what I’ve put forth I can live without and have lived without in the past. However, if I have the additional items above as options: I’ll take them without hesitation.
Finding everything put forth in the above was a pain in the ass and took a long time to fine tune. The process was a slog. There are so many options, approaches and opinions disguised as “fact” that finding what will or won’t work for you requires a bit of effort.
Thankfully there are options, approaches and more available for folk to choose from. As always with this blog: it’s about honesty with yourself, trying things, adapting things and tossing what doesn’t work.