So I signed up to a cloud provider and installed Mastodon and Pixelfed. Neat! But I didn't really run that server. Sure, I could install software - but I didn't have root. It was all managed by someone else.

Next, I got a dedicated machine in a rack somewhere. Great! I had root and was able to mess around with the system as much as I liked. I mean, I could always roll back. Wait… I did set up backups, right? But it was never really my server. If I wanted to install more RAM or a bigger disk, I had to ask a technician to do that for me. And those technicians were able to power off my machine at any moment without warning.

Fine! I bought a dedicated fibre connection at home with a static IP address. I bought a couple of servers, a load balancer, and a hardware firewall - then set up a domain name to point to it all. I also bought a UPS to deal with power cuts. Then I installed a security system to prevent burglars or spies coming in to mess with it.

Of course, I want to make sure I know exactly what's running on my machine; not your code, not your server. That means I make sure to read all the diffs to the source before I run apt upgrade. But reading that many changes to Linux, Apache, and WordPress is complicated.

So I've not been able to post much on social since I started studying for a Phd in Computer Science.

Heavily inspired by this masterpiece:

I thought using loops was cheating, so I programmed my own using samples. I then thought using samples was cheating, so I recorded real drums. I then thought that programming it was cheating, so I learned to play drums for real. I then thought using bought drums was cheating, so I learned to make my own. I then thought using premade skins was cheating, so I killed a goat and skinned it. I then thought that that was cheating too, so I grew my own goat from a baby goat. I also think that is cheating, but I'm not sure where to go from here. I haven't made any music lately, what with the goat farming and all.

MagpieIndustries - 2010-09-03

1. It rotates to vertical mode
2. It was within my employer's home working budget

There are no integrated USB hubs, no TV tuners, no gaming mode, no 4K, no HDR, no smarts. It is just a screen. That happens to rotate.

Tech Specs

Gloriously boring. For video, there's an HDMI socket. You also get a legacy VGA socket and a DVI. Audio is a 3.5mm jack in and out. That's your lot.

It appears to have standard VESA mounting screws if you don't like the stand. Oh, and there's a Kensington Lock socket if you want to securely bolt it to something. Bizarrely, it doesn't come with an HDMI cable. You get power, 3.5mm audio, and DVI.

UI

The interface is about as good as any computer monitor - which is to say pretty bad. Repeatedly clicking stiff buttons is no one's idea of fun. But it only needs to be done once. There is no way to set the UI to be rotated, so you have to twist your head whenever you want to adjust it. There's no way change the way it presents to your computer. So you'll need to find your machine's settings for rotating a display.

Posture

As well as rotation, the stand is height adjustable and has a bit of tilt.

It takes a little bit of adjustment to make it just right for your personal preferences.

Why vertical?

I read lots of long boring important documents. A tiny laptop screen isn't suited for that. A 24 inch monitor, when landscape, has a height of 30cm. The same height as A4 paper. But once you add in the overhead of the program you're using to read the paper, it is considerably less. If you're a sensible distance from the monitor, you'll also want a larger font.

So a vertical monitor is just right.

Downsides

This isn't a true vertical monitor. The viewing angles when rotated are nowhere near as wide as when in landscape. As you move your head, it becomes apparent that colours and contrast alter quite rapidly.

Jelly Scrolling. When quickly scrolling documents, there is some distortion - the right side appears to move before the left side. I think this is because the monitor is drawing from top to bottom, but receiving the data from side to side - if that makes sense. It's not hugely distracting. You can see the effect on this testing website.

Finally, the speakers are basic. They're stereo - but when rotated, they're vertical. Which is a little odd, but fine for conference calls. They're not particularly loud, but they fill my small office. There's no way to control the volume over HDMI. That may be a limitation of MacOS though.

Buy it

I was about £130 when I ordered it - but prices are fluctuating based on stock. Buy the Iiyama ProLite on Amazon

Programming (great having the API in one monitor, the IDE on another and the output on the third!) Web browsing + email + Trillian + winamp all in easy reach. Writing documents on the centre monitor and having the references on the two side monitors! Sorry for the crappy picture - someone buy me a digital camera... please!

Config 3342

• WinXP, 3 monitors, 3 video cards
• K6/2-500
• 576MB
• Gigabyte GA-5AX

DXr3/Hollywood+ DVD decoder. Must link to the primary graphics card and monitor to work properly. Creative still haven't provided proper drivers for this card.

I got all three of my monitors for free from companies who didn't want them because either their cases were slightly damaged or they were too small (15inches). If you want cheap monitors, check out your local companies/government.

Card 1:

AGP ATI Xpert@Work, ATI Rage Pro Turbo chipset Needs the 2K drivers and must be set as primary in the BIOS

Card 2:

PCI SIS 6326, SIS 630 chipset Use the 2K drivers.

Card 3:

PCI, 3dfx Voodoo Banshee chipset WinXP pro provides its own drivers. If you want to play heavy 3d games you might want to download drivers from www.voodoofiles.com