Computing Al Fresco?

ear1grey writes "With summer fast approaching in the northern hemisphere, do any readers have experience of taking their 'working from home' one stage further and 'working from the garden'? Any tips for making the screen more visible in the bright sunshine? Any problems with direct sunlight and overheating components? Are there other issues that we should be aware of before we venture, blinking, into the great outdoors?"

Tables + Parasols

[JeffHunt]

Get yourself one of those fancy deck tables with the umbrella that comes out of the middle. Voila - sunlight problem solved.

I've surfed from a hammock

[Kris_J]

I've done some non-work stuff from a hammock outdoors using an ultralight PC with a WiFi card. Fairly pleasant but a little uncomfortable. However, given that I have three screens wrapped 'round me at work and I'd have more if I could justify the cost I think that going entirely portable for work would be counterproductive. Also, it's just started winter here ;-p

TFT

[nerd65536]

Thin Film Transistor screens, like those found on the GameBoy Color/Advance/SP thrive (if you can get around the glare) in high light conditions, as do a good number of LCD screens.

Been there, got it wired

[tornadoslims]

I worked from home for about 6 months a few years ago on a consulting gig. I lived on the beach so whenever it was sunny I would want to bring my laptop on the deck with the wireless and work out there, but I couldn't see the screen. The key is to construct a highly technical cardboard shutter that you can tape around the screen of your laptop - 2 sides and top. Neighbors think your staring into the screen of some peep show, but regardless of the 73 other distractions that come with working outside, at least the sun won't be one of them. Tslim

bogus suggesion

[frovingslosh]

#4 - LTSP.org - Use your laptop as a wireless thin client. It reduces local CPU power consumption, extends the life of your battery, and your server, (any desktop machine), does all the heavy lifting so you can still go fast.

This makes sense in theory, but I've yet to find a Linux that will run on my HP notebook and manage power properly. The fan comes on shortly after booting and the batteries run down in half the time or less than with XP, no matter what I'm doing , even sitting idle. I'm far from the only one who has been seeing this. So suggesting a Linux thin client as a power saving concept just doesn't fly, at least until Linux is able to manage power as well as windoes does on most or all of the notebook with that feature.

Choose the best times

[Peter Cooper]

Unless you have a veranda or porch where you can get a little shade so you can see the screen, I recommend chosing your times wisely.

It starts getting light here (the UK) at about 3.45am, and I enjoy going out at this time. By 5.30am, of course, it's full daylight. Then at the other end of the day you get a nice light between 8.30pm and 10pm. The beauty of these times is also that it's not too hot to be sitting around, and there are also less flies/buzzy things about. Of course, not everyone has as loose a schedule as I do, and may not find these times ideal! (I do, as I sleep during the late morning and early afternoon, I like some night-time in my life!)

Re:Best practices:

[DjReagan]

More expensive sunglases tend to have things like polarising lenses which cause problems when viewing LCD screens.

Sunlight is toxic

[sakusha]

Direct sunlight is bad for you, why would you want to sit outside in the sun when everyone knows the proper environment for programming is a batcave?
I'm not kidding. I just came back from my dermatologist, who gleefully cut away every little precancerous mole she could find, now I've got stitches in extremely uncomfortable places that won't be removed for another week. I used to work outside when I was a kid, mowing lawns and gardening, but now I regret it, since it apparently increased my likelihood of skin cancer.
The whole REASON I studied computer programming was because I hated working out in the hot sun in dirty environments full of allergy-inducing pollen, I vastly preferred air-conditioned, dark offices. So I figured that computing was the best profession, back in those days, computers were always installed in glassed-in rooms with intense air conditioning and filtered air.