Where Steemit Magic Happens 🔮 Qurator's Monday Missions 🕵️ Workstations 🖥️

justinparke (67)in OCD • 4 years ago

This week's Monday Missions topic is "Workstations," so I will share with you where all the Steemit blogging magic happens.

🐇🎩 Where The Steemit Magic Happens 🔮🧙

an entry for

Qurator's Monday Missions | Workstations

🔭 FAR FROM MAGIC 🧙‍♂️

Steemit blogging magic is certainly an overstatement, but I hope I grabbed your attention. I will say we are eking out a living from blogging on Steemit, and although far from thriving on it, Steemit has become our most stable source of income during this global downturn.

It's a pretty average workstation, but I've been getting by with much worse than this for years. To have a desk and semi-broken chair is awesome, no matter how mismatched their ergonomics might be.

🏃‍♂️ PORTABILITY IS KEY 🧳

After years of bouncing back and forth between laptops and PCs, I finally purchased a mini PC, and I have no regrets whatsoever. Combined with a bluetooth keyboard, bluetooth mouse, bluetooth speaker, webcam and portable monitor, I have a very portable workstation that packs down to a reasonable size.

What you see is a Logitech MX Ergo Trackball Mouse, Logitech Illuminated Keyboard, Logitech C920 HD Pro Webcam, JBL Flip 4, Intel NUC5i7RYH, and an ASUS ZenScreen 15.6 Inch Portable Monitor.

All in all this equipment gets the job done. The only problems I encounter are when I am replaying videos on my timeline in Shotcut, which are a bit choppy, but hey it's a mini PC, I'm pushing the limits.

I also teach Cambodian online, although COVID-19 has all but destroyed my student base. Learning languages is just not a necessity during tough economic times when survival is number one.

I still have one student though for which I make use of the webcam and mini whiteboard I keep on my desk. Other than the $80 a month we get from these lessons, Steemit is our main source of income.

🐝 My SteemitWare 👨‍💻

In my opinion, nothing beats Peakd.com for creating posts. I was already partial to Steempeak, so the interface is very familiar.

Not many frontends have a side-by-side option within the editor, and that is one of the biggest draws of the Peakd editor.

When it comes to commenting and curating posts, I use Ecency, formerly known as eSteem. I like the gamification system and using ESTM for post promotion. The desktop windows app will be released soon, so I am eagerly awaiting it.

For now I use Ecency on my iPhone 8 and eSteem on the PC. The whole family impatiently waits for their daily allotted SPIN & WIN, where I always seem to get 5 ESTM and @Sreypov always seems to get 20+ ESTM, causing me to think maybe luck is real.

When it comes to making those eye-candy 800px x 480px awesome thumbnails, I use GIMP, a totally free image editing program that is similar to Photoshop.

The simplicity of GIMP compared to other similar image editing programs is advantage for me. I'm far from a professional photographer or photo editor, and I have yet to even make use of 50% of the features this program has to offer, so it's more than enough.

📷 My Precious 😨

This Canon PowerShot SX530 HS Digital Camera has been in my possession for several years, and I've only recently began using it and learning its features.

I've always felt self-conscious with a big camera around my neck, and I also live in the developing world, so a big lofty camera makes you stand out like a sore thumb, something you don't usually want, especially when taking natural photos.

Especially in Cambodia, I've found a smartphone to be the least obtrusive device to catch people acting natural, my favorite kind of photos. I'm getting used to using this monster though, and I've learned I just have to wait 20 minutes until folks begin ignoring the camera.

@Sreypov is quickly becoming an awesome blogger and photographer, so I've recently acquired one more reason to finally learn the ins and outs of my new-ish camera, because she wants to learn how to use this camera properly too.

🌐 Conclusion 👨‍💻

This was my first Monday Mission post for @Qurator, but I've meaning to take part for far too long. That's my workstation, humble but functional, and always ready to pack up and go when the world changes for the better.