Ada PalmerInterview
Science fiction & fantasy novelist, history professor, musician
Adapted from Ada Palmer's interview on Uses This, published 7 July 2016. The kit is drawn from their answers and each reason is an excerpt, lightly edited. Shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the full interview ↗
Is this you? Claim this kit →Hardware
In the past I've used stacks of books and boxes to make my ideal desk, but now I use a custom-made Uprize Independent Leg Motorized Sit-Stand Desk, made by a great company which will cut a custom tabletop to your requested size, to fit your office.
I do almost all my work on a Lenovo X-series laptop, because Lenovo laptops tend to have the best keyboards, and I use a second external second monitor up on an Ergoprise adjustable monitor arm.
Wireless Trackball M570+ 5 others
I use a Logitech M570 wireless trackball instead of a mouse.
When I travel I either carry a Lenovo ThinkVision LT1421 14" Portable USB LED Monitor which I can put up high on a pile of books or boxes, or I bring an external keyboard and Goldtouch lightweight aluminum portable laptop stand, so I can put the laptop up high and the keyboard low.
I often also bring a Samson LTS50 portable laptop table, to make sure I can have the keyboard low enough relative to my lap.
Communication
Productivity
My main productivity and organizational tool is Habitica, also called HabitRPG, a gamified online productivity program.
For other programs, I spend most of my day in Microsoft Word, not because it's the best word processor but because it's the most compatible with others, and I need to be able to open student assignments, and send files to publishers in standard formats.
It's part of the MS Office suite, and is wonderful for organizing notes since you can have text, small areas of spread sheets, and graphics all together in one space, so they're easy to move around.
Notes
I also make extensive use of OneNote, not a well-known program so I like to introduce people to it.
Design
I use Photoshop to clean up photographs of historical artifacts that I use for history and teaching, and for design projects related to my fiction, like designing flags for science fictional nations.