Keeping a PC Personal At School?

Berto Kraus writes "As one of the most tech-oriented students in my art-oriented institution, I'm usually the one with the laptop. This causes frequent requests from other students to read mail, check some site, or connect it to the projector to display a file from their Flash drive. For the sake of my privacy, the health of my laptop, and my own peace of mind, I'm reluctant. But telling my compatriots to go to our building supervisor and ask him for a desktop-on-a-cart, as they should do, is considered rude and unfriendly. Now, I could dual-boot Ubuntu, or carry around a Linux-on-a-stick. Or I could embed the computer in my skull. For many reasons, none of these solutions is ideal. So I'm asking you, insightful and funny Slashdotters, what would you do to keep your PC personal at school?"

Comments

easy.

[l3iggs]

create a guest account.

Re:easy.

[supernova_hq]

Or do what I do. Make your machine super-efficient but very hard to learn. Using my machine is sort of a keyboard-mouse hybrid of vi!

• Use "scale" for app switching, bind it to a hot-corner and disable your taskbar.
• bind another corner to "show desktop"
• bind another corner to "expo"
• launch ALL your applications from gnome-do (using docky in hidden mode).
• put your last remaining panel on the side (vertical)

After a couple days, the shortcuts (especially the hot-corners, trust me) will speed up your efficiency. At the same time, others will be baffled as to what the hell happened when they touched the mouse!

Hint: For fast desktop-switching, you can set it so when you "click" on the left/right of the screen, it rotates.
Note: hot-corners do not need to be clicked, just mouse-over, this makes them very fast and easy to use, but also easy for a newby to hit by accident ;)

Now I know this is all compiz stuff, but MacOSX has some features that are pretty much exactly the same, I know it has hot-corner activated "scale".

Re:easy.

[Anonymous Coward]

you have a perfect opportunity here to capture passwords.

Re:easy.

[psnyder]

I know you were modded funny, but I actually just followed your little "guide" step by step; installing gnome-do, and setting up all the bindings in compiz.

Not because I wanted to obfuscate things for others, but because I'm still fairly new to Linux and it's actually a pretty nice setup. Thanks for the ideas (^_^)

Just be paranoid.

[Atlantis-Rising]

I must admit, I've never had this problem. Probably because I have a very long password and I lock my PC whenever I turn my head away from the screen. As long as you're obviously paranoid enough with your PC, chances are, people won't ask you to use it.

Re:Just be paranoid.

[TheWanderingHermit]

This is close to my thoughts. Basically make it visibly and notably hard for them to use. Either use a Linux desktop with things configured in a way that works for you but will confuse them, or use Firefox with No-Script installed so Javascript or other key and important features don't work on their email accounts or anything else that works for you but will make it hard for them. At some point they'll realize it's more of a pain to use your computer than to wait or do something else.

Also, when they complain about some change you've made, like disabling IE so they have to use Firefox, say, "Sorry about that, but I set it up for what works for me and what keeps my data safe. I'm sure if you had your own computer, you'd set it up for you and not other people."

Re:Just be paranoid.

[fractoid]

He's an artist. A fairly techy one but an artist nonetheless. Therefore, acting like a rabid dog every time anyone glances at his computer is probably not a valid option for him, because in his quality matrix, interacting with other people has a decidedly positive weight.

Re:Just be paranoid.

[pz]

He's an artist. A fairly techy one but an artist nonetheless. Therefore, acting like a rabid dog every time anyone glances at his computer is probably not a valid option for him, because in his quality matrix, interacting with other people has a decidedly positive weight.

This is perhaps the most insightful comment on this thread.

And it leads to the real issue: the OP, out of his or her own good heart, is sharing a valuable resource with others. Kudos to them. But the burden of this altruism is becoming worrisome. Fundamentally, this person is providing a service that the institution provides, but badly. The OP needs to speak not with Slashdot, but with the host institution to work out an equitable solution, likely including more readily available institution-owned hardware that resists physical attack (read: theft).

I had a similar situation when in college, as I had a van. One of those huge full-sized vans without windows, a big sliding door, and nothing in the cargo compartment but a thin carpet on the floor. Everyone wanted to borrow my van. Refusing wasn't a morally acceptable option for me. So, what I did was to charge a nominal fee that benefited me, was not onerous to the borrower, and was well below market rates, so I could still feel good about being nice to my friends. For the van, the rate was either one case of beer, or a full tank of gas upon return (depending on the gas level and anticipated travel involved).

If the OP cannot convince the institution to pony up to provide a necessary service for its students, then he should start charging some nominal fee for use of his laptop. Better if it is a barter-based fee, rather than a monetary one. Say, lunch the next day. Or the price of a couple of beers after school. Or a dollop of some important art supply (guache or something). My advice to the OP is to be creative in figuring out what to charge, but charge SOMETHING for the service they are providing, even if only a nominal, token amount.

Finally, since someone is borrowing something of value, the OP also needs to be entirely explicit about the rules surrounding what happens when something goes wrong and the item returns broken. For my van, it was simple: the borrower agreed to cover all costs of repair or damage, period, fully understanding that it was an old van with a relatively high probability of failure. For a laptop, repair usually means replacement, so the borrower needs to understand the liability they are undertaking when borrowing a delicate and expensive bit of kit and explicitly acknowledge it. If not on paper, then verbally, in front of witnesses.

Rude and Unfriendly

[Cabriel]

I'm resistant to letting anyone use my laptop. It's password protected and my roommate, the computer programmer, has commented in disbelief that it's not like he'll ever do anything harmful with it. However, I don't let it stop me.

Look at it from the other side: They're being just as rude, maybe more so. It's rude for your friends to impose their whims on you when you've apparently made it evident enough that you aren't comfortable with letting them all at your machine, willy-nilly.

Easy reply

[Anonymous Coward]

Sharing laptops is like sharing toothbrushes.

A better way

[bmo]

"For the sake of my privacy, the health of my laptop, and my own peace of mind, I'm reluctant."

As you should be.

"But telling my compatriots to go to our building supervisor and ask him for a desktop-on-a-cart, as they should do, is considered rude and unfriendly."

But you aren't the community PC guy, are you? You are being /used/. Not even mentioning your privacy or possibility of OS infection, what if someone simply drops the machine? I suspect you won't be able to get anyone to pay for the repair or replacement, as they are unwilling to get their own. If this keeps going on, you are going to have a broken computer /and/ a lot of resentment aimed at your so-called friends. This might sound harsh to you, but it is reality.

There is a solution to this, however. If your group is cohesive enough, maybe each can contribute to the acquisition of a "group computer." This is how the real world works, especially if you are acquainted with the concept of the "office group owned coffee pot and coffee kitty." Same concept. Those who contribute get to use the computer/coffee pot/whatever.

But if you continue on the current path you are on, it can only end badly.

--
BMO

Re:Use Dvorak Simplified Keyboard...

[Phil Urich]

yea then you have to learn dvorak in the first place. God I think the only reason people use that kbrd config is to be an elitist. I taught myself dvorak a few years ago buying into the hype that it was faster...well its not, and this is coming from someone that can do ~100 WPM QWERTY

Uhhhhh....did it never occur to you that your speed and familiarity with QWERTY would be why Dvorak is slower for you? I know my sister types significantly faster with Dvorak than Qwerty; she wasn't terribly fast at Qwerty at the time, nowadays she uses Qwerty about 30% of the time and Dvorak 70% at the time and is at about ~100 WPM on Dvorak but 60 WPM on Qwerty.

Re:Guest account with Fast User Switching.

[sortius_nod]

Or tell them to go fuck themselves.

Honestly, if they need to use it that much why have they not bought their own?

A laptop costs almost nothing compared to most art supplies, if they complain they don't have the cash... ask them how much they paid for their last photo enlargements? In this day and age not having a laptop is like not having a pen. Sure, once in a while when you forget the tool it's cool to borrow, but not having one and always using others is not acceptable.

One thing I usually find most annoying from art students is the attitude that "art supplies" are more important than the tools they use to learn with. I feel it's more about being able to say "I spent $500 making that artwork, respect it!" than actually creating art. Then again, maybe I'm either too cynical, or my priorities are different.

I've been unemployed for extended periods of time (years), but haven't been without a computer since I was 16 (I bought my first computer myself too) - I'm 29 now. I've always considered being connected with the world at large as a vital part of being human, others don't, then again, why are they asking to borrow your laptop?

Goes back to telling them to fuck off... or harden the fuck up. Which ever is more appropriate.

Re:Appropriate?

[sortius_nod]

I think you've missed the point. These people are asking to use his laptop in class. If I'm not using my machine at home I don't expect some random I barely know to rock up and ask to use it. Why should it be any different at university/collage/school?

It really is a case of people learning to deal with either not having the tool or getting their own (fuck off or harden the fuck up).

Turning this into a "socialise with physical beings" debate is very silly, kind of like telling someone who doesn't want to lend a pen out to spend more time with their lecturer.

Re:Guest account with Fast User Switching.

[Ihlosi]

In other words it's exactly like business school

Maybe, but in art you still need to create _something_.

Re:Guest account with Fast User Switching.

[commodore64_love]

All of ye have given good technical answers, and they would most-likely work, but I think ye overlooked the most practical solution:

"No."

It's the same answer I give if someone asks if they can drive my $15,000 car, or if they can borrow my $5000 diamond ring, or if they can wear my $1000 suit. No, no, no. A laptop is not a toy; it's a huge investment in both money and time (approximately 1.5 months of hell, err work). And I would explain that to the asker: "If it breaks, are you willing to give me two thousand dollars to get a new one?" Probably not. If it's something trivial like checking wikipedia.com then sure I'll share my laptop, but for something major like doing a presentation on the projection screen, forget it. Let them use the school-provided resources and/or buy their own laptop.

Re:Use Dvorak Simplified Keyboard...

[moranar]

Part of the problem is programmers who don't care about international use (often Americans) and start using symbols that are easy for them to type but uncommon in other countries. That said, lots of European layouts feature gratuitous layout changes; for example, the German keyboard swaps Y and Z for no apparent reason.

That was a hilarious couple of sentences, rebutting in the first one the assumption you make in the second...

Err, friends? I don't think so.

[pyrr]

I'm not sure that "friends" is the appropriate word here. People who are kind enough to beg the OP to use his stuff because they're too lazy or stupid to buy their own are generally not "friends", they're sponges. What's the likelihood they'd do him favors in return when he's in need? Do they hang out with him after class and help him with his work a lot? Or are they just cordial to him and his best pal in the world when they need something from him and otherwise he may as well not exist? If so, they're sponges. If the willingness to be used by sponges is a mark of good social graces, I don't see a problem with being at the bottom of that social pecking order. There are only certain situations involving social politics where it might be to one's advantage to do so.

That said, there's a place for social gifting. If someone has a desperate need and you help them out, that's an entirely different thing. Your generosity is still a scarce resource that will be appreciated and not assumed or taken-advantage of. If someone really is a friend, it's appropriate to share since generosity is mutual. But for people who just want to take advantage and use your stuff so they don't have to buy and maintain their own, "Sorry, can't help you there," is an appropriate answer, especially if there's --any-- chance you'd lose a non-trivial amount of time and money due to what might someone might do to the item they wish to borrow, and you don't have a reasonable expectation that they'd make it right in such an event.

The real hassle is driving projectors

[Animats]

Every time I go to some big conference, there's a clusterfuck as someone tries to get their laptop to talk to the projector.

If you lend your machine out for that sort of thing, make very sure that autorun is turned off for all external media. Someone is going to put in a CD or a USB stick that has something on it that will try to autorun.

Incidentally, if you're giving a talk, have everything set up in advance. When the projector turns on, your first slide should be up. Not a Windows desktop. Not a PowerPoint slide tray. Not "New updates are available for your computer." And especially not "Low Battery". That's amateurish. I used to have a housemate who was a roadie for rock groups, a stage rigger, and also did event setup at Stanford. She insisted presentations run like theatrical performances; any prep work takes place out of sight of the audience. If you're in art school, definitely learn to do this right.