The PhoneBoy Blog


Simplifying Telecom, Mobile Phones, Gadgets, Health, and More!

Simplified Computing

Over the past couple of days, I’ve spent time cleaning up my office. The major task was unhooking the various computers I used to use and stacking them neatly in the corner of my office. This also wrapping up and putting away countless wires. I also removed a mini-rack from my wiring closet and placed it somewhere else in my office. I was able to use some of that space in the wiring closet for storage.

The fact is, I used to do a lot of technical support from my house. I had to be able to simulate networks and firewalls in order to troubleshoot customer issues. This means a lot of equipment. Some rack-mounted equipment, plenty of built and rebuilt computers of varying degrees of antiquity. It all had to be hooked up and ready to go at a moment’s notice. It’s a lot of crap that can generate a lot of heat. But those days in my career are, at the very least, taking a hiatus.

Today, my office only has three computers on at any given time: my computer, my son’s computer, and my work laptop. That doesn’t include the various switches and firewalls inside the wiring closet, but all of that stuff is quietly humming behind a closed door and doesn’t get in my way. Part of that is a result of just not needing so much equipment for my day-to-day computing needs, but it also stems from the fact I can use products like Crossover Office and Win4Lin Workstation to handle applications written for a Microsoft OS without needing to run Windows as my primary OS or needing to fire up a second Windows-based computer!


#Cybersecurity Evangelist, Podcaster, #noagenda Producer, Frequenter of shiny metal tubes, Expressor of personal opinions, and of course, a coffee achiever.