The Governor's New Office Table

The inmates and staffer of the Westville Correctional Facility created an impressive handicraft of a 16-foot-long office conference table which shows the outline of Indiana state, complete with its 92 counties. The tabletop also includes a 3-foot-diameter glass topped image of medallions of the state's seal, and the image of the state flag.

This impressive piece of office furniture, which was built in a prison carpentry shop, was a fusion of different wood types but it managed to execute a unified look.

The table is now proudly showcased at Indiana Governor Mitch Daniel's office, where he flaunted the handiwork of the inmates a week after it was delivered in late June. The Governor even gamely posed for photos beside the new office table with the officials from the Indiana Department of Correction.

The table was a request by the Department of Correction's Commissioner J. David Donahue. A Westville staffer led eight inmates who have reportedly worked on the table for an estimated 2,000 hours.

“When Dave told me he would have a new table made for the office, I wouldn't have dreamed it could be something like this,” Gov. Daniels said. “It's the most beautiful piece of furniture I've ever seen, and the craftsmanship is second to none.”

According to the officials, the cherry, oak, tulip poplar, walnut, white pine and spalted maple trees all came from the grounds of the medium-security prison which was located at 30 miles west of South Bend. The table was designed by Alex McEarthon, a carpenter who has been serving the prison system for about 14 years already.

At the rate of popularity that this beautiful table is going, the Westville Correctional might just be the newest office furniture maker in town. The idea to commission the inmates to explore their craft in grandiose table or even in practical office furniture-types will give them another chance to pick their life up where they last left it.

Comfort and Style in the Office Courtesy of the Office Chair

Imagine this: A big time client is about to seal the deal with your company. Everybody is prepared with the pitch, the presentation, even with the right blend of coffee suited for the client. However, as the client steps into the room, shakes your team's hands and sits on the office chair---the client's expression suddenly changes. And you might wonder, could it be the chairs? Actually, it could be.

Modern days have called the workforce to a strict confinement to their workspaces. In a time where most of the employees are seeing their offices as their second home, they need a seat where they could sit on for as long as eight hours. This makes the office chair a significant element of everyday work.

The importance of office chairs or even office desks says a lot about the company. It leaves either a lasting positive impression on prospective clients, or a negative memory. In a way, these office furnitures tell what to expect about the company's ideals and philosophy---and how they go about it. Because in reality, even the most minute detail can make or break the deal.

Office furniture need not be expensive and extravagant, and they do not have to be changed every year. They can be simple, highly ergonomic, yet affordable for getting its worth. It is always the comfort that should not be compromised. For instance, when choosing the right office chairs, it should be given that a person could last sitting on it for eight hours everyday. Comfort does a lot to a person's productivity, so it is vital that they feel at ease to let their efficiency gain power. Next, these chairs must also exude a touch of style and sophistication. Appearance may say a lot, for if a chair looks old and beat, who would want to sit on that?

The office chair does a lot to the company---it might be ridiculous but it always boils down to the littlest things. And in this case, a chair is not a little thing to be ignored. It may cause hassle in finding the right office chairs, but it will leave a good mark on the company.

Home Office, My sweet Home

The number of Americans working at home has reportedly reached a million. Due to this pressing growth, makers of furniture have become experts with their concepts in designing office desks, office chairs, and storage solution to fit the clientèle's demands into their homes. For after all, whatever art movement one wants to incorporate in his home office should be provided by the designers with their flexible concepts.

If Bruce Wayne managed to access his “home office” by flipping back a hinged head of a bronze Shakespeare bust to reveal a switch---which would of course make the bookcase slide open to unveil the Bat Cave---modern home workspaces need not to be secretive and overly creative that it has to be isolated from the rest of the house. Today, technology is able to bind us. It is not only the answer to speed up work, but it also blurred the lines between private life and work. This is the primary reason why people want to work from their homes, so it is the designers' task to make this happen.

This is not too hard to accomplish. Imagine that a full-sized desk, credenza, and filing cabinet can now be ideal for a laptop corner in the family room. The right office desk could be tucked by a window or behind a sofa, serving its function while still maintaining the look of the family space. Another trend suggests that a mini-kitchen should be placed into the home office. This keeps the work while managing to get a bite or two.

However, if one does not want to be reminded of work while spending quality time with the family, there are home office furnitures that could be hidden after work---some that could be flipped, folded, and then compacted back behind its paneled doors.

So much has to be considered when it comes to designing a home office. Important elements such as the proper lighting, to the most ergonomic furnishings, to how should one focus on his interaction with his working environment. It is advised to create functional solutions for the work needs while maintaining a balance of style.

Nokia N85, a good value for your money!

The screen on the N85 measures 2.6-inch and sports a resolution of 240×320, which is more than enough. This particular handset garnered numerous news posts when it went on sale here in the Manila, well not really sale but available. Although it doesn’t still stand up to the quality of the iPhone screen, it can still hold its own, especially when reviewing photos and recorded movies.

N85 is a slider phone, not a fliptop. But, it’s a little unusual in that it slides one way to expose the keypad and the other way to expose the media keys for accessing the phone’s music menu. When slid into the ‘media mode’ the screen automatically switches to landscape mode and the main nav button serves as the track forward/back and play button. Which brings me to my next point: The N85 include a real 3.5mm headphone jack. Having a 3.5mm input is a good point specially when you want a better headset, you can change the headphone jack into a better one.

Movies or pics, the N85 captures quality images. Sure, like most cameras phones it’s not great in low light scenarios but thanks to the LED flash it gives a boost to dim photos. At 5 megapixels your images and movies (640×480) will look as good as some of today’s stand alone cameras.

As for avid Mac users out there, for some reason I couldn’t get the N85 to show up in my iSync menu. So all I can say is that you’ve been warned. Sure, some trouble shooting might resolved the issue, but the point here is that this thing won’t just sync out of the box. Just wanna share that as well.

As for memory, the phone comes with an 8GB microSD card. This was more than suitable for me but you can upgrade if you’re looking to add your expansive music collection. As with most microSD card slots it was a bit complicated when you want to take out the card.

As for those who got cars FM transmitters, the Nokia N85 includes its very own. You can adjust the frequency, turn it on, you’ve got music streaming from your phone to your car’s stereo system. I know, the sound quality won’t exactly be top notch, but for some quick tunes and one less trip to Best Buy who can complain.

Getting online with the N85 can be achieved via 3G/EDGE or WiFi and setting up the wireless was super simple thanks to the WLAN Wizard. Surprisingly, it include a full HTML browser, which admittedly is a bit of a surprise given the small screen. Fortunately, the OS, Symbian S60, pops up a little screen when you start to move the mouse around allowing you to navigate the page from afar. In the end, I found the browser was only suitable for checking websites at a glance and really isn’t designed as a Web friendly device.

Battery life of the N85 is outstanding. I tested out the standby time, which means absolutely no use, and the handset lasted a few days short of 2 weeks. Plus the OLED screen makes the phone even more efficient when it is being used. When really using the phone I could get 4-5 days in between charges, but keep in mind your battery experiences may vary depending on signal reception and type of use.

Built-in to the handset is an accelerometer, but you wouldn’t know it at first glance. Factor settings set it to off, but that can be quickly over ridden by navigating to Tools>Settings>General>Sensor Settings. For the most part the accelerometer was very speedy to react but on occasion had a tendency to be a little over sensitive, ultimately changing the screen from portrait to landscape mode when not truly warranted. Another interesting feature, which also is turned off by default, is the Navigation Wheel. It can be turned to ‘on’, which essentially turns the circumference of the main joystick button into a navigation button. I didn’t extensively test out the option since it proved more annoying than useful. I suppose those used to a Blackberry experience might find it useful or just complete off setting.

Overall, I’m very impressed with the Nokia N85. I’ll be honest, it’s been many years since I’ve really used one but now I understand why they’re the number one handset maker in the world. The build of the N85 is very solid. At times the buttons on the phone proved a bit cumbersome and for anyone coming from a Blackberry or iPhone, or any handset with a touchscreen and full QWERTY keypad will find adjusting to the new layout challenging. The payoff of course is in the optics, small footprint.