What’s in my bag?
After reading a quick meme post on Kevin Lim’s blog, I thought I would take a break from coding to join in on the fun and briefly show you what I take to classes everyday. Compared to Kevin, I keep things light (albeit not too light with the MBP) with primarily just my laptop and a notebook.
I actually prefer taking notes on paper. When it comes time to study for a test I would much rather flip through physical pages rather than tabs in Safari. I’ve been a fan of Uniball Deluxe Micro pens for quite some time so I always keep a few in the bag. Speaking of which, I use a Timbuk2 laptop messenger bag. One complaint I have with the Timbuk2 is that there really isn’t much room left with a laptop and a single notebook. I brought a textbook to class today and the Timbuk2 was almost overflowing.
The last of the luggables includes a 4GB Sandisk Cruzer Micro USB stick and Sony in-ear earbuds. The in-ear earbuds are crucial for when I have some downtime between classes and find a nice place in the College of Computing to hide and consume precious 100Mbit bandwidth.
What do you take to class/work everyday?
As for all those TextMate windows open on the MBP, I’ve been hacking away at an expansion of sorts for this site. In other news, my roommate won Gigabyte’s overclocking contest this past week. He dragged me across town to hunt down an Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 - a $1200, 3 GHz quad-core processor that he cooled with a self-built cascade cooling system, pushing the chip to 5GHz at -72 Celsius under load. Quite a spectacle to see waste of my parking spot in the garage.
It’s ok, I don’t charge you for space on the media server so we are even. Just think of how boring life would be if I didn’t do what I do? Bleak, eh?
I usually have the problem that I have everything and the world in my Crumbler back which weights a ton because of that ;-) http://www.flickr.com/photos/zerok/153641372/ still comes quite close.
How are Timbuk2 bags in general? I’m currently looking for a replacement for my old Eastpak backpack which is starting to fall apart.
I’m a Timbuk2 Owner, albeit not a facebook customised one ;)
I manage to fit my MBP, a couple of moleskine’s some pens, my Canon EOS 20D and sometimes a Flashgun in there too.
It’s a beefy bugger, and one purchase I’m glad i made, even if I did get import tax on it! =D
When carrying my laptop, I prefer messenger bags than backpacks. I think because its more versatil and it looks cool.
I like Timbuk2 series but i think they are a little small when you must carry more than 2 regular size notebooks and your laptop.
I’m all about limited edition Timbuk2 bags, so your Facebook edition definitely scores! ;)
I’m with you on taking notes on paper. I’ve been doing that for a while, but have finally hit a road bump. I want those notes to be searchable in my mac! I haven’t figured out a good, quick way to scan the hundreds of papers I have, and I doubt I’ll ever type them in. This won’t stop me from writing out my notes, I think I learn the material better but it is sort of a bummer I can’t have the best of both worlds.
I also have a timbuktu for my macbook and I cram it full of goodies:
-2 Lamy Pens
-Nikon Coolpix p5100
-Moleskine GTD “Student Hack”
-Shure EC Headphones
-iPod Video 5th Generation
-A Small bottle of advil
-Reading Glasses
-And Earplugs for when I need absolute silence!
So yeah, my timbuktu is full, I actually wish I bought the next size up!
Fun article Paul, thanks.
for longer journeys, I like my backpack. However, I have recently bought a messenger bag, and it looks cooler- we’ll see how I like it for “not carry it for miles” stuff.
Ditto paper notes, and ditto ditto wishing they were searchable!
I tote the following most days:
- 3-subject notebook
- 2 ink pens
- iPhone
- Sony earbuds (w/ Belkin iPhone adapter)
- small 5×7 notebook (for dates, notes, etc)
It’s nice taking a peek into someone’s daily commute. Great article, Paul.
I’m going light this semester as well. I plan on purchasing and Eee Pc for notes and leaving the Macbook Pro at home. Along with the normal things I intend on carrying.
- few textbooks
- Mini-notebooks
- Canon 10d for my shutter bug craze
- Sprint mogul cellphone if I don’t sell it and get an Iphone
- Logitech bluetooth headphones
- Logitech bluetooth mouse
- Ipod nano until I get my hands on the iphone
I envy your timbuk2 facebook edition :). On another note, I carry a moleskine cahier, a multi pen (red, black, and pencil), a hacked Moto Pebl, Toshiba Gigabeat u202, and a Duct-tape slimmy wallet. Oh wait, that’s just what’s in my pocket. My backpack is a completely different beast. I think it’s time to take simplicity with me on my backpack.
Interesting how so many of you carry paper notebooks (even moleskins). I guess real paper is still better than e-paper!
I carry a backpack, 3-ring binder w/ notebook paper, 0.5mm mechanical pencil, and 4G iPod 40GB. Occosionally, a Canon SD1000 and Mountain Dew.
I was recently surprised to hear about an informal study that most student prefer to take notes on paper rather than through a keyboard. That fact was mentioned as a key selling point of an upcoming ’smart pen’ from Livescribe. Their claim is that it recognizes your handwriting and digitizes it for later access by uploading notes to your computer. I don’t know how the Livescribe pen compares with your Uniball Deluxe Micro pens though!
@C. Wess Daniels: Try writing a simple not in the corner of the page and then when you need to search just flip thought looking at the top corner.
@Christopher - holy crap - that pen looks amazing! Why aren’t they making it for Mac?!
@p858snake - that’s a great tip, thanks!
I’ve got a beautiful Crumpler messenger bag; these guys started up in Melbourne, Australia, and their factory is right around the corner from my local pub. I own *way* too many bags of theirs I just can’t stop!
In it I have:
* 2.2ghz Santa Rosa 15″ MacBook Pro
* MBP power adapter (I always keep one in my bag for uni and I’ve also got one on my desk for when I’m stationary at home)
* Some spare change in case I get thirsty
* Bottle of Coke / Ice Berry Powerade / Red Bull
* 80gb iPod classic and USB cable
* A few Kilometric pens. They go and go and go…
Here is my bag……
1)http://minihref.com/8v
2)http://minihref.com/8w
unfortunately i lack in the owning a laptop department and the money department for that matter.
Expansion? That’s exciting. I’m looking forward to it.
I really like messenger bags, I sort of wish I didn’t pick up the Targus bag I have now, it’s a pain in the neck to get my tiny M1330 out of it when I need to.
I’m a shill for Moleskine, try them out! ;-)
http://www.moleskinerie.com/
I wish UK Unis were like american ones, we really haven’t caught up with the yanks in terms of lappys in the lecture theaters yet!
Why more UK unis don’t embrace wireless, lectures via podcasts etc i don’t now!
I have a Timbuktu that I use to carry my Macbook when I frequently go out of town. But my everyday bag is a big ole purse. Right now, it’s carrying my Treo 750, my iPod, my earbuds, Sony Reader PRS-505, Nintendo DS lite plus six games in a compact carrying case, bluetooth earpiece, glasses, small wristlet, and my Canon SD1000, plus gum and girl necessities..lol
If I could fashionably get away with carrying my Timbuktu everyday, I would.
Paul, nice post. I love stuff like this. You even made me do a similar post to display my simple bag o’ tricks.
check it here!
http://www.toonice4tv.com/2008/01/26/whats-in-my-bag/
Keys, phone, wallet, 80GB iPod, iTrip, a 7-in-1 Swiss Army thing for breaking glass/cutting seat belts, and a multipurpose RFID pass for work.
Much as I would like to add a Macbook on that list, I don’t do a job that requires one.
I don’t take a lot with me: wallet, keys, pens, calculator, iphone, earbuds, notebooks, and when I’m in the middle of coding some project I’ll have the MacBook Pro with me as well :)
I agree about the paper issue…I love my MB, but I’ll never totally migrate away from paper. I still use a paper calendar.
I agree about the paper issue…I love my MB, but I’ll never totally migrate away from paper. I still use a paper calendar.
What’s in my bag post is on my blog.
No power adapter for the laptop or was it just for the picture?
@Scott - Usually I don’t bring a power adapter. I’ve got about 3-4 hours of battery life which is usually good enough for most days. If it isn’t I bring along my extra charger.
Hey,
Ok, I guess I am too used to my old iBook with its ever shrinking battery life. Thanks!