What’s in your desk, Stevie Bonifield?

Stevie Bonifield is a information author right here at The Verge and, they are saying, “I cowl a little bit little bit of nearly the whole lot, from the FCC to AI procuring instruments to Linux.” Earlier than becoming a member of our information staff, they wrote weekend information for PC Gamer and did opinions, information, options, and guides for Laptop computer Magazine, together with some tales for Tom’s Information, IGN, TechRadar, and XDA. “I’ve been studying (and watching) The Verge since I used to be in highschool,“ they add, ”so it’s fairly thrilling to be a part of the staff now.“

Exterior of writing, Stevie says “I additionally love gaming, studying, and TTRPGs (tabletop roleplaying video games). As you’ll most likely have the ability to inform from my workspace, I’m form of a complete nerd.”

Let’s start with the fundamentals. The place is your work area situated?

My desk and work area are in my bed room. I share my residence with a roommate, so we each work from our bedrooms so we don’t distract one another in the course of the day. I don’t actually thoughts not having a separate workplace — it means I solely have to fret about adorning and managing one area as an alternative of two. I just lately moved to New Jersey from Pittsburgh, PA, so I’m nonetheless getting the whole lot arrange right here.

Might you inform us about your desk and your chair?

I’m utilizing a VIVO 3-stage adjustable desk with a VIVO 60-inch desktop and a Haworth Breck chair. I acquired each once I moved final month, so I haven’t been utilizing them for lengthy, however I like them up to now.

That is really a standing desk, which I’ve by no means used earlier than. I acquired it so I may have my desk top fairly low — I’m on the shorter aspect and most desks are too excessive for me. This one goes all the way in which all the way down to 24 inches, decrease than even I want, which is very nice. The choice to make use of it as a standing desk is a cool perk, regardless that that isn’t what I purchased it for. My cable administration beneath the desk nonetheless wants some cleansing up, however I’m engaged on it! I’ve a VIVO clamp-on cable administration internet containing most of it for now.

I just like the Haworth Breck up to now, however it’s a fairly primary chair. Like my desk, an enormous a part of why I acquired this one is its top vary. It’s extraordinarily tough for me to seek out respectable desk chairs that go as little as I want them to (with out requiring a footrest). This one has a minimal seat top of round 15 inches and has adjustable seat depth, each of which I’ve actually appreciated. That mentioned, I want it had a headrest.

Inform us in regards to the numerous tech gadgets you’re utilizing.

My setup is a little bit loopy as a result of I’ve three completely different computer systems working to my two displays.

My gaming PC lives on the ground beneath my desk. It’s at the moment briefly out of fee as a result of I’m having a {hardware} situation. Sadly, my RAM appears to be on the fritz, which is fairly unhealthy timing contemplating the present RAM pricing nightmare. Most of it’s nonetheless working, although! It has an AMD Ryzen 7 7700X CPU, an AMD Radeon RX 6600 GPU, an Asus ROG Strix B650-A motherboard, and a pair of 16GB Corsair Vengeance DDR5 RAM sticks (which apparently have to be changed, after lower than a 12 months of use).

That’s additionally my Linux PC — it’s at the moment working Fedora 41 with the Cinnamon desktop atmosphere, however I’m updating to Fedora 43 quickly and planning to modify to the KDE Plasma desktop atmosphere.

Hanging off the aspect of my desk are my work and private laptops, each the M4 MacBook Air. My laptops are solely linked to my left monitor, which is a 27-inch 1440p Viewsonic Omni (VX2728J-2K). My gaming PC is linked to each displays. I primarily play video games on the appropriate monitor because it has higher colour accuracy. It’s a 27-inch 1440p Asus ROG Strix gaming monitor (XG27ACS).

Neither certainly one of my displays is something fancy, however each are ok for my wants. Between the 2, I might most likely advocate the ROG yet another, though I’m not an enormous fan of the buttons being situated on the again since I want these to swap enter modes so I can change to my Mac. Once I’m working in the course of the day I often have my work laptop computer working on the left monitor and my Linux PC on the appropriate monitor. My keyboard and mouse I selected particularly as a result of they make it straightforward to leap between all my gadgets.

I’ve reviewed fairly a couple of keyboards, so it’s a little bit ironic that the one I’m utilizing now I really haven’t reviewed. It’s the Nuphy Halo75 V2 with Nuphy’s Mint switches. It sounds and feels nice, works actually easily with macOS, and I can bounce between my laptops and PC with a fast keyboard shortcut. The battery life could possibly be a bit higher, however admittedly I depart the RGB on, in order that’s most likely not serving to. General, although, I actually just like the design and sound high quality on the Halo75 — it’s one of many solely keyboards I’ve tried that I’m pleased with out-of-the-box with out making any DIY customizations.

My mouse is definitely certainly one of my favourite gadgets proper now. I’ve examined some nice gaming mice, however this one is my private day by day driver and never one I reviewed. It’s the Razer Orochi V2, and I acquired it on sale for $35 on Amazon earlier this 12 months. It’s nothing fancy, however the measurement and really feel are excellent for me. Most gaming mice really feel form of monumental in my hand, however I swear Razer designed the Orochi for my palm particularly. Like my keyboard, it’s additionally in a position to bounce between a Bluetooth connection and a 2.4GHz dongle. Regardless of the budget-friendly value, it’s an amazing mouse.

Beneath that I’m at the moment utilizing a Matrix Blizzard mousepad. I acquired it on Amazon, however sadly, I believe it’s bought out now. I wished one thing with a little bit little bit of a design happening, however not something too detailed or distracting. This design nearly completely match what I used to be searching for. I want it was a tad thicker, however it’s extra fascinating than a plain black mousepad, and that’s ok for me.

I’ve two controllers on my desk, a commonplace Xbox controller for my Mac and the wired Razer Wolverine V2 for my gaming PC. I don’t usually like wired controllers, however I actually love the Wolverine. The clicky buttons on Razer controllers are so satisfying to me, and so they have a tendency to supply persistently good efficiency in my expertise. My favourite cell controller can also be from Razer, the Kishi Extremely.

My most popular headphones are my AirPods Professional 3. The ANC and spatial audio is improbable for watching reveals and flicks on my laptop computer (and helps me focus once I’m working). I don’t like carrying earbuds on a regular basis, although, so I additionally hold a primary pair of on-ear Sony headphones round, the WH-CH250. The audio high quality on these isn’t notably spectacular, however they’re tremendous inexpensive.

Final, however actually not least, I even have a Razer Seiren V3 Chroma mic off to the aspect of my desk on a clamp-on mic arm I acquired on Amazon. I’ve been utilizing the Seiren for a pair years now for gaming and taking part in Dungeons & Dragons with my on-line group. The audio high quality could possibly be a bit higher, however it’s a major enchancment over most built-in headphone mics, and I’ve by no means had any bugs or points with it. Notably, it really works on Linux for me without having any tweaks or work-arounds.

That may be a nice laptop computer holder you could have in conjunction with your desk. What’s it?

I simply acquired that once I moved final month, and it’s certainly one of my favourite additions to my desk setup. It’s a double-decker laptop computer mount I acquired for round $30 on Amazon and simply clamps onto the aspect of my desk (no screws needed!).

I wished to liberate some desk area, and this lets me hold each of my laptops close by and out of the way in which on the similar time. I additionally used a command strip to stay a USB-C hub to the again of the laptop computer tray, so I can shortly hop between my private and work laptops on my exterior monitor by simply transferring over the USB-C cable and charging cable.

Nice wall decorations. Inform us a bit about your Elmville map and what surrounds it.

That is the wall throughout from my desk that folks see when I’ve my webcam on, so I put all my coolest stuff on it. I’m an enormous fan of Dimension 20 on Dropout, so I instantly picked up a kind of Elmville maps after they launched them. For individuals who haven’t checked out Dimension 20 but, Elmville is the principle setting for Fantasy Excessive, probably the greatest reveals Dropout has to supply, in my humble opinion.

The smaller horizontal image beneath the map is definitely a web page from Dropout’s 2025 Dimension 20 calendar that I acquired at their Madison Sq. Backyard present final January. It’s a scene from season 2 of Fantasy Excessive, and I simply thought the artist did such an amazing job with it that it deserved to be framed. Off to the appropriate above that one is a print I acquired from an artwork conference. It’s not from any present or film so far as I do know; the design simply resonated with me.

The 2 smaller prints above the map are additionally from artwork conventions and had been made by the identical artist, Natasha Tara Petrović. The purple one is a few cool Mothman artwork — I’ve a delicate spot for cryptids and spooky stuff. The blue one is a Darkish Souls print that makes the sport look means cozier than it’s.

And final however not least, I’ve acquired some Nanoleaf Parts tiles lighting up that wall. These are the primary sensible lights I’ve ever purchased, and so they’re fairly cool, particularly with the extra mellow wooden look. I’ve them set to shift colours and brightness all through the day.

You’re clearly into Star Wars and different science fiction / fantasy worlds, judging from the toys over your bookcase and the figures on that little shelf. Are you a severe fan or do you similar to the style?

I’m an enormous Star Wars fan. Considered one of my earliest reminiscences is watching The Phantom Menace on VHS, and I’ve cherished the franchise ever since. Obi-Wan is my favourite character, which I’m noticing is a bit apparent in my work area.

The lightsaber above my bookcase is Obi-Wan’s from The Phantom Menace. I’ve had it since most likely kindergarten or first grade, so it’s a little bit beat up. And subsequent to that I’ve acquired a particular version Obi-Wan Funko Pop. Then above my desk I’ve a Lego mannequin of Obi-Wan’s Jedi starfighter from Assault of the Clones.

On the shelf beneath that I’ve managed to squeeze within the Dungeons & Dragons sequence minifigures I’ve collected (I’m a couple of shy of the complete assortment). These cabinets ended up being means smaller than anticipated, so I’m planning so as to add extra so issues aren’t fairly so cramped. I assumed Lego did an amazing job with these D&D minifigures, although, and would like to see them do extra D&D units. My private favourite from this sequence is the dragonborn paladin.

The opposite Funko Pop subsequent to Obi-Wan is Vi from Arcane, which is a really phenomenal present and a private favourite of mine. I’m not a lot of a Funko Pop individual, however I’ll get them every now and then if it’s a personality I actually like.

I suppose I might say I’m a severe sci-fi and fantasy fan, though I have a tendency to attach with particular sequence or books and stick to these. To return to the Star Wars instance, on one of many decrease cabinets in my bookcase, I’ve many of the outdated Jedi Apprentice books. They’ve gotten fairly exhausting to seek out, however I cherished them as a child, so I’m making an attempt to gather all of them once more.

On the fantasy aspect of issues, I really like epic fantasy like Lord of the Rings, but in addition like some YA books, particularly The Starvation Video games and Percy Jackson. In the meanwhile, I’m studying The Identify of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree, which is the third e book in his Legends & Lattes sequence. Each are nice, though they’ve drastically completely different tones.

You even have a rock assortment!

I do! Very similar to a goldfish, it has grown to fill the scale of its container, and now it may possibly develop no extra. I’ve all the time had an curiosity in geology and have had a few of the rocks and minerals in that case since I used to be a child.

I’ve a bunch of quartz, a geode, some copper, chalcopyrite, amazonite, dravite, moissanite, a sliver of obsidian, a lump of basalt, some feldspar and sedimentary rocks, and a bunch of smaller tumbled stones. There’s additionally a piece of petrified wooden within the again that I discovered in a streambed. My favorites are the chunk of amber within the entrance and the bismuth above it — I really like how bismuth crystals get that neat geometric form.

The rest I missed that you just’d like so as to add?

Whereas I don’t use it for work, my Kobo Clara BW e-reader is sort of all the time on my desk. My bookcases are just about full (and a bit small — I’m planning to switch them finally), so I’ve been studying extra ebooks over the previous 12 months or so.

I switched from a Kindle to a Kobo a number of months in the past and have been loving the Kobo. The show and person expertise on the Clara are higher than their Kindle counterparts in my expertise, and you’ve got extra freedom so as to add books from exterior Kobo’s retailer and again up the whole lot in your library on different gadgets. My Kobo is in my on a regular basis carry now, though in hindsight, I want I’d gotten one with a colour show.

Images by Stevie Bonifield