I need two of everything!

[SLTA]

So. I work part time for a homebuilder and part time for myself, doing consulting engineering. I therefore have two offices and often find myself needing a book that's in the other office. How do other folks deal with this situation? I'd prefer not to shell out for two of everything... I'd also prefer not to lug a mobile book office. Any ideas?

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Digital copies on a flashdrive or portable pocket-size USB drive.

Access to online copy.

Try to plan ahead and photocopy relevant sections.

 

[Debaser]

I'd also prefer not to lug a mobile book office.

I've been looking into ereaders and am about to take the plunge and get a Kindle. Since most of the standards I need are now published in pdf format and are free to access, eg;

http://www.standardsforhighways.co.uk/

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/tpm/ltnotes/

It seems the most sensible way to have constant access to standards or data, without having to have a PC/laptop/netbook available to make use of the memory stick, which also means it should be fairly discrete and useable in meetings.

There's also the additional advantage that textbooks now seem to have started being published in ereader friendly formats.

 

[cvg]

just one more thing to lug around or to forget or to get stolen when you leave it, along with your laptop and flash drive in the car. why not try saving your documents to cloud? the easiest way to do this is email pdf's to your gmail address or save it in draft form. you can then access it from anywhere with an internet link and on any device you want.

 

[EQguys]

Scan the pages of the book(s) you use the most and convert it into a PDF. Then upload these pdf's into Google documents and you can find them there anytime you want to refer. It makes life a lot easier once you have uploaded them.

 

[SLTA]

These are great ideas. Looks like my scanner will get a workout soon. Cheers, Linnea

 

[ctopher]

The popular iPads, or similar devices, are good to have electronic documents with you at all times.

Chris
SolidWorks 10 SP4.0
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion

 

[FeX32]

I suggest

http://www.dropbox.com/

I also have 2 places where I "do my work". Instead of lugging a laptop or usb drive ect. Using dropbox, the files are automatically on all computers you use. Its 2GB free.

I also sometimes use teamviewer for accessing multiple computers that have different software ect...


Fe

 

[cvg]

I would love to use something like teamviewer, however, our IT guys would have a cat if I suggested it. I only have a desktop in one office and a laptop for the other. Of course, you can't leave the laptop anywhere unless it is locked up, so it always goes with me. So, I will continue to lug the laptop, flashdrive and occasional hard copy files home to office to the other office and back again.

 

[jmw]

I do hope "dropbox" and all these other "use any computer" solutions or online data vaults are not powered by the Chinese Industrial Espionage groups or infiltrated by them..... lots cheaper than Night Dragon attacks, simply provide a useful service and people will load all their sensitive material onto some one else's server.

It reminds me of the crook who dressed up in a security guard's uniform, hung an "Out of Order" sign on the bank's night deposit safe and told the business people to simply give their day's takings to him to deliver to the bank's central clearing house.
Naturally enough, no one (seemingly) demurred. They never saw their money again.

Given that banks and governments seem to have a hard time keeping our private information out of the public domain or away from crooks, while I like the idea (and I like the idea of "vaults" - I have one on offer from my broadband provider, BT Internet) I have a fear (irrational or healthy?) of using them.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[FeX32]

I am not sure about dropbox (I will look into it). But Teamviewer is a German based company.


Fe

 

[cvg]

box.net is another that I have used and works very well

 

[brandonbw]

You could just set up an FTP sharing your files on the main computer and FTP files around. That's what I do. I sometimes when rushed retrieve through FTP my boiler plate contract, edit it on my phone and email to a client while on the road. I wasn't driving of course. I can also look at plans that I have PDF'd if needed in a rush.

Using an Android phone with a big screen and getting the scanned pages the right size to be read off of that seems like a real possibility. How cool would it be to have some kind of engineering app to easily sift through books, formulas and spec sheets and just pop that up on a phone? I might try making my own App now that I am thinking about it.

This goes with the logic of bringing another thing to remember, get lost, or get stolen.

B+W Engineering and Design
Los Angeles Civil and Structural Engineering

http://bwengr.com