Show HN: A Dashboard for External Monitors | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: A Dashboard for External Monitors

sublimedash.com

68 pointsbashevis35 comments

UPDATE: As per popular request, SublimeDash has been open sourced on GitHub - https://github.com/broizen/sublimedash

I'll write up a short guide on how to add a new module as well as requested modules like Google Calendar, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

I'm very encouraged to take SublimeDash to the next level with all the positive feedback from you guys! Thanks!

Well that answers my question.

Just an FYI that Dashing - http://shopify.github.io/dashing/ (Open Source) and http://www.geckoboard.com/ (Paid) already have tons of modules available if you're looking to get going right away.

I also have a Raspberry Pi powering our dashboards but it really struggles to render some javascript, especially if we switch between tabs every 30 seconds. Any ideas for the cheapest possible way to power the TVs other than a Raspberry Pi?

Edit: Also https://ducksboard.com/ exists as well as a paid option

I have been forced to abandon our rpi for our 'information radiator'. Too many card corruptions (several different cards) makes me think I just had a faulty one. But really, it struggled and wasn't particularly smooth. I've just ordered one of these, though they won't be shipping for another month or two: http://www.solid-run.com/cubox

I use a Chromecast.

We all know that multi-monitor is a good idea particularly if you need reference material to copy/paste/refer to/from. However, I have had to downsize my monitor collection on a few occasions and I think there is a lot to be said for having just one proper sized monitor on a proper desk. I have actually been able to get more done this way and even not bothered to get the laptop screen out (which I thought would be invaluable for having emails on etc.). There is something special about having just the one immersive screen, even if a lot of ALT+TAB is needed.

As for a dash for an external screen full of cruft I don't see how it can help productivity. It is a lot of info there just on the off chance one might need it. If I really need to know what the weather is going to be like I can find it. As for the latest nonsense on Twitter I can live without it. Plus I have my phone for notifying me of anything I need to act on.

Remember search portals? A whole screen of cruft. Then Google came along with just the one search box. The Google approach was much better. This extra dash full of extra cruft goes against the minimal UI way of doing things. You might as well open up the standard Yahoo homepage in a browser window and put that on the external monitor, it makes about the same amount of sense.

Here's how it helps my productivity: About every hour I take a break to stop working and check many different sites - google news, the weather, adsense earnings, and stocks. I end up navigating about 10 different websites in a linear process, which easily takes up a lot of time. SublimeDash solves that problem by aggregating multiple data streams in one convenient place while reducing the amount of time I waste. Also, it looks beautiful and continues to impress anyone who comes to visit me at my desk.

I have three 25" monitors for web development, and every inch of each is used up by my work. I could probably fill another three with just a single site's development windows, instead of tab switching.

Can you explain how you use them?

I have the same issue with space on a 3-monitor setup. I simultaneously use Chrome, the Chrome inspector, an editor, terminal, Skype, an IRC client, sometimes Firefox, Finder, etc. There's always more things you can put up if you have the space. If I had 6 screens I would dedicate one to a dash, but with 3 it's better used directly for development.

I have three monitors. I mostly do backend development so I generally have one monitor dedicated to terminals, one to vim and one for browser windows, HipChat, mail, etc.

I have 3 monitors: a 23", a 27", and a 13" macbook air from left to right. I keep gmail open permanently on the 23", coding editor on the left half of the 27", coding output on the right half, and http://www.sublimedash.com on the macbook air.

Sure. I'll load the rendered view of the site I'm working on and flip through tabs on that window. Typically this takes up a whole screen, and It'll resize frequently if I'm working on a responsive site.

Usually the code editor or IDE takes up a full screen, with it's file tree view or whatever even a full screen can be cramped.

The document inspector/developer tools almost dominate the other screen. If you're used to development in that tiny framed view below the browser, do yourself a favor and pull that sucker out; Get a real look at your rendered document and network profile while you're at it.

Any left over space trades between the terminal, gui file transfer, irc, music player (wait let's keep this work related ;), spec documents, email, code references, credentials manager, file management...

I really could load up three more screens just for a normal workflow. I can screenshot if there's interest.

Agreed. You can never have enough screen space.

How do people manage to code on macbook airs in coffee shops? I could never be truly productive like that...

I would love to see that, maybe take some photos of the setup? You could also submit a post on http://reddit.com/r/battlestations

Four screens for me. The left two 24" screens are connected to a Linux Mint box. That far left has a browser with developer tools. The next one has a full-screen vim session. The right two are connected to a MBP. The left 24" has terminals (ssh'ed into the linux box) for Rails console, MySql and Rails log running in real time. The laptop's built-in screen is the far right, with everything from Assembla to email to Skype, etc. Here's a typical screen-shot of how I work: http://i.imgur.com/UVOfAan.jpg As others have said, I can also do with more screens. At the moment both the Linux box and the Mac has 3-4 virtual desktops each.

This is really neat. If you make it open source and add some customization options it will be great.

I have a basic dashboard of personal performance metrics (e.g. miles walked yesterday via Moves, site pageviews, weather, etc). I have a Raspberry Pi hooked up to the TV in my apartment, and it draws power from the TV's USB. Whenever the TV turns on, the Raspberry Pi boots, and I have it set to boot to the dashboard:

http://www.niteoweb.com/blog/raspberry-pi-boot-to-browser

It's pretty nifty.

Bug report (can't find a bug tracker anywhere): The "Notes" panel can't be moved with click and drag.

Chrome 30.0.1599.66 on 64bit (Arch) Linux.

Thanks for the bug report!

Also, resizing the "Notes panel" also moves the Adsense panel for some reason?

Love to see a fellow UCLA CS student on HN.

I've been using http://www.geckoboard.com/ for a while. Their integration with AWS is what's kept me with them.

Thanks! Didn't know there were other Bruins on HN! If SublimeDash had AWS integration and possibly more customization, would you consider switching (especially because it's free)?

Definitely.

What exactly is an external monitor? Is a laptop monitor "internal"? Or are we talking about "monitors" in a different sense, like listeners hooking into various application APIs?

I agree the definition of "external" is pretty vague, as SublimeDash works just as well on a laptop screen. Monitor definitely refers to a screen with pixels.

Does anyone use http://www.geckoboard.com/ for this type of thing, out of interest?

We used Geckoboard for a bit but stopped due to their terrible support and high pricing

Our current support satisfaction rating is 97%, which is significantly above industry averages. Nevertheless, we aim to provide great support in all cases so I'm sorry that this wasn't your experience.

The product offering is tremendous. I just find asking your customers to completely rebuild their boards to be iinappropriate. That is what turned me off to the service.

Brilliant! I could never get started implementing a similar idea, so I'm glad to see someone else did it.

Google search bar please? I need to replace iGoogle!

Will do soon!

is it open source? what did you use to build it?

I haven't had a chance to put it up on GitHub, but this is an excellent idea. There are so many sub modules that can be contributed by users - like Google calendar, Gmail unread emails, and Facebook notifications. I've been working on this for a few months as a hobby project, and haven't had time to do all of them.

SublimeDash is currently using JavaScript, jQuery, and PHP to access the weather, stocks, and news API.

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