Coworking in Los Angeles

I'm currently considering a coworking space for occasional needs.  Sometimes more, sometimes less.  Actually, it's all driven by the cost.  If I'd be lucky enough to find something similar to Mountain View's Hacker Dojo I would go with it right away.  Anyways, here is what I've found so far:

Office & Company in Pasadena, CA.  The closest location to my place, and probably the cheapest one.  They do have drop-in rate for $25 a day, with full membership price of $350/month.  If they would provide a half day for $10 or close, I'd go with them by no means.

CoLoft in Santa Monica, CA.  One of the newest, I guess, and pretty interesting.  The cheapest plan is 5 hours a month for $30, which is sorta okay, but still doesn't look to be within the budget.  Spending 4 days a week, at least 3-4 hours a day, can end up with about 64 hours a month, and the lowest closet plan is 50 hours a month for $199.  Ouch.

theOffice in Santa Monica, CA.  They provide an intro rate of $149 for month and then it goes up.  The limited amount of guest passes is $39 per day.  I've heard that they are pretty cool, but they're rather expensive.

And finally Blankspaces in Los Angeles, CA.  They are the most expensive, from what I was about to understand.  However, the day rate working out of the work bar for 5 hours is only $20.  Which is pretty cool.

That's all I found so far.  Which is not a lot, but still an option.  I'll keep an eye on the new places.  And while I'd prefer beach area :) I'll be probably do fine with the central LA.

# Posted via email from opportunity__cost

Robots are everywhere...

via mercurynews.com

These new devices on SJPD officers immediately reminded me about... the guy.

:)

# Posted via web from opportunity__cost

Working from Home: Why It Sucks

Geeks in Boston: Working from Home: Why It Sucks

Man, if this is your style, it will suck for you wherever you're working from.

I used to work from home for pretty much 11 years. Well, yeah, there were periods of time (less then 2 years in total), that I used to stay in office in a 9am-6pm-style. These days were pretty much okay for me, but nothing I can remember about as necessity.

And I used to work at home when I had my kid. Let me tell you this, that is the hardest part of working at home, especially, in 1 bedroom spot where is no place to hide.

I had no typical day, I had no problems leaving out with my friends (and didn't forget my laptop and cell phone to get connected anywhere). I always had something to do, I always kept a track of what I am doing and, damn, I am not going to have meeting with about something "with phone muted, can watch youtube videos".

Feeling lonely? Come on. Get a life, man. ;) Your day job is definitely a good place to get new connections and start networking. But this is not the place to develop your networking. Let me make it straight, just do your job. If you're there to chat with Dan from HR, or with John from IT, you better not be wasting your employers money and your time for that.

My networking was okay without need to spend my time-for-work for it. Definitely, meeting other people is extremely important. So do this during the events that are designated for networking. (And you still have your phone while working at home. Use it.)

What is the difference of working in the big organization, where you either don't know or don't want to know anyone, sitting shoulder to shoulder (literally) to you. You still call your friends or other people who don't share the depression of working within the same company. ;)

It's all about who you are and how you get your job done. If I'm there to call it a day as soon as possible, damn, nobody needs me sitting there anyway.