Here's What I Use

I decided to record what I use on a daily basis, both for personal use and in my day job. Many other folks I follow have written up the same, so why not?

Table of Contents

Hardware

Hardware is a broad term. I'm going to consider anything I can physically touch as hardware.

For Code

• Laptop: 2023 Macbook Air M2 - 15 inch - 24G Memory / 1T Storage
  I've wanted a 15" Macbook that was light weight, and my wishes came true. Everything about my previous Air was perfectly fine, but screen size is important to me and my aging eyes.
• Monitor: Dell 27" that I'm borrowing from work.
  I have my eye on a curved monitor, but I haven't completely decided on it.
• Keyboard: Ducky One Ten Keyless with Cherry Silver switches.
  I've had this Ducky keyboard for years, and just recently starting using it again. For some added fun, I switched out the keycaps.
• Mouse: Elecom Wired Finger-operated Trackball - the Huge version
  I've found that overuse of a normal mouse will hurt my wrist, so I switched over to trackball mice a few years back. This style of trackball I've found to be the most comfortable.
  (I try to refrain from using amazon links, but the Elecom site doesn't have the wired version.)
• Dock: OWC Thunderbolt Dock
  One cable to connect my monitor, keyboard, mouse, and power my machine.

For Travel

• Monitor: 4k Portable monitor that I can't find on Amazon any more.
  I had purchased it a while back, and had stopped using it in favor of the Lenovo. I went back to it recently because I wanted the higher resolution. I found out that my Mac detects HiDpi resolutions, so I can actually use it at 2k and still have it clear and not jaggy.
• Keyboard: Keychron K3 Ultra-slim Wireless Mechanical Keyboard
  • a 75% layout with Optical Brown switches. Lighter and more compact than the Ducky.
• Mouse: Elecom Wired Finger-operated Trackball
  When I switched out my desk mouse, I wanted to switch to a wired trackball. It's far more responsive and reliable than the wireless.
• Backpack: I rotate from a few different Timbuk2 bags, depending on my mood. 🙂️
• Power: Batpower 98Wh ProE 2 ES7B 26800mAh Power Bank
  During my "Windows revival" days, I used a Surface Pro X, it was the closest thing to an iPad while still being "Whoo! Windows!". To stay portable, I found this battery pack.
  I eventually came to my senses.
  This battery pack and charger gives me a heapin' helpin' of USB ports, plus a USB-C adapter allows me to charge my MacBook

For Play

• Nintendo Switch: I played some video games in the past, but nothing really appealed to me. Until I got a Switch and played my first Pokemon game, Sheld. My partner introduced me to Persona and JRPG, and I found that those are the games that really apeal to me.
• Valve Steam Deck: When I read the announcement, it really played to my Linux sensibilities. The only Steam account I had at the time was the one my son uses, plus the one I created to play only one game. Yet, I still purchased one. I have a few more games, but it's not the first thing I reach for. The Switch is still more portable.

For Life

• iPhone 14 Pro Max: My 50th birthday gift to myself. The battery life is great, I can usually go more than a day before I have to charge it. It's the first time I haven't had to worry about my phone dying since I've had a dumb phone. The performance is fantastic, and the camera takes fantastic photos.
• 12" iPad Pro: My partner had upgraded to a newer iPad, so I got her hand-me-down. It's not my primary device, but I like using it for following recipes, and watching shows.
• Apple TVs: When I went all in on Apple, I went all in. 😂 The Apple TV in my office is my music player, streaming device, and I use it to stream my workouts from my phone. Apple TVs have been spotted in the living room and basement.
• Apple Watch 9: The SE model I originally bought had a smaller screen, and I was feeling like I wanted the larger screen. I decided to spring for the 9 and the always on screen has been really nice to use. I originally got it for notifications, but once I started my workouts, it's even more valuable to me.
• Beats Fit Pro: I think one of the biggest advantages to being all in on Apple is that the hardware is controlled by them, this included the headphones. Reading Chris singing their praises I grabbed a pair on sale and I'm glad I did. I added some Comply Foam eartips, and I can wear these for hours without discomfort.

Software

This will not be a complete list, but it's the ones I use most often.

For Code

• Jetbrains IntelliJ IDEA: Some times I fall for the advertising. PHPStorm generally fit the bill, but as a future blog post will show, I'm trying to broaden my dev horizons. In my day job, step debugging is a requirement for me, Jetbrains has never failed me.
• Sublime Text: For when I want the dev experience, but not a full blown IDE. Sublime is much faster to launch, and I can open from the command line.
• DBeaver Community: Free, powerful, and works just fine for me.
• Fork: Most of my git usage is with my IDE or command line, but sometimes a good GUI app helps deal with the more sticky git situations.
• DevDocs: This is my main reference for the WordPress Developer Resources, and for the other languages I'm interested in.
• SnippetsLab: I'm reducing my Github useage, which includes Gists. SnippetLab was a one time purchase and has Alfred integration.
• Alfred: I've replaced the MacOS Spotlight with Alfred. It's been around for a bit and I decided to get a lifetime license. The clipboard manager works really well, and there are a few more useful integrations.
• Kitty Terminal: I've used iTerm and Terminal, but kitty works for me. It's not without it's quirks, ssh requires a "kitten", but for now, it's cool for me.

For Life

• Wavebox: Wavebox is what I use for my "web applications". For work, email and various sites that I need that isn't for development. For personal, email as well, but also all of my financial sites (YNAB, credit cards, etc.).
• Reeder: My RSS reader of choice, with Feedbin as the provider.
• Mela: Made by the same folks as Reeder, it's what I use to store all of my recipes. It has a very clean layout and the neatest part of it is that you can subscribe to food blogger sites and get just the recipes without all the preamble.

Previously Used

Hardware

• Laptop: 2020 Macbook Air M1 - 16G Memory / 2T Storage
• Keyboard: Keychron K1 Wireless Mechanical Keyboard
  80% Ten Keyless (TKL) with Gateron Low Profile Brown switches.
  Still in circulation, just in hibernation.
• Mouse: Elecom Wireless Finger-operated Trackball Mouse
  The wireless version of above. Retired because the wired mouse is more responsive.
• Laptop Stand: BESIGN LS10 Aluminum Laptop Stand
  Too wobbly to use on a regular basis.
• Monitor: ThinkVision M14 Portable Monitor
  The replacement monitor has a higher resolution, but that's really the only advantage. This monitor is probably going to go with me when I travel light and only need the monitor.
• Apple Watch SE: Upgraded to the 9

Software