Uses

Here are most of the computing tools that I use for work, play, and everything in between. Thanks to Tom MacWright for a model to follow.

Last updated on November 4, 2024.

---

• Computers: I spend my time pretty much split 50/50 between an Apple Mac mini with M1 and a MacBook Pro with M1 Pro, both with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. The MacBook Pro in particular is just about the most perfect computer, maybe even object, that I’ve ever owned. On the hardware side, at least.

• Mouse: Logitech M100 wired mouse. I had to turn it over and look. It’s pretty pedestrian but it gets the job done. I bind a click of the mouse wheel to switch between my two desktop monitors instantly.

• Keyboard: Keychron K5 Pro low profile mechanical with red switches in wireless mode. I’m new this year to mechanical keyboards and I’ve been trying to find what works best for me. I’m still not 100% sold. The best I’ve used lately is a NuPhy Air75 v1 with red switches, but I want a 100%, or at least 80%, layout for day-to-day use. I’m still experimenting here.

• Headphones: Apple AirPods 3. Just perfect. Amazing product.

• Monitors: Philips PHL 329P1 (32") and Dell U2720Q (27"). I use AeroSpace to manage virtual desktops and monitors and it makes it a breeze to work with both of these without my hands leaving the keyboard.

• Editor: Visual Studio Code with Vim bindings. I’ve made it very lightweight and the plugin ecosystem is fantastic for embedded development tooling like hardware flashing and debugging.

• Browser: Apple Safari. Going strong since 2003. Used of late with Vimari. I use Firefox occasionally for troublesome sites and Chrome for all Google properties (logged out).

• Reading: Lots of browser tabs, mostly driven by NetNewsWire since 2002, but I put PDFs on my iPad with the excellent PDF Viewer for longer-form reading. I save stuff for posterity (including fetched copies) and for my public links with Pinboard.

• Organizing: I love OmniFocus for getting things done, Muse for thinking, and I’m starting to get into Obsidian for fleshing things out. At the very least, I’ve been using Markdown formatting for a very long time and this part will stick around.

• Hosting: Pair Networks since 2001.

• Email: Also on Pair since 2001 and read with Apple Mail.

• Glue tools: Software that I like that gives me superpowers or ties workflows together. Some of my favorites are AeroSpace, SketchyBar, Hammerspoon, LaunchBar, SwiftBar, Moom, MenuWhere, and Syncthing.