---
title: "Things I Use"
toc: open
---

## Tech

### Hardware

[Apple M2 MacBook Air from 2022](https://www.apple.com/macbook-air-13-and-15-m2/)
: 24 GB of RAM, 2 TB of disk space. I love this computer. It takes the crown
from my previous favorite: an 11" MacBook Air from 2012, a machine I still have
and refuse to give away. It's fast, powerful, and light, with a great display
and peripherals.

[Apple Studio Display](https://www.apple.com/studio-display/)
: I was on the fence about a Cinema Display for a long time. I ordered and
canceled three times. Ultimately I gave in, and I'm quite happy with it. It's
mounted on a VESA arm attached to my desktop.

### Software

#### Development

[Neovim](https://neovim.io/)
: I've been a `vim` user since the early '00s when I discovered Linux.
Nowadays, if I'm writing a lot of code, it's often in my second favorite editor,
but I still find myself in vim quite often. I recently set up Neovim's language
server support and it's honstly a game changer.

[Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/)
: I discovered VSCode a couple years ago. Honestly the number one thing that
makes it usable for me is a really solid [Vim emulation][vscode-vim]. It has a
ton of nice features too that make it a great well-rounded development package.

[Xcode](https://developer.apple.com/xcode/)
: I spend a large portion of my engineering time in Xcode because of my work at
Apple, and the basic fact that I'm a software developer who chooses Apple
platforms. It has come a long way in the last few years. It also has a solid Vim
emulation, and its autocomplete features are indispensible when you're working
with an API surface as vast as Apple's.

[Fork](https://fork.dev)
: A GUI client for `git`. I think Fork has totally changed how I use `git`. I
still use the command line for many things, but working through diffs, staging
changes, and even rebasing is so much easier in a GUI.

#### Terminal

[Terminal.app](https://support.apple.com/guide/terminal/welcome/mac)
: macOS's built in terminal emulator is solid. The only thing I miss from it now
and then is "true color" support, and that's only when I try to install a new
color theme in Neovim and everything goes haywire.

[Zsh](https://www.zsh.org)
: I've been using Zsh since before it was cool. My shell config is full of
bespoke tweaks, including a prompt theme I'm rather proud of.

#### Hosting

[Digital Ocean](https://www.digitalocean.com)
: DO has hosted my VPS for a number of years. I moved there from Linode because
I wanted to run FreeBSD on my server.

[FreeBSD](https://www.freebsd.org)
: My server OS of choice. It's secure, simple, and resilient, and I appreciate
the less-encumbered BSD license.

[FastMail](https://www.fastmail.com/)
: I've used FastMail for years now as my email host. Their annual fees are quite
modest and they have a great feature set including a Sieve email filter editor,
and Masked Email for genearating ad hoc email addresses. I've never had a
problem with uptime, and the few times I've contacted support, they've been
helpful.

[Hugo](https://gohugo.io)
: This whole website is built with Hugo.

### Mobile

[Doppler](https://brushedtype.co/doppler/)
: File-based music player.

[Ivory](https://tapbots.com/ivory/)
: My Mastodon client of choice for macOS and iOS.

[Overcast](https://overcast.fm/podcasts)
: My podcast player of choice.

[Reeder](https://www.reederapp.com)
: RSS feed organizer and reader. I'm doing a lot more RSS these days.

[Transit](https://transitapp.com)
: Helps me stay on top of bus schedules in San Francisco.

## Music

[Logic Pro](https://www.apple.com/logic-pro/)
: Apple's DAW is full of features and plugins (far more than I could ever use)
and it's hard to beat the corporate discount, much as I also love Ableton.

[Shure SM7B](https://www.shure.com/en-US/products/microphones/sm7b)
: The SM7 is an iconic mic, and has been the go-to for voice actors, podcasters,
and musicians for 50 years. The excellent podcast Twenty Thousand Hertz did a
great [deep dive episode][20ksm7] on its history and place in the audio
industry. I have one on my desk at home, and it makes me sound great on work
video calls, and the occasional audio recording.

[Moog Matriarch](https://www.moogmusic.com/synthesizers?type=202)
: I'm a bit of a Moog fangirl, and this might be my favorite of their synths.
It's just hard to beat the sound of a Moog.

[Kawaii CA-65](https://kawaius.com/product/ca65/)
: I've been playing piano since I was seven years old. A digital piano is
perfect for the small apartments I've called home. This one has a fantastic
realistic action and it sounds great.

## Coffee

[Baratza Encore](https://www.baratza.com/product/encoretm-zcg485)
: It's affordable and does a pretty good job.

[Kalita Wave](https://kalitausa.com/products/kalita-wave-185-stainless-steel-coffee-dripper)
: The Kalita is probably the easist single serve pour over dripper I've used.

[Chemex](https://www.chemexcoffeemaker.com/six-cup-classic-series-coffeemaker.html)
: If I'm making coffee for more than just me, the Chemex is the biggest pour
over vessel I have. Makes yummy coffee too.

## Gaming

[Nintendo Switch](https://www.nintendo.com/us/switch/)
: Most of my gaming happens here. I play a lot of Mario Kart online with
friends, and I'm a big fan of both of the major Legend of Zelda titles that have
come out for it: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.

[PlayStation 5](https://www.playstation.com/en-us/ps5/)
: I also have a PS5. I've played a ton of Horizon: Zero Dawn and the new Final
Fantasy 7 games.

[Analogue Pocket](https://www.analogue.co/pocket)
: When I want to play my stock of Game Boy games, this thing is great.

[vscode-vim]: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=vscodevim.vim
[20ksm7]: https://www.20k.org/episodes/sm7
