Uses

I am perpetually unhappy with my working environment. Both hardware and software. Both groups change frequently, but here's what I'm using today.

Hardware

• Desk - Uplift V2 with a bamboo top. If you're going to get this I would think about getting the 4 leg model. The two legs can get pretty wobbly when standing.
• Chair - Herman Miller Embody.
• Monitor - LG Ultrafine Ergo 4k display.
• Computer - My daily driver for both personal and work projects is a 2021 16" MacBook Pro M1.
• Keyboard - R2 KBD67 Lite Mechanical Keyboard with lubed milky yellow switches.
• Mouse - Logitech MX Master 2.

Software

• Editor - Neovim in iTerm2. Some day I'll open source my config, today is not that day.
• Font - Comic Code patched with nerd fonts. I use this font in any application that will let me. It is impossible to be in a bad mood when you're coding in Comic Code.
• Writing - All of my long form writing happens first in Ulysses. It has a nice writing experience and editing flow. Doing all of my writing there also means I have a copy of everything that I've written for work.
• Task Management - I'm a heavy user of Things. The quick entry feature lets me get stuff out of my head quickly. I'm known to use Things as a staging area for Jira tasks because it's just that quick.
• Personal Knowledge - I was slow to wake up on personal knowledge management. After reading "How to Build a Second Brain" I now keep as much as possible in Obsidian. I like the plugin ecosystem and the relative ease of syncing.
• Browser - Firefox. A few years ago I removed most Google applications from my day to day, including Chrome.
• Email - Fastmail.
• Site Analytics - Fathom Analytics. Privacy focused alternative to Google Analytics that I use on all of my web properties.
• Dato - Dato is a simple MacOS app that puts your calendar in your menu bar. I have a lot of meetings, so seeing when the next one is coming up and one click entry to the zoom is wonderful.
• Bartender - Menu bars accumulate a lot of garbage. I limit mine to the current time and Dato.
• All of the usual suspects - Git, Slack, Gmail for work, Zoom, blah blah blah.

Podcasting

I co-host a podcast on startups, tech, and random stuff. Having all of this stuff has the added benefit of looking and sounding great on zoom meetings. If you're going to be remote, go all in. Don't let a crappy mic be the reason people have a bad impression of remote work.

• Hosting - Transistor
• Editing - Descript
• Recording - Riverside
• Headphones - Audio Technica ATHM50. I got these 11 years ago and they are still amazing. Great studio headphones.
• Mic - Shure MV7. This is a great USB microphone. Not having to deal with an audio interface is really nice.
• Boom - Elgato Wave Mic Arm. I made this mistake of buying a cheap boom from Amazon when I first went remote. Don't be like me. Cheap booms will ping and squeak if you move them at all when recording.

For more lists like this one, check out uses.tech.