Uses

Want to boost your overall performance and wonder which hardware, software and tools I use? Here’s the curated gear list I use daily, to increase my performance as a professional engineer and consultant.

Updated: mid September 2024. This is a continual work in progress…

Tech Gear

• Server Infrastructure: I’m entirely on Amazon Web Services (AWS) these days, but I’m also an expert with Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure.
• Primary Personal and Work Laptop : 16 inch 2021 MacBook Pro M1 Max w/ 64G memory and 2T disk - upgrading when there’s an M4.
• Backup Laptop : Lenovo YOGA 720 13 - currently running Debian Sid.
• My less used gaming desktop running Windows 11 : A self-built tower.
  • Intel Core i9-9900K 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor.
  • Corsair H115i PRO 55.4 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
  • Asus ROG STRIX Z390-E GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard.
  • G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-4266 CL19 Memory x 2.
  • Samsung 850 Pro 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive x 2.
  • Crucial P1 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive x 2.
  • Asus STRIX GAMING OC GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB Video Card.
  • Cooler Master Cosmos SE ATX Mid Tower Case.
  • Corsair CX650M 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply.
  • Pioneer BDR-209DBK Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer.
  • CSL 3.5" all-in-one USB 3.0 (Super Speed) card reader.
  • PCIe a 4 port USB 3.0 SuperSpeed controller card.
  • ASUS ROG STRIX Curved Screen XG32VQR, 32 Inch (31.5 Inch) WQHD (2560 x 1440), VA, Up to 144 Hz.
• Apple iPad Pro 11" + Magic Pen.
• reMarkable 2.
• Mouse: Logitech MX Master 3S.
• Keyboard: Ergodox EZ Mechanical Ergonomic Keyboard - with Cherry MX Brown switches.
• Headphone: Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700.
• Monitor: 27" iiyama G-MASTER Black Hawk.
• Phone: Google Pixel 7 Pro - but a shiny new Pixel 9 Pro XL will be here in a little over a week!.

Home Office

• Herman Miller Aeron Mineral Standard Office Chair.
• Ikea Skarsta Height Adjustable Desk/Table.
• Blue Yeti USB Microphone.
• Sage Barista Express Bean-to-Cup Coffee Machine.

Audio, Photo, Video

• Canon EOS R5. Still possibly the best camera money can buy.
• Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM.
• GoPro Hero 10 Black.
• Audioengine A2+ Wireless Bluetooth Computer Speakers.
• Marshall Emberton Portable Bluetooth Speaker.

Gaming

• Nintendo Switch OLED.
• Sony Playstation 5.
• Steam Controller.

EDC

• Depending on where I’m going, what I’m doing, and what I need to carry I use either a:

  • 5.11 RUSH 24 Backpack, or a

  • G4Free Tactical Sling Backpack, or my newest acquisition - a

  • Peak Design Everyday Backpack 20L.

    📝 Note: I’m a bit of a backpack geek. The 5.11 is indestructible, loaded with molle loops and has just 2 large compartments. The G4Free one is a great city backpack and perfect for a single large camera, a water bottle, and anything you might buy. The new Peak Design Everyday backpack is a technical day bag with side access and many small compartments. It’s good for carrying a mixed set of camera gear, laptop, and EDC.

• OneTigris Tactical Molle Mini Pocket Organiser.

• Google Pixel Watch 3 or Casio G-Shock or various Swatch Watches.

• Kindle Paperwhite.

• Leatherman Raptor® Rescue Shears.

• Leatherman Wave+ Multi-Tool.

• iFixit Manta Precision Bit Set

Software

• OS: MacOS or Debian Sid. Considering switching my Linux to Arch at home.
• Linux Desktop Environment: KDE (Plasma).
• Shell: zsh with Ohmyzsh and Powerlevel10k.
• Browser: Firefox, with uBlock Origin as I NEVER want to see ads..
• Editor of choice: vim. I’ve tried and tried to get along with Visual Studio Code, but there’s no world where it wouldn’t slow me down compared with vim.
• Obsidian for note management.
• Mac Terminal: iTerm2.
• Linux Terminal: konsole.
• Cloud Storage: Self-Hosted Nextcloud.
• RSS Service: Self-Hosted TTRSS.
• RSS Client: Self-Hosted TTRSS.
• Podcasts: Pocket Casts on Android.

Work Software

• I build infrastructure from code with Terraform. For personal projects I now only use OpenTofu.
• Github is what I use almost exclusively for source code management.
• For CI/CD pipelines I use Github Actions, Gitlab, even Jenkins occasionally.
• I know there are alternatives but I still use Docker to build container images.
• Should a server need to be configured, my tool of choice is Ansible.
• I prefer ArgoCD for GitOps.

Services

• Music: Spotify + an immense collection of MP3s curated for over 20 years.
• Calendar: Google Calendar - looking for alternatives.
• Email Service: Proton Mail - looking for alternatives. Docker-Mailserver looks super interesting.
• Email Client: Proton web, or Mac Mail - considering Thunderbird.
• Passwords: 1Password.
• VPN: PrivateVPN.
• Todoist.
• name.com for domain registration and DNS. I recently moved away from Godaddy as they’re clearly trying to destroy their own business.