Development and Workspace Tools
Visual Studio Code – Windows/Mac/Linux – Bar none, the best text editor around right now. I’ve been through a lot of them since the dawn of time, but it’s remarkably fast especially considering it’s an Electron app, the extension ecosystem is amazing, it’s intuitive and fast to use, and available on three platforms. Still waiting for an official iPad release.
IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition – Windows/Mac/Linux – Some of my full time work is in Scala, and while the Scala support in VS Code is getting better, IDEA is far and away the best way to understand the calisthenics being done by that language, or any JVM language.
Beekeeper Studio – Windows/Mac/Linux – When I need to see my data more than the cli provides, Beekeeper Studioprovides a unified interface for tons of database servers. It’s actively developed, open source, cross platform, and while it’s a wrapped web application, it’s very responsive.
Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 – Windows – A Linux kernel right along side Windows, allowing me to use all of the tools I’m used to and want, while still working in an environment with all of the applications I’d like to use.
Windows Terminal – Windows – Finally, a first party, fast, GPU-accelerated terminal, supporting all of the different ways to get a shell on a Windows machine.
Tilix – Linux – A multi-pane, tabbed terminal that sits nicely at home in the GNOME desktop environment on Linux
iTerm 2 – Mac – Gives me an experience like the built in Terminal, while having more control over my tabs, split-panes, and it’s free.
Bash + starship – Mac/Linux – All the cool kids are moving to zsh, but I have bash where I like it, and my neckbeard is bristling.
Git on the command line – Windows/Mac/Linux – Because I end up faster here than in a GUI tool.
Docker – Windows/Mac/Linux – Giving me the flexibility to try things out without breaking everything else, and the assurance that my deployment is going to look the same everywhere else.
Hyper-V and/or VirtualBox
Productivity
Office 365 – I know, I know, but holy crap does it work surprisingly well, I have no problem paying that subscription
1Password – A surprisingly great, cross-platform password manager with cloud storage, with a user interface that doesn’t get in the way and is occasionally consistent. It’s too much money, and the UI might be Electron soon, but it’s more reliable than Bitwarden for me
Notion – I came across this trying to find a Confluence replacement, and found an incredible tool for organizing thoughts, projects, tasks, and data in one place, both personally and professionally.
Google Calendar – Most of my Google stuff has moved on, but Google Calendar is prolific and allows me to share calendars with my family and contacts easily.
Workspace (this is huge, but not everything is used at the same time)
Computers
- Apple MacBook Air M1 running macOS 13 Ventura, my primary machine
- Apple MacBook Pro 16″ 2019 running macOS 12 Monterey, my machine for work
- Lenovo ThinkPad X230 running Pop_OS 22.04 and Haiku, the machine that won’t quit
- Lenovo ThinkCentre M92p running Windows 10 Professional and Fedora 37, the machine for the workbench
Phones
- Apple iPhone 13 mini running iOS 16
- Google Pixel 3 running Android 12
Tablets
- Apple iPad Pro 11″ 2018 running iPadOS 15
- Lenovo ThinkPad 10 running Windows 8 Professional
- Kindle Fire HD 8 running LineageOS
Accessories
- Logitech G610 keyboard – Great mechanical feel, reasonable cost, lovely media controls.
- Logitech MX Keys keyboard – Wonderful low profile wireless keyboard, with a keyfeel similar to a ThinkPad, a weighted base, and backlighting
- Logitech K810 multi-device bluetooth keyboard – One of the best feeling mobile keyboards I’ve ever found, and they sell it now as the K811.
- Logitech ERGO M575 trackball – Keeps the carpal tunnel at bay.
- Logitech MX Master mouse – My own latest in the long line of fantastic mice from Logitech. They are now on the 3rd iteration.
- Blue Yeti USB microphone – I’m not a podcaster or do professional video, but honestly made all communication much better.
- Dell P2715Q 4K display – A great, value-priced at the time, 4K 60Hz display.
- Timeular tracker