Gear that solves my problems instead of creating new ones.

I've stumbled across a lot of hardware and software over the years, but these stuck because they deliver on their promise, work reliably, and are a joy to use.

Workstation

  • 16” MacBook Pro, M1 Pro, 32GB RAM (2021)

    While the battery's maximum capacity has dropped to 84%, I can still spend a whole day at a coffee shop writing and deploying code. Pro tip: Be sure to activate night shift from sunset to sunrise in your display settings. It's so much easier on the eyes when you're burning the midnight oil.

  • Aer City Pack Pro 2 X-Pac Backpack

    I've spent far too many hours researching backpacks, and even then didn't find the perfect one, but the City Pack Pro 2 is pretty solid. It's durable, stands up by itself, has compartments without being over-organized, and fits all the tech I need to carry for a day at the coffee shop. I also have a couple of their pouches for small gadgets.

  • IKEA UPPSPEL Standing Desk

    Enough surface area for two laptops and monitors, electric underframe to move from sitting to standing with the push of a button, extremely sturdy even under heavy load, and reasonably priced for what it offers. Looking back, I probably wouldn't get the black desk again aesthetically speaking, but functionally, it's still perfect.

  • Steelcase Leap Chair

    I loved the simple design and opaque fabric of the Steelcase Karman, but the seat had a plastic rim to maintain structure, which wasn't comfortable when tucking a leg under. I exchanged it for the Leap and never looked back. Wonderful lumbar support, adjustable arms, and a comfy cushion all around.

Development

  • Brave

    Firefox → Brave → Arc → Brave (→ Ladybird). I think Brave does a good job blocking scripts and fingerprinting, but I do miss having Arc's sidebar of tabs, which are just bookmarks in Brave. After hiding Brave's rewards, wallet, and widgets, it feels minimalistic and clean. I'm most excited to try Ladybird when it comes out next year.

  • Composer

    Using Composer to manage PHP dependencies is almost a must. Ironically, I like to reinvent the wheel instead of reaching for libraries, because I love to learn and stay out of dependency hell, but at a minimum, Composer is great for pulling in PHPUnit and CodeSniffer, and creating aliases for custom scripts.

  • Ghostty

    I jumped ship from Warp, which was wonderful when it came out, but it got overly complex with AI features I wasn't using. Ghostty hits the spot with its sensible defaults and optional customizations. Just let me click links and make the background transparent, and I'm a happy camper.

  • Homebrew

    It's how I install and manage software like Git, PHP, MySQL, and Node on my MacBook. Considering that Homebrew is also a requirement for Valet, I can't even remember a time I didn't have it. Whenever I stumble across a tool that can be installed with just `brew install`, I'm also mysteriously inclined to grab a beer.

  • Obsidian

    This is where I keep all my notes. I love the left sidebar to navigate files, the clean main pane for writing in markdown, and the right sidebar for jumping to headers. Current notes include: list of people to send Christmas cards to, best backpacks for tech enthusiasts, and copy iterations for my Charm framework.

  • Oh My Zsh

    I feel a little silly just using this for the Git plugin to get a Git-enhanced prompt and shortcuts, but honestly, just being able to run `git add --all` with `gaa`, `git commit --verbose` with `gc`, and `git log --stat` with `glg` makes me feel like the 1.3x developer I'm meant to be.

  • PhpStorm

    For a while, PhpStorm looked a bit intimidating, but after they overhauled and simplified the UI, it's become easy on the eyes. My favorite part is being able to jump around a project, whether it's diving into methods across files, finding code I vaguely remember seeing, or having it alert me that there's a better way—it's pretty darn useful.

  • RapidAPI

    This app started off as Paw, which is when I found it, but later got acquired by Rapid, which is now part of Nokia? In any event, it's still a perfectly good tool for creating, organizing, and testing APIs and sending RESTful requests. I haven't had a need to try anything else, so here we are.

  • Sublime Text

    When PhpStorm is overkill, Sublime Text it is. I often use it to analyze logs, expand JSON, perform some kind of operation on data, or as a temporary location for code I want to keep for reference while I'm refactoring. Also, Command + Shift + L to create multiple cursors still rivals sliced bread.

  • TablePlus

    Do you remember the SQL app with the pancake icon? It sadly started crashing more frequently over time, which prompted me to look for something new, and voila, enter TablePlus. If I had to pick a favorite feature, I think it's that I can update multiple rows of data, but it doesn't actually persist until I save. The pancake couldn't do that.

  • Transmit

    Hm... in a world where everything is deployed with `git push`, do I even still use Transmit? I sure do! I have several personal servers that run hobby projects, and guess what, they don't have a fancy deployment mechanism. Plus, when it comes to media, I like being able to connect to the server and see the files with my own eyes.

  • Valet

    WordPress, Laravel, PHP scripts... all served with Valet. It's the little web server interface that could. But seriously, being able to just go `valet link` on a project and then look at it in a web browser is stupid simple, and that's very appealing. I know that Herd exists now, but there's something about using a CLI.

Productivity

  • Alfred

    Powerpack Mega Supporter here. Aside from launching apps, which I agree Spotlight can do now, I have little workflows to open websites with just a couple keys. It's also a wonderful calculator, clipboard history viewer, and system command runner. Since Jan 25, 2022, @alfredapp has been used 3,995 times. Average 3.0 times per day.

  • Amphetamine

    From Caffeine to Amphetamine. Hey, that rhymes (kinda). When I use my MacBook as a dedicated music player, I like to keep the screen on to see what's playing or coming up, so I can quickly jump around. It's also really useful when you're staring at your code, deep in thought, and don't want your screen to turn off in the midst of all that thinking.

  • BetterSnapTool

    I almost forgot I even have this, but I use it all the time to quickly align windows side-by-side, or move them into quadrants. The best feature, however, is the ability to quickly resize a window to take up the full screen after making it smaller on one of the sides. Oh, and it lets me restore its original size with the press of a shortcut.

  • LittleIpsum (RIP)

    Copy words, sentences, or even paragraphs with just the power of your mouse. That's what LittleIpsum does, and it looks like you can no longer get it from the App Store. Funnily, I found out that it was developed by someone who now works at The Browser Company. But for as long as I have this Mac, LittleIpsum stays put.