Uses
Below are the applications, tools, and services I am currently using on a regular basis. I am somewhat of a minimalist, so I’ve been shedding 3rd party apps lately and falling back to default applications where it makes sense to do so. Fair warning, I play mostly in the and Linux ecosystems.
Desktop Apps
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Operating System: MacOS Sequoia 15, always the latest developer beta
Browser: Safari, rarely Google Chrome
Bookmark management: AnyBox
Mail client: Mail
Instant messaging: Messages, Unite GroupMe client for a small band of friends
RSS client: Reeder (using Reeder’s built-in feed management/sync service)
Mastodon client: Mona
Calendaring client: Calendar (iCloud)
Contacts client: Contacts (iCloud)
Habit tracking: Chronicling, by Rebecca Owen
Task management: Reminders (iCloud)
Quick capture: Drafts, capture thoughts first decide where they go later!
Shared notes: Notes, only for shared notes with family members (iCloud)
Personal knowledge management: Obsidian
Photo management: Photos (iCloud)
Music: Music
Music discovery: MusicHarbor
Podcast client: Overcast
YouTube client: Play
News: News
Spreadsheets: Microsoft Excel
Text editing: Vi, or Visual Studio Code when editing lots of related files
Password & secrets management: Keychain, with one foot still in 1Password
Ad & tracker blocking: 1Blocker
Backup client: Carbon Copy Cloner, Synology Active Backup for Business
Email backup: Email Archiver Pro
Automation: Shortcuts, Keyboard Maestro, Hazel
Maps: Maps
Word processing: Microsoft Word
Newsletter & read later: Omnivore
Git client: Command line, GitHub Desktop, Visual Studio Code
Package tracking: Parcel
Calculator: PCalc
Budgeting: YNAB, looking to make a change here
Menu bar management: Dozer
Audio control: SoundSource
3D Design: SketchUp Pro
Command line: Terminal
Command line tools: Homebrew, born and raised on Unix/Linux so gotta fill out the toolbox!
Mobile Apps
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Operating System: iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, always the latest developer beta
Browser: Safari, rarely Google Chrome
Bookmark management: AnyBox
Mail client: Mail
Instant messaging: Messages, GroupMe for a small band of friends
RSS client: Reeder (using Reeder’s built-in feed management/sync service)
Mastodon client: Mona
Calendaring client: Calendar (iCloud)
Contacts client: Contacts (iCloud)
Habit tracking: Chronicling, by Rebecca Owen
Task management: Reminders (iCloud)
Quick capture: Drafts, capture thoughts first decide where they go later!
Shared notes: Notes, only for shared notes with family members (iCloud)
Personal knowledge management: Obsidian
Camera: Camera
Photo management: Photos (iCloud)
Music: Music, Marvis Pro, Mixtape, Longplay
Music discovery: MusicHarbor
Podcast client: Overcast
Radio streaming: Broadcast
YouTube client: Play
News: News
Password & secrets management: Keychain, with one foot still in 1Password
Ad & tracker blocking: 1Blocker
Backup client: iCloud Backup
Automation: Shortcuts, Toolbox Pro, Pushcut, Scriptable
Navigation / maps: Maps, Waze
Newsletter & read later: Omnivore
Git client: Working Copy
Package tracking: Parcel
Calculator: PCalc
Budgeting: YNAB, looking to make a change here
Credit monitoring: Credit Karma, looking to make a change here
Meditation: Zenitizer, Dark Noise
Media tracking: Sequel, Letterboxd, Callsheet
Reading: Kindle
Weather: Weather, Looks Like Rain
Flight tracking: Flighty
Calorie tracking: Lose It!
Zero-trust networking: Tailscale
3D Design: SketchUp for iPad
Remote shell: Prompt
Infrastructure / Services
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Local storage: Synology NAS
Cloud storage: Primarily iCloud, some OneDrive
Mail hosting: Amazon WorkMail, iCloud
Spam filtering: Mailroute
Search engine: SearXNG (self-hosted)
Multi-WAN: local ISP, 5G T-Mobile Home Internet, Starlink
Mesh wifi: Eero
Media server: Plex (self-hosted)
DNS: Amazon Route 53, Netlify
Hardware & Office
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Macbook Pro (M1 Pro, 16GB RAM)
iPhone 15 Pro Max
Watch 6
iPad Air (5th generation)
Pencil (2nd generation)
LG 27" 27UD58 LED (primary display)
Samsung BN68 LED TV (dashboard display)
Amazon Echo Show 5
Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition
Ricoh ScanSnap iX1600 scanner
Beats Fit Pro earbuds (for home/travel)
AirPods (2nd Gen) earbuds (for work)
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max
LG BP60NB10 UHD Blu-Ray drive
Yamaha CR-640 stereo receiver (restored, circa 1979)
Polk Audio PSW10 powered subwoofer
Dayton Audio B652-AIR 6-1/2" 2-way bookshelf speaker
IKEA IDÅSEN Sit/stand desk frame with 48"x30" solid maple butcher block top
Branch Ergonomic chair
Smart Home
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Management platform: HomeKit, Amazon Alexa
Smart speakers: HomePod, HomePod Mini, Echo Dot
Hubs: Aqara, IKEA
Wifi lighting: Meross, IKEA, Smart Life, LIFX
Wifi controls / switches: Aqara, Wemo, Meross
Wifi thermostat: Sensi ST55
Temperature / humidity sensors: Aqara
Water sensors: Aqara
HomeLab
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Rack: Sanus CFR2127 27U 19" audio component rack
Cooling controller: 1U AC Infinity Controller 12
Cooling: AC Infinity roof fan kit
UPS: CyberPower BL1450U 1450VA with AVR
NAS: Synology 5-bay DiskStation DS1019+ with Seagate Ironwolf NAS HDDs
Network switches: TP-Link TL-SG108E, Netgear GS308T, Mikrotik CRS310-8G+2S+IN (2)
Cable management: 1U Cable Matters rackmount 24-port keystone patch panel (2), VCE CAT6 keystones
Power distribution: 1U ADJ PC-100A power strip (2)
Displays: Dell E2216H 22" LED display (2)
Compute nodes:
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Dell Optiplex 5060 SFF (2) - one running OPNsense, the other Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and rancher
Dell Optiplex 7060 Micro - k3s and longhorn host
Dell Optiplex 5060 Micro (5) - k3s and longhorn hosts
Raspberry Pi 5 8GB (2) - Raspberry Pi OS / Debian Bookworm
Travel Gear
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5G T-Mobile Home Internet (for RV travel)
Starlink Gen 3 Standard configuration
GL.iNet GL-A1300 Slate Plus Travel Router
Anker Prime power strip
MakerSpace
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Miter saw: DeWalt compound miter saw (DWS779)
Table saw: Bosch 10" portable jobsite table saw (GTS1031)
Thickness planer: DeWalt 13" thickness planer (DW735X)
Jointer: Ridgid 6-1/8" jointer/planer (JP0610)
Lathe: Central Machinery 12"x36" wood Lathe (134706)
Drill press: Central Machinery 10", 12-speed bench drill press (63471)
Scroll saw: Wen 16" variable speed scroll saw (3921)
Band saw: Wen 10" band saw (3962)
Sander: Bauer 4"x36" belt and 6" disc sander (58339)
Router: Bosch 2.25 HP plunge & fixed-based router kit (1617EVSPK)
Dust collector: Central Machinery 2 HP dust collector (59726)
Air filtration: Rikon 1/4 HP Air Filtration 450 (62-450)
Air compressor: Husky 27-gallon 200psi portable air compressor (C271H)
Miscellaneous
Some of my other favorite things. Fight me.
Notebooks: Field Notes, of course!
Pens: Parker Jotter XL loaded with a blue Schneider Gelion+ 0.7mm, Pentel EnerGel Philography gel pen, 0.7mm
Multi-tool: Leatherman wave+