We all have tools we use on a daily basis. I enjoy reading what others use as it is an insight into how they live, with lessons both obvious and subtle. As such, I’ve written some version of my “uses” pages since 2012 in order to record tools I’ve found valuable and their evolution over the years.
For 10 years before building this page, I wrote annual posts documenting my tools. While there are a few that I’ve kept all these years, changes in tech, work and home mean that most of my toolbox has changed drastically. Below is a list of those original posts.
2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012
My Use Case
What do I use this all for? I tend to think my use case is as important as the tools themselves. How we use our tools defines, or at least should define, the tools we use. Here are the areas I am building my toolbox to help me with.
- Software Engineering Manager - My day job requires me to communicate with my teams and organization for mentoring, guidance, strategy and day-to-day operations.
- Software Developer I love writing code and have been doing so, both personally and professionally, since college.
- Blogger/Writer – I love writing, even though I can’t spend the time on it I would like.
Hardware
My Office
I work from home where my office has an Uplift Commercial V2 30″x 60″ desk with a bamboo top. I love having a sit/stand desk and transition between the two regularly during the day. I have an Uplift Intuition Ergonomic Chair to go with it. On my desk is a Meross LED Desk Lamp for writing and an Anker Charging Station for keeping my iPad and other devices running.
Computers
- 2024 16″ MacBook Pro (Silver) – M4 Max, 64GB RAM, 1TB SSD
This is, I confess, overkill for my needs, though I love it. It sits on an AVLT Dual monitor arm (white) which it shares with an Apple Studio Display. I use the Apple Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad which, though I’ve tried dozens of alternatives, are still the best peripherals I’ve found.
- 2024 14″ MacBook Pro (Silver) – M4 Pro, 48GB RAM, 1TB SSD
This is my work machine and does everything I need it to do. I swap to a Nuphy Air96v2 keyboard and a Logitech MX Vertical mouse while I’m working as they allow me to swap between my work laptop and my iPad.
- 2024 13″ iPad Pro (Silver) – M4, 1TB SSD, Cellular Connection
My iPad serves a niche role these days. It lives under my monitor and serves as access anything personal I need during my work day. This lets me keep total separation of my personal and work data.
It has a Nomad Goods Leather Folio and, thanks to the Apple Magic Keyboard, serves as a good travel computer when I need it. I have an Apple Pencil Pro for it but I don’t use it much.
- iPhone 17 Pro Max (Silver) – 512GB
When I’m away from home my phone gets me what I need in its black Apple TechWoven case.
- Apple Watch Ultra 3
Finally, my Apple Watch is always with me. I use it primarily for health tracking and as my wallet and for general notifications of anything really important. It even has a cellular connection so that I can bring it with instead of my phone for most errands and other activities. I have a number of bands for it of various types that I rotate through.
Networking and Peripherals
We live in a small but well-built condo which means I haven’t found a single WiFi router that can reach all of it. As a result we have 2 Eero Pro 7 routers connected to an Arris SURFboard SB8200. My building is old enough that it doesn’t have fiber so I’m stuck with broadband provided by Astound.
We watch TV using Apple TV 4Ks which serve as HomeKit hubs for a large collection of Phillips Hue and Govee lights and a couple SwitchBot Hub 2 thermometers. We also have an August Smart Lock which means Joy can leave for her morning run without having to take bulky keys or her phone. We have two TVs, a 32” Visio I bought in 2011 that now lives in our bedroom (and rarely gets turned on) and a 55” TCL in our living room. The living room TV is a smart TV but it uses the Apple TV and doesn’t directly connect to the web.
Living in an older condo means the heat is central to the whole building and we don’t have a thermostat to control it ourselves. Buying the thermometers helps us feel more comfortable as we know the temperature (even if we can’t do anything about it). As for the lights, they carry over from our previous home and are one of our favorite “smart” upgrades with numerous automations designed around how we live.
We have a Brother HL-L2350DW laser printer. I’ve never had to configure it and it really does “just work” from every device we have.
I have a number of Yubikey 5C NFCs which I no longer use for daily tasks but they do a wonderful job at securing my most important accounts.
Finally, we have a collection of about a dozen Apple AirTags which we put in every bag and on important things such as our keys. They come in handy every time I’m walking away from the house and realize I forgot something.
Meetings, Presenting and Recording
For meetings I use my Apple Studio Display’s microphone and camera combined with headphones that differ depending on what device I’m using. The Studio Display is the best meeting camera I’ve used and the only one I own these days.
When I do need a better mic I use a Shure SM7B Microphone which sits on a Samson MBA48 microphone boom arm and plugs into a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (4th Generation).
When I’m presenting in person I use a Logitech Spotlight presentation remote which does a fine job.
Entertainment and Other Gadgets
My all-time favorite devices are Amazon Kindles and I currently have a Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition. I started using Kindle for travel as I can go through 5 or more books on a 1-week trip and it makes doing so much easier. I always have a book with me which I take full advantage of, whether on the bus, a plane or to pass the time.
While I mentioned our Apple TVs, I rarely watch TV. Instead, I have either music or podcasts playing constantly. I use Powerbeats Fit or Powerbeats Pro 2 headphones which, unlike AirPods, stay in my ears. I prefer the Fit but the Pros come in handy as they clip over my ears when I need a more secure fit. In practice this means I use the Pros for workouts and the Fits for everything else. For work meetings I use Beats Fit Pro which I bought so I don’t have to play Bluetooth games or a pair of Sennheiser HD 599 SE as I’m often in more than 30 hours of meetings per week and using earbuds that much can get painful. The Sennheisers are perfect in that they’re comfortable and don’t have a battery themselves.
For when I don’t need headphones we have a collection of various Sonos models at home with at least one speaker in each room.
Neither of us are big gamers but we did buy a Nintendo Switch right before COVID and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed a number of games on it. It’s the most practical gaming console we’ve ever had. We also have a PlayStation 5 so Joy could play her favorite Ratchet and Clank games again. It’s fun but we don’t use it as much as the Switch.
Software
Daily Tools
I live in the command-line where I use the default Apple Terminal with tmux to manage sessions and multiple panes. You can find my specific configuration in my dotfiles.
My software is managed with Homebrew, mise-en-place and the Mac App Store. If I can use the Mac App Store for a given app, I do, otherwise every app I have is installed with Homebrew and my dev environments are managed with mise. It makes standardizing my installs much easier and means I can set up a new machine in about an hour.
I use VS Code connected to GitHub for my code. It uses my own Kana Dark theme which I also use in the Terminal and all apps that support themes.
For all the apps that support it, I use the MonoLisa font. I think it was very much worth the purchase.
Safari is my favorite browser and it is the only browser I have on my personal devices. I find it to be the best browsing experience of any browser I’ve tried. I switch my search engine to DuckDuckGo and use Wipr 2 as my ad-blocker.
Finally, this site is built with Hugo and hosted on Cloudflare Workers. Cloudflare is the registrar for all my domains.
Personal Software
Nearly all my personal data is in Apple iCloud using an Apple One Premier plan that I share with my family. It handles our calendar, documents (Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Pixelmator Pro), email (even for our custom domains), Music, Notes, Podcasts, Reminders, Maps and darn near everything else. I even have their credit and savings accounts as they’re better deals than our other options.
We use Quicken Classic to keep track of our spending and finances. I wish it had proper mobile apps, but I keep trying alternatives and it is still the only app that actually works.
For communications, my family loves iMessage but where I can I use Signal. I don’t have much need for video calls these days so FaceTime can handle the very few I actually do.
I optimize my laptops with Mole which does a great job.
I follow sites I care about with Unread and I focus my social media use on Mastodon using Ivory. I also have accounts on LinkedIn, BlueSky and GoodReads.
Finally, we use US Mobile (affiliate link) for our mobiles. It gives us each lines on multiple networks, international service and Apple Watch service for less than 1/3 of what we had been paying with major carriers. We secure our connections with Proton VPN when we do go on WiFi we don’t control (usually just hotels when we’re traveling).
As for my mobile devices, they mirror of my laptop, as much as possible. There are a few differences on my iPad where I write in IA Writer and use Working Copy for code and Git.
Work Software
We use Slack, Google Workspace, Jira, Notion and 1Password for nearly all our data.
As at home I use Apple’s default apps for most of my day including Safari, Notes, Reminders, Calendar and Mail. Honestly, I prefer them to the alternatives and they really work well for me. Of course I also keep with Wipr 2 as my ad blocker.
The company uses Fellow and Google Meet to record meetings and Gemini and Claude for various tasks where it makes sense. Lately these have become a much bigger part of my daily workflow, particularly to help me prep for and review my workday where I have Claude skills to review my meetings, suggest to-dos, and generally summarize my day. Given I often have 10 or more meetings a day, they’ve really helped me make sure I don’t miss anything.
For connecting to it all we use Tailscale.
While I try to stick with Homebrew, mise and the Mac App Store for app management, the company uses Iru for a number of core apps.
Analog Tools
My favorite bag is my Rothco Classic Canvas Messenger Bag. I prefer messenger bags or briefcases and also use a Waterfield Muzetto Leather Bag when I need something that looks a little more refined. For when I need more space I swap to a Timbuk2 Authority Laptop Backpack.
I still write with pen and paper at times and use LEUCHTTURM1917 Classic Notebooks with Lamy Al-Star pens using Lamy inks or Zebra Sarasa Grand pens when I want a ballpoint.
I carry a black iPhone FineWoven wallet. It’s all I need and helps make sure I don’t lose my wallet (the Find My feature has come in handy a few times).
The majority of our travel is weekend trips to either my Dad’s or Joy’s sister’s house and my Thule Subterra 2 backpack is perfect for it. When we do travel further I’ve invested in a Travelpro Platinum Elite Carry-On Spinner as I’ve had wonderful luck with Travelpro bags in general.
This page was last updated on 11 September, 2026.