Stuff I Use
Welcome to my /uses page! Inspired by folks like Wes Bos and Kent C. Dodds, this page acts as a living document of my daily workflow. Over the years, I've gradually transitioned toward open-source, open-protocol, and privacy-respecting alternatives wherever possible. Below is the hardware, software, and everyday carry that I rely on as a developer advocate and coffee enthusiast.
Am I missing something that you'd like to know? Hit me up on BlueSky and let me know.
Make sure to check out uses.tech for a list of everyone's /uses pages!
Work
Hardware
Work laptop featuring the Intel Core Ultra 1 Series.
Mechanical keyboard for typing, outfitted with Tactile Halo True Switches.
USB microphone for meetings and recordings.
Software
Browser
Primary browser used exclusively to advocate for the open web.
Used whenever people unfortunately force me to use something Chromium-based.
Open Web Philosophy: My choice of browsers heavily leans into free software and the open web. Using Firefox natively and keeping open-source, privacy-first Chromium forks around for edge cases allows me to champion web standards without compromising on data security.
Programming
Bleeding-edge Linux distribution with CachyOS repos.
Fast and lean primary code editor.
Testing out this IDE for side-projects (Internal Tool).
Fast, feature-rich, and heavily customizable terminal emulator.
Simplicity and Speed: I use bleeding-edge Arch Linux at work because I prefer a snappy, highly-configurable Linux setup for programming. Zed and Ghostty fit perfectly into this ideology: they are leaner, incredibly fast, and strip away the bloat of traditional electron-based computing environments.
Productivity
Task management and time tracking app.
Gaming
Hardware
Home gaming rig packing a Ryzen 5 2600, GTX 1660 Ti, and 32GB of RAM.
Mechanical keyboard for gaming, utilizing Linear Gateron Red Switches.
Super accurate wired gaming mouse.
Comfortable headset with excellent audio for gaming.
Software
Terminal emulator used on my home desktop.
Shell environment for Windows.
The Hybrid Approach: I split my computing life to keep things clean. I use Windows at home precisely to play games on my humble rig without dealing with compatibility layers, keeping my work laptop strictly focused and bloat-free.
Tools
Productivity
Local-first personal knowledge management.
Email client used across my computer and phone.
App to document and keep track of my reading log.
Open-source productivity app that helps block distractions.
Ownership and Privacy: My daily productivity stack revolves around applications that prioritize local-first data storage and robust privacy protocols, ensuring I own all my knowledge and activity logs completely.
Utilities
Self-hosted cloud storage solution.
Rapid local file synchronization.
Open-source tool for password security.
The ultimate cross-platform media player.
UnifiedPush distributor for push notifications without Google Play Services.
Customizable open-source launcher.
Privacy-focused keyboard with advanced typing features.
Modern F-Droid client with Material design.
Open-source client for the Google Play Store.
CalDAV/CardDAV synchronization for Android.
A heavily modified version of the official Mastodon Android app.
Customizable widget system for Android.
System APIs access directly with ADB/root privileges without root.
App to install and update apps directly from their release pages.
The Protocol Shift: Switching to Matrix, Nextcloud, and Bitwarden reflects an aggressive push to maintain better control, federation, and auditing ability over my data. Utilizing FOSS Android tools provides a complete escape hatch from closed ecosystems.
Coffee
My daily driver for pulling espresso shots.
My automatic grinder used for daily convenience.
A trusted hand-grinder for when I feel like manually cranking the beans.
The Analog Ritual: Preparing espresso with the Sage Bambino and meticulously hand-grinding beans with the Hario Skerton when time permits gives me a perfect analog escape from the digital depth of my setup.