Uses

Originally inspired by Wes Bos’ uses page, this is a summary of my current hardware and software set up. Hit me up if you have any questions about them.

Software

  • My text editor of choice is Visual Studio Code from Microsoft. I use Night Owl, by Sarah Drasner, as my theme and Dank Mono as my font. I’ll share some of my settings once I get the chance to organise them or find an efficient way of sharing.
  • Apart from VSCode I also use NotePlan 3 for note taking and task management.
  • I use Raycast on macOS to help me with automation. It takes care of text expansion, running automation scripts and allowing me to quick access all the apps I use.
  • Karabiner-Elements is responsible for the hyper key (Ctrl+Alt+Command+Shift) which I bind to Caps Lock and hook up to many shortcuts around the OS and Raycast.
  • I also use BetterTouchTools to set some of the more elaborate keyboard shortcuts I have, like window management.
  • I use Firefox Developer Edition as my main browser, but also keep Chrome Canary and Safari around for testing.
  • For email I use Proton Mail. Proton has great privacy features and the overall UX is really good. I heavily recommend Proton Mail and Proton VPN if you’re worried about privacy but don’t want to sacrifice on convenience and UX.
  • For designing or creating SVGs I use Figma. I used to use Sketch, but Figma is cross platform and makes it a lot easier for sharing designs with others.

Hardware

  • I use a MacBook Pro 16-inch, 2021 Apple M1 Max as my development machine. Memory 32GB, storage 1TB.
  • My keyboard is the Apple Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (British English) in Space Grey. In the past I have also used the Logitech G613.
  • I currently use an Apple Magic Trackpad 2. In the past I’ve used a Logitech MX Master S2. The MX Master series has the most comfortable mouse I’ve ever used but I’ve now gotten used to the trackpad now and I find it more convenient to use. Both are strongly recommended.
  • Apart from the MacBook’s screen I have 2 LG 4K displays. One in portrait mode (scaled to 1440x2560) and one in landscape mode (scaled to 2560x1440) with my MacBook as a 3rd screen (mostly for slack and music).
  • For headphones I have both the Apple Airpods Pro S2 and a Bose QC35. I normally stick to the Airpods now as they have a great integration with all my devices but the QC35’s noise cancelling comes in handy every now and again.
  • I have a Grey Audio Pro T5 bluetooth speaker on my desk as well to provide sound when I’m not using my headphones. They are great bluetooth speakers and look really sleek too.
  • I have the Scarlett 2i2 and Scarlett Solo audio interfaces which I connect my multiple inputs and headphones or speakers to depending on which machine I’m using and what I’m recording. They greatly improve the quality of my audio and make it a lot easier to record and edit sound.
  • My microphone is a RØDE NT1-A.
  • In terms of musical instruments I have a Roland TD 17-KVX2 drum kit with a Gibraltar double bass pedal, a Yamaha P-125 electronic piano, an Ibanez BTB670 4-string active bass guitar with an Ibanez WH10 wah pedal, a Fender CD-140SCE electro-acoustic guitar and a Fender Rumble 25 bass amp, which I also use for my drums.

Notes

  • This page is a work in progress and is constantly changing.
  • None of the products listed on this page were provided as means of sponsoring nor are the links to online stores affiliate links. These are simply products that I use personally and would at least to a degree recommend that you check them out. You’re free to acquire any of them at your own expense and risk.