/uses

Last updated on 1st of January.

I always find it interesting to read about which hardware and tools are used by people whom I perceive to be productive and who do good work. Certainly thereā€™s something to learn. And because creating beats consuming, here is my version of it. It might be useful for someone else. Feel free to contact me in that case, I think the human connection is a big part of what makes this fun.

šŸ’» Hardware for Work

This setup doesnā€™t leave anything to be desired for me. An external screen is very helpful for my type of project management, coding, and writing work. Whenever Iā€™m traveling with just my MacBook, I miss the external screen. Seeing all the relevant information at one glance has been improving my workflow by a lot. The MacBook is silent and powers everything effortlessly. Keyboard and mouse work great.

šŸ•¹ļø Hardware for Play

Under my desk, thereā€™s a Windows PC which I put together at the beginning of the first COVID-19 lockdown, early 2020. I use it for recreational gaming exclusively. Itā€™s still powerful enough for what I like to play, which is mostly Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, IV, and V, the Half-Life series including the incredible Black Mesa and the Virtual Reality one, Alyx, on my Oculus Rift S, as well as the two Portal games and occasional some old classics like Minecraft or Anno 1602.

The MacBook and the Windows PC share the monitor (Mac via USB-C, PC via DisplayPort), the mouse via a Bluetooth dongle each, and after the the cheap speakers died on me in February of 2023 I finally went for good USB-connected active speakers of the Kanto YU2 type. They look nice, have no hum due to the USB connection instead of a 3.5mm audio cable, and by putting a bunch of different USB adapters in a row I was able to connect them to both sources (Mac and PC) with a USB click switch. I could get rid of my Behringer mixer that way and significantly reduced the amount of cables. Not to mention the sound quality is a lot better now!

šŸŖ‘ The Desk and Chair

Iā€™m quite happy with this setup. The wood adds warmth and the chair is unbeatable in terms of cost to benefit ratio.

šŸ“± Peripherals

šŸ’¾ Software on Desktop

šŸŒ Web

Most of my work happens within a web browser. Currently I prefer Arc with its refreshing new take on the ancient tool that a browser is. But in general I switch between all the major ones: Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. I want to love Firefox, but itā€™s just not there.

šŸ“Ø Mail

Iā€™ve been a long-time Gmail user and email played a huge role in managing my clients, employees, and personal life. Recently, Iā€™ve decided to step back from it a bit. I still love the fact itā€™s an open format owned by nobody and free for everyone. Thatā€™s part of the reason I have decided to move away from Google and now use the email server service provided by Swiss company Migadu after testing them for about a year. So far Iā€™m using Apple Mail on macOS and iOS as IMAP clients and itā€™s working well. Not being able to search through my whole back log of email from since I began writing and receiving it is what I predicted being a strong downside, but that might have just been a belief Iā€™ve had that has no grounding in reality. Iā€™m finding that out currently.

šŸ’¬ Other Communication

ā„¹ļø Information Management

One of the most important things in running a business as I used to, and running a personal family life, too, is staying organized. My brain currently works great with numbers and visual impressions, but in other regards it needs help. Thatā€™s why I use several different apps to stay on top of things.

āŒØļø Development

I like to do web development myself. The world of development tools seems to change often, which is why I rely on the tool recommendations of my more experienced friends and former colleagues.

šŸŽ›ļø Other

The usual suspects and some specialties.

šŸ“² Software on Mobile

I entered the iPhone market in 2009 with the 3GS model and subsequently went with an upgrade every one or two years. Theyā€™re great phones and there has never been a reason for me to switch to a different brand. Currently, Iā€™m using an iPhone 16 in the black shade, 128 gigs minimal version, because I have everything in the cloud so Iā€™m not devastated when my phone breaks or gets lost.

Iā€™ll be only mentioning the apps which I havenā€™t before. Itā€™s a rapid fire round.

Thatā€™s all the basics. Do you have suggestions? Whatā€™s your setup like? Iā€™d love to hear from you! Send an email to tim@tee.ge.

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