My setup

Here’s some of the software and hardware I use, last revised on Dec 29, 2024.

Note-taking. After several years on the sidelines, I finally embraced digital to get on top of my to-do pile and replaced my trusty red Moleskine yearly planner with Things 3. (I had tried Apple’s Reminders app occasionally, but it didn’t stick.)

Longer notes and reference information go in a minimally-customized Obsidian. I store the Markdown files in a dedicated Dropbox folder that makes them accessible on my phone.

Media diet. My daily browser is Firefox. I subscribe to feeds with NetNewsWire.

I listen to music in Apple Music and purchase it on Bandcamp. I’ve been keeping a list of my favorite records each year since 2014.

Development work. I write code in Sublime Text, and prep the Git stuff with Sublime Merge. For FTP / Amazon S3 I’ll reach for Transmit, but generally prefer to either rsync or rclone into remote hosts.

Design work. Most design production happens inside the Adobe suite. In order of fondness: Illustrator for vectors and one-off layouts, Photoshop for pixels, InDesign for books. (I’m warming up to the Affinity suite, but don’t see myself using it for day-to-day work at the moment.)

Utilities. Whenever it’s time to upgrade my MacBook Pro, I am struck by selective amnesia and end up with the entry-level storage option, so free space is always in short supply. Apps like DaisyDisk, as well as a slew of tricks, help me manage it.

On my desk. The laptop is perched on top of a Nextstand K2, and I use an external Apple keyboard and trackpad.

iPhone apps. The processing in the built-in camera app is sometimes atrocious, so I appreciate the option of switching to the Process Zero mode in Halide. As a first step in digitizing documents, I’m exploring Open Scanner as an alternative to Evernote Scannable. My tinnitus keeps me vigilant about loud noise situations, and I rely on db Meter for assessing decibel levels.