My setup

This is the hardware, comforts and technologies that I use.

Desk setup

Right now my desk setup is intentionally light, I have removed a lot of the smaller trinkets and tech that I was barely making use of.

• Desk — LOWE's Leadvision Acacia Finger Jointed Countertop (opens in a new tab)
  • I recently switched to this desktop after having used the IKEA TROTTEN sit/stand desk (opens in a new tab) for a few years
  • I have placed the countertop on two IKEA MITTBACK trestles (opens in a new tab)
• Chair — Refurbished Herman Miller Celle Chair (opens in a new tab)
  • Upgraded the wheels to these Lifelong rubber chair casters (opens in a new tab). Now I can glide across any surface, so fun
• Monitor — Dell UltraSharp 32 4K Monitor – U3219Q (opens in a new tab)
  • Provides USB-C and DisplayPort which lets me connect it to my laptop and PC and switch at the press of a button
  • Includes a built-in USB hub which means when I switch between the USB-C/DisplayPort inputs then the Keyboard, Mouse, Webcam and Microphone all switch over too
• Speakers — Edifier R1280DB (opens in a new tab)
  • The speakers have good quality audio and multiple input sources which work great for switching between laptop and PC
  • Thinking about switching to Audioengine A2+ (opens in a new tab) or something similarly sized
• Webcam — Logitech C922 Pro (opens in a new tab)
  • Nothing too special here, I don't use the built-in mic
  • I do have a privacy shutter attached
• Microphone — Fifine K669 (opens in a new tab)
  • Picked this up as a pretty cheap upgrade from the built-in microphone of my MacBook
• Mouse surface — Aukey extended XXL mouse mat (opens in a new tab)
  • Again a cheap upgrade to cover a large portion of the desk as I tend to move the mouse and keyboard around a lot
• Keyboard — Razor BlackWidow V3 Pro (opens in a new tab)
  • My previous mechanical keyboard was smaller and didn't have a Numpad, which I quickly began to miss
• Mouse — Razer Viper Ultimate (opens in a new tab)
  • A great mouse which is surprisingly light to use. It's also wireless with a charging dock
• Gaming PC — Custom build (opens in a new tab)
  • Specs; 3.7GHz Ryzen 9, RX 6950 XT, 32GB RAM, 2TB M.2 SSD

Software

These are the programs and tools I regularly use while working on both my Mac and PC.

Tech/Dev

• Chrome (opens in a new tab)
  • My primary browser for development needs
• Firefox (opens in a new tab)
  • My primary browser for my non-development needs
• GitKraken (opens in a new tab)
  • A great UI for Git interactions
  • I only really use it if there is something a little more involved with conflict resolutions or I've forgotten the name of a branch
• Photoshop (opens in a new tab)
  • Mostly used for simple image editing, resizing, etc
• YouTube music (opens in a new tab)
  • Everyone needs music in their lives, I've jumped between this and Spotify quite regularly
• Visual Studio Code (opens in a new tab)
  • This is my go-to for most coding activities
  • I also use it for taking notes in Markdown
  • Doesn't play well with Unity (opens in a new tab) anymore
• Zoom (opens in a new tab)
  • Pretty much the standard for video calls now

Fun

• Discord (opens in a new tab)
  • Chat and video calls, mostly for non-work
• OBS (opens in a new tab)
  • Sometimes I like to record myself playing games and then decide it's not worth putting on YouTube
• Unity (opens in a new tab)
  • I'll never make games as a living, but I love doing it as a hobby
  • The recent changes, community outrage and back-peddling have me considering finding new engines to work with
• Steam (opens in a new tab)
  • Games, 'nuff said

Technologies

Some of the services and other resources I make use of that are not strictly software packages.

• Gandi (opens in a new tab)
  • Domain registration and associated email accounts
• Google Mail (opens in a new tab)
  • Personal and work mail
• Proton (opens in a new tab)
  • Proton Mail and VPN are privacy-focused alternatives and have served me well
  • I have this idea in my head of moving away from Google, it's a process

This page was last updated on 7th February 2024 and was inspired by the person who made nownownow (opens in a new tab), see Derek Sivers page (opens in a new tab).