Software I use, gadgets I love, and other things I recommend.

I get asked a lot about the things I use to build software, stay productive, or buy to fool myself into thinking I’m being productive when I’m really just procrastinating. Here’s a big list of all of my favorite stuff.

Workstation

  • 16” MacBook Pro, M1 Max, 32GB RAM (2021)

    I was using an Intel-based 16” MacBook Pro prior to this and the difference is night and day. I’ve never heard the fans turn on a single time, even under the incredibly heavy loads I put it through with our various launch simulations.

  • Samsung 27" 4k Monitor (2x)

    The only display on the market if you want something HiDPI and bigger than 27”. When you’re working at planetary scale, every pixel you can get counts.

  • Logitech MX Mecanical Mini

    They don’t make keyboards the way they used to. I buy these any time I see them go up for sale and keep them in storage in case I need parts or need to retire my main.

  • Logitech MX Master 3

    Something about all the gestures makes me feel like a wizard with special powers. I really like feeling like a wizard with special powers.

  • Amazon Basics Chair

    If I’m going to slouch in the worst ergonomic position imaginable all day, I might as well do it in an expensive chair.

Development tools

  • Jetbrains Webstorm

    I don’t care if it’s missing all of the fancy IDE features everyone else relies on, Sublime Text is still the best text editor ever made.

  • Jetbrains Rider

    I’m honestly not even sure what features I get with this that aren’t just part of the macOS Terminal but it’s what I use.

  • Android Sudio

    I’m honestly not even sure what features I get with this that aren’t just part of the macOS Terminal but it’s what I use.

  • Xcode

    I’m honestly not even sure what features I get with this that aren’t just part of the macOS Terminal but it’s what I use.

Design

  • Figma

    We started using Figma as just a design tool but now it’s become our virtual whiteboard for the entire company. Never would have expected the collaboration features to be the real hook.

  • Affinity Designer 2

    We started using Figma as just a design tool but now it’s become our virtual whiteboard for the entire company. Never would have expected the collaboration features to be the real hook.

  • Affinity Photo 2

    We started using Figma as just a design tool but now it’s become our virtual whiteboard for the entire company. Never would have expected the collaboration features to be the real hook.

Productivity

  • Github Copilot

    We started using Figma as just a design tool but now it’s become our virtual whiteboard for the entire company. Never would have expected the collaboration features to be the real hook.