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.

Everyday tech

  • iPhone 13 mini

    A great compromise between size and performance. Might change it this year

  • iPad Pro 11" M1

    The best iPad I ever had (started with an iPad 2 then an Air 2). Powerful, light, and the pencil is a game changer

  • Apple Watch Ultra

    Upgraded from a Series 3. I think it's the greatest bang for the bucks when it comes to smart watches

  • Airpods (Gen 1)

    Their 5 year old batteries are starting to show signs of fatigue but they're still great. I used to buy a pair of earbuds a year minimum. I haven't bought any in 5 years.

  • Steelseries Arctis 3

    This is the best headset I ever had and I keep recommending that line of product. The ski band is a game changer and the earmuff fabric is the best I've ever seen

  • Airtags

Office — Work

  • MacBook Air M1 13" 2021

    Powerful, silent, and light—what more can you ask?

  • HP Z27 monitor

    I absolutely love this monitor and the quality of the image. I think 27" is the perfect compromise of size. My only complaint is about the startup time

  • Elgato Stream Deck

    Fun lil gadget to control Zoom and A/V setup

  • Elgato Wave 3

    This mic has a great sound quality and works over USB-C. Really worth it if you're on Zoom or recording voice a lot

  • Elgato Facecam

    It's _okay_ but I wouldn't miss it if I didn't have it tomorrow

  • Apple Keyboard 2014

    A good ol' keyboard—powered by AA batteries!

  • Magic Trackpad

    I can't go back to mouse

  • Tresanti Standing Desk

    I didn't get the hype around standing desk. Got one. Changed the height a lot for a few weeks. haven't moved it a lot since

Office — Personal

  • iMac 27" 2017

    I upgraded to a 5K iMac when my 2011 MBP died. It's a 6 year old computer but still feels extremely fast and fresh

  • Asus 19"

    It's an old LED screen that I have for about 10 years now. It's not as great as it was but it does the trick

  • Lacie HDD

    I'm a Lacie fan and have multiple HDDs running for almost 10 years without a hiccup

  • Magic Keyboard

  • Magic Trackpad

Software

  • Firefox

    Die-hard fan since 2004.

  • 1Password

    If you're not using a password manager yet, 1Password is a great option (albeit their UX and app quality are on a downhill slope

  • Backblaze

    Backblaze brings me utter peace of mind by doing unlimited offsite backups. 100% worth it

  • VSCode

    I was LTTP and moved from Atom but haven't looked back once

  • Starship

    This makes my Terminal much fancier and easier to use

Photography — Digital

  • Canon EOS 6D

    This is my workhorse DSLR and my first pro camera. It still shoots great and the images are still amazing

  • Olympus OMD M10 Mk II

    I was looking for a smaller digital camera to carry around and got the Olympus as I believed the M4/3 would be a better option in the long run. I wasn't right.

  • Olympus E-PL1 (Infrared)

    I bought this second hand camera and gutted it to turn it into an infrared camera

  • DJI Mavic Air 2

    I don't fly drones as much as I used to but it's a great flying camera

  • DJI Phantom 3 Pro

    My original drone back from 2015. It's an absolute tank and the images are still amazing

  • DJI Action 3

    My GoPro Hero 3 Black not being what it used to be, and looking for an action cam for fun, I got an Action

Photography — Film

  • Mamiya RB 67

    I restored this fully mechanical medium format camera (light sealing, leather pieces, etc... and love the quality of the images (don't love the 2 tons weight though)

  • Intreprid 4x5 Mk IV

    After trying to build a Standard Camera from 3D printed parts and running into many issues, I bit the bullet and got the Intrepid. I should have done that from the start

  • Olympus M10

    This is a camera from my Mom and I love how nifty it is

  • Canon EOS 650

    Got this as a free add-on after buying a second-hand lens

Gaming

  • Xbox Series X

    It's not as mind-blowing as I thought it'd be but the loading speed, 120fps, and 4K HDR are pretty amazing

  • Oculus Quest 2

    Got this from work and after a 1-year frenzy, I haven't used it a lot lately

  • Playstation 3

  • RetroPie

Aviation

  • iPad M1 11" EFB

    I got a second iPad as my Electronic Flight Bag so I didn't have to bring my main one on flights in the off chance it'd be damaged

  • David Clark H10 13.4

    Started with a mid-range headset which I find pretty good. Might upgrade to ANR at some point and keep this one for passengers