Uses

[Updated 2024-09-02]

Hardware

• M1 MacBook Air
• Magic Mouse
• Keychron Q2 (with knob and blue switches) and Keychron K3 Pro (Browns)
• iPad Pro 11in with JIS Keyboard
• iPhone 13 Pro
• Apple Watch Series 8 45mm Black
• AirPods 2
• Synology DS420+ with 12TB
• Kindle Paperwhite (11th Generation)
• Lumix GX8 with Leica lenses and GoPro Hero 8 for photography

Software

• Arc and Firefox for browsing
• Obsidian for journaling and writing
• Things
• Sublime Text for text editing
• a million Markdown apps (Nota, Byword, iA, 1Writer, etc)
• Signal, Discord, Slack, LINE, Element
• Sketch, Pixelmator for image editing
• Pocket Casts for podcasts
• NetNewsWire for RSS and Omnivore for read later
• Insight Timer for meditation tracking
• Utilities: Raycast, Textsniper, Clocker, ColorSlurp, Rocket, aText, 1Password

Services

• Fastmail for email, though I am migrating to Proton due to Fastmail’s union-busting tactics
• Flickr for photo sharing
• Namecheap for hosting and domains
  • This site is a WordPress install using the standard theme
  • I do my daily microblogging using the “Indieweb as a Service” provider Micro.blog
• Started using Spaceship for some domains
• Buttondown for newsletter
• Mullvad for VPN

EDC

• Ichizawa Hanpu shoulder bag
• Gregory Resin 25 backpack
• Leuchtturm1917 Medium A5 Dotted Hardcover Notebook

Things I do not use

I have considered making a /will-not-use page as a sort of alternative to the typical /uses page. This would be a list of services that I avoid for ethical reasons. Ideally I would like to have a quick one-liner giving the specific reason I avoid each service, but I think in general you probably know why. If not, just search around and you will hit on the common critiques. In the meantime, here is a start:

• Meta
  • Facebook since 2010
  • Instagram
  • Whatsapp
• I generally try to stay away from Google, but…
  • I do have my old gmail account for accessing shared Google Docs that people send to me, so that I can keep my real email out of Google’s hands
  • I do use Google Maps
  • I do use YouTube
• Twitter, for obvious reasons. Find me on Bluesky or Masto
• Microsoft Office
• All Adobe Products
• Spotify
• TikTok
• Telegram
• Substack
• Notion
• Readwise
• Roam
• Paypal
• Uber
• AirBnB
• any of the scooter “apps”
• A note about Amazon: Other than Apple, this is the Big Tech company I need to extract myself from the most. I am a heavy Goodreads user, I do use a Kindle and Audible, and I also order things from the eCommerce site occasionally.
• A note about Apple: I am entangled in the Apple ecosystem. Ease of use is one thing, but also Photos. Almost every other app I use is cross-platform or web-based. I have been Linux curious for a long time. More on that in the future.

In general I try to use tools that are open source, or at least don’t skimp on user control. I also try and stay away from apps that monetize surveillance. Lastly, I have a hard time “separating the art from the artist”, so if the developers of an app rub me the wrong way, I will avoid it. I know I am not perfect, and the list above may confuse you, but I do strive to be a conscious and conscientious user.