This page, inspired by Wes Bos’ /uses, details the hardware and software I use on a daily basis.

Check out uses.tech for a list of /uses pages from other developers.

Hardware

I am a Mac guy for years. My first iMac with i5 is still around (although shut down), as well as my second iMac 5K with i9 and whopping 128GB of RAM (also shut down). I try not to replace my hardware too often, simply because I don’t need cutting edge performance, and yearly bumps aren’t worth the money.

  • MacBook Pro M1 Max 16” bought in 2022 is my main work station. Previously, I had a 27” iMac with i9 processor. Switch to M1 was kind of terrifying, because at first I thought my apps don’t build. Only after googling “node doesn’t build on m1” I realized that build times went down to under a second.
  • Apple Studio Display 27” with nano-texture glass. I was always a big display guy, so getting this on a good deal was a no-brainer. While not the best display ever (this award goes to my glossy iMac 5K), I do appreciate its sharpness and near-perfect sunlight handling. I have large windows in my office, and that’s the only screen that is fully readable at all times.
  • LG 28MQ780-B is my second monitor. Previously I had a BenQ one, but it has terrible ghosting. Initially I wanted a 4K one, but this LG bad boy is basically two displays put on top of each other, so, yeah. I use it only for coding (terminal, tests, documentation), so it’s perfect.
  • iPhone 14 Pro is my iPhone X replacement. I bought it purely for the island thingy, but apart from that, kinda meh. I mean, it’s an iPhone. Great camera that can double as a webcam works wonders for recording my videos though.
  • ZSA Moonlander MK1 is my latest keyboard. I went into computers to type, so when few years ago I realized I am still using this boring Apple Keyboard, I wanted something more exciting. I went through Keychrons (which breaks easily, for some reason), had a Nuphy Air, some Epomaker and even a Logitech POP. Then a colleague suggested the Moonlander, which is a split keyboard. And I fell in love. It’s a tough relationship, given the price tag and 20 years of muscle memory, but worth it.
  • Logitech MX Master 3 is the mouse I thought I’ll never use. Apple Magic Mouse had all these touch miracles that I fell head over heels for, but eventually its poor ergonomics took its toll on my hand and wrist. MX3 is extremely comfortable, has tons of configuration options (down to the physical wheel behavior) and its battery (after 4 years) still keeps up.
  • iPad Pro for taking notes during calls and checking the code I am doing. Some time ago I’ve used it with Sidecar as a second display, but one time it overheat due to the fact that it got direct sunlight. I also draw on it with Procreate, but I am not very good at it.

Software

I try to keep my software minimalistic. That means, one application for one thing, but I don’t do that much apart from work and music here.

  • IntelliJ IDEA is my IDE of choice. It has everything I need, including great introspection, intellisense, comfortable jumping between files, classes, interfaces, whatever. And a great window manager that allows you to split a pane and put it somewhere else on your desktop. You name it, IDEA has it.
  • Neovim (Lazyvim variant) for quick edits. While I am by no means fluent in Vim, handling everything by keyboard is strangely comfortable. I still am not fully convinced to use Vim Mode in IntelliJ, but I am getting there.
  • Google Chrome is my browser of choice. I know there are great alternatives, but Arc didn’t click due to navigation, Firefox due to poor developer tools, Safari due to, well, being Safari.
  • oh-my-zsh for my terminal configuration. It has nice themes, but I use it like once every few days, because 99% of my terminal things are happening inside IntelliJ.
  • Obsidian for writing. I’ve used iA Writer, but Obsidian has more customizations and themes. I store the vault on iCloud, so there’s the same sync mechanism I had previously.
  • Figma for interface design. I was a Sketch die-hard for years, thinking of Figma as “We have Sketch at home”, but soon it came to be the other way around (even though Sketch as a native app feels better to use). Auto Layout is something I wanted for years and years, even back when I was using Photoshop.
  • Affinity Designer and Photo for more detailed designs. I still am learning these tools, but Adobe’s rates and licence handling just doesn’t sit right with me.

Music

I spend a lot of time listening to music, and in high school I fell into the headphones rabbit hole. Luckily, I was able to catch that rabbit!

See my RateYouMusic page for the music I like.

  • Focal Stellia headphones are basically the pinnacle of music listening. Perfect in every detail, from form (I can wear them even during the Summer for hours without discomfort) to factor. I would like to also have Focal Utopias, but given the noise outside my apartment, open-back headphones sadly aren’t an option.
  • Cayin iHA-6 paired with Cayin iDAC6-MK2 are my headphones amplifier and digital-analogue converter. I’ve switched from JDS Atom and Topping D10 and it’s night and day.
  • Apple Music offers lossless, vast library. Simple as that. I’ve used Qobuz earlier, which had this hand-curated feel, but too much music was missing. I mean, Apple Music even has obscure Australian industrial from the 80s (warning: early industrial is a hole you might emerge after ten years) or early Young Guv EP. Come on!

Gaming

I recently realized that I play games for almost 30 years.

Consoles

  • PS5 is a must-have. I am a PlayStation fan ever since the first one (which I got in second grade).
  • Xbox Series X is something I got due to sheer “I collect these” feeling. After 360 I feel that Microsoft really lost the ball. Buying studios and whipping mediocre games (looking at you, latest Forza) doesn’t really help here.
  • Nintendo Switch is a special thing. Its hardware is basically Wii U, which was too little even then it launched, but the games. Oh, the games. Mario Kart 8 is enough to recommend the entire thing, with Metroid Dread, the two Zeldas and other Mario titles to boot.

Computers

  • PC with RTX 3080Ti and Ryzen 7. I was against gaming on PC for years, mostly due to “I work with computers, so I don’t want them on my free time”, but the games not available on consoles are just too much to ignore. From indies, to oldies (I actually bought the rig to play classic Fallout games), to titles better adjusted for mouse (shooters, RPGs, aRPGs). Fun fact: the first game I launched on my new computer was Quake II, which I wanted to play for over 15 years.
  • Beelink SER5 is a tiny computer I use as an emulation and media station. My old LG OLED TV doesn’t work well with streaming apps, some (like Canal+) don’t have dedicated apps at all, so using this is a perfect solution. Plus, since I don’t have my PS1 with me, I can still play the games (and some PS2 titles as well, but not as many).

This concludes everything I use on a daily basis. If you have any questions, I’m here!