Inspired by fellow WordPress lead Ryan Boren, this is my giant post about all the stuff that I use. I’m the one in my family or circle of friends that people come to for recommendations. I rarely buy anything without doing a ton of research and figuring out the best tool for the job. An impulse buyer, I am not. This list is not complete, especially with regards to software. In alphabetical order:
- Amazon Prime — We do as much shopping on Amazon as we can. With Amazon Prime we get free two-day shipping for many items (and free two-day shipping upgrades or free regular shipping on almost everything else), we aren’t as inclined to rush to a physical store and pay full price.
- Apple MacBook Pro — 17 inch display, 2.4 GHz Intel Core2Duo processor, 4GB RAM, 160GB hard drive. Right now, this is my sole computer, although I’m reconsidering that strategy. I’ve been using Macs for about four years, and I couldn’t imagine going back to Windows-based machines. It’s not the hardware, though it is good — it’s the operating system. Mac OS X has all the power of a full-fledged Unix OS, but with all the click-and-go ease of the best GUI available. Technically, I didn’t convert from Windows directly… I spent a few months using Ubuntu GNU/Linux. It had all the power I wanted, but not the ease of use. OS X is the best choice for everyone but gamers, now that Macs run on x86 processors and can run Windows apps as needed.
- Apple Wireless Keyboard — Gloriously fun to type on. The only way this keyboard could be better is if it had backlit keys. My work environment is sometimes quite dark.
- Beretta 92FS INOX — My main home defense weapon. Crazy accurate and dependable, with 15+1 9mm round capacity.
- Canon SD750 — A great little point and shoot camera with a marvelously large and detailed LCD.
- Colloquy — Capable IRC client for OS X.
- Debian GNU/Linux — For web servers, I strongly prefer Debian.
- Dell 2407FPW — My main monitor. 24 inches, 1920×1200 resolution. It has a few dead pixels, but has otherwise treated me well. The only reason I’m considering replacing it is that I want something bigger (30 inches).
- Etymotic Research hf2 — Noise-isolating canal phones. For travel, around the house, or on the go, this is a great set of canal phones. It even has a microphone and a function button for use with an iPhone or a Blackberry. Full review here.
- Firefox — For web development, using the “Web Developer Toolbar” add-on.
- Gmail — The best webmail service available. VIM-like keyboard shortcuts, IMAP access, great filtering.
- iPhone 3G — Crippled by DRM, but still the best communications device you can own.
- iTerm — Slightly better than Apple’s Terminal, but familiar enough to easily switch back and forth.
- JungleDisk — Interfaces with Amazon’s S3 “Simple Storage Service.” I use this for “in the cloud” backups of my Mac’s home directory. This is my “in case my house burns down” contingency plan.
- Kahr CW9 — Concealed carry weapon. Thin, light, smooth and simple. I don’t enjoy shooting it (too much kick for such a small pistol) — but it’s a perfect concealed carry weapon. No safety — just draw and pull the trigger (has a long, smooth pull with medium resistance). As with all my weapons, I hope I never have to use it, and I likely won’t. In fact, because I carry it, it’s much more likely that I won’t be in a situation where I’ll have to use it. Carrying a gun gives you a level of confidence that criminals can sense, and they tend to avoid. If you don’t act like a victim, it is less likely that you’ll become one. I carry this in a SmartCarry holster.
- LaunchBar — Super fast keyboard-based launcher tool for OS X. Formerly used Quicksilver. LaunchBar won out for speed and stability. I still miss some of Quicksilver’s advanced functionality.
- Logitech MX Revolution — The best mouse available. It has a kinetic solid metal scroll wheel that transitions from “ratchety” to free spinning with a quick flick. It spins for about 7 seconds before stopping. I actually have two of these — one still in the box as a contingency plan.
- Microsoft Xbox 360 — We use this more for watching TV shows (streamed from my Mac) and movies (streamed from Netflix) than for playing games. We haven’t had proper television service since we moved in. We watch TV on our own terms. I use Rivet to stream media to the Xbox from my Mac.
- Microtech Troodon — Sexy little double-edged “out the front” switchblade knife. The blade flicks out and back in. Primary usage: overpriced letter opener, though it’ll be concealed in my hand if I’m walking through a dark alley or parking lot. This goes with me everywhere it legally can. Yay, Florida.
- MobileMe — Syncs my contacts and calendar between my Mac and my iPhone. Overpriced for what it is, but it works.
- Moleskine — Large Ruled Reporter’s Notebook. I keep one of these by my desk and for large projects will buy a dedicated one for the project. Really expensive, but high quality.
- Mossberg 500 Tactical Persuader — “OMG, the zombies are coming” home defense weapon. 12 gauge pump. Pistol grip, collapsable stock, minimum legal barrel length, additional shells on the stock. Inexpensive, reliable, maneuverable, and intimidating as hell. Filled with birdshot, not buck — I want to take intruders down, not put holes in my neighbor’s house.
- NetNewsWire — Great news reader for OS X.
- Nikon D700 — Nikon’s most versatile full frame DSLR. 95% of the D3’s power for $2,000 US less. Add in automatic dynamic range enhancement, a smaller, lighter body, an AF assist illuminator, and you have a whole lot of reasons to get this over the D3.
- OmniFocus — Decent GTD app for OS X. Suffers a bit from the Omni Group UI legacy, so it’s not as simple as it should be. Things might replace it, once Things offers the ability to do things based on next action by context — a must for GTD.
- Pilot G-2 07 — Cheap, comfortable, smooth gel-ink pen. Clicky, with a clip. Clear, so you know when it’s running low. Been using this for almost a decade.
- Safari — For my primary browsing.
- Seagate FreeAgent drives — four of these babies are humming at my feet, storing media and a bootable backup of my Mac’s hard drive.
- Sennheiser HD595 — Great full size over-ear headphones. They leak sound like crazy, so these are not for any environment where you need to block external noise or keep others from hearing what you’re listening to.
- Skype — Voice, video, text — I use Skype for everything. For text, it has the killer feature of “catchup.” If you’re in a multi-person chat (a “swarm”) and you’re offline, you’ll be caught up with what you missed, as soon as you sign back on. Absolutely essential for virtual technology teams.
- SteerMouse — An essential companion to my Logitech MX Revolution mouse. Allows me to assign all sorts of great functionality to its extra buttons.
- SuperDuper! — Mirrors my hard drive to an external bootable drive, nightly. If my hard drive crashes, I can be back up and running in under 5 minutes, with less than 24 hours of data loss (and the rest recoverable through Time Machine.
- TextMate — Powerful and extendable text editor for OS X.
- Time Machine — Hourly differential backups of my Mac. Less for “oh no, my hard drive crashed” and more for “oh no, I overwrote a file 5 days ago and need the old version.”
- Transmit — Capable FTP/SFTP/Amazon S3 client.
- Twitter — Part micro-publishing, part communications tool, Twitter is a phenomenon. I’m currently using TweetDeck on OS X and Tweetie on my iPhone.
- Vonage — If you’re not ready to move to an all-mobile phone setup, VOIP is the cheap way to have a “house” phone, and Vonage does the job nicely.
- WordPress — I make it, I use it, I love it, and it puts food on my table.
Andy Skelton says
Knowing the depth of research this little post represents, I bow deeply.
Mark says
I’m not an impulse buyer, and contrary to what Barry Schwartz says, I actually enjoy it, because I’m damn good at it. I’m immune to the paradox of choice. I’m really good at separating out pros and cons and doing comparative analysis. It doesn’t overwhelm me — it excites me.
I could fill another list with the stuff that I’m not ready to buy, can’t afford, or will never need (like a personal jet), but for which I’ve already made a decision on the best one to get. Information is my heroin.
That said, I realize that I’m very much the exception here, and that most people in the world would be happier with simpler choices. This is why everyone I know and everyone in my family calls me when they want to buy a camera or a computer or a good seats at a concert.
Actually, this gives me an idea. 🙂
TechNald says
i am using almost of that stuffs you use 🙂
filosofo says
I find it striking that neither your post nor Ryan’s mentions an IDE. What’s your secret debugging tool?
Mark says
Austin — I haven’t found an IDE that I could stand. They’ve all been slow and clunky with horrendous interfaces. I use TextMate for PHP editing on OS X.
teyzane izle says
i am using almost of that stuffs you use
SirNoBull says
Mark, what do you use for virus protection on your OSX? Do you Mac guys worry about that at all?
Mike says
You should really stop wasting money on MobileMe .. I use google for everything .. Contact/Email/Calendar Syncing between my iPhone/Mac/PC.
Works flawless.
Mike says
oh and google syncing is FREE.
PS .. guns… really?
Mark says
Bodyguards are expensive. Guns are cheap. Only had to reach for it once. As soon as he saw my hand go inside my jacket he turned the heck around (dark parking lot, late at night, he’d marked me and was making a beeline towards me). Just carrying it makes you act more confidently, which criminals can sense.