What I Use

Table of Contents

  1. Writing
  2. Development
  3. Software
  4. Hardware

Writing

  • Currently I use Mellel to write my publications. It's generally much snappier than Microsoft Word, especially for long documents like dissertations.
  • All of my references are managed with Bookends. Bookends has excellent integration with Mellel, and provides a pleasant native experience on MacOS.
  • I store all of my notes and finished documents in DEVONthink. Generally my notes are taken in markdown, though DEVONthink has support for a ton of file formats.
  • I tend to not be particularly careful when writing, and I often make lots of mistakes both grammatical and spelling. I use Antidote to help me keep my writing correct.

Development

  • I store all my open source code on Tangled.

Computation

  • If I need to do solve some differential equations or calculate some energy, I often reach for Python. I'm interested in adopting Mojo as it matures.

Hobby

  • I like to fiddle with with game development in my free time using the Godot engine, and Xogot on the iPad.
  • I dabble in making a native iOS app for Typst, and use Xcode/Swift for that.
  • I have a weird obsession with static site generators and I've probably used them all. One day I'll write my own in Mojo. Right now I'm using Lume for making websites. Eleventy is also good, I particularly like Lene's template, Eleventy Excellent.

Software

Graphic Design

  • I use the entire Affinity Suite in my workflow. Publisher is great for typesetting documents like my CV, Designer I use for preparing scientific figures, and Photo I use for hobby photography.
  • I use Keynote for preparing all of my slide decks.
  • For 3D models, I use Uniform on the iPad.
  • For CAD, I use Rhino 8.
  • For any other drawing, I use Procreate.
  • I use ChemDoodle for drawing chemical structures.
  • I use DataGraph for analyzing most data and preparing plots.
  • I've been trying my hand at font design lately using Glyphs 3.

Music

  • I tend to gravitate towards Logic for music production.

Productivity

  • I use Fork for managing git.
  • Things keeps track of all my todos.
  • Hazel executes some automations on my Mac like automatically adding downloaded PDFs to Bookends or adding music to my library.
  • Bartender keeps my menu bar nice and tidy.
  • My development environment is all done in Nova. Nova is a wonderful native MacOS app from Panic (funnily enough, publishers of the delightful Untitled Goose Game). I publish a few plugins for Nova as well, the source for which can be found on Tangled.
  • I use OrcaSlicer for slicing 3D prints.
  • I use Prompt and Transmit for managing remote servers.

Hardware

  • I use a 2023 M3 Max MacBook Pro, an 11" M4 iPad Pro, an iPhone 15 Pro, and an Apple Watch Ultra 2. I yearn for a good linux laptop in the future.
  • I have a large wildwood effydesk standing desk
  • I use a ploopy mouse and a hand-wired mechanical keyboard by Brianne
    • I use a modified Voron 2.4 and modified 0.2 for FDM printing. Don't 3D print resin at home kids.