ImageChris Wiegman

What I Use

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As a human we have a number of tools we use on a daily basis. I enjoy reading what others use as it is an insight into how they live and work, with lessons both obvious and subtle. As such I’ve been on some version of the “uses” trend since 2012 in order to record tools I’ve found valuable and some that have outlived their usefulness.

With our modern attention spans under constant attack, this archive also serves me as a reminder that constantly changing tools, no matter what productivity or other gains they promise, is rarely productive.

For 10 years before building this page I wrote annual posts documenting my tools. While there are bits and pieces I still use in some of it, for the most part changes in tech, new jobs and cross-country moves mean that most of the things I’ve listed over the years I no longer use today and, at this point, I’m OK with that.

2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012

My Use Case

So what do I use this all for? I tend to think our use cases are just as important as the tools themselves. For instance, I wouldn’t recommend some of my own tools to someone just starting out in code or who is only writing code for themselves. How we use our tools defines, or at least probably should define, the tools we use so here are my own use cases.

  • Software Engineering Manager -  My day job requires me to communicate with my teams and organization for mentoring, guidance, strategy and day-to-day operations.
  • Software Engineer – I love building software and have been doing so for my work and my hobbies for as long as I can remember. As time has gone by my tooling in this has changed considerably and the tools listed below are those I use to build and maintain the projects I am currently working on, both personally and professionally.
  • Blogger/Writer – I love writing on this site and dream of spending a lot of time both on content as well as the site itself. This role encompasses creating content and writing code to share solutions to problems I’ve encountered in hopes that they’ll be just as helpful to others as they were to me.

Hardware

My Home Office

My home office has an Uplift Commercial V2 30″x60″ desk with a bamboo top. I love having a sit/stand desk and transition between the two regularly during the day. I have an Uplift Pursuit Ergonomic Chair to go with it. It’s not the greatest chair I’ve ever owned but it works. I also keep a Meross LED Desk Lamp on it for writing.

Computing Devices

This is my primary computer and, I confess, overkill for what I need today, though I still love using it. This one sits on an AVLT Dual monitor arm (white) which it shares with an Apple Studio Display. I’ve gone through a lot of keyboards and mice over the years. When I’m not working I use the trusty Apple Magic Trackpad and Apple Magic Keyboard. For the day job, however, I use a Dygma Raise 2 keyboard and a Logitech MX Vertical mouse as I need to swap devices that aren’t on the same Apple account regularly and prefer the ergonomic keyboard for the daily grind. Oh how I wish Apple would realize their users often have a work machine and a personal machine so I could just use their keyboard and trackpad for everything.

This is my work machine and does everything I need it to do quite well. As I work from home it pairs with all the necessary hardware listed elsewhere on this page.

Other than code, my iPad serves nearly all of my computing needs these days. It lives in a Nomad Goods Leather Folio and, thanks to the Apple Magic Keyboard, it serves as an almost-perfect laptop. I also have an Apple Pencil Pro for it but I don’t use it all that often. During the day this sits underneath my monitor and serves to let me access anything that isn’t directly related to work (podcasts, music, messaging, etc).

When I’m away from my home or my desk my phone is always with me in its brown Nomad Goods Traditional Leather Case. I’m grateful that iPhone now allows some customization of the home screens as I make heavy use of Focus modes to help make sure that the phone creates as little distraction as possible.

Finally, my Apple Watch is almost always with me. I confess I find the health tracking valuable and otherwise use it primarily for calendar notifications during the day. I also have a dozen or so bands for it of various types that I rotate for work, going out, exercise, etc.

Networking and Peripherals

We live in a small but well-built condo which means I haven’t yet found a single WiFi router that can reach across it. As a result we have 2 Eero Pro 7 routers connected to an Arris SURFboard SB8200. My building is old enough that it doesn’t have fiber so I’m stuck with broadband currently provided by Astound. It’s been fine for us.

We watch TV on Apple TV 4Ks which we use as HomeKit hubs for a large collection of Phillips Hue lights and a couple SwitchBot Hub 2 thermometers. Living in an older condo means the heat is central to the whole building and we don’t have a thermostat. Buying the thermometers help us feel more comfortable as we know the temperature (even if we can’t do anything about it). As for the lights, they carry over from our previous home and are one of our favorite “smart” upgrades. We use them with HomeKit and they’ve served us very well.

We have a Brother HL-L2350DW laser printer which is plenty for our needs. I’ve never had to configure it and it really does “just work” from every device we have.

All of my software and hardware used to be secured by my Yubikey 5C NFC. I still have at least 2 of them. I no longer use them for SSH or or other daily tasks but they do a wonderful job at securing the accounts I really care about.

Finally, I have a collection of about a dozen Apple AirTags which we put in every bag and on important things such as our keys. We move around so much that they’ve come in plenty handy.

Meetings, Presenting and Recording

For most meetings I use my Apple Studio Display’s microphone and camera combined with headphones that differ depending on what device I’m using. The Studio Display works really well. With it I’ve finally gotten rid of all the external cameras I’ve bought over the years and only keep a nice mic for the rare moment when I’m in something more than a routine meeting.

When I do need nicer audio I’m grateful for my Shure SM7B Microphone which sits on a Samson MBA48 microphone boom arm and plugs into a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (4th Generation). With the Studio Display camera it is the best setup I’ve had, even considering a Lumix mirrorless camera I tried for a while.

When I’m presenting in person I use a Logitech Spotlight presentation remote which does a fine job.

Entertainment and Other Gadgets

My all-time favorite devices are Amazon Kindles and I currently have a Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition. I started using Kindle for travel as I can go through 5 or more books on a 1-week trip and it makes doing so much easier. Today it means I always have a book with me which I take full advantage of, whether on the bus, a plane or just to pass the time.

While I mentioned our Apple TVs, and my wife uses them quite a bit, I rarely watch TV. Instead I have either music or podcasts playing constantly. When I’m out I use Powerbeats Fit or Powerbeats Pro 2 headphones which, unlike AirPods, stay in my ears. I really prefer the Fit but the Pros come in handy as they clip over my ears when I need a more secure fit. For work meetings I use Beats Fit Pro which I bought so I don’t have to play Bluetooth games with my headphones. I also have AirPods Max (silver) but don’t use them nearly as much as I thought I would.

For when I don’t need headphones we have a collection of various Sonos models at home with at least one speaker in each room.

Neither of us are big gamers but we did buy a Nintento Switch right before COVID and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed a number of games on it. It’s the most practical gaming console we’ve ever had. For Christmas 2023 I also bought my wife a PlayStation 5 so she could play her favorite Ratchet and Clank games again. It’s fun but we don’t use it as much as the Switch.

Software

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Daily Tools

I live in the command-line where I use the default Apple Terminal app. I spice it up with Oh My ZSH and tmux. Together with the MonoLisa font, which I use everywhere I can, it gives me a consistent experience no matter where I’m working.

My software is managed with Homebrew and the Mac App Store. If I can use the Mac App Store for a given app, I do, otherwise it’s all Homebrew. It makes standardizing my installs so much easier and means I can setup a new machine within an hour or so, the hardest part being restoring some of the settings I’ve come to favor in various apps.

I use VS Code connected to GitHub for all my code. I rely heavily on Docker using Docker Desktop for running everything locally and in production.

Safari is my favorite browser and it is the only browser I have on my machines. I find Safari to be the best browsing experience of any browser I’ve tried. I switch my search engine to DuckDuckGo on all my devices. Of course all browsers still need an ad-blocker and Wipr 2 has been absolutely perfect for that.

Finally, this site is built with Hugo and hosted on CloudFlare Workers which also hosts all my secondary sites, currently. CloudFlare is also my current registrar for my domains.

Personal Software

Nearly all my personal data is in Apple iCloud using an Apple One Premier plan that I share with my family. It handles our calendar, documents (Pages, Numbers, Keynote), email (even for our custom domains), Music, Notes, Podcasts, Reminders, Maps and darn near everything else. I even have their credit and savings accounts as they’re better deals than my other cards. I’m probably too dependent on Apple but, for now, it’s the best option for us.

We use Quicken Classic to keep track of our spending and finances. I wish it had a full-featured iPad app but, other than that, it does everything I need it to. I’ve tried a number of alternatives over the past year and none of them even work.

For communications my family is in love with iMessage which works fine for me. Where I can I use Signal as much as possible. I don’t have much need for video calls these days so FaceTime can handle most of it but I also have a Zoom account. The harder part of communications, at least for me, is working anything into my calendar so I use Calendly to help with this and have been quite happy with it.

I optimize my laptops with Al Dente Pro, which helped ensure my last Mac still had 100% battery capacity after 3 years, and CleanMyMac which I’ve been using since I bought my first Mac in 2008.

I primarily browse the web with Reeder, which is fed by Feedbin. I do most social media on Mastodon which is made much better with Ivory. I also have accounts on LinkedIn, BlueSky, Gravatar and GoodReads.

Finally, after trying every cellular network available in the US, we settled on US Mobile (affiliate link) for our mobiles. We secure our connections with Tailscale when we do go on WiFi we don’t control. I have TailScale exit nodes on our Apple TVs and DigitalOcean.

As for my mobile devices, they’re a mirror of my laptop, as much as I can make them. This means I don’t have a single app on my phone that I don’t have elsewhere.

Work Software

At work we primarily use Slack, Google Workspace and Notion for nearly everything. It’s a setup I’m familiar with and I greatly appreciate the simplicity of it. I use Safari for our meetings in Google Meet, Apple Mail and Calendar for our Gmail and Google Calendars and I use Apple Notes and Reminders for daily note and task tracking.

We use 1Password for password management.

Analog and Every Day Carry (EDC) Tools

I’m a bag junky. I prefer messenger bags or briefcases and use a Waterfield Muzetto Leather Bag whenever I take a computer with me. Unfortunately the bag has been discontinued, which is a shame as it is perfect for daily use. For when I need more space I swap to a Timbuk2 Authority Laptop Backpack which I bought when I went back to working in an office.

I write as much with with pen and paper as I do on the computer and use LEUCHTTURM1917 Classic Notebooks for most of it. All my writing uses Lamy Al-Star pens with Lamy inks or Zebra Sarasa Grand pens when I want a ball-point. I’ve thought of getting “fancier” pens but I have a collection of each of these and they’ve been perfect for me.

For daily use I carry a CRKT Drifter EDC Pocket Knife and a Nomad Goods Leather Mag Wallet. For travel I also have a Nomad Goods Bifold Wallet which I love, but don’t need daily anymore.

The majority of our travel these days is weekend trips to either my Dad’s place or Joy’s sister’s place and my Thule Subterra 2 backpack is perfect for it.

This page was last updated on 24 December, 2025