Uses

i've built up strong tastes for my tools throughout the years. here's where i sit now.

principles

• portability: biggest emphasis at this point, i'm doing my best to undo the pretensions i've built up (e.g. not knowing qwerty, reliance on WMs, insane config files). learn how to get used to defaults and especially how to code switch.
• make yourself suffer: learning vim was a top skill for me, so i've been following that high (e.g. driving stick, meal prep, rpn calculators.) the more commonly mundane, the more worth it to force yourself to squeeze out efficiency / enjoyment.

• obtain advisors: people have insane life hacks that they never tell anyone, so you gotta make friends with car-heads on campus, find local biking groups to hang with, find your terminal tastes from friends on irc.

software

• operating system: alpinelinux🏔️ / macOS🍎
• browser: librewolf
• window manager: river + dam
• terminal emulator: foot / ghostty
• shell: zsh (vi keys, fast highlighting, git prompt); sometimes running in dvtm(1)
• text editor: emacs (prose) / vis(1) (uni coding) / neovim(1) (everything else)
• e-mail client: aerc(1) / thunderbird mobile / notmuch(1) + isync(1)
• irc client: senpai(1) / goguma / grepping chathistorysync(1)
• xmpp client: profanity(1) / conversations
• encryption: gpg(🤮) / rage(1)
• password manager: pa(1) / phraze(1)
• rss reader: vore.website
• pdf viewer: zathura
• image viewer: swayimg
• music: ncmpcpp(1) + mpd(1) / Auxio + pano scrobbler
• podcasts: AntennaPod
• pdf documents: typst / pandoc(1) -> latex article
• math notes: markdown w/ latex for web and pdf exports / boox format for paper notes
• presentations: breeze (portable sent clone) / orgmode -> latex beamer / diatypst
• accounting: beancount / sc-im(1) / R
• filesharing: croc(1) (techy ppl) / rpaste or custom uploader link (∀ else)
• syncing: syncthing (content) / ~ git repo (dotfiles)
• backups: restic(1)
• wiki: denote (interop w/ org-roam for a cool graph)
• keyboard: dvorak layout / [caps] -> ctrl+esc w/ keyd / compose key sequences (e.g. [comp]+[']+[a] -> á )
• dev environment: non-posix tools that justify themselves
  • cd -> zoxide(1) (zoom through your fs)
  • cat $HISTFILE -> fzf(1) C-r (better than shell autocompletions imo)
  • mv -> vimv(1) (for batch files)
  • scp -> rsync(1)
  • running make a billion times -> entr(1)
  • cd /opt/blah && sudo make install -> learn ur native package manager
  • uname -a -> fastfetch(1)

hardware

• desktop: decommissioned gaming pc, small form factor case, nvme only, no nvidia
• laptop: x86_64(😔) ThinkPad🔴 / arm MacBook🍏
• peripherals: qmk corne keyboard / trackpoint ONLY for thinkpad (trackpad disabled)
• phone: graphene pixel
• writing: notebook/wallet on me at all times, fountain pen w/ extra fine nib for clean math
• calculator: ti-30xs + ba ii plus (actuarial math) / dc(1) (everything else)
• security: yubikey 5 nfc a + nano c
• camera: fuji x series cam + 35mm lens / 3DS
• watch: fossil hybrid hr / casio f-91w
• car: 100,000+ mile early aughts japanese coup / sedan; prefer manual transmissions
• bike: a trek bike to cosplay as a Wisconsin nationalist 🧀
• misc: a cast-iron skillet 🍳