This is a list of all the things that I use to be productive day-to-day. It’s inspired by this page.
I bought a dedicated gaming PC in 2019 after I missed gaming too much on my Mac. For a long time I used Windows, but when I “upgraded” to Windows 11, I ran into too many issues and replaced it with Pop_OS! as my sole operating system. However, while most games ran fine in Proton, I ran into a few that had severe problems. One of them would automatically ban your user account if it detected you were using Linux.
For a long time, I gave up and ran Windows 11. However, late in 2025, I installed Debian 13 with KDE Plasma, and discovered that Linux gaming finally worked. A few months later, I switched to CachyOS, and that fixed the last of the problems I encountered. Now I run CachyOS exclusively.
In mid 2026, the main NVME SSD in my PC died, so I replaced it with a new one. The new one cost an exorbitant $500 CAD. This computer is now very old, but with the cost of components being what it is now, I’m not going to buy a new one until this ceases to function.
For about a year, I didn’t really use this much. I bought it originally to replace my 2019 Macbook Pro as a development machine. Now, I use it for graphics work, and for experimenting with agentic workflows.
I bought this in November 2025. I promptly blew away Windows 11 and installed Debian 13 on it. It works really well for computing on the go. I’ve since switched to Ubuntu in order to take advantage of wider software support.
Website: Steelseries Apex 3
This keyboard is what I use for my Mac Mini. It works well enough.
Website: Steelseries Apex Pro
This keyboard has a beautiful aesthetic, sturdy construction, and a typefeel that I just adore. It’s great for gaming and typing.
Website: Dell 32 Curved Gaming Monitor - S3220DGF
I replaced my old ultrawidescreen monitor with this. It has a more common aspect ratio, a more stable stand, and much better refresh rate. Besides that, it also “announces” itself properly, meaning that macOS actually recognizes its capabilities. I have three of them - two for my desktop PC and one for my Mac Mini.
I used Firefox for years, but after Mozilla decided to push generative AI on everyone, I switched to Vivaldi. It’s been a surprisingly good experience, especially after I decided to lean in to its unique features. I particularly like the “profiles” feature, which lets me set up separate browser instances for work, study, and personal use.
I stopped streaming music awhile back. Now I mostly just buy albums in MP3 format on Bandcamp. Sometimes I’ll stream there, but usually I’ll just play music on Strawberry locally.
Following Affinity Suite’s acquisition by Canva, I was at a loss for what software to use for image editing, since I assumed that meant Affinity would be sunset. That turned out not to be the case. These days, I use GIMP for small things, and I’ll use Affinity for more complex projects.
This replaced Visual Studio Code for me. While a lot of the code for my projects now comes from LLMs, I still need to get hands-on with an editor occasionally. That’s what Zed is for. It’s fast and does what I need. I don’t use its AI features.
Website: Porkbun
I use Porkbun for domain registration. They’re cheaper than Namecheap and have a better interface.
Website: BunnyDNS
I switched to Bunny instead of Cloudflare for domain management. It works really well!