uses.

Following Wes Bos' lead, this is a list of the software/hardware that I'm using at the moment. This is a continually-chanigng document, so as I inevitably switch up the tools I'm using, I'll update the list here. Have questions about a specific piece of tech I'm using? Hit me up on Twitter!

my stack.

  • Laravel is my web application framework of choice for just about anything--APIs, Microservices, or monoliths. I've been using it since 2014 and have no intention of changing that any time soon.
  • If I'm building an SPA, Vue.js is the tool that I'll reach for practically every time. We use Vue.js for our SPAs at Fivable, but my personal projects rarely need SPAs (at least at the moment).
  • Livewire is the new hotness in my life. @calebporzio has built, in my mind, the best way to write dynamic front-ends in a monolith, especially when it's paired with Alpine.
  • I don't think I've worked on a single project since Tailwind tagged their 1.0 release where I haven't used Tailwind to style everything.
  • Jigsaw is my static-site generator of choice. It's what I used to build this site.
  • Native mobile app development is usually a pain. Flutter makes the entire process so much nicer, and their declarative UI code and near-perfect hot-reload system is really awesome.

software.

  • I really like PHPStorm for writing web apps, since it actually has a surprisingly good understanding of my full code stack. It's a heavy, often over-engineered text editor, but having all the functionality I need to run my entire stack at my fingertips is second to none.
  • Visual Studio Code is my go-to for Flutter development. Also, building static sites (like this one!) in VSCode is a great experience as well, since all the extra features of PHPStorm are really unnecessary here.
  • There's a special place in my heart for Vim. I've been diving more and more into it lately and have definitely become much more profient at writing applications with just the keyboard.
  • I use Operator Mono as my main font, but when that's not available, I really like using Fira Code.
  • Brave is my daily driver browser that I use for just about everything, but I have the others installed for browser testing.
  • All of my application design is done in Sketch.

audio/video.

  • I edit all of my videos with Final Cut Pro X. When I have to create more complex motion graphics, I use Motion.
  • I edit any sort of voiceover or audio files with Logic Pro X.
  • I use the Razer Kiyo as my webcam. I'm considering getting a different one though--it's impossible to adjust the camera's settings on macOS.
  • All of my audio is recorded with the fantastic Shure SM7b dynamic mic. I have the SM7b mounted on the Rode PSA-1 boom arm, with a Cloudlifter CL-1 to boost the input signal. I use a Scarlett Solo interface to run it all into my computer.

workspace.

  • My desk is a Karlby Countertop set up on top of a pair of Alex Drawers.
  • I have a desk chair that I bought from Office Depot when I went off to college. I probably should replace it soon. 🙃
  • I use a 2019 16" Macbook Pro with the 2.3GHz 8-core i9 processor, 16GB memory, AMD Radeon Pro 5500M and 1TB SSD.
  • On my desk, I plug my Macbook Pro into a 34" Samsung C34J791WTN Ultrawide Monitor. It connects via USB-C and has a small USB hub in the back, so there's only ever one cable running from my laptop to the monitor.
  • At home, I use a Das Keyboard 4 Professional with Cherry MX Blue switches. At the office, I use a Keychron k4 with Gateron Brown switches, which is my favorite (and also my quietest) keyboard.
  • The Logitech MX Master is my mouse of choice. The Apple Magic Mouse is a close second though, and that's what I use at the office.

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