💼 Life Stack

Pinched from Jack Baty, this is a summary of things that I use day-to-day.

Computing

• iPad Pro 10.5 with Magic Keyboard and Canopy keyboard cover plus Pencil - I love this device; it goes with me most places and in the office allows me to physically separate tasks and workflows. It’s insanely powerful - I’d call myself a poweruser and I don’t think I use 50% of its specs. I’m looking forward to iOS 12 and Shortcuts.
• iPhone Xs - As I said for the X, this is the best phone I’ve ever used. Kept protected by various Bellroy covers & wallets. The camera is just superb.
• iPhone 6s - For work use - apps and notifications kept to the essentials.
• MacBook Pro 13” (no TouchBar)
• Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga - Work-issued laptop running Windows 10..
• HP Z27n 27” Display - Lovely anti-glare IPS display, usually plugging into my MacBook Pro but my ThinkPad links up nicely when I’m working from home.
• Mac Mini (One) - 2012 2.3GHz quad-core i7/16GB/1TB HDD/250GB SSD - Hosted with MacStadium - Used for Plex, Resilio, some VMWare Fusion machines for testing/experimenting, VNC from work, Hazel for automated file sorting, and a backup location via Arq.
• Mac Mini (Two) - 2012 2.6GHz quad-core i7/16GB/1TB HDD - Home server - Used for Plex, Resilio and a backup location via Arq.
• Apple TV 4 - Mainly for Plex, BBC iPlayer and NOW TV.
• Synology DS918+ - For storing and serving up media to Plex and Infuse, backup and Dropbox-like file syncing. Experimenting with the VPN server and the Google Photos replacement ‘Moments’.

Services & Subscriptions

• Fastmail - Excellent paid email and calendar service.
• Zapier - Amazing service, used for blogging, archiving, reading and generally being the automation glue tying various elements of my life together! See also IFTTT.
• 1Password - Family subscription is a lifesaver.
• Apple Music
• Financial Times
• GSuite - Google apps and storage.
• Office 365
• Amazon Prime - It may not always be the absolute cheapest, but it’s always the fastest.
• Memset Cloud VPS - Superb hosting based near home in Surrey.
• Freedome - VPN service

Photography

• iPhone X
• Sandmarc Wide Lens - Great little wide-angle lens attaching to a slim case. I am looking at the broader set of Moment lenses.
• Halide - Incredible camera app on the iPhone X and integrates well with Darkroom, a powerful but easy-to-use photo editor.
• Layout - Easy photo collage app.

Smart Home & Networking

Homekit:

• Philips Hue - Lighting
• Tado - Heating
• Arlo - Home monitoring cameras & baby monitor
• Eve - Smart switches
• NEEO - Universal remote
• Sonos - Home-wide music

Ubiquiti Unifi:

• 1 x Unifi Security Gateway
• 1 x Unifi Cloud Key
• 1 x UniFi Switch 8-port POE 150W
• 2 x UniFi 8 Port 60W PoE Switch - US-8-60W
• 2 x Unifi Access Point Pro

Lifestyle and Miscellaneous Hardware

Pending

EDC

Pending

• Peak Design Everyday Backpack Charcoal 25L OR
• Bellroy Duo work Bag Peak Design Field Pouch containing:
  • Pending
• Apple Watch Series 0 (Series 4 cellular ordered)

Apps

MacOS

• Safari & Apple Mail
• 1Password
• Arq - Backup to GDrive & Mac Mini
• Fantastical
• Things
• Micro.blog
• Reeder
• Agenda
• Day One
• Screens - Fantastic MacOS and iOS VNC client & server
• Deliveries
• Synology Drive
• Freedome VPN & Viscosity
• iStat Menus - Useful menubar machine stats
• Daisy Disk - At-a-glance pie charts of disk usage
• Irvue - Amazing rotating wallpapers
• ToothFairy - Smart app for controlling AirPod connections

iOS

• Safari & Mail
• Fantastical
• Things
• Agenda & Bear - Note taking apps
• 1Password
• Carrot - Fun and detailed weather app
• Drafts - Quick text capture with plenty of export options
• Apollo - Excellent reddit client
• Fiery Feeds - This changes frequently and is often different on iPad and iPhone, but currently I’m using Fiery Feeds and experimenting with Lire as it supports Inoreader tagging
• Pinner - Pinboard.in client
• Micro.blog, Icro & Sunlit - Excellent micro.blog apps
• Plex and Infuse - Videos
• Buffer - Easy scheduling to LinkedIn
• Sleeptot & Sleepy Eyes - White noise apps for babies