What do I use?

hardware

A collection of tools that I use.

  • MacBook Pro (2020, 13-inch)
  • iPad Pro (2020, 12.9-inch) with Smart Keyboard Folio
  • iPhone X
  • Bike: Riverside 500
  • Mouse: Logitech MX Master 3
  • Camera: Nikon F5, 50 mm f/1.4 AF-D
  • Scope: HP 54600A

software

Computer software

Utilities

  • Magnet to resize and snap windows to a grid. Makes multitasking a charm, and is surprisingly not natively implemented on Mac OS.
  • Alfred as a smart replacement to Spotlight.
  • InsomniaX to keep my laptop from going to sleep when I’m presenting or reading. Now that it has stopped being actively developed, I now recommend Amphetamine instead.
  • NetNewsWire is a great free and open source RSS reader for Mac and iOS.
  • Pocket for queueing up articles to read later instead of reading everything right now. I prefer the look and feel of Instapaper, but stopped using it since they made full-text search a premium feature. I’m planning to self-host Wallabag on my server as soon as I have the time.
  • Dropbox is indispensible for backups, cloud storage and sharing.

Phone apps

  • I bought an iPad Pro because I was bored in quarantine. Little would I know, it has paid tremendous dividends.
    • 12.9-inch because the 11-inch keyboard would be too small for any substantial amount of typing. Besides, screen real-estate is very important when writing notes and annotating PDFs. Portability is no issue, it can fit on your lap, in your tote bag and the tray table of an airplane.
    • I use it to carry around a small library of interesting books, papers and articles. It feels amazing to have everything I need in one device.
    • It’s an amazing device to write stuff on.

Contact tracing

First, download the SingPass app. It’s fast, convenient, and promises not to spy on you (hopefully!).

Then configure your iPhone to make SafeEntry a more pleasant experience on iOS. It should save some taps and time futzing around with a camera in front of QR codes at entrances and exits. Kudos to mrbrown for posting about this.

  1. Go to the SingPass app to activate Siri Shortcuts for SafeEntry.
  2. Go to Settings ➡️ Accessibility ➡️ Touch ➡️ Back Tap, and turn it on.
  3. Assign Scan SafeEntry to Double Tap, and SafeEntry Check-out to Triple Tap.
  4. You can now double-tap the back of your iPhone to activate SafeEntry and triple-tap to check out.

Note: the Back Tap feature only works for iPhone 8 and above.

bookmarklets

Instead of installing browser extensions which slow down startup time and constantly chew up resources, bookmarklets are efficient for simple tasks. Each of these links is a little snippet of JavaScript which you can bookmark.

  • Autoscroll when reading a longform text while keeping your hands free. Esc to stop scrolling, -/+ to speed up and slow down.