uses

*Last updated: 15th December 2023* [changelog rss]

I really enjoy reading about other people’s setups. I read uses this for years (when it was called The Setup) and ZSA Technology Labs (makers of the ErgoDox EZ) also have a similar “people” page where they interview users of their keyboards. And, of course, Wes Bos popularized the /uses page idea.

Here is mine.

Hardware

• COMPUTER – Apple MacBook Air M1 16GB 1TB - Great computer. Apple are finally back! I would never have considered an Air in years gone past but I was in dire need of a new computer and Pro M1’s we’re not yet available. No regrets. I plan to upgrade to a Pro in time. Not sure about this statement any more, the latest 15" Air is tempting.

• MONITOR – Apple Studio Display with regular glass. Almost everything I’ve been waiting for since 2016. Time to get rid of the disappointing ASUS PB279Q. The speakers are very good, but it’s true, the webcam is not.

• KEYBOARD – Vortexgear Pok3r keyboard (with GMK Dracula custom keycaps). I generally like this keyboard, but I do occasionally knock the keyboard into programming mode and can’t remember how to get it out again. CAPSLOCK is mapped to CONTROL.

• MOUSE – Magic Trackpad 2 in Space Grey. I like using gestures when in “desktop mode”.

• WEBCAM – The Logitech C920 HD Pro has been very solid for me since 2017. I occasionally wonder whether it’s time to upgrade to something with a resolution greater than 1080p, but I don’t suppose there’s a massive benefit to that.

• AUDIO INTERFACE – I have a Atom DAC which plugs in via USB and a Atom Amp headphone amplifier. Very clean sound that took some adjustment at first. I now hear things in music that I never heard before, so I guess that’s good. I have to power-cycle it almost every day to make it work 🤷‍♂️.

• HUB/DOCK – Everything is hooked together using a OWC Thunderbolt Dock (OWCTB4DOCK). Expensive, but works well and is reliable.

• HEADPHONES – Shure SE425 IEMs with SnugsPro custom ear moulds. I’ve been a big fan of Shure headphones for years having owned 5 or 6 different models over the years (they tend to break).

  I also have a pair of Apple AirPod Pros (USB-C version) which I bought for their noise cancelling abilities, but they are rapidly taking over as my main headphones because they just so convenient.

• SPEAKERS – Audioengine A2 powered speakers. Not currently plugged in, for reasons.

• PHONE – Apple iPhone 15 Pro. USB-C where art thou? USB-C! Ensconced in a Bellroy case.

• WATCH – Apple Watch Series 7 GPS, 45mm Midnight Aluminium Case with Dark Cherry Sport Band, for gym use, and Black/Pure Platinum Nike Sport Loop, for general use.

  Over-engineered notification delivery system.

• TABLET – Apple iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation) with the 2nd generation Apple Pencil. Mainly for watching TV in bed.

• NETWORKING – I went all in on Ubiquiti a few years ago. The controller software is really nice, and it has been solid for me. A UniFi USG (pdf) brings Internet in to the property, which is distributed via US-8-60W switch, and UAP-AC-PRO wifi access point.

• PERSONAL SERVER / NAS – A custom built PC running Ubuntu. It’s a Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-8100 CPU @ 3.60GHz with 48TB of storage comprised of 6 Western Digital 18TB Red disks in a 3-mirror layout managed by ZFS. I cannot recommend ZFS enough – I’ve recovered and replaced all disks and it was very straightforward.

  It runs Plex, and a few other services including the UniFi controller software.

Desk setup

• IKEA Bekant Standing desk - It’s done me well for the price, but starting to sound a bit creaky. I would like to replace it with something that has settings so I can start/stop it at the correct height quickly.

• Steelcase Gesture Chair – a brand new purchase which was really needed. Replaced my previous Steelcase Leap V1, which I bought second-hand.

• Fully Jarvis Dual Monitor arm with laptop tray - this is new-ish, and allows me to position the laptop in relation to my main screen. I used a Rain Design mStand for years and recommend it, but I wanted to free up space on my desk, and the dual monitor arm allows that. It has some wobble, but I blame the desk for that.

Software

• Terminal font of choice is JetBrains Mono in 18 points. That might sound pretty big for a terminal but it’s easier on the eyes, and I think encourages better code as you can’t fit as much text on single page.

• My text editor of choice is Neovim which runs inside iTerm using the moonlight.nvim colorscheme.

• I use Fish as my shell – I just like the defaults. A lot of stuff just works, and it has a lot less unix baggage than other shells.

• My Dotfiles are available on GitHub should you be interested in seeing a mess of barely understood Lua and Vimscript.

Web hosting / email

• My various email accounts are handled by Fastmail* after years of Google Mail. I’m glad to be free of Google for email.

• Saying that, I still use them for my calendaring needs – at the moment 🤦‍♂️

• DNSimple* for DNS. They have a great interface. I was grandfathered in to a good deal years ago which has kept me with them. Inertia is keeping me there for now, despite price increases.

• This webpage is hosted on GitHub Pages – a very good setup for me.

• weeknotes.elver.me is built with Hugo and hosted on Netlify, the first time I’ve hosted something there. I chose them because I really like their integration with GitHub which allows me to preview the site before I publish. And it’s free, obvs.

• jordanelver.co.uk is built with Middleman and hosted on Amazon S3 with Cloudfront. I might move it to Netlify.

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