This is a list of the hardware, software, and gear I use for my daily work as a software engineer. This page is inspired by uses.tech.
My general strategy for choosing software is to prioritize cloud/web applications followed by open-source solutions, focusing on tools that are cross-platform. I intentionally try to avoid being locked into any single ecosystem or platform.
My primary workstation at home with 24GB RAM, handling development and daily tasks with ease.
A reliable 21.5" IPS monitor that has stayed with me for years.
The legendary webcam for crisp 1080p video calls and streaming.
The K540 keyboard and M310 mouse combo for a comfortable wireless typing and navigation experience.
My daily driver for communication, testing, and being productive on the go.
My companion for health tracking and quick notifications.
Excellent sound quality and noise cancellation for listening on the move.
My preferred Linux distribution for both home and work, offering a great balance between bleeding-edge and stability.
The industry standard for my server deployments, ensuring reliability and long-term support.
My primary development environment, enhanced with AI to streamline coding and documentation.
My terminal configuration of choice. Yakuake’s drop-down convenience is a must-have for my workflow.
My go-to is Pacman, followed by AUR for community packages and Snap when necessary.
I use Docker for containerization whenever possible to keep my development environments consistent.
Where I host my repositories and manage various projects.
My universal tool for everything web-related, including DNS management, hosting, and KV storage.
My first computer with 256MB RAM, 40GB HDD, and an ATI 32MB VGA. My entry point into the world of computing.
An AMD-based system featuring an NVIDIA 128MB VGA, marking my first upgrade into the 64-bit era and better graphics.
A beast of its era. This high-end laptop was a significant milestone in my portable computing journey.
An Intel i3-4150 build on an ASUS Z97-K motherboard with 16GB G.SKILL RAM (4x4GB). Equipped with an ASUS R7 250X (2GB GDDR5) VGA, a 1TB WD HDD, and dual SSDs (256GB Samsung + 128GB Kingston) dedicated to experimenting with various operating systems. Powered by an EVGA SuperNOVA 750 Gold and staying connected with a TP-Link Archer T4E AC1200 adapter.
A dependable ASUS laptop upgraded with 20GB RAM and a 500GB Samsung 970 EVO PLUS NVMe SSD, serving as my bridge to modern portable performance.
A classic Nokia. Reliable, basically indestructible, and perfect for when I first needed to stay connected.
My first smartphone. Small but mighty, it opened up the world of mobile apps and customization.
A stylish device with that unique curved back and the dedicated camera button I loved.
A massive leap in performance and build quality. The front-facing speakers were fantastic for the time.
The first 4K smartphone screen! A beautiful, high-end flagship that felt truly premium.
A return to clean, stock Android. Great battery life and solid performance for a long time.
My current phone. A perfect balance of power, camera quality, and a smooth display.
Building Windows apps with Visual Basic 5 & 6, and crafting early web pages using Microsoft FrontPage and CoffeeCup Editor.
Diving deeper with Microsoft Visual Studio and designing the web with Macromedia Dreamweaver (before the Adobe acquisition and the era of ColdFusion).
A suite of tools that actually looked and felt great for design and web development before it was discontinued.
My primary powerhouse IDE for years. It set a high bar for development environments but was quite a resource hog.
The lightweight savior of my RAM! My current primary environment, perfectly balanced with speed and extensibility.
From the sound of QIP incoming messages to the heartbeat of Yahoo, MSN, and Windows Live Messenger, and finally mIRC once internet became stable.
Winamp (it really whipped the llama’s ass!), RealPlayer, PowerDVD, and the legendary Xing MPEG Player for all things video and music.
Creative Zen Neeon paired with Creative EP-630 OFC in-ear headphones. One of my longest-lasting and most-used everyday devices.
Mark Russinovich’s legendary tools for deep-diving into Windows internals. A must-have for any power user.
Sandboxie for testing apps in isolation and OllyDbg for low-level assembly and reverse engineering fun.
Managing the era of discs with Nero, Alcohol 120%, CloneCD, Virtual CloneDrive, and Ashampoo; plus IsoBuster for rescuing data from scratched media.
The front lines of the early internet. From ZoneAlarm and Agnitum Outpost Firewall to Norton, McAfee, NOD32, and Comodo. Plus life-savers like Spybot – Search & Destroy and the small but mighty WinPatrol, along with the friendly communities found on the Avast and Avira forums.
The primitive yet magical method of sending files before high-speed internet.