Nerd Corner

I have a side to me that drives me to research and be picky about stuff I use (maybe you relate?). So here's a list of things I use to create, stay productive, or just fool-myself-into-thinking-I’m-being-productive-when-I’m-really-just-procrastinating. It's not a complete or up-to-date list by any means - it changes depending on a few things.

Workstation

  • 14” MacBook Pro (2021)

    A Mac is required to build apps for Apple platforms. Plus, I just like macOS. Many apps made for macOS are reminders of the quality of software I want to create and use myself.

  • ReMarkable 2

    A lightweight Kindle-style note-taking device, for when typing just doesn't cut it and you want that tactile feel of pen on paper. The texture feels closer to paper than any other tablet I've tried. I got it as a gift, and I still use it often.

  • Rode NT1 Microphone

    I recently got this for content creation - voiceover for marketing videos of my apps, and for exploring voice work as a hobby.

Development Helpers

  • Xcode

    A requirement to build apps for Apple platforms. I'm hearing Cursor is great as an alternative now. I want to try it at some point for my personal projects.

  • ImageOptim

    Great tool for compressing images of all kinds - handy for software development of any kind that involves bundling images into the app.

  • TablePlus

    Great app for working with databases. Lets me interact with relational databases for all my projects that have one, and it even connects to servers using SSH if needed.

  • Fork

    'A fast and friendly Git client' is their tagline - and I agree! Pretty straightforward, no-nonsense way to interact with Git and Github.

Web-dev Stack

  • Next.js + React

    Straightforward and quick to deploy any kind of website or web app at a small scale. Perfect for MVPs.

  • Tailwind CSS

    So much nicer to style everything in the same file where I lay out a web page. Plus you have super well-designed components available online for all kinds of use cases.

  • Laravel

    I've used Node.js and Express before, and have even explored Ruby on Rails a bit. But I'm currently learning Laravel for full-stack applications thanks to its big ecosystem of packages geared towards getting production apps up and running quickly.

Design and Creative

  • Figma

    Pretty awesome visual design software. I use it for UI design, mockups, custom icon design and even to make detailed app icons and marketing assets for my apps.

  • Logic Pro

    Current tool of choice for editing audio. I don't have to look for external plugins for things like compressing, EQ, and de-essing audio thanks to the awesome built in effects.

  • Final Cut Pro

    I use Final Cut for editing video when I need to. I like how minimal and sleek it is compared to some alternatives, while still being plenty powerful.

Productivity

  • Alfred

    It’s not the newest kid on the block but it’s still the fastest. Great for finding files, and even search files by their text content - which has come in handy many times.

  • BetterTouchTool

    The first app I install on vanilla macOS. It simplifies and speeds up many of my most common interactions with the OS using custom gestures. For example, a three-finger swipe up for a new tab, and a three-finger swipe down to close the current tab, across all apps. Three-finger swipe left and right to switch to the next/previous tab. So simple and intuitive!