Things I use to build stuff, stay productive and tinker with.

I do a lot of tinkering and experimenting with new tools and technologies. Here are the ones that have stuck around.

Workstation

  • 16” MacBook Pro, 32 RAM (2019)

    This is my old work laptop when I joined Shopify. I got to keep it when they switched to using M1 Macs. It’s got more compute power than I’m used to in my personal machines, but I’m not complaining. I’ve been using it as my main machine for years now and it keeps chugging.

  • ErgoDox EZ Keyboard

    I have bad wrists and shoulders from playing baseball for so long. I picked up a microsoft ergonomic keyboard in 2015 and it was a game changer. I made the switch to an ErgoDox keyboard during 2020 lock down (where it was safe to re-learn how to type). I don’t think I can go back to a regular keyboard for my daily driver.

Development tools

  • TablePlus

    Great software for working with databases. Aram Anderson got me hooked on this one while at Shopify.

Design

  • Figma

    We started using Figma as just a design tool but now it’s become our virtual whiteboard for the entire company. Never would have expected the collaboration features to be the real hook.

Productivity

  • Raycast

    I was using Alfred for years but I tried Raycast when one of my Alfred workflows broke and it was incredible. It’s a lot more powerful and the extensions and customizations are great.