Et Cetera

This page serves as a reference page of sorts. A combination of answers to FAQs & recommendations. A brain dump to house everything that I want to be able to point people to (or reference myself), but doesn’t have a sanctioned place on this site. It is focused on tech and software engineering.

Tools Link to heading

Software Link to heading

  • Vim - Forcing myself to properly learn Vim was one of the best decisions I ever made and has paid dividends. Worth learning properly. Not sure where to start? Go through vimtutor. Next read Drew Neil’s two short books on the subject, Practical Vim & Modern Vim.
  • Tmux - Tmux is admittedly less of a killer app now that most terminal emulators have support for splits and tabs. Still, I find myself being lost without it. I recommend Tmux 2 by Brian P. Hogan if you want to learn it properly and quickly. And tmuxinator for defining what you want your session(s) to look like so you don’t have to re-set-up everything every time you restart your computer.
  • 1Password - My life is in 1Password. It’s probably the single most useful piece of software I own that I happily pay $5/mo for.
  • Weechat - Using IRC in 2020 may seem antiquated to some, particularly if you haven’t been on there since the 90s. But it’s alive and well and has been incredibly helpful. I’ve tried many clients but Weechat has been the best of the pack. It’s daunting at first but the docs are great.

macOS Exclusive Link to heading

  • Alfred - a Spotlight replacement that is light years ahead of Spotlight. If you take the time to read the docs and learn it you’ll be rewarded. It’s Dash integration is particularly useful for engineers, which I wrote about here.
  • Dash - Offline API docs and excellent search.
  • Marked - Markdown previewer. I have been using this for 7+ years and produced countless PDFs with it. If you prefer Markdown to LateX this is a must. It’s worth every penny.

Hardware Link to heading

  • CalDigit TS3+ - I love this thing so much. I bought one for work and home. This is the missing piece that should come with every MacBook Pro since Apple decided “pros” don’t have use for any ports other than USB-C. With that said, it is amazing that through one USB-C cable from my MacBook Pro to the TS3+ I get ethernet, external keyboard, dual monitors, etc.
  • Keyboard.io - I went down the mechanical keyboard rabbit hole a few years back when Apple switched to butterfly switches and various keys stopped working (they’ve since switched back). I spent a not-insignificant amount of money trying out various mechanical keyboards. Keyboard.io is the best. The split keyboard thing weirded me out at first and the keyboard.io in particular has a learning curve. But now that I’ve had it for a few years I am grateful I made the switch. Best keyboard I’ve ever used by a long shot.

Reference Library Link to heading

Blogs Link to heading

This is a list of technical-leaning blogs that have had a large influence on me.