Available for Elixir Consulting.
Mike Zornek

2025 Tools Audit

Posted on

It is good to take inventory of things from time to time. Here is a list of the tools I use regularly as of April 2025.

I welcome hearing your suggestions for tools I should consider in the future.

None of the links below are affiliate links. I ain’t got time for that shit.

Hardware

  • 2021 Apple M1 Max MacBook Pro, 16-inch with 32 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage.
    • Laptop is treating me well. Never observing notable slowdowns on normal activities. I would like to revisit a jump to desktop Linux someday as my relationship with Apple continues to deteriorate. That however is a large switching cost. I might consider reinitializing my old Framework laptop and try some things later in 2025.
  • Keyboard: Das Keyboard 4 for Mac
    • I’m fairly satisfied with this. Have had it for many years now. Having experimented with a few other keyboards while building my gaming PC, I am considering experimenting with alternatives for a different feel but a low priority when I’m generally trying to save money right now.
  • Mouse: Logitech Performance MX Wireless Mouse
    • This is an older discontinued model but one I’ve been very happy with. I’ve replaced the internal rechargeable battery a few times but it has held up great. I have a newer MX Master 3S model for my gaming PC. It fits my hand as well.
  • Microphone: Shure SM7B
    • This is complete overkill for for my daily needs but I had intent on building more video content at one point, and it was purchased as part of that project. I do use it a lot, but mostly for Zoom and Discord calls.
    • I also use a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 3rd Gen USB Audio Interface to handle the input.
  • Camera: Canon VIXIA HF G21 Full HD Camcorder and Elgato Cam Link
    • This is an older 1080p camcorder that I connect to my laptop via a HDMI adaptor for use as a standard laptop camera input. It is rather bulky and sits upon a collapsed tripod behind my main monitor. It generates good enough video quality but feels a bit like an overdue hack deserving of replacement someday.
  • Monitors: LG UltraFine
  • Laptop stand: Rain Design mStand Laptop Stand
    • I use my laptop open when connected to the monitors and then place the laptop on this stand to get some extra height (though not even with the main monitors on arms). This gives me three monitors in total (one for terminal, one for code editor and one for the browser).
  • 13-inch iPad Pro (M4)
    • I bought this in 2024 after using my previous iPad Pro for about 8 years. I went for the higher-end version, primarily for the gorgeous screen, but I also like the camera unlock and overall feel. I use this daily from my recliner, mostly for web browsing and PDF reading. I have a pencil and always have aspirations of sketching things but never really happens.
  • iPhone Xr
    • I’ve been milking this older phone for a while, and it still works great. The battery is good, and no major screen issues. I figured I’d keep using it until OS updates stopped, which I expected this past year, but it still got them. I suspect those will stop and I’ll need a new phone soon™. Might consider something else than the iPhone, though.
  • Eero Wireless router
    • I also use the yearly pro Eero services to block ads network-wide. It is not perfect, but it helps a lot.
  • Gaming PC
    • I blogged about this with details before. It is holding up great and providing high-end graphics for Civ7 play (as well as some limited Red Dead 2). I had one night where I ended up having to debug and reinstall fan drivers, which is kind of expected when it comes to a custom build and ongoing Windows updates.
  • Steam Deck
    • I have not used this as much as I would have liked. The main game I played on it was Final Fantasy 6 Pixel Remaster. I feel like someday I might load it up with some ROMs and use it as an emulation hub for now it is collecting dust. I am considering using it for some evening Lunar gameplay when it comes out.
  • Playstation 5
    • I play this all the time, mostly MLB: The Show, from my living room. I have a few other games for it, including the two Final Fantasy 7 games, but it is mostly baseball.
  • Switch
    • I play this in phases, usually when a new games comes out or I get nostalgic. Have been considering a fresh Animal Crossing island reroll. Also have a few unopened games (Tears of the Kingdom, Metroid Prime) that I really need to dig into.
  • Backpacks from Waterfield
    • My large backpack is a Pro Executive Laptop Backpack from Waterfield. I use this when I am packing a bunch of things, including travel. I also have a slim folio bag from them as well, which is great as a conference carry or when I just want the laptop and nothing else. I’m not sure they sell my exact folio anymore, but it is close to this one.
  • Batteries
    • I mostly lean on my Anker power bank (forget the exact model, but it’s 90W version). I also have a Yeti 500X and solar panel from GoalZero. This is mostly for major powerless emergencies (CPAP gear, etc), but I hear they work great camping as well.

Office Furniture

  • A few months ago, I bought a Jarvis Bamboo Standing Desk. I use the standing mode only for phone calls but I guess it’s nice to have. Otherwise, it is a fine, if overpriced desk. Previously I used a pair of full wood butcher block IKEA desks and honestly, they were a way better value. Sadly I don’t think IKEA sells good wood desktops anymore. Most models seemed composite. I still use them, but they are a side desk and my gaming desk now.
  • For a chair, I use a Steelcase Leap Plus. I’ve been using these chairs for years. They (like many chairs) are pricy but worth it given my profession. Steelcase also got honors from me for honoring warranties and sending out repair people for one model with some wear and tear issues well into its ownership.
  • I use a few Coway air filters. One in my office and others in my bedroom and living room. My allergies can get bad, and this helps keep things somewhat in check.

Local Software

  • Firefox Web Browser
    • (Safari as secondary; Iridium to debug Chrome issues.)
  • Spark for Email
    • I use the “classic” version and none of the new AI crap. Feel like this is a tool I need to move on from.
  • VS Code
    • I’ve started to experiment with Cursor and would like to tinker with Zed as well.
  • Spotify
    • I don’t like using Spotify. It does do a fair job allowing me to mix local music files with streamed files (which is a selling point that drew me to it years ago), but it also randomly removes music I have favorited. I’ve considered replacing it a few times (my music needs are kind of basic) but have not done so.
  • OmniFocus for managing to do items.
  • Obsidian for a personal notebook.
  • Calendar.app (connected to a Google Calendar) for some basic calendaring.
  • Slack for some industry and friend groups.
  • Discord for some industry and friend groups. We also host Elixir Book Club here.
  • Postgres
  • iTerm terminal with fish for shell prompt.
  • Sourcetree for git repo work.
  • 1Password for passwords.
  • Acorn for simple image manipulation.
  • Audacity for book club audio archive editing.
  • Backblaze for automated backups and some S3-compatible storage.
  • Balsamic for wireframing.
  • BBEdit for large text file manipulation / searching.
  • Books.app for PDF reading on my iPad. I enjoy that highlights and notes easily transfer between my iPad and laptop for reference during book club.
  • Docker for Docker things.
  • Dropbox for file backup and sharing across devices. I use Dropbox to get PDFs to my iPad, backup my files, share folders with my Gaming PC and sometimes to share arbitrary files with people.
  • Espanso for OS-wide text expansion of snippets.
  • Grammarly for helping me spel gud.
  • Keynote for slide presentations.
  • Livebook.app for Elixir notebooks.
  • MindNode for mind mapping exercises.
  • Magnet for window management
  • OmniDiskSweeper to clean up large files on my hard drive.
  • Paw for API exploration.
  • Responsively App is used to test web page designs at different sizes.
    • I don’t use this a ton, I tend to just manually set the viewport size in Firefox while I experiment but this can be handy on occasion.
  • Screenflow for recording and editing screencasts.
  • yt-dlp on the command line to download media files.
  • Homebrew for package management.
    • Very interested in experimenting with NixOS for this kind of thing in the future.
  • Soulver for personal budgeting notebook.
  • Steam for buying and launching games.
    • Obviously use this more on my gaming PC.
  • SuperDuper! for hard drive backups.
    • Really bummed that bootable backups are becoming a thing of the past, but this is not SuperDuper!’s choice.
  • Zoom for video chats. It continues to be the most stable video tool I know.
  • Instapaper for read later tracking.
  • feedbin for RSS tracking.
  • SavvyCal for meeting links.

Software Services

  • Hover for domain management and most of my email accounts.
  • Google Workspace for the zornlabs email.
  • Render for some web hosting.
  • AppSignal for error capture.
  • Plausable for web analytics.
  • updown.io for uptime monitoring.
  • GitHub for repo management and CI/CD. I pay for Copilot and some sponsorships.
  • Verizon FIOS for internet.
  • Verizon for cell phone.