Patrick Uses

Learn more about my work setup

My desk setup

I'm a fan of Wes Bos' /uses page. Who doesn't love showing off their battle station?

Development Tools

  • I use Visual Studio Code as my text editor.
  • Wes Bos' Cobalt 2 theme is hands-down my favorite theme for everything.
  • Fira Code is my go-to editor font with ligatures enabled.
  • I typically use VSCode's built in terminal when developing. However, when I need a dedicated terminal, I use the Mac's built in Terminal with a Cobalt2 flavored theme. I used to use iTerm2 but realized that a styled Terminal.app is more than enough for my needs.
  • I use oh-my-zsh on Macs with a pretty generic config.
  • On linux I use bash-it with a pretty generic config as well.
  • I manage all my dotfiles and new machine setup scripts in my dotfiles repo.

Apps

  • I love Obsidian.md for note-taking and task management.
  • In Your Face is an app I couldn't live without. It blocks your screen when you have a meeting with a big modal. I haven't missed or been late to a meeting since I got it.
  • Fork is my favorite Git GUI. I has an intuitive and simple design and is fast.
  • For browsing, I use Firefox on my personal machines and both Firefox and Chrome on my work machine.
  • I use Dropbox for file storage after de-googling my life.
  • For Calendar & Email I use Fastmail.
  • 1 Password for password management.
  • Raycast is a new spotlight replacement I've been playing with. Its very similar to Alfred but more modern.

Desk Setup

  • My desk is a L-Shaped Standing Desk from Uplift Desk

  • I sit on a Herman Miller Aeron I got off craigslist for cheap.

  • I have four devices connected to my "monitor" that all share a common set of peripherals via a USB switch:

    • My work laptop (M1 Max Macbook Pro)
    • My personal Mac Mini (M1 256)
    • My Gaming PC
    • Playstation 5

  • My "monitor" is a 48" LG C1 OLED TV with a 5 year warranty from Best Buy that covers pixel burn-in. I fell in love with OLEDs when I got one for my living room. Its a big screen at 48", but I run it at 4K and from where I sit, the DPI is quite comfortable. I just have a huge wall of screen to use which is great.

  • My keyboard is a Ultimate Hacking Keyboard v1 that I crowdfunded in 2015 and received in 2018. I've been using this keyboard close to 5 years now and its the best mechanical keyboard I've ever used.

  • I use a Glorious Model D mouse, its nice and lightweight for gaming.

  • I also use a Apple Magic Trackpad which sits between the two halves of my keyboard for when I don't want to move my hands a lot.

  • I use Bose 700 headphones, but I would not recommend them. They have a tendency to flop off my head if I look up. Terrible design.

  • Also on my desk are an iPad Pro, Steam Deck and Oculus Quest 2.