Uses
Machines I use regularly
I spend a lot of time bouncing between a few very different machines depending on whether I’m gaming, traveling, or just tinkering.
Laptops
| Name | Make | Model | CPU | RAM | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Use | Apple | 14-inch MacBook Pro | Apple M5 Pro (15/16) | 48 GB LPDDR5X | 1 TB SSD |
| Hobby | Lenovo | X230 (NMB 45N2211 keyboard mod) | Intel Core i7-3520M | 16 GB (2x 8 GB Kingston DDR3 1600 MHz) | 512 GB Samsung PM871 |
The X230 exists because the seven-row ThinkPad keyboard deserved a body that could still browse the modern web. Also I just have a knack for the old keyboard feel and aesthetics.
Desktops
| Name | CPU | GPU | RAM | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home Game / Workstation | Intel Core i7-14700K | Nvidia RTX 4060 | 64 GB (2x 32 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR5 5200 MHz) | 4 TB SSD (1x 2 TB Samsung 990 EVO Plus, 2x 1 TB SK Hynix Platinum P51); 8 TB HDD (1x 4 TB Seagate Barracuda, 1x 4 TB WD Blue) |
By day it runs Counter-Strike; by night it runs the Hadamard search.
Everyday carry
On my person, most days: wallet, keys, an iPhone 14 Plus, a pair of Sennheiser Momentum 4s, and a pair of Ray-Ban (not Meta) Wayfarers.
The rest lives in a Timbuk2 messenger:
- The MacBook, and sometimes the X230 when the mood strikes.
- A Rhodia dot pad or two, and a couple of Pentel EnerGel Alloy pens.
- Chapstick, and some napkins of unclear provenance.
- A miscellaneous pouch that has quietly become its own ecosystem:
- USB-C to USB-C, short and long; USB-A to USB-C; USB-C to Lightning; USB-C to MagSafe 3; USB-C to 7.9mm barrel (the X230 must eat too).
- Two USB-A to USB-C adapters.
- Two 32 GB SanDisk flash drives — one is an Arch Linux boot drive, the other is whatever it needs to be.
- A 75W Apple USB-C power adapter.
- A 2 TB Samsung T9 portable SSD.
- And, living incongruously among the cables, a Faber-Castell Ambition fountain pen.