Uses

EDC

• iPhone 15 Pro 128GB: My daily driver since August 2024.
• iPhone 8 64GB: My work phone. Still going strong after many years of use. No longer receives major software updates, holding on to iOS 16.
• Apple Watch Series 10 GPS, 46mm Aluminium
• Anker Soundcore Life Q20 Wireless Headphones
• AirTag: My wallet tracker.
• weTag mini: Cheap alternative for AirTags, used with keys, card wallets, luggage, etc.

Computer Setup

At home

• MacBook Air M1: Space Grey, 8GB RAM, 256GB Storage. My daily driver at home.
• Mac mini M1: Space Grey, 16GB RAM, 512GB Storage. Used in my desktop setup.
• Logitech MX Master 2S Wireless Mouse: I’ve been a Logitech fanboi for a while, and this mouse has served me well for many years.
• Logitech MX Keys for Mac Wireless Keyboard: Excellent non-mechanical keyboard option for Mac. Great battery life.
• Anker Prime 250W Charging Station
• Anker PowerPort 5 Desktop Charger
• Anker 7-in-1 USB Data Hub
• Seagate Backup Plus 5TB External HDD

At work

• Windows PC
• Intel Core i5 12400F Processor
• Nvidia GEFORCE RTX 3050 Graphics
• 1TB SSD, and 16GB RAM
• 2x 27″ LG IPS Monitors (Inexpensive, unremarkable, works)
• Basic and inexpensive peripherals (perfectly serviceable)

TV & Audio

Home Theatre

• LG C4 48″ OLED TV: I’m obsessed with the perfect blacks on OLEDs, and cannot imagine going back to a non-OLED display. This TV also acts as the monitor for my Mac mini setup currently. It’s not ideal, but I’m making do with limited space.
• HISENSE AX3120G 3.1.2 Sound Bar: A downgrade from my previous 5.1 speaker setup, but soundbars are great for small spaces, and this one does what it says on the tin.

Headphone Setup

• Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 6XX (HD 660) Headphones: Excellent open-back headphones with a great soundstage. Easy to drive.
• Schiit Modi 3+ DAC: Schiit’s entry level DAC with USB and optical inputs.
• Schiit Loki Mini+ Equaliser: Barely used, unless I feel a track really needs a bit of oomph. I generally prefer a clean and untarnished sound profile, but I like having the equaliser.
• Realistic 42-2110 Stereo Switcher: RadioShack gizmo from a bygone era. Works well for switching between my two amps.
• Schiit Magni Heresy Solid State Headphone Amplifier: Schiit’s entry level solid state headphone amp. Clean sound.
• Little Dot MKII Tube Headphone Amplifier: Affordable tube amp with an excellent warm sound profile.

Music Production & Recording

Guitars

• Fender Player Series Stratocaster: Alder Body in Tidepool Finish, Maple Fretboard, 3x Single Coil Pickups. Great clean tones.
• Epiphone 1959 Les Paul Standard: Mahogany Body in Aged Gloss Finish, Laurel Fretboard, 2x Gibson Burstbucker Pickups. Raw energy, dirty sound.
• Epiphone Embassy Bass: Mahogany Body in Graphite Black Finish, Laurel Fretboard, ProBucker Bass Pickups. Probably my least picked up guitar.
• Morris W-18 Dreadnought Acoustic: Spruce Top and Mahogany Back in Natural Finish. Well-made Japanese guitar modelled after a Martin D-18. Great bottom end.

Other Instruments

• Stylophone Pocket Synthesizer
• Fender Blues Deluxe Harmonica, Key of D

Amps & Interfaces

• Fender Champion 20 Solid State Combo Amplifier
• Vox amPlug2 Bass Guitar Headphone Amplifier
• Behringer UMC 404HD USB Audio Interface

Accessories

• Tiger Double Guitar Stands
• D’Addario Clip On Tuner
• AmazonBasics Dynamic Vocal Microphone
• Moukey MMs-1 Adjustable Microphone Arm
• Konig & Meyer Harmonica Holder

Smart Home

• Amazon Echo Pop
• Amazon Echo Show 5
• Tapo H100 Smart Hub
• Tapo P110M Smart Plugs
• Tapo T110 Door Alarm
• Tapo L510E and L530B Smart Bulbs
• Blink Outdoor 4 Security Cameras

Photo & Video

• DJI Osmo Mobile 7 Handheld Gimbal

Writing & Publishing

• SoloMD and GitWriter: Git-based markdown writer for Mac and iPhone respectively. Synced with a GitHub repository for on the go access.
• WordPress
• Astro
• Google Workspace (Slides, Sheets, Docs)
• Apple Notes
• Apple Journal
• Visual Studio Code
• GitHub

Music, Photos & Video

• GarageBand: An intuitive music recording and production platform for beginners like myself.
• Fender Tune: My tuning app of choice.
• DJI Mimo: Companion app for DJI gimbals.

Listening

• Apple Music: I’ve been a subscriber ever since its launch in 2015. My preferred setting is HighRes Lossless (when available). Strictly no Atmos-mixed music.
• Overcast: My podcast app of choice.

Film & TV

• Netflix
• Disney+
• Apple TV
• Prime Video
• MUBI
• Now
• ITVX
• BBC iPlayer
• YouTube
• Freevee
• Channel 4

Diaries

• Letterboxd: My film discovery and diary app of choice. I don’t log TV on Letterboxd.
• Trakt: My TV show progress tracker of choice.
• JustWatch: For keeping track of film and TV show availability on streaming services in the UK.
• Goodreads: For tracking and sharing my reading progress, and maintaining wishlists.
• The Story Graph: currently testing as an alternative to Goodreads.

Design

• Adobe Photoshop: For poster designs, and other projects I help out with occasionally.
• Canva: For social media content production at work.
• pCon planner: For space planning and 3D layout visualisation at work.
• Behance: For showcasing my portfolio of poster designs.
• Redbubble and Ko-fi: For selling my poster designs.

Productivity, Learning & Finances

• Apple Reminders: My to-do app of choice.
• Apple Calendar: My calendar app of choice.
• Trello: My project management and planning app of choice.
• CopyClip 2: A simple and effective clipboard manager for Mac.
• WPS Office: My preferred office suite on Mac, although rarely used. At work, on my Windows PC, I use Microsoft Office.
• Amphetamine: A powerful energy-saver settings controller for Mac.
• Finances 2: Personal accounts and budgeting app for Mac. I also use a complementary self-hosted visualisation tool I made to better undestand my finances.
• Credit Karma: Credit score tracker.
• Amazon Alexa & Tapo: The control centres for all my smart home devices.
• FreeCodeCamp: An excellent free resource for learning to code.
• MyDriveTime: Driving lesson companion app.
• Dumb Phone (dp): Minimalist launcher for iOS.
• Pretty Progress: Visual progress tracker for iOS.

Security

• Blink: Controls my security cameras.
• Apple Passwords
• Google Authenticator
• Microsoft Authenticator

Browsing, Email & Chat

• Mozilla Firefox: My primary browser on Mac and iPhone. I use Chrome at work on a Windows PC.
• Mozilla Thunderbird: My preferred app for managing multiple personal email addresses. At work I use Outlook.
• Hostinger Mail: Hosts my t@thamara.co.uk email inbox.
• iMessage & WhatsApp: Day-to-day messaging apps of choice.
• Discord: Web chat.
• Signal: Private messenger app.
• Zoom & Microsoft Teams: Used for online meetings at work.

Cloud

• Google Drive
• Google Photos
• Dropbox
• OneDrive
• iCloud Drive

Health & Fitness

• Apple Health & Apple Fitness
• Strava
• Runna
• AllTrails
• NHS Couch to 5K

Reading

• Current: My preferred feed reader app on iOS and macOS.
• Kindle for iPhone
• Libby
• Libraries NI

AI Tools

• Google Gemini
• Microsoft Copilot (via VS Code integration)
• Lovable

Shopping & Rewards

• PS Deals: Price tracker for PlayStation games.
• PayPal Honey
• Avios
• Co-op Membership
• Nectar
• Tesco Clubcard
• Rakuten Cashback

Travel & Weather

• Carrot: My weather app of choice on iOS
• Flighty: Powerful flight tracking app with real time updates.
• Skyscanner: Flight deals tracker.
• Booking.com / Hotels.com / Expedia / Airbnb
• Trainline / Translink mLink
• EasyJet / Aer Lingus & other One World airlines
• fonaCAB / Uber / Value Cabs

Entertainment & Arts

• Bandsintown & Songkick: to keep track of gigs announced by my favourite artists.
• Co-op Live
• Ticketmaster
• Skiddle

Website Tools

• Astro
• Vercel