The main machine. Thin, silent, does everything without complaint. Dark mode always, display brightness at 60%.

Clean, minimal, flat. It looks good on the desk and that matters. Not ergonomic but stylish.

Noise cancellation for when the city gets loud. Over-ear, premium sound. Required for deep work sessions.

Default editor. Dark theme, custom font, all the extensions. It's not glamorous but it works.

Design tool of choice. Where everything starts before it becomes code. Auto Layout is a gift.

Browser of choice. Built-in VPN, sidebar, fast. Does what it needs to without getting in the way.

Spotlight but actually good. Calculator, clipboard history, window management — all from one shortcut.

Where everything gets organised. Pages, databases, notes — the whole second brain lives here.

Where everything ships. Git push to deploy. Preview URLs for every branch. Free tier is generous.

Version control, issues, actions. The whole pipeline lives here. Pro for private repos and extra features. Commit often, commit descriptively.

Backend when I need one. Postgres, auth, storage — all in one dashboard. Open source too.

Utility classes that compile to nothing unused. Fast to write, easy to read, zero custom CSS needed.

Faster npm. Uses symlinks, saves disk space, installs in half the time. Hard to go back.

24.2MP APS-C sensor. Got it used, never looked back. Not the newest but it captures exactly what I see.

The only lens I need. 55mm on APS-C is close to what your eyes actually see. Prime means you move your feet.

Post-processing. Minimal adjustments — the goal is to capture it right, not fix it after. But exposure correction is real.

Zero cable management. Cables go where they want. The desk is a beautiful disaster and that's fine. The code still ships.

The .ca domain for the lab. Canadian TLD because Toronto is home. All subdomains live here.

Hosting for everything. Git push to deploy. Preview URLs for every branch. The free tier handles it all.

Essential. Lo-fi for focus, drum and bass when the deadline is close. The playlist changes, the headphones don't come off.

Password manager. Every password is unique and random. Security hygiene is non-negotiable once you've been burned.