This page serves as a frequently updated list of software and web services that I use on a regular basis. It’s stuff we’re using in and around the house, stuff we rely on and trust, for the most part. You can also read about computer systems, computer peripherals, other hardware as well as stuff I’m just messing with.
(Last updated March 10, 2024)
An axiom of living in a digital age beset by companies that don’t always serve our best interest: keep your apps cross-platform. Not always possible, maybe not always preferable in every case, but a goal to strive for. Almost every desktop app listed here has versions on both Mac and Windows.
For example, for about the past decade or so I have used an email client called Postbox. Not only is it a great app, snazzy, full-featured and good looking, but it also comes in versions for Mac and Windows. In 2023, when I acquired a new M2 Pro Mac mini, I decided to switch Postbox from my Windows Thinkpad laptop. It was as easy as copying the Postbox data folder from the laptop to the mini. And I have made the switch successfully a couple of times in the past in both directions. With tens of thousands of archived emails now spanning four decades, Postbox needed modern hardware to keep running smoothly and I’m happy to say it does.
For everyday web browsing, I am still using Google’s super-speedy Chrome browser, now at version Version 122.etc.etc.etc for those of you keeping score at home. In my Chrome extensions, you’ll find buttons for Evernote, 1Password, and Pocket.
In late 2022, thanks to the horrific behavior and decisions of a certain billionaire tech tycoon who shall not be named, I stopped posting on Twitter and switched to Mastodon. I’m hosting my “toots” on a server specifically for journalists, so your pick may vary. In early 2023, the choice of Mastodon apps is growing rapidly. For mobile, I have used the official app but also fooled around with Ice Cubes and Ivory. I’m also posting on Threads, which seems to have attracted a larger and more mainstream audience. Stay tuned.
This blog is written and posted with WordPress because it has so many useful features and better integrates with the tagged world at large. Kudos to my web hosting service, Bluehost, for making WordPress installation easy and free. Comments go through Disqus, aiding the conversational flow. I’m loving all the new features WordPress granted to us self-hosters in its Jetpack plug-in in March, 2011. And the WordFence plug-in keeps the bad guys out.
Backing up…we all dread it, we all hate it, we all have to do it or we’ll be sorry. Apple gave us Time Machine and Microsoft has finally gotten around to making a decent copy, called File History. It’s not quite as auto-magical as Time Machine and has some annoying limits on which files can be included but it will do for now. For off-site backup, I had to switch from Mozy, which I joined in April, 2007, to CrashPlan, which I blogged about on February 1, 2011. I also use DropBox and iCloud for syncing files that I’m working on or need to access quickly on multiple machines.
Note taking is a critical need. I’ve tried zillions of programs and techniques and strategies and I was never been completely satisfied until I hit upon Evernote. This is one crazy program that can suck in notes, web pages, scanned photos of business cards, PDFs, and pretty much anything I’ve thrown its way. Even more amazingly, all my stuff is accessible through client software on the Mac, PC, iPhone, Android, or Evernote’s web site. I reviewed Evernote on January 22, 2010.
For photo management and editing, I rely on Adobe’s Lightroom Classic. I am particularly grateful for its many integrations at the beginning of each new year, when I pick the best photos of the prior year and print them in a book from Blurb. I wrote a lengthy blog review of Lightroom on May 8, 2007. I upgraded to version 2.0 in August, 2008 and to 3.0 in 2010 and to 4.0 in 2012. In early 2023, I’m using Classic, not CC, version 13.2.
I would never be able to remember all the ridiculous sign-in names and passwords in my life without some password helper, really just a program to manage an encrypted database with all the big secrets. I used to use Wallet by Acrylic Software but they had no Android version when I switched smartphones in the fall of 2010. Now I’m using the wonderful 1Password which seems to have a version for every operating system on the planet.
For almost all writing, professional and not, I am using iA Writer, one of the simplest word processing apps on the planet. It comes in versions for every OS, syncs files via the cloud, and handles markdown syntax. That means I don’t use Microsoft’s Office apps much anymore. But I will never stop saying good things about Excel, the program that made me look like a computer genius back in 1989 and still sets the bar for ease of use and super-powered features, in my opinion, and that’s pretty rare.
I am not the world’s greatest authority on mobile apps. On the iPad and iPhone, some of my most-used apps are Feedly, Strava, Spotify, Evernote, and YouTube. On Android, I use a lot of the stock apps from Google. I’ve assembled my online scifi book catalog at LibraryThing. For subscribing and listening to podcasts, I’m using the excellent Pocket Casts.
Other stuff: Systems, Computer Peripherals, Other Hardware, Just messing with
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