Our Hardware and Software Setup

What hardware are you using?

...

I have three desktop computer – a 24” Dell XPS running Windows 7 Home Premium, an 20.5” Dell Inspiration running Windows 7 Ultimate and a 27” iMac running on Mac OS X Lion.

The Dell XPS is my main work machine while the Dell Inspiron is like a test box that I use for trying out various software. The iMac is primarily used for video editing though it also doubles as a standing desk.

I don’t use a laptop as I find them inconvenient and also because the Apple iPad 2 is equally capable and more handy. The other gadget I love is the Kindle (2011) – it’s always stuffed with long-form web content sent through Instapaper and Readability.

I use Kodak Zi8, Flip Ultra HD and iMac’s built-in iSight HD camera for shooting video while the audio recording is done through Samson C01U and Blue Yeti USB microphones that are fitted with a gooseneck pop filter. I attach a lavalier microphone -Audio Technica ATR-35S – to the Kodak Zi8 video camcorder when I am shooting outdoors.

I have a Samsung Galaxy S mobile phone that is powered by Android Gingerbread. I also have an iPod Nano and Microsoft Zune though I don’t use them anymore as the mobile phone has apps for everything.

I am currently using the Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Keyboard 7000 with an Arc Touch Mouse though I also like the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 – it’s extremely comfortable for long typing sessions. I share the same keyboard and mouse between the two Windows desktops and this is possible with the help of Mouse without Borders, a free software.

For entertainment, there’s XBox 360 with Kinect and Google TV attached to our 50” Panasonic Plasma TV. Anold router is used to make the same Wi-Fi connection available everywhere.

I also have a LiveScribe pen and the Wacom Graphire4 pen tablet though I don’t use them very frequently. My old but still-going-strong list of gadgets include the HP LaserJet P1008 printer and the Canon Powershot A620 digital camera.

What software and web tools are you using?

Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Visio and Outlook 2010 are my all-time favorites though I also like the new look and feel of Google Docs.

I read my feeds in FeedDemon and Reeder on iPad while all my web clippings are stored in Evernote and Instapaper. I was using Microsoft OneNote earlier but only recently shifted to Evernote as the latter offers better clipping tools and is available across all platforms.

I mostly use Windows Live Writer for publishing my blog. My favorite text editor is vi (gVim) while Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 is my tool of choice for web design.

I use SnagIt for capturing screenshots of software programs and edit them inside Adobe Photoshop CS5. The screencasts, or movies of computer screen, are mostly recorded using Camtasia Studio. I prefer using Apple iMovie over Windows Live Movie Maker for video editing.

My favorite browser is Google Chrome though I prefer Firefox for web development because Firebug on Firefox is much better than the Chrome version. I use Putty as the shell client, Cyberduck for FTP and Flashget is my favorite download manager.

I don’t use password managers and prefer writing passwords on paper. My most important files are backed up to the cloud using Dropbox though I also use Microsoft SyncToy to save copies of important files locally on multiple computers.

I use Google Picasa software for managing my photo collections, Join.me and TeamViewer for screen sharing, Skype for calling, Double Twist for managing podcasts (it sync with Android over Wi-Fi), PeaZip for opening archives, TweetDeck for Twitter, Stardock Fences for organizing the desktop while Microsoft Security Essentials is my favorite anti-virus software. I also like Skitch on the Mac.

I use Autohotkey for writing utilities that perform repetitive tasks or solve little problems – like this Always on Top utility. I know a bit of PHP, jQuery, JavaScript and Windows Scripting (like Dropbox printing) but my current favorite is Google Apps Script – it’s like VBA for various Google Services (see Mail Merge for an example).

Most of my websites are running on Google Apps and they are powered by either WordPress or Google App Engine.