Uses

I really enjoy reading about what other people use, whether is technology-related or not. It gives me ideas and helps me discover new things. With that in mind, I’ve decided to write about the things that I use. Maybe it’ll be useful to someone. Check more /uses pages at https://uses.tech/.

The hardware

🖥️ Desktop
⌨️ Peripherals
💻 Laptop
☎️ Smartphone
📖 Tablet
⌚ Smartwatch
🎧 Headphones
🏠 Home Automation
☁️ Servers
⚙️ The Software
🎮 Gadgets

🖥️ Desktop

As of today, 31/07/2020, I've replaced my two monitors.
As of today, 09/05/2021, I've upgraded my desktop.
As of today, 05/08/2023, I've upgraded my GPU.

I still use a custom made desktop that I’ve built, updated for 2021! It now has an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X with 32GB of RAM Kingston HyperX Fury RGB 32GB DDR4 3200Mhz PC-25600, and a "new" Radeon RX 6700 XT 12GB! Also, 4 Kingston 480GB A400 SSD’s, and 1 SSD M.2 2280 Kingston A2000 500GB 3D TLC NVMe. All inside a beautiful black Fractal Design Define R5. I'm still using the amazing AOC CU34G2X/BK 34" curved gaming monitor with 144 Hz, which now rests on a Jarvis Single Monitor Arm. It was, and still is, a great upgrade, and the computer feels as snappy as ever.

⌨️ Peripherals

As of today, 31/07/2020, I've replaced all my peripherals. Removing wires from my desk was the reason behind it.

I'm now using a Keychron K2 wireless mechanical keyboard. So far I'm loving it. I'm still getting used to the US layout, but I'm getting there. Also, a new mouse! A Logitech G502 Lightspeed Wireless. It's by far the best mouse I've ever used. I was looking for a wireless mouse that resembled my old favorite, the Logitech G500, and this is it, without the wires! My music and gaming audio now comes through the HyperX Cloud Flight headset. It’s fantastic. Impressive sound, good price. The microphone is a bit worse than my previous HyperX Cloud Core, but that doesn't mean that it's bad. Just different.

💻 Laptop

As of today, 09/05/2021, I've sold my 2012 Apple MacBook Air .
~~As of today, 04/07/2021, I've replaced Ubuntu LTS with Linux Mint on all my machines.~~
As of 02/02/2022, I'm using another laptop I got from work, the Dell XPS 13 9310.
_As of 18/03/2022, I'm using a new smartphone, the Google Pixel 6.

And now I don't have a personal laptop. I currently use a new laptop I got from work, the Dell XPS 13 9310, running the latest Ubuntu.

☎️ Smartphone

My mobile computer.I've bit the bullet and got myself a Google Pixel 6. It's a great machine overall, with one major flaw. The fingerprint sensor sucks!

📖 Tablet

As of today, 04/07/2021, I've bought an Apple Pencil 1st Generation.

I use an iPad 9.7″ from 2018 which I bought at a very good price, but it was an impulse buy. I use it on the couch when I feel lazy, look for some recipes while cooking, and take it with me on flights to watch some Netflix or play some games. I’ve got no complaints about it. The battery lasts forever.
I know I'm late to the party, but in another impulse buy, I've bought the Apple Pencil 1st Generation, and it's amazing! Great piece of technology, for drawing or taking notes on the iPad 9.7″. I've been using it a lot more lately.

⌚ Smartwatch

As of today, 05/08/2022, I've replaced my smartwatch.

And now I have a "fancy" smartwatch! I got a great, great deal on a Samsung Galaxy 4, so I went ahead and got it. Works quite well with my Android phone, giving me everything that the Xiaomi gave and more. I now wear it much often.

🎧 Headphones

As of today, 31/07/2020, I've replaced my headphones.

I just use headphones when I'm in the gym. My choice lies with the Xiaomi Redmi Airdots. Lightweight, no wires, good battery, good sound, and even better price. As a low-cost option, they are very good.

🏠 Home Automation

As of today, 04/07/2021, I've bought a Chromecast with Google TV 4K.
As of 04/03/2022, I've bought another Chromecast with Google TV HD. I've also bought 2 more Google Minis.

I'm using a Google Home and 3 Google Minis. I just use them to add things to my shopping list, listening to music, and asking about my day (calendar, traffic). Another impulse buy.
My newest toy, Chromecast with Google TV HD, has replaced my TV STB and both my remotes. It can control the TV as well as unifying all my streaming services on one device, and I'm loving it. My second Chromecast with Google TV HD is now on my dumb TV in the kitchen.

☁️ Servers

I have three servers, one at home and two at a remote location. The one at home is an Optiplex 3040 SFF (not really a server but working as one) that runs simple services, such as Pihole, Home Assistant, DNS, DHCP, and Openvpn.
On the first remote location is an HP ProLiant DL180 G6, that replaced my old Dell Poweredge C6100. It runs all my public-facing services, such as this website, a Nextcloud instance, and many other services (there are currently 36 running containers on it). One day™ I'll write about them. It also works as my testing bed for everything Linux related.

On the second location is an HP Microserver G7 N54L that handles my backups. It runs BackupPC and all my data is backed up to it. The really important data (photos, videos) that I don’t want to ever lose is encrypted and put into an AWS Glacier bucket. It costs pennies to store data and if I ever need it I don’t mind paying and waiting to get it.

The software

📇 Operating Systems
💾 Software
🌐 Online Presence

📇 Operating Systems

I currently use Windows and Linux. My distro of choice for desktop usage is now the latest Ubuntu. I run it on my personal desktop and work laptop. On my personal desktop, I also use Windows 11 because I like to play some games now and then. On my servers, I run Ubuntu LTS. So far so good.

💾 Software

~~As of today, 04/07/2021, I've replaced Terminator with Tilix. I've also returned to Google Chrome.~~
As of 02/02/2022, I'm a KDE user. It's really fast, nowadays!

I prefer using FOSS when possible, but sometimes proprietary software is the right tool for the job. I use:

With this toolset, I can do 99% of my job. I’ll write a bit more about each one, someday.

I also run multiple VM’s for testing with several operating systems, but the permanent ones are Kali Linux and Windows 7.

🌐 Online Presence

~~I’m a Netflix customer, but I’m considering leaving it.~~ I've have already left, because of the change regarding the password sharing policy. Now I just use Spotify, but this one I’m keeping. It’s awesome to have all the music I can think off on all my devices. I’m always listening to music. I'm also using YNAB to manage my finances, and these are the only subscriptions I currently have. I get almost all my games on Steam and keep myself organized with Google Calendar and Google Keep. My end goal is to replace them all with self-hosted services.

🎮 Gadgets

I'm now the proud owner of a Steam Deck! I took advantage of the recent sale they had and got myself the cheaper one, planning to replace the disk if necessary. It's a great "little" gadget, and I'm still figuring it out. Very cool for couch gaming.

Do you have any questions or suggestions? Send me an email at diogo [at] diogoferreira [dot] pt or reach me out on Twitter!

This page is a constant work in progress.
It was last updated on 05/08/2023.