Welcome to My Taste, a section where I highlight many different things that I really like and use/do a lot.
Any question that goes along the lines of "what do you use for < blank >" should be answered here.
Hardware
Software
Reading
Websites
Self-Care
This section is all about the physical technology that I use and like.
PC
As of September 2026, my desktop computer has the following components:
- CPU: Ryzen 5 3600
- GPU: NVIDIA RTX 2060 Super
- RAM: 48 GB (DDR4 @ 3200Mhz)
ThinkPad T14 Gen-2
My current laptop which I adore.
iPhone 14 Pro
My phone for the last 2 1/2 years. The little pill at the top is my favorite hardware feature on any phone I've ever had. I hope Apple never fully gets rid of it even if the technology gets good enough to do so.
Monitors
I run a triple-monitor setup. My monitors are as follows:
- HP 22er (1080p, 60hz)
- Acer SB220Q (1080p, 75hz)
- Sceptre Y27 (1440p, 165hz)
The Y27 is obviously my main monitor and I love having so much screen real estate. They aren't the best monitors for serious color grading but having three monitors is life-changing, even as someone that had dual monitors for years before.
Sony WH-CH720N
My over-ear headphones of choice. They sound good enough, the noise cancellation is awesome and the battery life is tremendous. I love these things and use them for multiple hours each and every day.
Sony WI-C100
My earbuds of choice. I only use these when biking. They have great battery life despite being so small and the included ear-tips fit me really well.
Keychron K8
My keyboard of choice. This is by far the best keyboard I've ever used. Even if I had unlimited funds to change everything on my desk, I wouldn't change the keyboard.
Logitech G502 Hero
I had my first G502 Hero for nine long, Minecraft PVP-filled years before it finally broke last year. I bought another and expect it to last me another nine years.
Desk Lamp
I actually don't know what brand this is, but it one of these lamps that you can move around and bend. I actually use it as the standard lighting in my room, even when I am not at my desk.
This section contains all of the useful programs and apps that I use on my phone, laptop and desktop computers.
Linux
Last year I finally made the full switch to Linux after years of deliberation and haven't really regretted it. I use Arch-based distros because of how awesome the pacman package manager is and how customizable it is as a distro.
Arch Linux + Hyprland
On my laptop I use Arch Linux alongside the Hyprland window manager. I like this setup here since, having only one screen, being able to quickly switch and move between windows and workspaces is critical, and Hyprland lets you do all that pretty much instantaniously with very simple keyboard shortcuts. Arch is also a great fit for a laptop since it is a very light distro that uses little resource and, in my experience, drains the battery less than other distros and operating systems.
Manjaro Linux
My distro of choice for the desktop. I like it because it is Arch-based, so you get all the great things about Arch with an easier setup, user experience and better driver support for NVIDIA graphic cards. Manjaro runs on KDE Plasma, which is great for a multi-monitor setup.
Obsidian
My note taking app of choice, and probably one of my most used apps. My vault has thousands of files and pretty much everything important from ideas for scripts, class notes and reading notes live here. I will probably write a full article on how I use Obsidian eventually.
Zen Browser
Two years ago the Arc browser made me see the light on how awesome vertical tabs can be. Unfortunately, Arc is dead because The Browser Company are kind of moronic, and they never ported their browser to Linux. Zen is like Arc but more customizable, open source and Firefox-based so it has a lot of advantages. It has been my main browser for over a year and I really enjoy using it.
If I had to give credit to the Arc team is that Arc Search is still my main browser on iPhone, it is way better than Safari and there's still no Zen port to mobile devices.
Zed
My code editor of choice for C and Java. I still use VSCode for Python and web development tho, I hope the extension ecosystem there gets better for these use cases eventually.
btop++
My task manager of choice for Linux. It is like a modern version of htop that makes all the important information easily readable.
Ghostty
My terminal emulator of choice on the desktop, I like it a lot more than the default KDE terminal
kitty is still my terminal emulator on my laptop because it works best with Hyprland.
LocalSend
LocalSend is like AirDrop but open source and multi-platform. It is extremely useful for moving files from my computers to my phone and vice-versa.
Modrinth
Modrinth is a great app to manage different Minecraft Java Edition installations and mods. A must have if you play Minecraft singleplayer.
qBitTorrent
If you use any other torrenting client, please do youself a favor and switch.
mpv
My video player of choice on my desktop and laptop. It works great with just the keyboard and, at least on Linux, has better support for weird codecs and subtitles than VLC.
Apple Music
My music streaming service of choice on the phone. It has a beautiful interface and integrates great with the Apple Watch. Speaking of which...
Spotify
I am one of those weirdos that use more than one streaming service. Is it a waste of money? Kind of. Is it a way to get the best experience anywhere I go for listening to music, something I am very passionate about? Definitely.
Spicetify
Spicetify is a 3rd-party extension to the Spotify desktop app that adds support for custom themes and extensions. I actually don't use extensions but I like it for making Spotify prettier. It can be kind of a bitch to install and update but it is worth it.
Raindrop
Raindrop is a modern version of Pocket by Mozilla: a single place to store links, text or anything not too heavy. It syncs between computers and it is very useful for saving links I see on my phone to read later on the computer.
This section is dedicated to reading tools and places where I read. This isn't a reading list of books I like, but that is coming soon somewhere else.
Kindle (idk which model)
For digital reading I mostly use my mom's old Kindle she's had for like 8-9 years. The battery lasts a ton and, connecting it to a computer, I can add old books in the public domain and read them for free, which is a great gig. Speaking of which...
Standard Ebooks
My main source for downloading old books that are already in the public domain. They offer a lot of different formats like EPUB and the AZW3 format for my Kindle. They do great work making the best digital editions of these classic books.
The New York Times
The newspaper of record. My university currently gives me free access but I actually paid for it when I was in high school. They aren't perfect, of course, but they do great reporting on pretty much any topic that interests me and I've used their articles as sources for research more times than I can count.
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is a New-York based magazine. They focus on long-form articles about anything and everything, mixed with great art. I've found really interesting stuff there and I really recommend checking them out.
The Verge
The Verge has been my main stop for tech news for the last 5 years. They are now paywalled but I still consider their work to be of very high quality and worth the price of admission.
Daring Fireball
John Gruber's blog is my main source for Apple news. I've also found really interesting blog posts on other sites here.
Hacker News
Browsing HN nowadays is extremely annoying because of all the AI stuff but I occasionally find really interesting stuff, sometimes even outside of the context of the tech industry, so it's still worth checking out every now and then.
Substack
Here are some of my favorite publications and blogs on Substack (besides my own of course).
- Ad Hoc by Arden Yum.
- Cosi's Odyssey by Cosima Carnegie.
- The Etymology Nerd by Adam Aleksic.
- The Lost Word by Tara Isabella Burton.
- The New York Journal of Philosophy
- Personal Canon by Celine Nguyen.
- this man's mind by Marcus Olang'.
- Tinta roja y rabia suave by Nani.
- Zombiegrrrl zine.
Byline
Byline is a New-York publication founded by Gutes Guterman and Megan O'Sullivan. I've found really interesting stuff here and their layout for their articles has been an inspiration for me.
The Public Domain Review
The PDR is a gold-mine. It is the home of both great essays and great multimedia collections, of course focused on stuff available freely in the public domain.
Computers Are Bad
Computers Are Bad is a blog published by J.B. Crawford. He focuses on very deep dives on the history of computer communication and computer systems.
Works In Progress
Works In Progress is a publication with deep-dives on extremely interesting topics: anything from the story of how Alberta is the only place on earth that has controlled rats, how humans eventually understood continents and much more.
Whole Earth Catalog
The Whole Earth catalog contains a nearly-complete archive of the Whole Earth Catalog, Whole Earth Review, and other related publications from the latter half of the 20th century.
