### ThinkPad P16s Gen2 & ThinkPad T14 Gen5 The P16 is my immobile workstation. This computer lacks battery so I do not move it from a permanent charging setup that includes a docking station, separate mouse and keyboard, two additional screens, and an external disk drive. It is The Big Computer where the most work happens. The T14 is a few years old and my laptop back to grad school. It stays in my backpack and goes to work when work is out of the house. A very good laptop. I landed on the ThinkPad series because they have a high quality of build and aren't a threat to break like laptops I've had in the past. These computers have identical software buildouts. ### Internet Browsers and Search I have two browsers installed on both computers: Firefox and Brave. Brave is exclusively for my day-job, and is where all the log-ins for work are stored. Firefox has everything else. The separation allows me to compartmentalize, to not work when I want to write, to not scroll when I must do my job. I am de-googled in all instances where I can be. I use [Brave Search](https://search.brave.com/) as my search engine and am a slightly disgruntled customer because it is at times quite laggy and annoying. But you get what you pay for! I am open to an alternative search engine, but just don't have enough money to use a paid one. Some mandatory browser extensions for me include: * [uBlock Origin](https://ublockorigin.com/) -- the most important extension which everyone should have. I haven't seen a youtube ad in over a decade. * [Privacy Badger](https://privacybadger.org/) -- reinforcement for uBlock, from the [EFF](https://www.eff.org/) which is one of the great organizations on the internet. See [[22 Internet Bookmarks -- Organizations]] * [Activate Reader View](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/activate-reader-view/) -- one of the great hacks of internet usage. Allows you to take any page with an RSS component and turn it into a highly readable white-text-dark-background, ad-free, vertical scrolling, highly simple readable. As a bonus, often (but not always) bypasses paywalls. * [Pocket Bird ](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/pocket-bird/)-- a small, unobtrusive bird with hats that lives in your browser. Adds mild collectables to your internet time. Is friend. ### Email and Proton Suite I am a very pleased customer of [the proton suite](https://proton.me/), where I use their email client with great satisfaction, use their VPN at all times on all my devices, and have drive synced to them as well. I do not use their digital crypto wallet (don't engage with crypto at all). I set up my email through my custom domain into Proton Mail. Likewise, I funnel my pre-existing email addresses through it so that every email I get at all my addresses ends up in one place. Then, I use a pretty heavy (but overall simple) combination of filters and rules to sort every email into its place. Aside from my primary email <[email protected]>, I have secondary addresses for newsletters and accounts. This way I am never logging into digital accounts with my Lucas@ address, nor is that inbox getting bombarded with the plenty of newsletters I subscribe to (what can I say, I love to read!). Therefore, my primary inbox that I most care about is always limited only to high priority updates and real people. One of the best quality of life increases one can give themselves is to just have a usable email inbox. For most people, I've seen, it's a nightmare! But with exactly 20 minutes of intentional labor you can set it up to be a smooth and useful portal for all of your digital life. ### Obsidian.md The heartbeat of my personal digital ecosystem. [Obsidian.md](https://obsidian.md/) is the single best software on the internet. Superlative warranted. No ads or tracking, all your files in one place, all your files yours. For a high-end user, you can turn it into the functioning OS of your life. But at the lowest level, which is the best way to use it for most people, it's simple, straightforward, uncomplicated. I use it more as a writing interface than as the "second brain" that you'll see digital influencers claim it is useful for. And it is useful for that! But I tried doing the personal wiki and found it to be an absolutely exhausting way to live. Obsidian is, for me, best as the one-touch and one-place digital ecosystem where all the words go. I have a handful of plugins but not that many tbh. If you watch a single 15 minute how-to-markdown youtube video and play along parallel to it, you will unlock 80% of Obsidian's functionality and elevate your computer skills by 5x. This website is an Obsidian vault uploaded via [Obsidian Publish](https://obsidian.md/publish) to the web. To do something similar, see [[90 About This Website]] and [[92 Building This Website]]. ### Libre Office The [free, open source alternative](https://www.libreoffice.org/) to the Microsoft suite of productivity tools. 100% of the functionality of word/excel/etc with 0% of the Microsoft gunk/forced AI/etc. There is a 10 minute learning curve. After 30 minutes you'll like it better than the Microsoft office. That's all it takes to stop supporting Microsoft in this one way. ### Affinity Software I bought a life-time license for [Affinity](https://www.affinity.studio/) *before* they were acquired by Canva. Whether this means I will have that license for my lifetime is up in the air. But for about 2 years I have used Affinity v2 as my software for image editing, book design, and more. I don't recommend getting it now since it is owned by Canva, but the version I have is what it always has been and I use it for all my own projects. ### Neo 2 by AlphaSmart A piece of retro tech that I *adore*, it is [a simple digital typewriter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AlphaSmart#AlphaSmart_2000). It interfaces with any computer via a USB port, and allows you to write completely ad and computer free. A mandatory part of my workflow because while I like to write all my things by hand first, some things (extended fiction sequences, screenplays) are too long or too improvisational for me to write at the speed I have to think. No distractions. No ads. No gimmicks or AI. It is a keyboard without a screen or the internet, which means it is a perfect device. [I recommend Ebay](https://www.ebay.com/shop/neo2-alphasmart?_nkw=neo2+alphasmart) if you want to buy one for yourself. ### MusicBee [A music management software.](https://www.getmusicbee.com/) Think of it as an iTunes for you, instead of an iTunes for Apple. Use it in combination with a disk drive to rip CDs and store them for your own use. No internet or streaming, just your own music files. If you're tired of renting the right to listen to music, this is the path away from the streaming platforms. The best place to get CDs is your local library! My goal is to be free of Spotify by the end of 2026. I currently have 120 CDs ripped and I have about 30 more I'm after before I'm comfortable pulling the plug on Spotify. Join me!