Michael Anhari

Things I use.

Below is a categorized curation of my favorite tools for going about doing my favorite things. Inspired by Wes Bos. For the most part, I am all in on the Apple ecosystem and I live with the shortcomings of some of their apps (ahem, Podcasts...). I use an iCloud email address, Notes, Reminders, Mail, Music, Photos, Books, Safari, Voice Memos, Final Cut Pro, and Logic.

In the spirit of full transparency, some of the links below are affiliate links, which means I get rewarded in some way if you use them to join me in purchasing them. I wouldn't include them on this list if I didn't think they were worth it.

Productivity

  • 1password
    Password and credential manager. I'll probably move to iCloud keychain when gaming on macOS becomes tenable, but this has been great.
  • AdGuard
    The best ad blocker I've come across for Safari.
  • Dynamo
    A Safari extension for controlling video playback speed virtually anywhere. It's very similar to Video Speed Controller in Firefox/Chrome.
  • Licecap
    Create a GIF from a screen recording. I mostly use this when submitting pull requests that have changed the user experience to GitHub.
  • Magnet
    Window management and tiling.
  • SponsorBlock
    A cross browser extension for automatically skipping 'And now a word from our sponsor' blocks in YouTube videos.

Web Dev

Most of my configurations can be found in my dotfiles. I used to be a very happy user of vim and tmux before making the switch to VS Code, so you will find a lot of vim and tmux configurations in there if thats your jam.

  • 16" MacBook Pro, 2.4ghz 8-Core i9, 64GB of RAM, AMD Radeon Pro 5500M 8GB Graphics (2019)
    At the start of 2020, I bought this laptop to replace an old iMac because I wanted to work in the local coffee shop once or twice a week. Then the world turned upside down.
  • Visual Studio Code
    I switched to VS Code after being a heavy vim/tmux user for years.
  • VS Code Vim
    Not a one-to-one vim emulation, but more than enough. Pleasantly surprised by how good this is.
  • vscode-test
    Ruby/elixir test runner extension I built.
  • Figma
    I'd say I'm a software engineer and a designer second, but I really do love UI/UX work as well.
  • Affinity Designer
    Amazing value, and more than enough for my limited use cases. I don't miss Adobe Illustrator one bit.
  • TablePlus
    The best GUI for relational DBs. I've been using it a ton on recent client work that is very data-driven.
  • Safari
    Probably in the minority here, but I love working in Safari.
  • FZF
    Fuzzy find everything.
  • Spaceship Prompt
    Good looking zsh prompt that is quick AF and customizable.
  • Dank Mono
    Yeah, I dropped $40 on a font. No regrets!
  • Darkest+ VS Code Theme
    A "blackout" version of the default Dark+ theme I created, with italic support and a few personal tweaks.

Cooking

Coffee

  • Chemex
    My favorite cup of coffee.
  • Breville Espresso Machine
    This was a hand me down from my Mom and it sat in our closet for a year. It gets used daily now.
  • Frieling Doubled-Walled French Press
    Sometimes I just want a thicker cup of coffee than a Chemex. One that retains all of the oils, and is a bit heavier (queue you rolling your eyes). This French press is easy to use, easy to clean, and makes a great cup.
  • Cold Brew
  • Buddy Brew Coffee beans
    My favorite coffee beans come from a local roaster in my old hometown - Tampa, FL. I get a 5lb bag of their Ethiopia roast and use it for everything except espresso.
  • Baratza Virtuoso Grinder

Photo & Video

  • Canon EOS R
    I love this camera. I've used a Panasonic G85 for birding in the past, but this has become my daily driver for everything that I shoot.
  • Canon RF 15-35mm 2.8 wide angle lens
    The lens I use 90% of the time. Great wide angle lens, fast aperture, and I love the look at 35mm.
  • Canon RF 70-200mm 2.8 telephoto lens
    I wanted a version of this lens for years, and I finally pulled the trigger on it. It's amazing. Plan on holding onto it for a very long time.

Fitness