Tools
Windows 11. Yeah, that one. I regularly use for computer operating systems: Windows, Linux Mint, MacOS, and Chrome OS. Each one has has a distinct flavor, not to mention various advantages and disadvantages. Windows 10 is effectively dead, so Windows 11 remains the mainstream option for most users. Is it great “out of the box”? No, not really. It needs a few tweaks to make it more usable. But that’s personal taste and most people use it without any changes. It’s my “daily driver”…
Free and open source … from Microsoft? Yep. That’s Visual Studio Code, and I switched to it as my primary coding editor from Sublime Text 3. Why? It’s got killer features that Sublime doesn’t offer, and it’s a great editor.
Android and Apple’s iOS are both good mobile operating systems. I’ve always used Android since it just always seemed to agree with me better and Android phones have better features and technology.
“The Cloud” is a big deal right now, but it’s really just your files on someone else’s computer. Cloud Station is a part of Synology’s NASes, and puts your files on your computer … but in also “the cloud”, a cloud that you own and control.
Having a basic NAS (Network Attached Storage) at home is great. Having one that adds some other neat features like your own personal cloud, a git server, and more … well that’s convenience on a new level.
WordPress needs some help here and there. Caching is certainly one of those areas. WP Super Cache is a quick and easy way to speed up your site.
Google Chrome has been around since 2008, and it was a compelling alternative to other browsers. It quickly gained huge market share. Lately, however, the other browsers are starting to catch up.
WordPress has reasonable security out of the box, but it’s frankly not enough. Having iThemes Security Pro ensures that my site is as secure as it can be.
Most systems, Linux included, have monitoring tools built in. Glances takes it to the next level.
Slack goes way beyond being a “chat” client. It’s a full-on communications platform that is infinitely extendable. Paying for Slack is possible, but the free version is quite useful as well.
If you deal with files, especially code, you need a way to track those files when they’re created, changed, and even removed. Git does it better than any VCS out there.
If WordPress makes it a breeze to create the web site you want, Beaver Builder turns it into a Hurricane: more powerful and much faster.
More than 25% of all web sites are powered through WordPress, which is written in PHP. That includes this site.
Microsoft Office might be ubiquitous, but there are excellent alternatives. And when Linux is your primary OS, Office is not the best choice.
Markdown isn’t a program, but a way of formatting text that makes writing a breeze. I’ve been writing pretty much everything in Markdown for years, and I’m not gonna stop any time soon.
With more flavors of Linux to choose from than Baskin-Robbins has ice cream, it’s hard to narrow it down. But Mint is my flavor of choice since 2013. The latest release, 19, has compelling new features and improvements.