Two minutes to read it is still longer than my AI superpowers.

Google Gemini Advanced offers 2TB storage for ~$25/month (like ChatGPT Plus). Tempting, but currently it’s browser-only in Poland - no mobile app yet. Meh, I wish they added mobile app in Poland - I’d actually think about using it instead of ChatGPT then.

Thank God it’s Saturday.

It feels nice to sit on the couch and watch Game Knights Live after a long day of work.

Found out that I can subscribe to having an iPhone (or Android phone) for a year for about $45 per month. And then after 12 months I’m either buying it cheaper, giving it back or exchanging it for a newer model. It’s actually interesting idea, paying $45 per month just to have the newest phone without actually the hassle of buying one every year and selling too. I’m debating with myself if this is something I would like to experience but it doesn’t seem dumb.

I was really close to pulling on the trigger and getting an Android phone but I think I want to see what Google does with Pixel 8a and if Nothing comes up with Phone 3. S24 makes the most sense right now but I think I could spend less and get something as nice.

📺 The Dropout (2022) - ★★★★☆

That’s scary.

Mountainhead from Everything Everything is beautiful. Very sad and painful but beautiful. Can’t stop listening to it.

I want to witness a big move from iOS to Android. I’m here for it, who’s gonna do it first? What phones people will be getting?

At this point I don’t even rememberer last time I was on Instagram.

If you think that EU is in the wrong in Apple vs EU case then you should feel bad.

Apple terminated Epic’s developer account.

Honestly seeing what apple does and how they are managing this need to be compliant with European law is just making me consider becoming more system-agnostic (and in the end - probably less apple dependant). Now it’s definitely a good thing that I’ve bought PC. Considering a Pixel phone is - I think - a step in right direction too, unfortunately. Great job Apple!

Uh, new Nothing Phone (2a) comes out to 1449 pln (about $365). It’s MUCH LESS than Pixel and just enough for me to consider it to have as a toy with Android… Wife tells me to just get Pixel 8 but this 2a is like 50% cheaper and - in this case of getting an Android phone to fuck around and find out - I like cheaper.

A couple of months ago, I posted My Defaults and My Software EDC, but that was when I was in an Apple-only ecosystem. Since then, I’ve bought my first PC in 15 years that I love and adore and use every day. There’s no way I’m going to ditch my MacBook Air for something that has Windows on it (Apple machines are of better quality and I love macOS on laptops), but I think on desktop, Windows is working actually really, really well.

Let’s start with the defaults first, and then I’m going to provide you with some more content regarding my software EDC because that has to change a lot since I’m on Windows more than I’m on macOS.

📨 Mail Client: I use Fastmail for personal use and Gmail for work. Therefore, on iOS, I use mail.app + Gmail, on macOS I use browsers only, and on Windows, I use a browser only too.

📮 Mail Server: Fastmail for personal use, Google for Work.

📝 Notes: Obsidian and Tot for quick notes, but I’m moving my quick notes more and more to…

✅ To-Do: Microsoft To Do! It’s quick, easy, multi-platform, and costs nothing. It isn’t Things, but it works pretty well for me. For work, I’m using Akiflow because it combines tasks with a calendar.

📷 iPhone Photo Shooting: Camera.app, but I’m using Canon G5X Mark II and Sony A6000 for photography more.

🟦 Photo Management: Lightroom + Photos in iCloud.

📆 Calendar: Calendar on iOS, Akiflow on Windows and Mac.

📁 Cloud File Storage: iCloud + Backblaze B2.

📖 RSS: FreshRSS + Reeder on iOS/Mac and browser/Fluent Reader for Windows. I’m trying to use Fluent Reader, but my brain doesn’t work the way Fluent Reader works, so I’m using the iPhone more for RSS.

🙍🏻‍♂️ Contacts: Contacts.

🌐 Browser: Arc isn’t yet available for Windows (at least for me), so I’m using Arc Search on iOS, and then Microsoft Edge for personal browsing on macOS + Windows and Chrome for work.

💬 Chat: Telegram, Signal, WhatsApp, Slack.

🔖 Bookmarks: Browser.

📑 Read It Later: Good Links, but since it’s not on Windows, I’m going to have to find some alternatives (I’m not really reading the stuff I’m putting there, so maybe I just shouldn’t bother).

📜 Word Processing: Obsidian.

🤖 Mastodon: Ivory on Apple-things and browser on Windows.

📖 Blog: micro.blog and Day One.

📈 Spreadsheets: Google Thing.

📊 Presentations: Google Thing.

🛒 Shopping Lists: My wife and I just send each other messages about what to get.

💰 Budgeting and Personal Finance: YNAB.

🎵 Music: Spotify (but I do have an Apple Music sub that’s just there).

🎤 Podcasts: Pocket Casts.

🎮 Gaming: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and Anbernic RG35XX.

🔐 Password Management: 1Password.

👨🏻‍💻 Terminal: WebSSH on iOS/macOS and Hyper on Windows.

Now onto my software EDC:

Let’s start with the first custom thing here because the rest of it isn’t interesting.

1. qbittorent - for my Linux-distribution-downloading needs.
2. 1Password.
3. Hyper - my terminal of choice for Windows.
4. Edge - personal browser.
5. Obsidian.
6. Sticky Notes - I find myself using them sometimes, so I find it handy to have them there.
7. Apple Music.
8. Spotify.
9. Pocket Casts.
10. Microsoft To Do.
11. Apple TV app - no idea why but hey, it’s here.
12. Amazon Prime Video - I haven’t ever used it, but I thought to myself why not.
13. Raindrop - oh, that’s the app I’m trying for bookmarks and read later! I’m not using it, though, not at all.
14. Fluent Reader - RSS reader with FreshRSS support.
15. Element - Not really using that, but if I ever want to, it’s here.
16. Discord - some friends are using that and the game I’m playing (Torn) moved from Torn’s chat onto Discord.
17. Signal.
18. Telegram.
19. WhatsApp.
20. Parsify is a calculator that works just like Soulver on macOS worked, I love it.
21. Chatbox is my ChatGPT app of choice, works perfectly fine - better than any apps I’ve found on macOS!
22. Slack.
23. Akiflow.
24. Gmail somehow turned into an app.
25. Chrome.
26. RePOS App (the thing I’m working on in my day job).
27. Twitch streaming app (I’m not streaming, yet!).
28. Epic Games Launcher.
29. Steam Launcher.
30. Minecraft Launcher.
31. Xbox App.

The things that you weren’t able to see but they are here:

1. Flameshot for screenshots - I wish there was Cleanshot X for Windows, but there isn’t, so I’m using that instead.
2. Adobe Creative Cloud - Lightroom + Photoshop. I’ve got it, I’m using it most days, didn’t bother to put it in the taskbar, though.
3. NextDNS is always open and in use.
4. Hurl is the app I’m using to always give me an option to pick which browser I should use. As I said, I’m using Chrome for Work and Edge for personal, so whenever I’m opening a link on Slack or Telegram, it asks me which browser should it be opened with. I think there’s a way to make it automatic to open links from Slack always with Chrome, but I’m not bothered by that (sometimes I’m using Edge for links from Slack, so let’s say this is a desired behavior).
5. Tailscale is my VPN of choice to connect with all of my different servers.

That’s it - my defaults and EDC in one long entry. I hope that makes it easier for people to see what apps they could use, especially when they’re on Windows. If you have any questions or recommendations, just shout!

One day I’m gonna come back with my defaults and my software EDC now that I’m on Windows because being on Mac is easy - you just use Apple stuff or the same apps that are on Mac and on iOS but adding Windows to the mix - that makes things interesting!

New lamp, looks pretty!

Finally got photos from last trip developed so… Please allow me to show you some more pics!

I want an android phone 🤷🏻‍♂️

Apple Music works better on Windows than it works on Mac.

Windows might make me more open to giving Android another try, but there’s no comparable alternative to the Apple Watch on Android, which is a downside (especially since I’m now actively engaged in sports and rely on these fitness tracking features).

Windows on my PC is working great. I love that I am able to play games in my spare time, but what I love the most is that I’ve got LOTS and LOTS of CPU and RAM to use. I can open every single thing I want to have opened, and there are literally zero issues. In terms of a mental shift, I believe that Windows/PC is definitely going to be THE OS to use on the desktop, but there is no way I might use a Windows laptop. Therefore, I think that Windows-desktop-PC and Mac-laptop-mobile is the way to go for me now.

Since becoming a Windows user I’m trying to move from Apple-only apps to cross-platform and it’s actually going pretty well? The only thing I’m seriously missing is Things but Microsoft Todo (especially being free!) is actually a pretty good alternative to Things.

If your device doesn’t have usb-c port for charging I don’t want it

But I’m also an audio nerd who owns a handful of very nice headphones and earbuds. And sometimes I just want to plug in my USB-C dongle, lay on the couch, and truly sink into a new album. And it’s those moments where I’m inevitably disappointed with Spotify, because I know what I’m hearing isn’t the best it can be. I’m paying for an objectively inferior listening experience. Well, I was. A couple months ago, I got tired of waiting, so I let my longtime Spotify subscription lapse and purchased a year’s worth of Apple Music.

I’m using Spotify after a full year of Apple Music. I do have a set of pretty good headphones to listen to good quality music but Spotify recommendations are hard to beat. They’re just too good to pass on. I do romance with Apple Music still, though. On the other hand it has quality that’s just unavailable on Spotify and I hear it. 😤

He ended his talk with a slide showing a huge QR code, which got a laugh.

“Anybody holding up a camera?” Joyce asked. “Who’s gonna [photograph] the QR code from the NSA guy?”