Despite our pretensions at wisdom, we’re still basically homo habilis: tool-using man. Show me your tools and I’ll tell you who you are.

Here is an incomplete list of the most important tools I use. Always happy to receive suggestions on better alternatives!

Writing

Personal

For personal writing (including this site) I use the most powerful thinking tool humanity has ever built: Emacs. Spacemacs in particular, which provides reasonable and mnemonic key bindings. The most important modes I use for writing are org-mode and org-roam.

Collaborative

Still looking for a good tool for collaborative writing; I use Google Docs by default, but am considering moving to Notion.

Reading

Books

I use a Kindle Oasis almost exclusively for my fiction and light non-fiction reading. The convenience, highlighting functionality and portability finally outweighed the mnemonic and spiritual benefits of paper books for me.

Papers and textbooks

To read papers and textbooks I use a Sony Digital Paper which seems to be the only surviving e-reader with reasonable PDF support and good annotation capability. I’ve considered moving to an iPad Pro but I spend enough time looking at backlit screens already.

Ergonomics

I mostly read using my LEVO Tablet Stand, which fits both my Kindle and my Digital Paper and allows for much more ergonomic reading posture.