Now

This is what I am busy with, right now, the projects I’m working on and the tech I’m using.

Work

I work at the Gelder Group as a full stack web developer. I’m building health and safety applications for the construction industry using progress web app technologies. I also provide a sysadmin role looking after a number of Linux servers and services.

Projects

Wub Wub Wub, I’m starting a new WordPress development studio. I’ve been a user and fan of WordPress for about 19 years and I know its inner workings pretty well, so I’ve decided to pimp my services as WordPress developer. I’m super keen to work with businesses that are looking to integrate their business systems with their websites by way of custom themes, plugins and APIs. Interested? Get in touch.

Technology

Software

I started creating a list of software that I use, before realising it would take me forever to write. So instead, here are some highlights:

• Fedora Workstation – this is my desktop OS of choice. I’ve been a Linux user for 20+ years and I have even dabbled in creating a distribution. For most of that time I’ve used Debian based distros, but I have now switched to Fedora and I’m loving it.
• Debian – this is my server OS of choice. I’ve been using Debian servers for years and they have never let me down. I love the stability.
• GNOME – this is my DE of choice. It’s simple, beautiful and elegant. I use many of the default GNOME applications, including GNOME Terminal and Nautilus file manager.
• fish – is my shell of choice. See How to install fish shell.
• Firefox – this is my web browser of choice. I have Chrome installed for testing, but Firefox is my daily driver. I think it’s important to support Firefox and try to help prevent a browser monoculture.
• Visual Studio Code – this is my editor of choice. Prior to this, I was an avid Sublime Text user.
• Beekeeper Studio – a handy SQL client. I use this for most quick-n-dirty SQL queries, but also use DBeaver when I need to breakout the big guns.
• Inkscape – is my image editor of choice. I’ll try and do all image editing within Inkscape, but occasionally I’ll open GIMP.
• Blender – is my video editor of choice.
• Curtail – my image compressor of choice. I’ve also recently started using YOGO Image Optimizer, which is similar to Curtail but with the added benefit of being able to quickly convert to other image formats, including WebP.
• Shortwave – for when I want to listen to some tunes. I currently have an unhealthy obsession with county music.
• Podcasts – is my podcast client of choice. If you’re interested, you can check out what I’m listening to on my podcasts page.

Hardware

I’m currently using the follow tech:

• Laptops:
  • Lenovo ThinkPad T470s, Intel i5-7300U (4) @ 3.500GHz, 16GB RAM running Fedora Workstation
  • Razer Blade 15, i7-10750H, NVIDIA RTX 2070, 16GB RAM running Fedora Workstation
• Desktop: Intel i5-10400 (12) @ 4.300GHz, NVIDIA GTX 1660 SUPER, 16GB RAM running Fedora Workstation
• Phone: Apple iPhone 11
• Watch: Apple Watch Series 3
• Headphones:
  • Bose QuietComfort 45
  • Shokz OPENMOVE Bone Conduction