Mike Simmonds

What do I use?

A brief list of the software, hardware, services and tools I use daily.

As software engineers, technology is core. Not only do we make and contribute towards it, but we also consume, test and scrutinise it more than most. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it contains the things I use daily for work or play, that either enrich or make my life a little easier.

Computer setup

  • Apple MacBook Air M2 (for personal)
  • Apple MacBook Pro M1 (for work)
  • Keychron K3 Ultra-slim Wireless Mechanical Keyboard (UK ISO Layout), Version 2 - Makes typing an absolute joy. I have the RGB backlight option with red switches.
  • Logitech MX Master 3 mouse for Mac - A very comfortable ergonomic mouse that is perfect for all-day use. The charge lasts forever.
  • Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) - The noise cancelling on these is excellent, and the transparency mode is perfect when you need to let a little of the world in.
  • Apple Watch Series 9
  • Apple iPhone 15 Pro
  • Apple HomePod Mini

Home office

  • Ikea BEKANT standing desk - I mainly sit down, but this desk provides the option to raise it up, turning it into a standing desk. I find this a massive help, especially in long meetings or when you must stretch your legs and move about a bit.
  • Netgear Orbi Pro SXR80 - This is a solid WiFi 6 compatible mesh network solution. I have a router and one satellite access point, which gives me enough coverage across the whole house and even right to the end of the garden.
  • EE Full Fibre Gigabit - This runs over the Openreach network, and I get about 936mbps download and 110mbps upload. It is perfect for work and also for a family of 4 that all love online gaming; it is a must-have. Over the past 2-3 years, uptime has been great. There has only been a single incident that knocked out most of the south coast for about 24 hours.

Dev tools

  • Visual Studio Code - I’ve been using this for as long as I can remember. It is updated often and has many extensions available. Built on the shoulders of those who came before, it is certainly one of the best code editors.
  • Operator Mono - A slightly quirky monospace font. It’s one of the first coding fonts to introduce italics. With my current VSCode theme, it is mainly used for comment blocks and attributes that use italics. Much like syntax highlighting, the use of italics provides another way to help visually spot different features.
  • Warp - A great reimagined terminal. Love the auto-complete and layout options.

Services

  • Vercel - I use the hosting, and it’s excellent, easy to use, and fast.
  • GitHub (Git) - For source control.
  • GitHub Copilot - AI pair programmer, I find this particularly helpful to ‘jump start’ something I am working on. Works well at adding a scaffold or quickly getting answers to something.
  • Cloudflare - I use this for DNS.
  • Porkbun - A really reasonable domain registrar.
  • Clicky - Privacy-friendly analytics.