It’s Thanksgiving, so time to reflect on what I’m thankful for.
Okay, I’m not American… but I work for an American company and have a lot of American colleagues, so this week has been quieter than usual – that helped put me in a thankful mood! I thought I’d share some of the stuff I got this year that I have loved more than I expected.
Cable organiser (link)
My laptop bag has long been a knotted nest of cables. When I needed a cable, finding the one I wanted and untangling it was a pain. This is something I should’ve got years ago!
Arc web browser (link)
I’ve been using Arc as my main (desktop) web browser for a few months now. It’s different, and took a while to adapt to the way it does things: spaces, tabs, bookmarks etc. but I embraced it and it has paid off. It’s brought order to the chaotic sprawl of endless tabs I used to have in Chrome / Safari!
Zipper bracelet (link)
Colourful plastic zips, turned into bracelets.
I can’t really explain this one… I don’t remember where I first heard of them, but I got a few of these this year. I started wearing a different one each day, but quickly settled into just wearing the blue / purple one.
I’m not sure why I like it so much, but there’s something I like about fidgeting with the zip.
Interestingly, no-one has questioned it (at least not to my face). So it’s either not super noticeable, or they’re not as unusual as I think?
NieR: Automata (End of YoRHa Edition) (link)
Best game I’ve played this year. It’s not even close.
I spent three months immersed in NieR: Automata and it blew me away. It’s the deepest and most thought-provoking game I’ve ever played. If I had to pick a poster-child game to demonstrate how video games can be art, it’d be this. Half a year later, the characters and the story and the ideas it raises are still with me. Loved it.
iPad Mini (link)
I hadn’t owned a tablet for many years, but in June I splashed out and treated myself to an iPad Mini (6th generation).
I also got a few things to go with it, that I’ll list below. I’m a huge fan of all of them (with the possible exception of the Logitech keyboard… it’s not the most comfortable typing experience, but I haven’t found anything I like better that is as thin or small).
In rough order of priority, I got the iPad to be:
- notebook – I take a lot of notes with it, every day – it’s replaced the paper notebooks I used to carry everywhere
- reader – I read most days, a lot, more than I used to – all non-fiction, mostly technical content
- planner – it’s now my todo list and diary
- email – I read and reply to more email here than on my laptop
I’ve been intentional about this. I want it to be something I use to work and to learn. For example, I’ve never installed any games on it. I’m sure there are loads of great games for iOS, but I have other places to play games and want to keep them separate. I’ve optimised the iPad (in my head, as much as through setup and config) for note-taking, reading, and organising.
I’ve loved it. It goes pretty much everywhere with me, and it’s been transformative. I feel more organised, and more informed. It was expensive, and more than a little bit extravagant… but I wish I’d done this years ago.
- case: Incase City Sleeve
- stylus: Apple Pencil (2nd generation)
- cover: Apple Smart Folio
- screen cover: Paperlike
- note taking app: Goodnotes
- reading app: Pocket
- feed reader: feedly
- organiser: Microsoft To Do
- email: Microsoft Outlook
- keyboard: Logitech Keys-To-Go
And I already had an old mouse (Apple Magic Mouse) and an even older bag (Proporta Gadget Bag) that all of this now lives in.