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Tech I Use
Right now, as of 21 minutes ago this is the main tech I use:
Email, Docs, and Drive: Proton Email. I love Proton so much I pre-purchased 3yr of my subscription in support (which normally I would not recommend doing for services, but I trust and support them and want them to succeed. Plus, email is something I don’t want to have to worry about for years).
Writing: Ulysses. Ulysses is an excellent app that honestly isn’t worth $40/yr. So while I love it, I can’t recommend it.
Search: On desktop I use Brave Search when I can. I find it to be the best option out of a slew of bad options. On my phone (and when I want to use Safari on my laptop) I use DuckDuckGo. It’s also mostly fine. I’m at the point where I think both of these options are better than Google. I've tried Kagi, but it's just not worth $10/mo and is objectively worse than Brave.
Notes: Apple notes. But never completely satisfied with it.
Laptop: 2024 MacBook Air
Phone: iPhone 14 Pro
Headphones: AirPods Pros
Hosting: Right now I use Magicpages for my Ghost site. I love it. But it’s probably overkill, and I doubt I'll continue after this year. Ghost is so powerful as a distribution tool, but since my goal isn't really writing for distribution, I'm unsure that really matters.
This site uses Bear. Bear is delightful and long-term I'll probably switch to it.
Obviously I'm paying way too much for hosting and need to simplify this.
Domains: Cloudflare. I have qualms about them being a US company and being cozy with Trump’s administration. But they’re the best in the business and are dirt cheap. I used to use Spaceship, which is owned by Namecheap and was... fine? I didn't like the interface and heard that the company can be kinda scummy.
instagram methadone
I have tried for years to curb my instagram usage. And after trying everything, I’ve finally found something that works. I call it Instagram methadone, but it’s really just the instagram web app. If you struggle with getting off instagram too, you should try it!
Here’s how it works: delete the instagram app off your phone. Then, go to Instagram in your browser and click “Add to home screen”.
You will still have instagram on your phone… It just sucks now!
It’s like a maintenance drug.
You can still use Reels all you like, they just suck now. DMs and search are still there, they just also suck. The endless scroll is even still there, but it also sucks. There’s no limits, but since it’s not really enjoyable, you’ll naturally find yourself not being as addictive.
This is probably how all social media apps should be, and there’s probably a lot more to be written on this. But for now I hope this helps!
I used to average something like 2-4 hours a day on instagram. I really hated it. Now I’m at like 0-15min. I feel ridiculous saying this but I feel like I’ve gotten part of my life back.