My set up

Inspired by this post by Frank Chimero... I thought I'd share a wee bit about my set up... and a few other things.

My main computer is a 13" MacBook Pro... its where I create my stuff. Its the perfect size for me and doesn't weigh too much. On it, I have the following:

• Adobe Creative Suite 3 - I have only scratched the surface of this... mainly using Photoshop to create the images for album covers, posters and the like.
• Adobe Lightroom 2 - this app is what I use for my photography... mainly for colouring and cropping.
• Quicksilver - a tremendous free app for launching apps... you need to use it to understand it.
• Things - its my To Do app... syncing with both my iPad and my iPhone... and helping me to get things done.
• Reeder - again, an app that I have on my iPad and iPhone... that handles my RSS feeds along with Pulse on my iPad. I like the way it presents the feeds... and yes, I still use RSS.
• Twitter - I use the official Twitter app on my MBP. Its not ideal but it works for me.
• Yammer - I use Yammer for private convos with my Something Beautiful buddies.
• Skype - I use this mainly for convos for the Something Beautiful podcast... but I am known to catch up with pals for the odd off-the-record blether on there too.
• Google Chrome - I use Chrome as my main browser and am very pleased with it... albeit this may change with their recent announcement that they won't be supporting H.264 HTML5.
• Paparazzi - an app for screenshots. Works well with most pages but doesn't always like Bandcamp.
• Evernote - A fab note app that I have on my iPad and iPhone too.
• iTunes
• iPhoto - I use iPhoto for my 35mm photo scans and pics from my iPhone. I like the way it works with Flickr and Facebook.
• Camerabag - a fab wee app that allows me to filter my photos... give them a vintage feel etc.
• iMovie - not an app that I've mastered... but would love to.
• Garageband - for recording audio and creating my mixcasts.
• Silverkeeper - a back-up app that syncs folders on my harddrives.
• Microsoft Office for Mac - I tried Open Office but just couldn't get comfy. Office for Mac rocks and I'm not *that much* of a fan-boy to admit it.

I consume content on my iPad... which is something that I never thought I needed until I became dependent on it. The main apps I use on it are as follows:

• YouVersion's Bible app
• Minimal Folio - for presenting my photos to clients and, to be honest, anyone who stops long enough.
• Quickoffice - for reviewing and editing .doc, .xls & .ppt files on the go.
• Simplenote - a wonderfully simple app for notes that syncs with "the cloud" and runs on my iPhone to.
• Things - as mentioned above.
• Zenbe Lists - for my "life lists" like "things for Olly's Christmas" or "what's in my camerabag" for when I go on a shoot.
• Kindle, iBooks & Stanza - for books... and .pdfs. I have them on my iPhone too but only the Kindle app syncs between my iPhone and iPad (and MBP too). I like that and wish iBooks and Stanza did too.
• Instapaper - an app I love - you save long content on the internet (blog posts etc) for reading "offline".
• Pulse and Flipboard - for consuming blogs / websites. I prefer Pulse, if I am honest, and use it on my iPhone too.
• Twitter - I use the official Twitter app on my iPad and iPhone too. I like it.
• Reeder and Evernote - As discussed above.
• Friendly - For Facebook.
• Angry Birds, Words for Friends, Peggle, BeJewelled, Cut the Rope & Tetris are my fave games... on both my iPad and iPhone.

I use both my iPhones main for communicating... the iPhone 4 is my personal phone and my first gen iPhone is my "published" number at work. I won't go into the apps I have on them... I have mentioned the main ones above... other than to mention Instagram and Hipstamatic - two fab photo apps.

I have two iPods that I use too. I got to the point with the 80gb one... where I was deleting content to add new stuff... and I wanted to do the music justice. I love to be able to fulfil the need to listen to any album I want in my collection. Yes, I could subscribe to Spotify, but I like to have it there... in my hand. Oh and between the two iPods I have about 80gb free... and am actively looking to fill it.

Underpinning my MBP, iPad, iPhones and iPods are two external harddrives... 

1. A 1TB harddrive partitioned in half - first half is for my MBP's Time Machine back up... and the second holds my iTunes data and my "main" Lightroom catalog. It also holds the back-up for my "working" Lightroom (which is on my MBP).
2. A 500gb harddrive is set up to mirror the second partition on the first harddrive (using Silverkeeper).

I need to get some "cloud" storage... but I am talking approx 250gbs. 

Also pictured are...

• Sony MDR-XD100 headphones... unfortunately my AIAIAI's died.
• Bodum 12oz tumbler (25p off a coffee in Starbucks... if you bring a cup)
• A physical copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets... I have it on my iPad but prefer paper when reading at the end of the day... bright screens can keep you awake (genius of the Kindle is that it isn't backlit)
• My trusty Moleskine notebook with an Adam Howie and a Lowercase Noises stickers on the front.

Oh and my fave analogue camera... the Olympus Trip 35. Picked up cheap on eBay before they went up in price. The output is fantastic... especially with the sensor, ability to go to f2.8 and the wonderful glass lens.

So yeah... that's me. That's my digital (and analogue) life... all within a Gap Messenger that I picked up for a tenner.

What's in your bag?

Tx


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