Thord D. Hedengren

ℹ️ This is an archived legacy site for link purposes only.

Setup (November 2017)

My setup is always in flux, and so will this page be. I’ll try to keep up here, as well as keep a log of older setups. I’ve decided to divvy up my gear in what I’m doing, such as writing or traveling, rather than breaking it down to hardware and software.

As always, if you have a cool workflow or a gadget that you just have to have, please tweet to @tdh on Twitter and let me know. I love that stuff.

Updated November 2017 (iPhone X replaced iPhone 7 Plus, B&W P5 Wireless removed, a Qi battery, and then some).

Overall setup

I’ve broken down my setup a bit, because it gets a bit silly otherwise. This is not an exhaustive list unfortunately, I have way too many gadgets. Some would say it’s a problem.

  • Mobile devices and their accessories:
  • Computers:
    • 15” MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (3.3GHz i7, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD in somber space gray), sometimes with Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, and propped on a Rain mStand.
    • 12” MacBook (1.2GHz Core M5, 8 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD in gorgeous gold), which I planned on getting rid of but just couldn’t.
    • Asus ROG G20 (3.6GHz i7-7700, 1 TB SATA, 512 GB M.2 SSD, 16 GB RAM, GTX 1080 8 GB running Windows 10) with Razer BlackWidow TE, Razer Mamba, and Xbox One Elite controller. This thing kicks gaming ass and is connected to the Sony Bravia KDL-something HDTV (soon to be replaced by a 4K HDR thing, I’m sure).
  • Entertainment devices:
    • Apple TV (4th gen, 64 GB) for TV.
    • Nintendo Switch with Pro controller, also known as the Zelda and Skyrim machine.
    • PlayStation 4, Wii U, PS Vita, and a bunch of older and mostly forgotten video game consoles.
    • Dual CS 5000 turntable, connected to Denon PMA1510AE receiver, with two B&W floor speakers, and a B&W subwoofer. I have a bunch of records too.
  • Various gear, tools, and other things that’s worth mentioning:

Apps I’m currently using

This list only contains the primary apps that I use fairly regularly. That means that you won’t find Adobe Premiere CC here, even though I fire it up every now and then.

  • Writing and taking notes:
    • Notes (stock app, macOS and iOS) for quick notes, longer ones go in iA Writer (macOS and iOS) for notes and longform writing.
    • GoodNotes (iOS) for serious note taking.
    • Pages (macOS and iOS) when needed.
    • Google Docs (web and iOS) for project documents at the office.
    • reMarkable is a nice e-ink note-taking tablet that actually fits in my workflow, for now.
  • Development:
    • Brackets (macOS), but it’s not perfect. Might switch to Sublime Text 3 (again).
    • Textastic (iOS) can open git repositories from Working Copy.
    • Tower (macOS) for git.
    • Working Copy (iOS) for git.
    • ForkLift (macOS) for FTP’ing (but most deploys are through git).
  • Design:
    • Adobe Illustrator CC (macOS) for logos.
    • Pixelmator (macOS and iOS) is mostly used to fix blemishes, cropping, and resizing.
    • Sketch (macOS) as little as possible.
    • Adobe Comp CC (iOS) for design.
    • MindNode (iOS) to mindmap something.
  • Various:
    • Keynote (macOS and iOS) for my presentations.
    • Numbers (macOS, rarely iOS) houses all my budgets.
    • Google Sheets (web, rarely iOS) for company-wide numbering needs.
    • Paws (macOS) makes the Trello interface a little more bearable.
    • iTunes (macOS) plays Apple Music on the Macs.
    • Music (iOS) plays Apple Music on the iOS devices.
    • Storytel (iOS) for my audio book needs.
    • Instapaper (iOS) is where I read all longform pieces, and then some.
    • Reeder 3 (iOS) for RSS.
    • Comixology (iOS) has all my comics.
    • Korg Gadget (iOS) is glorious.

Travel kit

Depending on the trip, I’ll use different bags. Daily drivers are the Axial Mini Messenger from the sadly defunct Modern Industry, as well as Booq’s Daypack. For longer trips I rely on the North Face Base Camp backpack, it’s big enough for me to never check luggage, and yet light enough for city/over day use if necessary.

The contents inside the bag rarely changes however, not counting whatever clothing I’d need for the climate.

  • iPad Pro with 29W charger and USB C to Lightning cable.
  • Magic Keyboard in Canopy sleeve/stand or the Smart Keyboard for iPad Pro, depending.
  • Apple Pencil.
  • Bose QC35 II headphones, because of noise cancellation.
  • Kindle Oasis.
  • Kanex GoPower USB C (which charges other things too, not just USB C).
  • Exelium Qi battery for iPhone X and USB charging.
  • Notebook (currently Byline by Field Notes) and three Pilot G2 pens (with black, red, and blue ink).
  • Klean Kanteen water bottle (and sometimes it’s thermos equivalent, especially over day in the Booq bag).
  • Miscellaneous:
    • Lightning to USB cable with 12W wall plug.
    • Micro USB to USB cable.
    • Kingston 32 GB USB Flash drive.
    • USB to USB C adapter.
    • Cleaning cloth.
    • Local currency, hand sanitizer, chewing gum.
    • Reading glasses.
    • If I’m traveling overnight, I’ll add the Kanex GoPower Watch battery.

Older setups