Notes#

As far as note-taking goes, it’s a habit I’ve always wanted but could never keep up. I have separate post where I talk about note-taking apps

Browser#

Firefox#

• For years I waffled between browsers, but I’ve now settled into Firefox for quite a while
• I also like avoiding Google as much as I can

Mail#

ThunderBird#

• I remember trying this years ago and not being very impressed, but its since gotten a UI redesign and whether the functionality is the same as when I last tried or not, it feels much nicer to use now
• This I also installed early March 2024 but with several email accounts, its nice to have them all in one place

Utilities#

Everything#

• Only installed this recently on 2024-03-08 but so far, it’s already 100x better than default File Explorer search

ShareX#

• Alternative to SnagIt that I used heavily at previous jobs
• Awesome for screen and repeated region capture and immediately copying to the clipboard

Microsoft PowerToys#

• This I also recently installed on 2024-03-09, but so far they’ve been helpful
• Specifically:
  • Always On Top
  • Fancy Zones
  • Rename
  • Awake
  • Color Picker
  • Peek
  • Run

Windows Terminal#

• The customization is a lot of fun, especially with color themes, 75% opacity with acrylic (blur) backgrounds, and animated GIF backgrounds
• It also plays nicely with WSL2, as I can open up a tab for Ubuntu and everything’s good to go
• There’s a plugin called EverythingPowerToys that returns Everything’s search results when prepending the search with `
  • Ever so slight delay compared to just using Everything, but convenient if you’re already in the Run search box

Data Management#

KeepassXC#

• My password manager of choice
• I have the password database stored in the cloud and the keys stored locally on my PC and phone
• The database also works with the iOS app Strongbox

Digital Art#

PaintTool Sai 2#

• Technically PaintTool Sai 1 is the only stable release, with 2 still being in development after more than 10 years…
• I like it because it’s lightweight, simple while providing most of what I need, and has the nicest feeling brush engine I’ve experienced so far
  • Easy customization of brushes, however, is lacking compared to something like CSP
• It’s dated, maintained by a single developer, and mostly forgotten about…and yet somehow I’m always drawn back to it

Clip Studio Paint (CSP)#

• While Photoshop seems to be the standard in the entertainment and visual development industries, Clip Studio seems to be the go-to for anime and general digital art

Krita#

• Krita is to GIMP as Clip Studio is to Photoshop, which is to say Krita is more suited for digital art while GIMP is more about image manipulation

Rebelle#

• I don’t use this often, but as far as digital recreation of physical media, Rebelle is hands-down the best
• The watercolor engine and the customizability of it is unmatched
• AFAIK they were the first to implement a real color mixing alibrary, so mixing blue and yellow actually yields green

3D Modeling#

Blender#

• Progress on Blender’s development has kinda exploded in the last couple years

Game Dev#

Godot#

• I’ve been playing around with game dev and using Godot has been nice

Media#

VLC Player#

• Combined with the K-Lite Codec Pack, VLC seems to play any file I’ve had to throw at it

OBS Studio#

• I don’t stream, but I use OBS Studio to do screen and audio captures