what's in my bag? - Jayson J. Phillips

I figured it’d be cool to list out what I typically have on me at any given time as it pertains to development/creative pursuits. It does mix and match depending on what I’m doing, but there’s some standards that are consistent throughout.

Software Development

For my main machine, I’m still rocking with my trusty, tried-and-true road warrior 15-inch MacBook Pro (mid-2014), Core i7/16GB DDR3 RAM (DDR3, I know, I know…). It’s retina, so I can do all the HiDi/HiDPi things, had pretty good multicore performance, and just runs… well. After also using a new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (with only 8GB of RAM :/), this machine still reigns as my favorite I’ve ever owned.

For my in-home server, I have a Core i5 Intel NUC w/ 16GB RAM running Ubuntu Server. I’m using it more and more to manage my own CI/CD on my personal projects and may mirror a personal git server on there (maybe even host it on this domain… who knows).

I have a 34-inch LG Widescreen Display, and round out with my Corsair mechanical keyboard and Razer Gaming mouse.

Remote Work/Teaching

When I’m out on the road, I usually bring along with me my iPad Pro for a couple of reasons:

For non-development work, the iPad Pro is increasingly meeting most of my needs

For photography work, I can connect it wirelessly to my Nikon D7200 and have digital contact sheets on the fly, let alone editing

I can also use it as a second screen using Duet, which comes in handy while teaching an online class or editing/coding on the full laptop.

iPad Pro + pen + keyboard case, while a bit hefty, makes for a great way to document my day on the fly.

Also along for the ride are the following:

Tzumi PocketJuice 20,000 mAh Powerbank (non-affiliate link) - with USB-C, USB (2.4 amp AND a 3.0 amp), and a lightning port, and the ability to charge/recharge from any of those ports, this thing has been a lifesaver. I’ve even run my work MacBook Pro from the USB-C port in a few emergency moments.

Fitbit Ionic - my activity tracker/smart watch of choice. JSX-driven apps, proven Fitbit tracking technology (and the watch powered by an updated version of the Pebble OS, now called Fitbit OS), this thing goes everywhere I do. Onboard GPS, Wifi, smart payments and more - it’s everything I need (and fixes everything I didn’t like about the  Watch Series 1 - including the abysmal battery life).

Bose QuietComfort 35 - These things are probably on their last leg (I have the original release) but they are still the reliable, noise-cancelling, great-sounding headset that they were when I purchased them.

iPhone 8+ - this is probably the last iPhone I’ll ever own but it is a good one.

Experimentation/Misc

In addition to the above, I also have a beowulf cluster of Raspberry Pi’s that I use to dabble in low-power, low-resource, multicore/clustered approaches to parallel and concurrent programming.

Well, there you have it.