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40  <h1><a href="/">Zanshin.net</a></h1>
41  <p>The personal site of Mark H. Nichols</p>
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164<section>
165  
166    <h1>Things I Use</h1>
167  
168  
169
170
171<span class="meta">
172  <strong><time datetime="2012-08-17">Aug 17, 2012</time></strong>
173</span><br />
174
175  <br><br>
176  <h1 id="technology">Technology</h1>
177<h2 id="hardware">Hardware</h2>
178<p><strong>Personal</strong><br>
179<a href="https://www.apple.com/macbook-air/" title="MacBook Air">15-inch M2 MacBook Air</a><br>
18016 GB RAM and 2TB of storage. This is the best computer I&rsquo;ve ever owned&ndash;form
181factor, software, everything. Fast, quiet, and unbelievably thin.</p>
182<p><a href="https://everymac.com/systems/apple/ipad/specs/apple-ipad-pro-12-9-inch-4th-gen-a2229-wi-fi-only-specs.html" title="iPadPro">12.9-inch
183iPadPro</a><br>
1842.5 GHz A12Z Bionic CPU and 256 GB storage. When my 2013 15-inch MacBook Pro
185lost its battery, I used my COVID stimulus check to purchase this iPadPro, and
186a Magic Keyboard case for it. It was my primary computer until I got the M2
187MacBook Air in 2023.</p>
188<p><strong>Employer</strong><br>
189<a href="">14-inch M2 MacBook Pro</a><br>
19032 GB RAM and 1 TB of storage.</p>
191<h1 id="software">Software</h1>
192<p><strong>Development</strong><br>
193<a href="https://neovim.io" title="Neovim">Neovim</a><br>
194I first used <code>vi</code> in 1997 and I&rsquo;ve been a full-time used of Vim and later
195Neovim since 2009. I use it for code, both on personal project and for work.
196Some of those projects are tweaking my Neovim <a href="https://github.com/zanshin/dotfiles/tree/master/nvim" title="Neovim configuration">configuration
197</a> itself.</p>
198<p><a href="https://zed.dev" title="Zed">Zed</a><br>
199Recently I&rsquo;ve been trying Zed. The project has open sourced the code, and their
200<a href="https://zed.dev/blog" title="Zed blog">blog</a> regularly has fascinating deep dives into how the editor is designed and
201works.</p>
202<p><a href="https://github.com/tmux/tmux/wiki" title="tmux">tmux</a><br>
203A terminal multiplexer, tmux allows me to have multiple session, with multiple
204windows and panes. I use it extensively on remote systems I manage or interact
205with. Being able to resume a session at a later time from the same machine or a
206different one is a super power. My <a href="https://github.com/zanshin/dotfiles/tree/master/tmux" title="tmux
207configuration">tmux
208configuration</a> is on GitHub.</p>
209<p><a href="https://mosh.org" title="Mosh">Mosh</a><br>
210Mosh is a mobile shell. Even if the connection is momentarily interrupted, mosh
211will keep things alive. I use it when I&rsquo;m working from my iPad Pro, since there
212is no guarantee that the application I&rsquo;m using, Blink, will not be
213suspended.</p>
214<p><a href="https://blink.sh" title="Blink">Blink</a><br>
215Blink is my terminal of choice on iPadOS. It comes with Mosh integration
216and makes using an iPadPro as a laptop replacement a much better experience.</p>
217<p><a href="https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/" title="Bash">Bash</a><br>
218Except for a couple of years around 2011, I&rsquo;ve been using bash as my shell for
219longer than I remember. Like Neovim and tmux, I have a
220<a href="https://github.com/zanshin/dotfiles/tree/master/bash" title="bash
221configuration">configuration</a> for bash saved in my dot files repository.</p>
222<p><a href="https://starship.rs" title="Starship">Starship</a><br>
223Starship is a Rust-language prompt that is highly cutomizable. It lets me have
224a feature rich prompt without my having to maintain it.</p>
225<p><strong>Terminal</strong><br>
226<a href="https://ghostty.org/" title="Ghostty">Ghostty</a><br>
227I&rsquo;ve been a fan of Mitchell Hasimoto since I saw him speak at a Chef conference
228in about 2013. When I learned he was developing a new terminal emulator I knew
229I would to use it. It is my primary terminal these days.</p>
230<p><strong>Hosting</strong><br>
231<a href="https://www.pair.com" title="Pair">Pair Networks</a><br>
232I used Pair for hosting my website back in the early 2000&rsquo;s but then foolishly
233moved away to less expensive options. When WebFaction was absorbed by GoDaddy,
234I returned to the fold.</p>
235<h3 id="feeds--social">Feeds / Social</h3>
236<p><strong>RSS</strong><br>
237<a href="https://netnewswire.com" title="NetNewsWire">NetNewsWire</a> <br>
238I&rsquo;ve been using NetNewsWire since 2003? 2004? It&rsquo;s bulletproof and does exactly
239what I want and need. I maintain my OPML feed locally rather than use a
2403rd-party service.</p>
241<p><strong>Mastodon</strong><br>
242I used Twitter from 2008-ish until the Musk takeover. I switched to Mastodon
243and haven&rsquo;t looked back. You can find me at <a href="https://hachyderm.io/@zanshin">@[email protected]</a>.</p>
244<p><a href="https://tapbots.com/ivory/mac/" title="Ivory">Ivory</a><br>
245As soon as I was able to acquire a Test Flight seat for Ivory, it became my
246preferred Mastodon client. I use it on my phone, iPad, and MacBook Air daily.</p>
247<h1 id="music">Music</h1>
248<h2 id="hardware-1">Hardware</h2>
249<p><strong>Cellos</strong><br>

250I have two acoustic and one electric cello.</p>
251<p><a href="http://www.jayhaide.com/Cello/Statue-Model-Cello" title="Statue Model Cello">Jay Haide model</a>.<br>
252My current cello is a wonderful Jay Haide 4/4 Statue Euro Ruggeri model that I purchased new in 2021.
253It has a rich, deep voice, and tremendous power. I&rsquo;m still learning all the
254nuances to its character.</p>
255<p><a href="https://www.eastmanstrings.com/cello" title="Hans Stainer 100">Hans Stainer 100</a><br>
256My first acoustic cello was labeled Hand Stainer 100, but I believe is actually and
257Eastman 100. This was the perfect instrument for me to start on. I currently
258have it tuned for the Bach 5th Cello suite.</p>
259<p><a href="https://thinkns.com/instrument/ns-design-electric-cello/ns-design-electric-cello-wav/">NS Design WAV</a><br>
260In 2014 I bought a 5-string electric cello from NS Design. In late 2025 I sold
261it and replaced it with a 4-string NS Design WAV cello.</p>
262<p><a href="https://www.codabow.com/collections/cello-performance-models/products/diamond-sx-cello" title="CodeBow SX">CodeBox Diamond SX</a><br>
263I&rsquo;ve been playing with this carbon fiber bow for the past 12 or so years.
264Someday I&rsquo;ll explore a wooden bow.</p>
265<p><strong>Mandolin</strong><br>
266<a href="https://amzn.to/450iG8N" title="Savanah SA-110">Savanah SA-110</a><br>
267I bought this oval-hole mandolin from the local music store on a whim
268in 2019. I&rsquo;ve been slowly teaching myself to play. That it is tuned in 5ths,
269like my cello, has helped immensely in learning to play it.</p>
270<h2 id="software-1">Software</h2>
271<p><a href="https://www.tonalenergy.com" title="Tonal Energy">TonalEnergy Tuner</a><br>
272For tuning and metronome I use the Tonal Energy app on my iPhone. It has far
273more features than I&rsquo;ll ever use, but it works well, and I like the smiley
274faces you get when you are in tune.</p>
275<p><a href="https://forscore.co" title="forScore">forScore</a><br>
276forScore is a digital sheet music app I run on my iPadPro. Under the covers it
277is a PDF viewer and editing tool, customized for sheet music. I highly
278recommend it.</p>
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287    <article>
288      <h3> Mark H. Nichols </h3>
289      <p>
290        I am a husband, cellist, code prole, nerd, technologist, and all around good guy living
291        and working in fly-over country. You should follow me on
292        <a href="https://hachyderm.io/@zanshin">Mastodon</a>.
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