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A reader asked me a few days ago what tools or programs I use every day for productivity and coding.

I use very simple programs; in fact I try to either find the simplest program for a certain task or write it myself. As it is my mind is busy with every day tasks, so I don’t want to put more stress to it by having to deal with complex programs. The majority of these programs are single-task oriented and save their output as plain text files or other open formats.

At home and on personal projects I use a Mac and sometimes I dive into BSD Unix or Linux when I need to use my server for a pentest or perform a forensics analysis; at work I am stuck with Windows. I also own an iPhone and an iPad (which is replacing my laptop on all tasks except software development). Because of the different platforms I use I need the simplicity of having everything in plain text or at least in a format that can be easily imported (such as XML or other open formats).

Having all this in mind, these are the tools I use, sorted by OS.

Mac:

• Terminal running BASH
• Notational Velocity, with Simplenote syncing for pretty much everything: from note taking to brain dumps.
• Command line calendar to manage my calendar. I live a lot on the command line so i wrote this one to manage my appointments from there. This version has iCal support so my appointments are automatically added to iCal and then to my iPhone.
• Todo command line and Tasks to manage my tasks. Both programs are very simple and provide a minimal way to manage my list of tasks. I usually set the list in the beginning of the week and by Friday it is empty!
• OneThingToday to do the same as the above. It’s going to replace tasks and todo soon.
• ShoveBox to manage my snippets of information, however this program is being replaced by Notational Velocity so it will soon be gone
• iDocument to manage receipts and other important documents that were scanned and converted to a PDF (I try to be as paperless as I can)
• XCode for Mac and iPhone code. It’s big and sometimes too much for what I need, but I love the interface and how easy it is to get immediate help.
• TextMate for non Objective-C coding. When I need to code in python, C, Ruby or other languages this is the tool to go.
• Snippets to manage my code snippets
• Stainless to browse the internet
• Nambu as my Twitter client
• My own Kill Flash Cookies, sphero, chphero, phero to maintain my browsing history clean and private
• Cyberduck for FTP
• Handbrake to make copies of the movies I own
• Video Monkey to convert any video so I can watch it on my Mac, iPhone/iPad or Apple TV.
• VLC to watch movies
• MouseClick to click the mouse for me
• Time Machine for backups
• 1Password to keep my passwords safe
• AirMoose as my wireless stumbler (only on the laptop)
• AppDelete as a simple and clean way to delete applications that I don’t need
• TrueCrypt to maintain an encrypted volume for private files
• Dropbox for file sharing

Linux/BSD:

• Gnome Terminal running BASH
• MC (Midnight Commander) for file management
• Gedit for note taking, coding and pretty much any text editing.
• Evince open PDFs
• MouseClick to click the mouse for me
• Command line calendar and todo to manage my appointments and todo lists
• Kismet as the stumbler for Linux
• a large set of security and penetration test tools
• Chromium for web browsing
• My own Kill Flash Cookies, sphero, chphero, phero to maintain my browsing history clean and private
• TrueCrypt to maintain an encrypted volume for private files
• VLC to media playing

Windows:

• Cygwin with BASH as a command line
• Extreme Editor as my text editing and coding app
• Codex for snippet management
• Notes with Simplenote syncing for note taking and brain dumps
• Total Commander for file management
• Putty for SSH
• WinSCP for SCP and SFTP
• Chrome for web browsing
• My own Kill Flash Cookies, sphero, chphero, phero to maintain my browsing history clean and private
• TrueCrypt to maintain an encrypted volume for private files
• Tasks to manage my todo list
• Command line calendar and todo to manage my appointments and todo lists
• App Hide to get the unused apps out of the way
• Micrometer to keep an eye on the resources (CPU and Memory)
• VLC to media playing
• Dropbox for file sharing

iPhone/iPad:

• Simplenote, I can’t live without it.
• Instapaper
• 1Password
• Dropbox for file sharing
• iBooks
• NowDoThis for task management
• OneThingToday for task management
• Skype for keeping in touch with friends all over the world
• Pandora for music
• TweetDeck for Twitter

Cloud:

• Gmail for mail
• Instapaper
• Simplenote
• 37Signals Highrise and Campfire

That’s it. I hope this answers the question.

“Now every purchase I make comes with a second-guess: Do I really need this? Like really, really need this? In the past year, “impulse buy” has left my vocabulary. I found myself buying fewer things, but also nicer things. On the whole, it’s led me to cherish my few purchases more. Every possession also requires a certain amount of upkeep, and I find myself with more time and less possessional guilt. Every thing owned begs to be used constantly; every second not utilized comes a shred of buyer’s remorse. Everything I own I use at least once per month, save for my winter clothes.”

- Mark Frauenfelder, The nitty-gritty of whittling down your possessions

For the past few years, I’ve been collecting notes and quotes on minimalism, and with those trying to sculpt a new definition of minimalism. The one Wikipedia uses (‘the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features’) is just too loose for my liking.

Minimalism and its extensions are so diverse, that it has proven to be difficult to find the common denominators. I started at Minimal Art, continued through minimalist architecture, and looked at industrial design, graphic design, photography, and so on, and so on.

Right now I’m at at point where I think it’s got something. Time to ask for thoughts and feedback, so here goes:

The result so far

Minimalism is an artistic movement which sets out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts.

Does that makes sense?

From my choice of words and elements you may notice that I am pretty hardcore and philosophical in my views, and what I consider to be ‘real’ minimalism. To me, it’s all about less variation in form (more repetition), less visual details (more whitespace), less noise (more signal), less ‘interestingness’ (more purity), et cetera.

The result of a successful minimalist exercise is a direct view on the true form of the subject, which people may appreciate for its honesty, its calm, the absence of triviality, and the freedom from emotions.

Please comment!

What do you think about this definition – is his one better than the one on Wikipedia? What should I change? I’d love to hear!

fuckyeahbass:

Aram Bedrosian - A dark Light

For lack of a better word I will use awesome, but it’s more than that. It’s simply powerful.

How to live a single tasking life

BBC News - Cult of less: Living out of a hard drive:

Mr Sutton is the founder of CultofLess.com, a website which has helped him sell or give away his possessions - apart from his laptop, an iPad, an Amazon Kindle, two external hard drives, a “few” articles of clothing and bed sheets for a mattress that was left in his newly rented apartment.

Extreme? Yes. Sure is kind of interesting though.