The Finest Tools

School has me locked up with studying and writing and is eating up exorbitant amounts of time. That’s what I signed up for with my return to university, but that doesn’t make it any easier to have neglected this writing to the extent I have. Remaining healthily social, physically active and otherwise staying sane takes some effort and all the time I’ve been able to peel out from studies.

Having a strong toolkit helps. A solid media player, cell phone and laptop are things I couldn’t thrive without. Clunkier, less efficient things just don’t cut it when I am trying to get all I can from my time.

Walks are an important activity for me, and I like to maximize what I’m getting from them by listening to podcasts, lectures and other talks, music and braintech. My YP-T9 is an elegant device that allows me to be listening and ready to receive calls on my cell phone with the touch of a button, all with the same headset. On walks this is invaluable, especially when I’m making my way along a rocky beach and don’t want to be fumbling, lest I fall on the rocks.

When I’m working on essays, chatting with friends, catching up on the latest Integral Life goodies, reading hundreds of RSS articles or any number of other important tasks, I’m settled in with the reliable Dell laptop I call Lunar. I’m running Ubuntu Gutsy on Lunar, and it’s the best OS I’ve ever immersed myself in. I can’t imagine going back to a Windows or Mac OS now that I’ve tasted what’s out here in the free world of open source operating systems. Ubuntu, when tweaked a bit, is stunning, efficient, intuitive and beautiful beyond anything else I’ve encountered. Software like Amarok, Miro, Firefox and Pidgin are as good as you can get, as far as I’m concerned. And the best software is entirely free.

I’m thankful I have some solid tools to work and stay connected with the world, and I’m happy to have them looking sharp as well. I’ve been sliding custom skin stickers from MyTego onto each of them and having such beautiful devices makes using them even better. The service is superb from Tego and the skins are excellent.

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