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@@ -1,38 +1,38 @@ -People email me all the time to ask how I do this. It's easier to talk about tool than methods, so while I can't really explain how I do this to you in any meaningful way -- beyond saying, I just write, take pictures and combine them into stories, which I recognize is not particularly helpful -- here's a look at the tools I use instead. Because, consumerism! +People email me all the time to ask how I make luxagraf. It's easier to talk about tools than methods, so while I can't really explain how I do this to you in any meaningful way -- beyond saying, I just write, take pictures and combine them into stories, which I recognize is not particularly helpful -- here's a look at the tools I use. Because, consumerism! Seriously, don't buy any of this stuff, you don't need it. I don't need it. I could get by with less. I should get by with less. ## Hardware ### Notebook -My primary recording device is my notebook, which is generally a Moleskin (I know, I know) though it could also be whatever I happened to grab on my way out of the bus. I'm not all that picky about notebooks, but I could devote thousands and thousands of works to pens. At the moment I'm pretty happy with the Uniball Vision which fills my two primary requirements: 1) it writes well 2) I can buy it almost anywhere for next to nothing. +My primary "device" is my notebook. I don't have a fancy notebook. I use whatever I happened to grab on my way out of the bus. I have quite a few (from moleskins to cheapo spirals). I'm not all that picky about notebooks, if they have paper in them I'm happy enough. But I could devote thousands and thousands of words to pens. For what seems like forever I was religiously devoted to the Uniball Roller Stick Pen in micro point, which I used to swipe from my dad's desk drawer back in high school. It's a lovely pen, but the last time I went to get a box they were out so I grabbed a couple of Uniball Vision pens, which also fill my two primary requirements in a pen: 1) it writes well 2) I can buy it almost anywhere for next to nothing. ### laptop -My main laptop is a piece of still-somewhat-functional junk I bought off eBay for $300. It's a Lenovo x230 from, uh, maybe 2012 or so? I upgraded the hard drives and put in an HD screen, which brought the total outlay to $500, which is really way too much to spend on a computer these days, but my excuse is that I make money using it. +My laptop is a Lenovo <span class="strike">x230</span>, oops, x240, from, uh, maybe 2012 or so? I bought it off eBay for $300. I upgraded the hard drives and put in an HD screen, which brought the total outlay to $550, which is really way too much to spend on a computer these days, but my excuse is that I make money using it. -Why this particular laptop? It's small and the battery lasts quite a while (like 15 hrs when I'm writing, more 12 when editing photos). It also has a removable battery and can be upgraded by the user. I packed in almost 3TB of disk storage, which is nice. +Why this particular laptop? It's small and the battery lasts quite a while (like 18 hrs when I'm writing, more 15 when editing photos). It also has a removable battery and can be upgraded by the user. I packed in almost 3TB of disk storage, which is nice. It also makes a high pitch whining noise that drives me crazy whenever I'm in a quiet room with it. But since I mostly use it outdoors, sitting around our camps, this is rarely an issue. -Still, I could get by with less. I should get by with less. +Still, like I said, I could get by with less. I should get by with less. ### Camera -I have used many cameras at different points in time on this site. I went around the world the first time with a Canon point and shoot of some wort. Then I got a Panasonic GF-1, which I loved. There's also quite a few pics taken with cameras I was testing for Wired. That said, since 2016 I've been shooting primarily with two cameras, both Nikon. +I have used many different cameras at different points in time on this site. I went around the world the first time with a Canon point and shoot of some sort. Then I got a Panasonic GF-1, which I loved. There's also quite a few pics taken with other micro four-thirds cameras I tested for Wired. But, since 2016 I've been shooting primarily with two cameras, both by Nikon. -The first is the digital, a Nikon D600 (eBay, about $600). About 90% of the time I have a very fast, lightweight Nikon 35mm f/2 lens on it. This is what I use for taking pictures of the kids and walking around towns. For landscapes I generally use the Nikon 20mm f/2.8, a manual focus lens that I really, really love. Other lenses include a Nikon 70-300 zoom I use for the occasional wildlife shot, and a Rokinon 12mm Fisheye lens for shooting in tight spaces like our RV. +The first is the digital, a Nikon D600 (eBay, about $600). About 90% of the time I have a very fast, lightweight Nikon 35mm f/2 lens on it. This is what I use for taking pictures of the kids playing and when we're walking around new towns. For landscapes I generally use the Nikon 20mm f/2.8, a manual focus lens that I really, really love. Other lenses include a Nikon 70-300 zoom I use for the occasional bird or moose photo, and a Rokinon 12mm Fisheye lens for shooting in tight spaces like the big blue bus. -The other camera is 35mm film, a Nikon FE that I picked up off eBay (notice a running theme here? Buy used) for $75, which blows my mind since once upon a time as a teenager I worked for months to afford nearly the same camera. Anyway, I worry that all the digital photos will disappear one day so I wanted to leave behind some physical artifacts for my kids to dig through later in life. I typically process the color film at costco in the U.S. and send off of the black and white to a lab. But the b&w is really expensive so I mainly shoot color these days. A handful of the prints stay with us in the bus, the rest are shipped to relatives for relatively safe keeping. +The other camera is 35mm film, a Nikon FE that I picked up off eBay (notice a running theme here? Buy used and you can afford to travel more) for $75. That price blows my mind since once upon a time as a teenager I worked for months to afford nearly the same camera. Anyway, I worry that all our digital photos will disappear one day so I wanted to leave behind some physical artifacts for my kids to dig through later in life. And printing digital photos is not the same. I typically process the color film at Costco when we're in the U.S. and send off of the black and white to a lab. But the b&w is really expensive so I mainly shoot color these days. A handful of the prints stay with us in the bus, the rest are shipped to relatives for relatively safe keeping. ### Phone/Tablet/drone/wrist tracking device thingy -Don't have one. Yeah I know, I'm one of those people. We pay for everything in cash too. Terrible. +Don't have one. Yeah I know, I'm one of those people. I pay for everything in cash too. Terrible. My wife has a phone though. ## Software -The laptop runs Arch Linux because once I set it up I never have to think about it again. Because I test software for a living I also have a partition that hosts a revolving door of other Linux distros that I use from time to time, but never when I want to get work done. When I want to get work done, I use Arch. +The laptop runs Linux because everything else sucks a lot more than Linux. Which isn't too say that I love Linux, it could use some work too. But it sucks a whole lot less than the rest. I run Arch Linux, which I have written about elsewhere. The main appeal of Arch for me is that once I set it up I never have to think about it again. Because I test software for a living I also have a partition that hosts a revolving door of other Linux distros that I use from time to time, but never when I want to get work done. When I want to get work done, I use Arch. -I don't run a desktop, just a window manager (Openbox) with a menubar (tint2). I launch appsand other stuff with dmenu. +I don't run a desktop GUI, just a window manager (Openbox) with a menubar (tint2). I launch apps and other stuff with dmenu. -Almost everything I do is done inside a terminal (urxvt) the command line. I write in Vim. For email I use mutt. I read RSS feeds with newsbeuter and I listen to music via mpd. I also have a command line calculator and a locally-hosted dictionary that I use pretty regularly. +Almost everything I do is done inside a single terminal (urxvt) window running tmux, which gives me four tabs. I write in Vim. For email I use mutt. I read RSS feeds with newsbeuter and I listen to music via mpd. I also have a command line calculator and a locally-hosted dictionary that I use pretty regularly. -I do use a few GUI apps: Tor for browsing the web, Darktable and GIMP for editing photos, Stellarium for learning more about the night sky, and LibreOffice Calc for speadsheets. +I do use a few GUI apps: Tor for browsing the web, Darktable and GIMP for editing photos, Stellarium for learning more about the night sky, and LibreOffice Calc for speadsheets. That's about it. |