Uses

This is a list of everything I use that I could think of to list here. If I forgot anything, feel free to let me know.

Hardware

I actually have three hardware setups. It’s kind of annoying and a big reason that I use Git for everything (but more on that later).

  • In my office I use a Dell-prebuilt Precision 5820 with Windows 10 Enterprise. The processor is an Intel Core i9-10980XE 3.00 GHz; 64Gb RAM; AMD Radeon Pro WX 2100 processor.
  • In my house I use a Dell prebuilt that I’ll have to fill in the details for eventually cause I never remember.
  • On the go I use a 2017 12” macbook with the retina screen. It’s super lightweight and I liked that a lot while carrying it everywhere in undergrad, but now I find it very underwhelming for the price point and probably will never buy another Mac.
  • My phone is a Samsung Galaxy A50. I leave it on do-not-disturb so if you aren’t my parents or sister it is unlikely that I will see your texts or calls in a reasonable amount of time.

Coding

  • I almost exclusively use R these days.
  • Sometimes I use Stan. Most of what I do can be facilitated with the R packages rethinking or brms but I’ve been moving more towards using my own Stan code recently.
  • My preferred IDE for everything is RStudio. I use the “Vibrant Ink” theme that comes packaged with the IDE.
  • In the past I’ve used Python (with atom) and MATLAB/Octave (with the GUI), but not so much anymore.
  • On Windows, I exclusively use git bash as my terminal. On MacOS, I use the default terminal but set the language to bash.
  • I use Anonymous Pro as my preferred coding font.

Workflow / writing

  • I use Git and GitHub for nearly everything. Almost all of my new projects (even small things) start by creating an R project with a git repo.
  • Speaking of R projects, I use a .rproj file to organize anything I will do that will involve any amount of R code.
  • For almost all of my research-related writing, I use R Markdown, which is an implementation of pandoc-flavored markdown that can integrate code and the results from running code.
  • I’ve recently started using Quarto
  • For course projects that require me to use SAS or don’t involve coding, I use LaTeX. I use MiKTeX for my distribution and TeXStudio for my editor. Although I’m considering just using TinyTex and overleaf since I rarely use LaTeX standalone anymore.
  • I use Zotero for almost all of my reference management, although I’ve unfortunately been forced to use EndNote (which I will not provide a link to as I do not endorse it or Clarivate) recently.
  • I use bibtex for all of my bibliographies as it works seamlessly with both pandoc and LaTeX.
  • I use WinCompose for typing most special characters on Windows.
  • I use google drive for anything non-code-related that I need to share. One day I’ll consider switching to Quarto when collaborative editing is out, but that isn’t today. If anyone knows a good markdown alternative, let me know.
  • I’ve mostly switched to Quarto for all of my presentations. I still use Powerpoint occasionally (which I hate), but that’s only because I dislike CSS fiddling more than manual fiddling. But Quarto presentations are so much easier than either the old R Markdown presentations or beamer, and they look way better.

Other software

  • In the past I’ve used Mathematica, but apparently Julia can do everything that Mathematica can do, so I don’t recommend that anyone pay money for Mathematica.
  • I’m also pretty good at SAS, but I will never buy a SAS license. Whenever I am forced to use SAS, I use SAS OnDemand for Academics. However, if you are a SAS user, I recommend pivoting away from SAS.
  • I do not like using Microsoft Office. But I often find myself using Outlook and OneNote because figuring out anything else would take me time that I do not currently have.
  • I use Firefox as my main browser, and I use google chrome when print to PDF in Firefox doesn’t work. Chrome is also required for some R/pandoc procedures for turning HTML into PDF.
  • This website is created with quarto, with source code on GitHub, and deployed by Netlify.
  • I manage all my passwords with BitWarden.
  • My time and project management skills are very bad. I use a system cobbled together from OneNote, Outlook’s calendar, sticky notes in the office, and random scribblings on a notepad to manage what I need to get done. Usually it does not work very well, but I’ve never found a system that works better for me.