Uses
Things I use and like.
live-TeXing
I think the most important things are typing speed (empirically, you only need to type around 75 wpm), muscle memory, a good set of LaTeX macros and shortcuts, and a good snippets engine in the editor. I type all commutative diagrams directly in tikzcd environments during the lecture, but more complex figures are post-processed.
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laptop
14 inch MacBook Pro (M4 Pro)
I didn't realize it would take so much effort to get MacOS to behave like my old Linux setup. I used to use a System76 Lemur Pro (running either Arch Linux or NixOS), which I liked a lot. Before that, I used a 2015-era MacBook Air, but I hate its keyboard.
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editor
neovim, VS Code
Almost all of the notes were taken in neovim (including all of the notes taken as a student), with a small number done in VS Code. Most modern code editors have good performance, so the most important thing is to have a good snippets engine (I currently use LuaSnip in neovim and HyperSnips in VS Code).
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window manager
yabai (MacOS), hyprland (Linux)
Ideally, Linux would have a Wayland version of XMonad which plays well with a status bar better than xmobar (which sucks). With hyprland now being configured in Lua, we might actually have something like that. I also used i3, awesome, dwm, bspwm, sway, and river on Linux, but screen tearing on X makes it not usable for me and I found hyprland to be the best experience on Wayland for me (but Sway's tabbed layout implementation was better). There is no good solution on MacOS, but I find yabai to be the least bad.
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ai tools
Codex, Claude Code
Pure TikZ for images is a complete mystery to me, so what used to be painstaking hand-written reproduction of images post-lectures is now a prompt to a coding agent. I haven't tried Astra yet, but 5.6 Sol was a complete disaster for writing TikZ code compared to Claude models (I have tried Fable 5 and Opus 5).
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pdf viewer
Zathura (Linux), Skim (MacOS)
Just look at the different file formats supported by Zathura. I wish every other PDF viewer had this kind of file format coverage, and the vim motions make everything quite convenient, especially when jumping from a neovim window. Skim has synctex support, but otherwise it is not very good.
Running
I swear by RunRepeat, in particular the tests for shock absorption, energy return, breathability, and weight. I also go to physical stores and try on the shoes, so shoes need to have good numbers (I generally use fast shoes as daily trainers) and fit my feet and running mechanics. I have no scientific testing of gels, so my opinion is literally just based on vibes.
There is a lot of misinformation in running shoe reviews (for example this article claims the Lightstrike Pro foam in the Evo SL differs from race shoes, but RunRepeat cut foam from both the Evo SL and the Adios Pro 3 (note: not the Adios Pro Evo 3) and found them to be the same under a microscope), so be careful about what you read online.
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daily trainer
Saucony Endorphin Pro 4
Both the numbers and actual use suggests this shoe is a carbon-plated trainer rather than a race shoe. This might be the slowest shoe I own currently.
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speed work
Saucony Endorphin Speed 5
This is possibly the favorite model of running shoe I have ever worn, is extremely durable, and has grown on me with time. The only flaw is that it isn't so cushioned for longer runs. With 78% energy return in the forefoot and a low stack height, it works very well for things that resemble track sessions.
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long runs
Adidas Adizero Evo SL
Another nearly perfect shoe. The only flaw with this shoe is that the foam is only responsive for something like 300 miles. It's also completely fine for extremely cold weather despite the breathability, is already very comfortable, and grips well in wet conditions, so I don't get why Adidas introduced the ATR or woven versions.
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race day
Asics Metaspeed Edge Tokyo
I went to Marathon Sports, tried on a bunch of race shoes, and this one felt best. Weight is unfortunately not so competitive with the Adios Pro Evo 3 (but which non-Adidas shoe is?) and even with Asics is not so competitive with the Metaspeed Ray, but that shoe didn't exist when I bought this one. I did break 3 in it, so I am quite happy with the shoe.
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gels
Maurten Gel 100
Goes down easily in situations where water is limited, doesn't upset the stomach, and no weird taste.
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watch
Garmin Forerunner 970
Yes, I paid for the flashlight and navigation features...