Uses This

Who are you, and what do you do?

I am a freelance writer. I tweet and sometimes write under the name BoobsRadley, which seemed like a funny joke once and now seems like an unwise professional choice.

What hardware do you use?

I have an office where I go occasionally and Geordi La Forge in a beautiful chair between a Mac Pro and a very old Dell of unknown, sinister origin. At home I have a desktop a friend custom built for me and a Sony Vaio Z. I have a Blue Snowball mic. I also have a very powerful little USB desk fan, because sometimes I get so excited when I write that I just sweat everywhere, like a middle aged man pretending he isn't having a heart attack when he is clearly having a heart attack.

I have a broken scanner, which is embarrassing because I have to keep asking my lawyer to scan and fax contracts for me. Also my lawyer is my mother. There's a Blackberry Curve in one of my dresser drawers that has been deactivated but occasionally still makes noise, as though it were possessed by the spirit of a restless Japanese ghost.

And what software?

I am a software troglodyte, and not in any kind of willful or cool way. Sometimes I am working on some really old person's old computer, or sometimes I just don't have the patience to wait for my thousand Adobe products to make their thousand grinding updates. When working on-site, I am very spoiled by companies that get a big fancy discount on media suites and can afford a custom, opulently buggy CMS. I make notes for myself in Notepad and on my new iPhone, which was free and for which I still have not bought a protective case because I am extravagantly dumb.

I do ninety percent of my word processing in the bodies of actual Gmail emails, which I alternately save as drafts, email to myself, unwittingly discard or accidentally email to friends with similar names to my own. I use CS5 but also MSPaint a lot because I hear "streampunk" is going to be big this year. I don't even use a Twitter interface. I use old Twitter. I hear it is going away very very soon. I work wearing a smilodon pelt.

What would be your dream setup?

I'm breaking down and buying a Macbook, but dream wise, I would like a grown-up desk set up with big sexy speakers and an elaborate multiple monitor scheme. I know this will never happen because I'm like a careworn gunslinger who wants to settle down with a nice homesteading family, and instead keeps bouncing between the kitchen table, Starbucks, and his microsuede couch.

Uses This is supported by ZSA, makers of the Moonlander, ErgoDox EZ and Planck EZ keyboards. They also publish an awesome newsletter.