Xovee's Handy Tools

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Over the years I tried a lot of stuffs -- followings are the ones I like:

Software

Tool	Choice
Browser	Mainly Safari and sometimes Chrome on Windows.
Calendar	Google Calendar
ChatBot	OpenAI ChatGPT
Cloud Storage	Google Drive (also use its Desktop version for local file sync) and iCloud (mostly for photo sync).
Code Editor	Visual Studio Code and PyCharm (students and faculty can apply for free professional version).
Email	Gmail and sometimes Outlook.
Finance Manager	Wallet by Budgetbakers
Language Assistant	ChatGPT, Google Translate, Grammarly, Linggle, and Youdao. Alternatives: Ludwig and Academic Phrasebank.
LaTeX Editor	Online: Overleaf; Local: VS Code with TeX Live.
Literature Search & Track	Google Scholar and DBLP, for computer science field.
Multimedia Player	PotPlayer (Windows) and IINA (MacOS)
Note-taking	Apple Notes; Local markdown files synced with Google Drive.
Password Manager	Bitwarden
Programming	Mostly Python and somtimes JavaScript.
Reference Manager	Zotero
Todo	Todoist
Visualization	Matplotlib with Python for general purpose, ECharts for web, and Omni Graffle (only support Apple devices) for academic drawings .
VPN	Astrill, this is my referring link. Normally its expensive, but during Black Friday you can expect $200 for a two years subscription.

Hardware

Device	Using & Used
Smartphone	iPhone 14 Pro Max (2023, current)iPhone 11 (2019) iPhone 7 (2016) Mi 4C (2016) iPhone 5s (2014) Nokia Lumia 920 (2012)
Laptop	MacBook Air M2 15-inch (2023, current, 16GB, 512GB) MacBook Air M1 13-inch (2020, 8GB, 256GB) Lenovo Z51-70 15-inch (2015, i7-5500U, R9-M375, 8GB, 1TB)
Desktop	Homebuilt (2018, current, continually updated, R7-1700 + B450M, GTX 1050 Ti, 16GB, 512GB+1TB) Lenovo Desktop (2006, forget the exact model, one of the HomeJoy (家悦) series with a 2 cores CPU)
Wearable Devices	Apple Watch Series 9 (2023, current) Fitbit Alta (2016) Fitbit Charge (2015)
Tablet Computer	iPad Mini 3 (2015)
Earphones	Earpods (2023, current) Beats urBeats3 (2020, current) Airpods Pro 1 (2021, retired) AKG K3003 (2019, lost it at the airplane from Abu Dhabi to Beijing) Airpods 2 (2019) Vsonic GR09 (2018) Airpods (2017) Ecci PR200 MK2 (2016) Mi In-Ear (2015) Earpods (2015) Logitech UE 900 (2013, love it, but lost it) Apple In-Ear Headphones with Remote and Mic (2012, I like it!)
Headset	Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless (2022, current) Sennheiser MOMENTUM 2 Wireless (2016) AKG K450 (2015)
Media Player	iPod Classic 6 (second-hand, 2013) iPod Nano 6 (2012) iPod Touch 4 (2012) iPod Shuffle 4 (~2010) iPod Shuffle 2 (second-hand, ~2009) ONDA MP4 with 3 inch screen (~2009) Cheap MP3 bought from a grocery store (~2008)
Keyboard	Logitech K120 (current, 2020) Cherry MX Board 8.0 (2018) Logitech K120 (2016) Cherry MX Board 2.0 (2015)
Mice	Logitech G Pro Wireless (current, 2021) Various models of DAREU EM915/925 (2015)
Video Game Console	Switch (2021, current) Xbox One X (2018, current) Xbox One S (2017)