Recommendations you can check.
Longtime head of Google's webspam team; later administrator of the United States Digital Service.
17 things
Pocket CastsSoftware Automattic
I love Pocket Casts for podcasts. It costs $3.99 but totally worth it to listen to This Week in Google and This American Life and Stephen Tobolowsky.
The Setup (usesthis.com) interview: his work machines, running gear and the contents of his travel backpack.
2014-04-03·usesthis.com ↗
TripItService
TripIt rocks for tracking your all your travel information: flights, hotels, and rental cars.
The Setup (usesthis.com) interview: his work machines, running gear and the contents of his travel backpack.
2014-04-03·usesthis.com ↗
WRIGHTSOCKOther
For socks, WRIGHTSOCK makes two-layer socks that minimize blistering. It's an old hiking trick to wear a thin pair of liner socks inside your regular socks to prevent blisters.
The Setup (usesthis.com) interview: his work machines, running gear and the contents of his travel backpack.
2014-04-03·usesthis.com ↗
StravaService Strava
Strava is a free smartphone app and website for tracking your running and biking. Once you have a few friends in Strava, you can share kudos and motivate each other.
The Setup (usesthis.com) interview: his work machines, running gear and the contents of his travel backpack.
2014-04-03·usesthis.com ↗
Uni-ball SignoOther
an extra pen in a snack baggie (I like brown Uni-ball Signo 0.5mm pens from Maido)
The Setup (usesthis.com) interview: his work machines, running gear and the contents of his travel backpack.
2014-04-03·usesthis.com ↗
Sony's MDR-AS20JHardware
For headphones that won't come out, I recommend Sony's MDR-AS20J headphones. They loop around your ears and they really stay in.
The Setup (usesthis.com) interview: his work machines, running gear and the contents of his travel backpack.
2014-04-03·usesthis.com ↗
Garmin Forerunner 610Hardware
If you're going to run no more than 5-6 hours (like a marathon), I'd recommend the Garmin Forerunner 610. It has an intuitive interface and touch screen.
The Setup (usesthis.com) interview: his work machines, running gear and the contents of his travel backpack.
2014-04-03·usesthis.com ↗
Garmin Forerunner 910XTHardware
If you plan on running 7-8 hours or more (like a half-Ironman or more), the Garmin Forerunner 910XT is really nice.
The Setup (usesthis.com) interview: his work machines, running gear and the contents of his travel backpack.
2014-04-03·usesthis.com ↗
WazeSoftware
If you haven't tried Waze yet, it's really good at shaving off a few minutes from your morning drive commute.
The Setup (usesthis.com) interview: his work machines, running gear and the contents of his travel backpack.
2014-04-03·usesthis.com ↗
Chromebook PixelHardware Google
For my day-to-day work, I've been using a Chromebook Pixel since June 2013.
The Setup (usesthis.com) interview: his work machines, running gear and the contents of his travel backpack.
2014-04-03·usesthis.com ↗
Bose QuietComfort 20Hardware
Bose QuietComfort 20 noise-cancelling headphones for the plane or remote office
The Setup (usesthis.com) interview: his work machines, running gear and the contents of his travel backpack.
2014-04-03·usesthis.com ↗
WordPressSoftware Automattic
For my website mattcutts.com I use Tiger Tech for webhosting, and for my blog I use WordPress.
The Setup (usesthis.com) interview: his work machines, running gear and the contents of his travel backpack.
2014-04-03·usesthis.com ↗
Tiger TechService
For my website mattcutts.com I use Tiger Tech for webhosting, and for my blog I use WordPress.
The Setup (usesthis.com) interview: his work machines, running gear and the contents of his travel backpack.
2014-04-03·usesthis.com ↗
GandiService
I use Gandi to register my domains – they now offer two-factor authentication too.
The Setup (usesthis.com) interview: his work machines, running gear and the contents of his travel backpack.
2014-04-03·usesthis.com ↗
Brother MFC-9840CDWHardware
I've got a Brother MFC-9840CDW wireless printer that can also fax ancient institutions that don't understand the Internet yet.
The Setup (usesthis.com) interview: his work machines, running gear and the contents of his travel backpack.
2014-04-03·usesthis.com ↗
Kindle PaperwhiteHardware Amazon
In the main pocket of my backpack, you'll find my Chromebook Pixel, a Kindle Paperwhite, and a Wired magazine or Maximum PC magazine.
The Setup (usesthis.com) interview: his work machines, running gear and the contents of his travel backpack.
2014-04-03·usesthis.com ↗
GIMPSoftware
For photo editing I use GIMP, and if I need something deeper, my wife has a Mac with Photoshop, Illustrator, and software to make movies and burn DVDs.
The Setup (usesthis.com) interview: his work machines, running gear and the contents of his travel backpack.
2014-04-03·usesthis.com ↗
Every entry is a verbatim quote and a link to the public post it came from. Nothing is paraphrased. If it is not on record somewhere public, it is not here.
The verdict is what they actually said: loved and liked are explicit; recommended means they told others to get it; uses means they only say they use it; read is a book on their public shelf with no verdict; mixed and disliked are kept too.
A dashed affiliate link, sponsored or their own label means the post disclosed a relationship. It is shown, never hidden.
The shading behind a date shows how dated a recommendation is for its kind of thing.
The shading behind a date shows how dated a recommendation is, for its kind of thing. Fully green is recent. It drains a quarter at a time as the post gets older, and is empty once it reads as dated.
What counts as old depends on the thing. A laptop praised four years ago has been replaced twice; a book loved twenty years ago is probably still loved. The shading is gone after about:
Stripes mean the post carries no date and the date shown is an estimate. No date at all, no shading.