Who are you, and what do you do? What do you like to do outside of work?

I’m Nico, an MS student in Applied Data Science at the University of Chicago (graduating this December!). Outside of my coursework, I make and contribute to software tools for scientific research and error detection, participate in and organize local Rust events, and love teaching the language. I’ve recently developed a specialty in Rust-Python interoperation, and have written about and given workshops on the subject, because data scientists deserve good tools too.

I also GM tabletop games, listen to lots of showtunes (Something Rotten and the Legally Blonde musical are favorites) and heavy metal (Lords of the Trident, Gloryhammer, Judas Priest, and Powerwolf are favorites). My one big nonshow-tune nonmetal recommendation is the band Kiltro: extremely highly recommended.

I also write about nonprogramming topics at times, mostly essays, but I’m trying my hand at fiction as well.

What hardware do you use?

I use a MacBook Pro (though I’m planning to switch to Linux for my next laptop) and a Moonlander. I move around constantly, so portability is my primary need, and the Moonlander packs up nicely!

And what software?

My coursework mostly uses Python in Jupyter Notebook, but I’ve been teaching myself Rust for the last year and I’ve been smuggling it into group projects. I’ve gotten more and more comfortable in the terminal since the start of the year, and now I basically live inside it. Most of my coding is done in Neovim, and I recently started using Rafael Bagmanov’s Bookokrat for reading epub files directly in the terminal, which I’m already loving.

What’s your keyboard setup like? Do you use a custom layout or custom keycaps?

I love taking advantage of the Moonlander’s layers to put a numpad under my left hand and most symbols/brackets under my right hand. It feels great being able to write code without leaving the home row.

I’ve been using my current configuration for a few months, and it’s still a work in progress. I’m not even making much use of the third layer yet! Once I have some free time, I need to sit down and really polish it now that I’ve gotten more experience. Maybe I’ll look into getting custom keycaps once that’s stabilized.

What would be your dream setup?

This is already pretty close to my dream, since I move around a lot and need a keyboard that I can set up and pack up quickly. If wishes were fishes, a wireless Moonlander would make that even easier, though I don’t know where you’d fit the battery.

During my summer internship, I got to use a second monitor at my desk, which was a lot more comfortable. For a more stable, sedentary setup, two monitors plugged into a PC would be so much more convenient, and I wouldn’t have to fight for space with the laptop keyboard. Not sure if I’d spring for a trackpad, mouse, or really go for it with a trackball. Time will tell!