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

I’m Sarah! I’m a software engineer, mostly doing web application development. Outside of work, I really like K-pop, and dancing, and I run a K-pop dance cover team called ECLIPSE. I also dabble a little in hobbyist tech things like keyboards and PC building, and my favorite/least favorite way to spend long hours is doomscrolling on Twitter and TikTok.

What hardware do you use?

For work, I use a MacBook Pro 16” to power most of my setup, with one 24” LG 4K UltraFine monitor, one 27” LG 5K UltraFine monitor, a Magic Trackpad, and my Moonlander! I’m currently using Durock Dolphins on my split keyboard, but I’m still figuring out which switches I like most. I’m thinking about switching over to some tactile switches, but since I want to be using these in an office (hopefully with more people, soon), I want to make sure they’re quiet.

My work desk is a Fully Jarvis standing desk, but I mostly use it sitting on my Steelcase Think chair with an ErgoFoam footrest.

For my home setup, I have a Mini ITX build that I use with a 38” LG UltraWide monitor, an IQUNIX F96 keyboard, and a Logitech mouse. I did a little writeup about my PC setup because I’m so passionate about it! I also recently built this Squircle macropad that I purchased through a smaller group buy through cute keyboard club!

For gaming, I use an Insignia Nintendo Switch Dock connected to a Genki ShadowCast to my computer, for me to be able to play Switch games on my monitor (and to stream them to friends)! The Nintendo Switch Pro controller and the Nintendo Switch have both been modded pretty heavily with eXtremeRate products, and I’ve also written about those! I love my Logitech G733 headset, and I’ve convinced at least three other friends to purchase them, and I’m using a Yeti microphone (placed between my partner’s and my desk so we can play games with friends together)! I am currently using a Yamazaki Home Controller Stand to keep all of my controllers and headsets organized.

I have a few different deskmats that I swap out on a regular basis: Hyperlight, Harvest Season Peach, and Pastel Picnic Sakura! If you couldn’t tell, my favorite color is pink, and pink/blue gradients are my weakness.

I’ve also been really enjoying using my iPad and Apple Pencil with this screen protector for any note taking, or in place of scrap paper!

And what software?

For work, I’m using iTerm with Espresso colors, VSCode with Kay Dark theme, and to less of an extent, Sublime and DataGrip.

Outside of work, I’ve recently been converted to the Affinity suite to do any photo editing/graphics editing I want to do. For video editing (mostly for dance practice comparison videos!), I use Final Cut Pro.

To keep myself organized, I’ve been enjoying GoodNotes on my iPad with different preset planner layouts, Notion on all my devices, and Things on my iOS devices to keep myself accountable for all of my tasks.

For my ultrawide monitor wallpapers, I use Wallpaper Engine to rotate out my themes, so I don’t get bored!

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

My Moonlander is currently waiting on DSA Milkshake and Kam Li’l Dragon keycaps, but until then, I’m using the stock keycaps. I’ll miss the shinethrough for sure!

My other keyboard is a plain 96 key layout with a usual staggered QWERTY layout!

What would be your dream setup?

My dream setup? Honestly, my current setup that I finished last year is the realization of a dream I’ve had for a while! I think I’m pretty close to perfecting it. I think I may have found an endgame keyboard in the Paragon, but until I can get my hands on that, I’m also waiting on a Parallel Portal keyboard to arrive. For aesthetics, I’m waiting on ePBT Dreamscape, KAM Bouquet, and Cherry Milkshake keycaps!

I think the only thing that would probably be different is more plants. I’m terrible at keeping plants alive, but I’ve kept this monstera alive for a little while, so I’m hoping I can grow this one!