Daniel QuintanaInterview
Research scientist
Adapted from Daniel Quintana's interview on Uses This, published 20 March 2020. The kit is drawn from their answers and each reason is an excerpt, lightly edited. Shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the full interview ↗
Is this you? Claim this kit →Hardware
My main machine is 2015 MacBook Pro 13-inch model, which is getting a little long in the tooth.
When we're doing a live video show, I control video feeds and on-screen text via an Elgato Stream Deck.
I use a Logitech webcam to capture my own video feed.
For everyday audio I typically use a pair of Apple AirPods.
When I'm at the office use a Rain mStand to raise my laptop a little higher off the desk and connect it to an external monitor.
I use a PlugBug MacBook charger, which is super handy for travel as this includes a USB outlet for charging.
My other main piece of hardware is my iPhone 11, which I use with a Tech21 protective case.
Communication
Our lab lives in Slack for communication.
Productivity
I write my manuscripts in Word with Zotero as my citation manager.
Show me a LaTex evangelist and I'll show you someone who doesn't collaborate with Word users.
Notes
I've tried LaTex, because that's what all the cool science kids are doing, but I don't think the hassle is worth it.
I've recently started playing around with Binder, which packages together my data and analysis into an interactive online instance, so that anyone can reproduce my analysis.
Coding & Development
For version controlling my Word manuscripts I use Simul, I can't believe more people haven't heard of this service.
Think of it like Git but without the hassle.
Design
To make scientific figures I use BioRender.
Media
For my podcast, I do most of my editing in iZotope RX.
For recording our video episodes, I use Ecamm Live.
It's like OBS Studio, but much easier to use.
So thanks to Forest, I mainly use my iPhone as a camera, to show my toddler the occasional cat videos, to play podcasts via Overcast, for work communication via Slack and email, and occasional web browsing.
Other
The sound isn't as good as my Sennheiser MOMENTUM headphones, which I use occasionally, but the AirPods are just so damn convenient.
The Screen Time feature on iOS revealed that I was spending a scary amount of time on Twitter, so I recently deleted the app from my phone.
One app that's helped me use my phone less is called Forest.