rexarski’s toolbox

A not-so-minimal setup guide.

Todos

• Set up iCloud account.
• Install 1Password. THE password manager for the last decade. Requires yearly subscription. Cmd + Option + P: Open 1Password 🔁
• Install Maestral. Open source Dropbox client, simpler, smaller, less memory needed. brew install --cask maestral 🍺
• Install iTerm 2. Terminal, but better than Terminal.
  • Snazzy theme: (curl -Ls https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sindresorhus/iterm2-snazzy/main/Snazzy.itermcolors > /tmp/Snazzy.itermcolors && open /tmp/Snazzy.itermcolors)
  • fish. The friendly interactive shell.
    • Follow this gist to set fish as default
• Install Homebrew. THE package manager for macOS. /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
  • asciinema
  • bat <- cat
  • btop <- htop and top
  • emacs
  • exiftool
  • eza <- ls and exa
  • fx
  • fzf
  • jq
  • neofetch
  • neovim <- vim
  • procs <- ps
  • scc
  • tldr
  • tre (brew install tre-command) <- tree
  • tmux
  • uv
  • vizdata
  • you-get
• Change computer and host name:
  • sudo scutil --set ComputerName "newname"
  • sudo scutil --set LocalHostName "newname"
  • sudo scutil --set HostName "newname"
• Stop Time Machine local snapshots. tmutil disablelocal was deprecated since Mojave. Use TimeMachineEditor instead.
• Create a global gitignore file at ~/.gitignore. See this one as an example: git config --global core.excludesfile ~/.gitignore
• Generate and add SSH key to GitHub account.
• Turn off the Spotlight.
• Turn off the auto boot feature (if this is a MacBook.) sudo nvram AutoBoot=%00. Turn it back on by sudo nvram AutoBoot=%03 or use nvram -p to check the current value.
• Generate and add SSH key to GitHub account.
• In Safari, go to Preferences - Advanced, turn on “Show Develop menu in menu bar”.

Application list

A

• Affinity Designer 2. 🎫
• Affinity Photo 2. 🎫
• Affinity Publisher 2. 🎫
• Amphetamine. Keep the machine awake. Cmd + Shift + A: turn on/off 
• Anki
• Applite, user-friendly GUI macOS application for Homebrew Casks. brew install --cask applite 🍺
• Aseprite. A animated pixel art editor. Purchased on Steam. 🎫

B

• BetterDisplay. Display customization tool. From the same developer of Monitor Control. 🎫
• BetterTouchTool, input (not only trackpad!) customization. 🎫
  • Use Right Cmd + Space to activate clipboard manager.
• bun curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash

C

• Calendr. Menu bar calendar.
• calibre. E-book management. brew install --cask calibre 🍺
  • calibre-douban. 豆瓣插件.
  • Fix Kindle Ebook Cover. A tool to fix damaged cover for Kindle.
• Countdown Timer Pro. 

D

• DaisyDisk. Disk usage in a wind rose diagram. 
• Datasette. A tool for exploring and publishing data.
• Deliveries. 
• DEVONthink 4 🎫
• Discord. brew install --cask discord 🍺
• Downie 🎫
• Drafts. For drafting. 🔁
  • Cmd + Shift + 1 = Drafts main window
  • Cmd + Shift + 2 = Drafts quick entry
• Due. Aggressive reminder. 🔁.

E

• Eagle. Organize images. 🎫

F

• Final Cut Pro. 
  • Motion. 
  • Compressor. 
• Flighty. 
• Fujifilm X RAW Studio.

G

• Gemini. Duplicate finder. 🎫
• GitHub Desktop. Easy-to-use Git GUI.
• GoodLinks. 

H

• Handbrake. Open source video transcoder. brew install —cask handbrake 🍺
  • iPod 5.5 gen - 7 gen compatible video preset: github, reddit discussion
• Hush. Content blocker for Safari. 

I

• Ice. Bartender alternative. brew install --cask jordanbaird-ice 🍺
• IINA. Media player. brew install --cask iina 🍺
• Ivory for Mastodon. 🔁

K

• Karabiner Elements. Key mapping customizer.
  • Hyper == Cmd + Ctrl + Option + Shift
  • Shift + Backspace: Forward delete
  • Complex modifications: Change caps_lock to Cmd + Ctrl + Option + Shift.
• kcc, Kindle Comic Converter.
• Keepa. Amazon price tracker. 
• Keka brew install --cask keka 🍺
• KeyClu. Cheatsheet alternative
  • Double press cmd and hold to activate the cheatsheet.
  • Double press cmd and quick release to activate Siri.
  • brew install —cask keyclu 🍺
• Klack. Fun app with keyboard sound. 

L

• Latest. Checks applications’ latest update on macOS. brew install --cask latest 🍺
• Logi Options+. Customize Logitech peripherals.
• Loop. Alternative to Moom.
  • Left Ctrl to activate a selector ring.
  • brew install --cask loop 🍺

M

• mac-cleanup-py clean up script for macos. brew tap mac-cleanup/mac-cleanup-py; brew install mac-cleanup-py 🍺
• Marked 2 🎫
• Min Browser. brew install --cask min 🍺
• monolith.brew install monolith 🍺
• MultiViewer for F1
• Musicbrainz Picard
• MusicBox. Bookmark music. 
• MusicHarbor. 

N

• Nicotine+, a graphical client for Soulseek.
• Numi. NLP + calculator. brew install --cask numi 🍺

O

• Obsidian. Second brain/digital garden/Zettelkasten. Go subscribe to Obsidian Sync to support the development!
• Obsidian Web Clipper. 
• Ollama. LocalLLM.
• OrbStack. A light-weight Docker and Linux runtime management. brew install --cask orbstack 🍺

P

• PasteBot 🎫
• PCalc 
• PDF Expert 🎫
• Pearcleaner. A free, source-available and fair-code licensed mac app cleaner. brew install pearcleaner 🍺
• Permute 3 🎫
• PhotoBulk. Quick photo editor. 
• PICO-8. Fantasy retro console game engine. 🎫
• Pictogram. Only to replace Zen Browser and X Raw Studios’ icons.
• Picotron. A fantasy workstation. 🎫
• Play. Watch it later(s). 
• Plex. brew install --cask plex 🍺

Q

• QLMarkdown. macOS Quick Look extension for markdown files. brew install --cask qlmarkdown 🍺
• Quarto. An open source scientific and technical publishing system built on Pandoc. brew install --cask quarto 🍺

R

• R.
• Reeder 🔁.
• RStudio. IDE for R.
• Raycast. Extendable launcher substitute to Spotlight, with an extension store. Cmd + Space: Activate Raycast. (Disable this shortcut for Spotlight) brew install --cask raycast 🍺
• Reminders Menubar brew install --cask reminders-menubar 🍺]
• Rocket. Emoji launcher with one-key shortcut. Use : to trigger the app. 🎫
• RSSHub Radar. Discover RSS feeds from current website. 

S

• Sequel. Keep track of the movies, shows, games, books and audiobooks. 
• Shareful. 
• Shottr. Great substitute to CleanShot X. 🎫
  • Cmd + Shift + 3 = Shottr area screenshot
  • Cmd + Shift + 4 = Shottr active window screenshot
  • Cmd + Shift + 5 = Shottr fullscreen screenshot
• Sink it for Reddit. 
• skim. PDF viewer. brew install --cask skim 🍺
• Sleeve 2. 🎫
• Steam
  • balatro-mod-manager

T

• Tapestry. A unified and chronological timeline of blogs and social media. 
• Telegram. brew install --cask telegram 🍺
• Things 3. The best GTD. 
  • Ctrl + Space: quick entry.
  • Hyper + T: quick entry with autofill. This requires Things Helper.
• TimeMachineEditor. Manually control Time Machine backup schedule. brew install --cask timemachineeditor 🍺
• Transmission brew install --cask transmission 🍺

U

• upic. Image (and small file) upload tool for macOS. brew install bigwig-club/brew/upic --cask 🍺

W

• 微信 WeChat. brew install --cask wechat 🍺

X

• Xcode. 
• xld. Lossless audio decoder for macOS.

Y

• YACReader brew install --cask yacreader. 🍺

Z

• Zed. Might be better than VSC. brew install --cask zed 🍺
• Zen Browser. Might be better than Firefox. Plugins associated with Firefox should be synced.

Font selections

• Lexend, sans-serif
• Roboto family
  • Roboto, sans-serif
  • Roboto Condensed, sans-serif
  • Roboto Serif, serif
  • Roboto Mono, monospace
• IBM 3270, monospace
• JetBrains Mono, monospace
• Ubuntu Monospace, monospace
• Noto Mono for Powerline, monospace
• Amazon Ember and Bookerly from Amazon Complete Font Set, sans serif, serif
• LXGW WenKai / 霞鹜文楷, serif
• LXGW Neo XiHei / 霞鹜新晰黑, sans-serif
• 喜鹊宋体, serif
• Atkinson Hyperlegible, sans-serif
• Charis SIL, serif
• Server Mono, monospace

Archive

For those applications/packages that are not in use.

• AlDente 🎫
• Alfred Option + Space: Activate Aflred search bar. 🎫
• Anaconda
  • conda config —set auto_activate_base false. Do not activate conda by default.
• Android File Transfer
• Audacity
• Beekeeper Studio Community Edition
• Blink 
• Brooklyn. Screensaver inspired by Apple’s Event on October 30, 2018.
• Buckets 🎫
• Cardhop. 🎫
• CARROT Weather 🔁
• coconutBattery
• Dark Noise 
• Darkroom 🎫
• Day One. 🔁
• Fantastical Hyper +F`: create new event/reminder 🎫
• Figma
• Fliqlo Flip Clock. The classic screensaver.
• fruit. Retro Apple screensaver.
• Ghostty. brew install —cask ghostly
• iMazing 3 🎫
• Itsycal for Mac
• julia brew install --cask julia 🍺
• KeyCastr Hyper + K: Toggle capturing
• Kindle.
• LM Studio
• Maccy. Clipboard. brew install --cask maccy 🍺
• Mactracker 
• MiaoYan 妙言
• Moom Cmd + Option + M: toggle Moom keyboard control. 🎫
• NetNewsWire. For RSS. brew instlal --cask netnewswire 🍺
• OpenEmu.
• Parcel. Track your packages. 
• Pins 
• Plain Text Editor. 
• Pocket Casts 🎫
• Processing
• Quitter
• Reeder 5 -> Reeder Classic. 
• RIME | 中州韵输入法. “Rime Input Method Engine, rimes with your keystrokes.”
  • 东风破
  • 雾凇拼音: bash rime-install iDvel/rime-ice:others/recipes/full
• SD Card Formatter.
• Scratchpad. 
• Spotify
• Stats. System monitor in menu bar. brew install --cask stats 🍺
• SynologyAssistant.
• Synology Drive Client
• Take a break. 
• texifier 🎫
• Transmit 🎫
• Visual Studio Code. brew install --cask visual-studio-code 🍺
• VLC brew install --cask vlc 🍺
• Yoink 
• Zoom
• 小宇宙 