Who are you, and what do you do?
My name is Scott Wallace and I'm a hacker at heart. This means that I love technology and messing about with it until it does what I want it to -- not the other way around. I'm a "contracting IT Systems Engineer". I like to think that I specialise in automation but it's really just scripting myself out of work. I'm essentially a mercenary and will work for the highest bidder. My main area of expertise lies around the Internet and web technologies.
What hardware are you using?
The only devices which go with me everywhere are, of course, my mobile phone (a Samsung Galaxy S5), my wallet (an Exentri tri-fold), a Leatherman Squirt PS4 and my Pebble Steel.
My everyday computer is a mid-2012 13" Macbook Air and, when working from home, I use a late 2009 iMac 27" with an Apple Magic Trackpad (bought mainly so my daughter can use the machine).
I also have an Asus Nexus 7 which is good for reading eBooks, perusing the web and generally chilling out (Reddit!).
When travelling, to ensure I have Internet connectivity, I carry a Huawei E5331 portable WiFi device with a local data SIM thrown in the back. So far it seems reliable and very unobtrusive. To reduce the amount of charging equipment required I also take an EasyAcc 25W 5 port USB charger with me.
Any and all of this is slung over my back in a Brenthaven Prostyle™ Slimpack.
For media consumption I have a Raspberry Pi and a Google Chromecast hooked up to a 40" Samsung Series 8 LED TV. All the media is loaded onto a Netgear ReadyNAS Ultra-4 with enough space to last well into the future. To control the TV and XBMC I use the awesome Logitech Harmony 600 universal remote. I cannot recommend these remotes enough. The living room also houses a Sonos Play:5 for streaming music and a Play:1 upstairs in the bedroom.
And what software?
All the Macs run Mavericks and content is kept in sync with Google Drive. I always have an instance of Terminal, enhanced with HomeBrew, running and work wouldn't be the same without Skype or Royal TSX (and VirtualBox for any Windows nonsense). Alfred replaces Spotlight and enables clipboard history -- as well as a host of other functionality (it's great for those who love keyboard shortcuts). f.lux is a must-have for those who have trouble falling asleep at night.
I have Project Prey installed just in case my phone, tablet or laptop are lost or stolen.
Taking photos out-and-about with a proper camera is a cinch with the Android app, "Fe-Fi", on my phone; it downloads the photos from the camera and uploads them automatically to SmugMug, which is where all my photos are stored.
Video transcoding on the desktop is handled by Handbrake whilst Flexget, a kick-ass piece of software, keeps all my media automatically up-to-date. The Raspberry Pi runs OpenELEC (Linux + XBMC) and HDMI-CEC (Samsung Anynet+) handles input from the remote.
Python is my language of choice but I also dabble in C, BASH (and Bourne shell), PHP, and Java (for Android development). All recent code is kept on GitHub.
My browser of choice is, of course, Google Chrome loaded with my favourite plugins: Lastpass, Hangouts and Readability.
I have tried to move my working set of software into the Cloud. All my website passwords are random and tracked in Lastpass; I use either of di.fm or Google Play Music for listening to music; Google Apps is used for Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Docs and Tasks; and Readability for "tl;dr" functionality.
And last, but certainly not least, FreeAgent helps me out with all the paperwork for my company (invoicing, taxes, timesheets, accounts, etc.).
What would be your dream setup?
A simple, light but fast computer that has access to the Internet from anywhere and acts as a WiFi-hotspot, even when closed. My mobile phone would be a combination of a PAN, the laptop and my watch. All powered with nuclear batteries. I'd also really love there to be a single movie and TV streaming service that provided all the world's content to anyone with a subscription and Internet access.
I'd also love an adjustable height desk such as the Geek Desk.