We’re about 45 days in to publishing Next at Microsoft and it’s been a whirlwind – we had a few teething issues with some features of the blog and since then have been publishing content in a flurry as there is so much interesting stuff going on at the company at the moment. I feel like I’ve gotten a little off track with my plans to introduce you to more of the people in Microsoft so expect a renewed focus on that over the coming months.
I also had an idea for a new series I thought may be fun on the site – Tools of the Trade. I was inspired by Hugh’s recent post on his portable studio which got thinking about what I carry around every day – what are the tools of my trade? I’ve listed them below though mine are not that surprising so I’m planning to go ask a ton of other people what their tools are. In the meantime, here is #1 to kick off this series.
My main use bag is the Rapha backpack from the legendary cycling company. The build quality of their stuff is second to none and this bag is no exception. The detailing is wonderful with little touches of their trademark pink here and there. The bag itself has a good selection of external and internal pockets including a laptop divider. It’s big enough to house my essentials while being small enough that I have to judiciously pick what I carry. Here’s today’s inventory
- Lenovo X301 laptop + small power supply. Though I have a smaller laptop with my Vaio X, the Lenovo is the perfect combination of power to weight.
- Zune HD 32 – holds music (of course) that I jack in to my Mazda AUX port as well as videos I show to reporters etc of interesting tech.
- Bowers and Wilkins P5 headphones. Okay, they take up too much space but they’re to good to leave at home!
- Leica D-LUX 4 – used for taking snaps around campus. More of which will be showing up on here soon!
- Micro USB cable – for sync and power of my Samsung Focus. Lets hope we can standardize on micro USB for at least a year eh 🙂
- Oakley Flak Jackets – I live in Seattle. I live in hope.
- Numerous pens and markers – I still love writing things down.
- Cowshed lipbalm – did I mention I live in Seattle? “Stolen” from High Road House
- Various memory sticks – 2x4gb, 1x16gb (rarely used) given the cloud syncs all my stuff.
- Do Epic Sh*t stickers – I just got a load more of these and friends keep asking me for them.
- Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse – flat and perfect. Thank you Young Kim.
- Sony ICD-UX200 digital voice recorder. Slowly being made redundant by my Samsung Focus and OneNote
That’s my daily load – all I need (and more really) to get my gig done. What’s your haul look like? Or who would you like to hear from on this topic? I’ll go askin’
[image courtesy of Rapha]
