Uses This

Who are you, and what do you do?

I'm Alice Bartlett. I've just left my job as a Senior Developer at the Government Digital Service in the UK, to start working for the Financial Times. Mostly I write HTML/CSS and JavaScript. I like the bit of the web where code meets humans.

I also sew my own clothes sometimes - results at sewing.butt.kitchen. I'm also the founder of lady-bung empowerment franchise Tampon Club.

What hardware do you use?

I use a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015). I have a blue iPhone 5c which I bought because I like the colour. I have a 7 year old 80GB iPod Classic with a photo of a dog in a wig stuck to the back of it. It has all the music I've owned since I was 17 on it, which is a crazy idea now I think about it. Just carrying 10 years worth of digital files around with you everywhere you go. I have a Kindle.

I use Bullet Journaling to keep track of stuff at work. I've been doing it for about 6 months and it's really helped me to focus on what I'm supposed to be doing and not do the other unimportant stuff.

My sewing machine is an E & R Classic which was a 21st birthday present from my best friend. It's old and clunky and I've lost the manual, so I'm rather winging it with keeping it working at this point.

There isn't a lot of hardware involved in Tampon Club, unless you count tampons.

And what software?

I use OS X. I use Atom for code editing. I'm not sure I love it, but it gets the job done. It's pretty wild that my code editor is written in JavaScript - I guess that just means I'm old.

I have very pedestrian tastes in software: Twitter for Mac, Chrome, and I love Instagram. It's the social network where people show their best selves. I get to see things my friends have made, places they're visiting, funny visual gags. I use Tumblr for sharing things I've sewn.

I'm still sad about Google Reader. I use The Old Reader to keep up with my friend's blog posts now, but it's not as good.

I wrote my personal site in Ruby using Sinatra. It's a very rudimentary blog.

What would be your dream setup?

I'd like a better phone camera. Not enough to buy a better phone, but if we're dreaming.

I'd like a Serger for sewing jersey. Although I sew a lot of clothes for myself, I am a terrible slob, and the kinds of slovenly clothes slobs like (stretchy) are actually difficult to sew at home on a normal sewing machine.

I'd like a better sewing machine. My E & R is a bit of a weakling, it can't sew denim or with thick threads, and it drops stitches a lot.