Uses This

Who are you, and what do you do?

I'm Lux Alptraum, a writer, sex educator, and consultant who works to help improve the discourse around sexuality. Up until very recently I was the editor, publisher, and CEO of Fleshbot.com, the web's foremost blog about sexuality and adult entertainment; when Fleshbot was acquired by SK Intertainment, I decided to use my talents to help other companies find success in the field of sex.

Some of the projects I'm currently working on include Nerve.com (a fantastic website about sex and culture), WoodRocket (a wonderful, free site that combines comedy and porn), Unbound Box (a company that curates erotic products for women), and Minna Life (the makers of a brilliant line of touch sensitive sex toys). Oh, and of course I'm still writing for Fleshbot -- I certainly couldn't quit that one after all these years.

What hardware do you use?

2010 15" MacBook Pro, which I am hoping to trade in for a 13" MacBook Air some time soon. The iPad 2. An iPhone 5S (I am in love with the fingerprint sensor). A handful of external hard drives both for back ups and for storing data. I used to have a 27" iMac, but I recently got rid of it in the pursuit of a more stripped down, minimalist existence. I don't really regret the decision -- while the huge monitor was a beautiful site to behold, it really tied me down to one location, which isn't appealing at all.

Oh, and if it counts as hardware, I have a standing desk. It is very likely one of the cheapest ways to get a standing desk, as it's a wall mounted dropleaf table from IKEA. It only works if you're not planning to put a lot of weight on your desk -- but if your workstation mainly consists of a laptop and a mug of tea, it's perfect.

And what software?

Most of my work is just reading and writing, so I spend a lot of time in Chrome. I love Draft for writing, but I've found that not all of the editors I write for are as enthusiastic about the platform as I am. I use Google Drive for a lot of documents (particularly shared ones), since that's becoming a universal standard. I grudgingly use Microsoft Word for a lot of editing -- though I'm not a fan of the program, it's a universally accepted format, and sometimes it's easier to just edit in Word than deal with uploading and editing and then downloading, etc.

For email I use Postbox. I feel contrary saying this, but I hate web based mail interfaces. I use Gmail's servers for almost all of my mail accounts, but I loathe checking email through the Gmail website -- having to check my email in a browser tab just seems straight up barbaric. I used Apple Mail for a while, but recently made the switch to Postbox and can't see myself going back. Pretty much everything about it is perfect: I love the quick reply feature (that's how I'm writing this right now), I love the way it threads conversations, I love the ability to view just message attachments, or just the photos in your inbox. If you haven't tried it, I highly recommend it.

I am also a big fan of the SimpleNote/Notational Velocity combo, which I use to make a lot of notes to myself. Often really, really dumb notes (and occasionally really important ones).

And if I am on a computer, I am almost definitely on Adium. As with email, chat is something I insist on doing outside of a web browser; and I love Adium's multiplatform support and UI. I tried using Messages instead of Adium and found I only liked it for iMessage, so I tend to have it running in the background while I primarily chat with Adium.

What would be your dream setup?

I have this fantasy in which I am a minimalist, but real life always proves otherwise. My dream set up would be a MacBook Air hooked up to a 27" monitor on a small, wall mounted standing desk, with absolutely no papers cluttering anything, and no mess anywhere to be seen. I dream of a paperless office -- one day I'll achieve it, right?