The journal
Notes on gear that earns its desk space.
Five pieces on switches, docks, chargers, desks and drives. No affiliate links, no sponsored picks.
Keyboards · 7 min read
Hall-effect switches, explained without the marketing
What magnetic switches actually change, why actuation point matters more than polling rate, and when a hall-effect keyboard is the wrong buy.
Docks · 8 min read
Thunderbolt 4 vs USB-C: what your laptop will actually drive
Two identical-looking ports, two very different limits. How to read your laptop's spec sheet before buying a dock.
Power · 6 min read
Why 140 W chargers finally make sense
GaN made small chargers possible; USB PD 3.1 made them useful for laptops. What to check before you replace your brick.
Studio · 7 min read
The desk setup that survives a 40-hour week
Ergonomics that actually hold up: monitor height, arm tension, keyboard angle and the cable problem nobody solves.
Storage · 5 min read
Portable SSDs: when 1,000 MB/s is enough
The bus is the bottleneck, not the drive. How to match a portable SSD to the port you actually have.