Mike D's Tech Stack | PithySecurity.com

MY TECH STACK

Most people trust tools they've never audited, from companies they've never questioned. I don't. This stack is built around privacy, security, and minimal attack surface. Nearly everything here is open source and verifiable. A few premium tools make the cut on merit alone. I earn a small commission if you use my links. No surveillance. No fluff. 🩵

Tool	Why It's Here
Tuta	My primary encrypted email provider. Clean, sovereign, and uncompromising on privacy.↗
Proton Suite	Battle-tested Swiss privacy suite. The full stack includes encrypted email, calendar, password manager, VPN, secure cloud storage, and a private LLM chatbot.↗
Firefox	My favorite web browser. I'll ride with it for life.↗
uBlock Origin	The undisputed champion of ad and tracker blocking. Essential on Firefox.↗
Tor Project	Overkill for most situations, but unbeatable when you need maximum anonymity and censorship resistance.↗

Tool

Why It's Here

Tuta

My primary encrypted email provider. Clean, sovereign, and uncompromising on privacy.↗

Proton Suite

Battle-tested Swiss privacy suite. The full stack includes encrypted email, calendar, password manager, VPN, secure cloud storage, and a private LLM chatbot.↗

Firefox

My favorite web browser. I'll ride with it for life.↗

uBlock Origin

The undisputed champion of ad and tracker blocking. Essential on Firefox.↗

Tor Project

Overkill for most situations, but unbeatable when you need maximum anonymity and censorship resistance.↗

Tool	Why It's Here
Duck.AI	Anonymous, no-login access to the best frontier models. Pure signal, zero surveillance.↗
Apertus	Free, open-source Swiss AI. Fast, ethical, and refreshingly unfiltered.↗
Perplexity	My go-to all-in-one AI research and reasoning engine.↗
Ollama	The easiest way to run local LLMs offline. Fast, lightweight, and completely private.↗
Magica	Access over a dozen popular AI bots from one central hub for around $15 per month. (Includes chatbots, video, audio, and AI agents.)↗

Tool

Why It's Here

Duck.AI

Anonymous, no-login access to the best frontier models. Pure signal, zero surveillance.↗

Apertus

Free, open-source Swiss AI. Fast, ethical, and refreshingly unfiltered.↗

Perplexity

My go-to all-in-one AI research and reasoning engine.↗

Ollama

The easiest way to run local LLMs offline. Fast, lightweight, and completely private.↗

Magica

Access over a dozen popular AI bots from one central hub for around $15 per month. (Includes chatbots, video, audio, and AI agents.)↗

Tool	Why It's Here
Substack	The premier platform for newsletters, podcasts, and independent publishing.↗
5-Day AI Challenge	Free, high-signal workshop to master AI-powered business promotion.↗
HighLevel	All-in-one marketing, CRM, and automation that replaces bloated enterprise tools at a fraction of the cost.↗
NameCheap	Reliable domain registrar and WordPress hosting I've trusted for over a decade.↗

Tool

Why It's Here

Substack

The premier platform for newsletters, podcasts, and independent publishing.↗

5-Day AI Challenge

Free, high-signal workshop to master AI-powered business promotion.↗

HighLevel

All-in-one marketing, CRM, and automation that replaces bloated enterprise tools at a fraction of the cost.↗

NameCheap

Reliable domain registrar and WordPress hosting I've trusted for over a decade.↗

OS	Why It's Here
Ubuntu	The most elegant and reliable Linux distribution. Beautiful, stable, and built for daily sovereignty.↗
Raspberry Pi OS	Perfect lightweight Linux for ARM devices and portable projects.↗
Tails	The gold standard for paranoid-level operational security. Hacker and sysadmin approved.↗

Why It's Here

Ubuntu

The most elegant and reliable Linux distribution. Beautiful, stable, and built for daily sovereignty.↗

Raspberry Pi OS

Perfect lightweight Linux for ARM devices and portable projects.↗

Tails

The gold standard for paranoid-level operational security. Hacker and sysadmin approved.↗

Tool	Why It's Here
Audacity	Industry-standard for professional audio recording, editing, podcasts, and narration.↗
KeePassXC	Rock-solid, offline, portable password vault. No compromises.↗
Ghostwriter	Clean, distraction-free Markdown editor built for serious writers.↗
Obsidian	Powerful knowledge base and networked note-taking. Use selectively, it can become overkill.↗
VLC	The only media player you will ever need. Plays everything, asks for nothing.↗
Krita	Elite open-source digital painting and illustration tool.↗
Pinta	Lightweight, delightful image editor. The spiritual successor to classic Paint.↗

Tool

Why It's Here

Audacity

Industry-standard for professional audio recording, editing, podcasts, and narration.↗

KeePassXC

Rock-solid, offline, portable password vault. No compromises.↗

Ghostwriter

Clean, distraction-free Markdown editor built for serious writers.↗

Obsidian

Powerful knowledge base and networked note-taking. Use selectively, it can become overkill.↗

VLC

The only media player you will ever need. Plays everything, asks for nothing.↗

Krita

Elite open-source digital painting and illustration tool.↗

Pinta

Lightweight, delightful image editor. The spiritual successor to classic Paint.↗

WANT MORE SIGNAL?

The tools above come from a newsletter obsessed with AI, privacy, and cutting through the noise. No fluff. No filler. Just the stuff that matters.

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Affiliate Disclosure

90% of the tools on this page are free and open source. I also promote a few of my favorite premium apps as an affiliate to help cover the cost of running Pithy Cyborg. If you make a purchase through my links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps support independent, ad-free AI news. Win-win.