Mike D's Tech Stack | PithyCyborg.com

MY TECH STACK

Here is the exact tech stack I use to run Pithy Cyborg | AI News Made Simple and stay safe online. I recommend these tools to friends and people I respect. Most are free and open-source. I also include a few of my favorite premium tools that I promote as an affiliate to help cover hosting costs. Thank you. 🩵

Tool	Why It's Here
Signal	Signal is a secure instant messaging client that doesn't spy on you or your contacts. Their Signal Protocol is open-source. Ditch WhatsApp and use this.↗
Tuta	My primary encrypted email provider. Clean, affordable, and uncompromising on privacy.↗
Proton Suite	Battle-tested Swiss privacy suite that I use alongside Tuta. The full Proton stack includes encrypted email, calendar, password manager, VPN, secure cloud storage, encrypted video meetings, 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.↗
VeraCrypt	The world's best open-source disk encryption tool. Perfect for securing your physical devices. It's the spiritual successor to TrueCrypt... which disappeared under mysterious circumstances. 👀↗

Tool

Why It's Here

Signal

Signal is a secure instant messaging client that doesn't spy on you or your contacts. Their Signal Protocol is open-source. Ditch WhatsApp and use this.↗

Tuta

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

Proton Suite

Battle-tested Swiss privacy suite that I use alongside Tuta. The full Proton stack includes encrypted email, calendar, password manager, VPN, secure cloud storage, encrypted video meetings, 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.↗

VeraCrypt

The world's best open-source disk encryption tool. Perfect for securing your physical devices. It's the spiritual successor to TrueCrypt... which disappeared under mysterious circumstances. 👀↗

Tool	Why It's Here
Duck.AI	Anonymous, free, no-login access to lower-latency models from OpenAI, Meta, Mistral, and Anthropic. 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. (I treat cloud AI as a power tool, not a confidant. Sensitive work stays local.)↗
Magica	Access over a dozen popular AI bots from one central hub for around $15 per month. (Includes chatbots, video generation, voice cloning, music, and AI agents.)↗

Tool

Why It's Here

Duck.AI

Anonymous, free, no-login access to lower-latency models from OpenAI, Meta, Mistral, and Anthropic. 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. (I treat cloud AI as a power tool, not a confidant. Sensitive work stays local.)↗

Magica

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

Tool	Why It's Here
Substack	The premier platform for newsletters, podcasts, and independent publishing.↗
HighLevel	All-in-one marketing, CRM, and automation that replaces bloated enterprise tools at a fraction of the cost.↗
HighLevel AI Agents	HighLevel AI agents can help you automate lead generation, handle sales calls, reply to incoming DMs, and manage your reputation. Designed for small business owners, agencies, creators, and marketers.↗
Namecheap	Reliable and affordable domain registrar and WordPress hosting I've trusted for over a decade. (This page is hosted on Namecheap.)↗
Beehiiv	If I were ever going to leave Substack, this is where I would go.↗

Tool

Why It's Here

Substack

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

HighLevel

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

HighLevel AI Agents

HighLevel AI agents can help you automate lead generation, handle sales calls, reply to incoming DMs, and manage your reputation. Designed for small business owners, agencies, creators, and marketers.↗

Namecheap

Reliable and affordable domain registrar and WordPress hosting I've trusted for over a decade. (This page is hosted on Namecheap.)↗

Beehiiv

If I were ever going to leave Substack, this is where I would go.↗

OS	Why It's Here
Ubuntu	My daily driver. It's an easy-to-use, elegant, and reliable Linux distribution. Beautiful, stable, and built for daily sovereignty. If you want to explore Linux, Ubuntu is the best place to start.↗
Raspberry Pi OS	Perfect lightweight Linux distribution for Raspberry Pi and other ARM devices. Works well as a desktop OS and shines in projects like robots, garden sensors, and portable systems.↗
Tails	Tails is a lightweight Linux distribution designed from the ground up for privacy and anonymity. It's the gold standard for paranoid-level operational security. Hacker and sysadmin approved.↗

Why It's Here

Ubuntu

My daily driver. It's an easy-to-use, elegant, and reliable Linux distribution. Beautiful, stable, and built for daily sovereignty. If you want to explore Linux, Ubuntu is the best place to start.↗

Raspberry Pi OS

Perfect lightweight Linux distribution for Raspberry Pi and other ARM devices. Works well as a desktop OS and shines in projects like robots, garden sensors, and portable systems.↗

Tails

Tails is a lightweight Linux distribution designed from the ground up for privacy and anonymity. It's 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.↗
Joplin	Open-source note-taking and to-do app with end-to-end encryption. Notion without the surveillance.↗
VLC	The only media player you will ever need. Plays everything, asks for nothing.↗
Kdenlive	Professional-grade open-source video editor. Powerful, flexible, and completely free.↗
Shotcut	Sleek, cross-platform video editor with a clean UI and no watermarks. Solid pick for creators.↗
OBS Studio	The gold standard for live streaming and screen recording. Free, open-source, and battle-tested by pros.↗
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.↗

Joplin

Open-source note-taking and to-do app with end-to-end encryption. Notion without the surveillance.↗

VLC

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

Kdenlive

Professional-grade open-source video editor. Powerful, flexible, and completely free.↗

Shotcut

Sleek, cross-platform video editor with a clean UI and no watermarks. Solid pick for creators.↗

OBS Studio

The gold standard for live streaming and screen recording. Free, open-source, and battle-tested by pros.↗

Krita

Elite open-source digital painting and illustration tool.↗

Pinta

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

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.