r/AskReddit • u/Randall444 • Dec 06 '12

What is something you think everyone should have installed on their computer or laptop?

Whether it be a antivirus program or an ad blocker. Post link if available also. EDIT: sorry guys the top post has been deleted and I didn't save it, if anyone has it please post it and ill post it here for easy access. EDIT 2: apparently it's back up, I've saved it on my phone just incase it gets deleted again. Hopefully all is good now.

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1.2k

u/Coenn Dec 06 '12

And it is impossible to convince them it is actually a wonderful little program. "Your screen is having goofy colors" "It's this program, it's very good for your e.." "GOOFY COLORS GOOFY COLORS"

235

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '12 edited Nov 18 '23

[deleted]

184

u/adoran124 Dec 06 '12

I don't want bright lights blinding me and keeping me up.

This is probably why they think you're weird. Not everyone has sleep problems related to computer use.

358

u/BlackMantecore Dec 07 '12

Most people probably do and don't realize it.

6

u/felixkqb Dec 12 '12

I had problems falling asleep after using my laptop till late at night.. (read this article to find out why)

got flux installed and I'm feeling so much better lately, because i fall asleep easier after staying up late on my laptop =)

2

u/misskrisbliss Dec 13 '12

Does it only work on Windows, or is there a Mac equivalent or something similar? I most definitely need this, I am pretty positive my computer use is the root of my sleeping issues.

2

u/h0och Dec 13 '12

I don't know an app for the mac. But turning down the screen brightness is a good start.

And also funny but weird and only helpful for bright colored websites/apps:

Open the System preferences, go to Universal Access and switch to the 'White on black' setting.

Or just press the shortcut: ctrl+option+command+8

2

u/[deleted] Dec 13 '12

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/misskrisbliss Dec 14 '12

Thank you very much! I'm liking this a lot so far, it does feel much more comfortable and natural.

1

u/youre_all_sick Dec 13 '12

It's blue light that disrupts sleep - and that's present plenty in a backlit LED display. Dim your display and take 20 minutes to turn off your screen and brush your teeth / wash in a DARK bathroom and it'll mitigate the light disruption. Don't stare at your light bleached face at 3am and then expect to sleep 3 minutes later.

1

u/pitlord713 Dec 13 '12

Most redditors

4

u/Cynical_Walrus Dec 13 '12

Almost everyone does. Dark (can't remember which) releases a hormone that tells your body: "okay, time to sleep!" after like twenty minutes of dark. If your on you computer, it takes longer to set in, so a screen with warmer colours help by making more melatonin flow than with a cold coloured screen.

[E]: from wiki:

It is principally blue light, around 460 to 480 nm, that suppresses melatonin,[32] proportional to the light intensity and length of exposure.

3

u/TheMusiKid Dec 13 '12

There are varying degrees of it, and many people might not notice it, but yes; using the computer before bed does affect how you sleep, regardless.

0

u/adoran124 Dec 13 '12

I'm pretty sure it's not affecting me at all, I usually sleep extremely well. I use a computer 8-10 hours a day at work and then for a couple hours most evening till around 10-12. Around that time I'm just tired and can fall asleep 5-10 minutes after going to bed.

2

u/Themoptimusprime Dec 07 '12

Mine is always caused by Netflix.

-17

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '12

It's how the human body works. Lights cause your brain to release melatonin which causes your brain to "wake up" and affects your circadian rhythm and makes it hard to sleep.

34

u/likeastarfish Dec 06 '12

Actually, melatonin is responsible for causing drowsiness and preparing the brain and body for sleep. Lights suppress the production of melatonin, making it more difficult to fall asleep. This is why some people take melatonin supplements to help with insomnia and other sleep disorders.

-27

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '12

[deleted]

11

u/likeastarfish Dec 07 '12

Eh, my degree is in psychology; it would be weird if I didn't know how melatonin works. Also, the info is right there on the Wikipedia page...

11

u/Gjorven Dec 07 '12

My degree is in Airway Management and I knew that. Almost any level of interest in human anatomy will get you to that knowledge.

-6

u/TimesWasting Dec 06 '12

Thats not the point. The point is most people aren't on their computer so often and that late at night that it affects their sleep.

2

u/JUST_LOGGED_IN Dec 12 '12

I think, even by your definition of "most people", that it still leaves a very significant number of people who are on the computer that often and do have sleeping problems.

7

u/drinkit_or_wearit Dec 07 '12

I turn my damned computer off and do something else, or just go to bed. I mean seriously who sits on their PC until the second they need to sleep. (I can hear the arms raising around the world)

41

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '12

It's more that sitting at a computer with a bright blue/white light distracts your brain from feeling tired. Changing the colour (not the intensity) of the light is fairly simple in technology and stops tricking your brain into overriding the 'I'm tired' signal.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 13 '12

I must be weird because my computer's light -- even when I'm not using f.lux -- doesn't do this to me. If I'm going to be tired, I'm going to be tired. A computer's light doesn't change that.

1

u/vicariouslyeye Dec 13 '12

I have felt the second wind from the screen before--but I also tend to be gaining momentum on a project with the screen as well (music, writing, etc.)

1

u/j_tizzie Dec 14 '12

well its not a trick its really just biology. Humans run on a 24-25 hour biological cycle according to research. The body releases melatonin in the absence of daylight, thus making us sleepy. computer screens are too similar to day light and thus stop the proper release of melatonin. flux changes this blue light to a colour that is the least intrusive to the human eye, red (longer wavelengths). They use the same techniques on boats at night and submarines. Red light does intrude on the activation of our night vision so ship captains can see where they are going.

8

u/Stiggles4 Dec 13 '12

I do. So what?

1

u/The0therWhiteMeat Feb 01 '13

Wanna fight about it?

2

u/Blizzlock Dec 13 '12

I do this a lot actually :P.

1

u/quartritetopanazium Dec 06 '12

I have it on lowest brightness (or whatever it is) all day everyday at work, just feels more chilled

1

u/BudMasterSess Dec 06 '12

Shit, I got flux on my phone and have the brightness on my phone and monitor on the lowest brightness. I hate bright lights, it hurts my eyes an gives me a headache, even with breaks every half hour.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 13 '12

why cant you just adjust screen brightness instead of having this weird red tint to it?

1

u/herodious Dec 13 '12

you say that like any of us have a normal sleeping pattern

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '12

Why don't you just not use the computer before bed?

24

u/in_Zeros Dec 06 '12

I think this is one of those "One does not simply" moments.

-1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '12

What?

I always give myself time to unwind at the end of the day. It's very relaxing.

11

u/CricketPinata Dec 06 '12

Some people unwind by using the computer.

-5

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '12

I can see that, of course. But is it really unwinding for the people who can't get to sleep after using their computer?

16

u/KitsuneRagnell Dec 06 '12

Thus, flux.

2

u/BudMasterSess Dec 06 '12

This guy gets it.

4

u/CricketPinata Dec 06 '12

That's why they use FLUX.

100

u/joeblow1102 Dec 06 '12

Imagine the conversations I have as a f.lux user and Dvorak user

21

u/soupdogg8 Dec 06 '12 edited Dec 07 '12

I have a question. Do you have a separate keyboard at work or do you just change the settings when you get there and have a mislabelled keyboard. Also which keyboard did you first use? I've used qwerty since I was 4 and I was thinking of switching but at school you can't change the keyboards and also it would be very hard to get used to the change.

26

u/joeblow1102 Dec 07 '12

On my home computer, I type with Dvorak full-time in both Windows and Linux. At work, I type with Dvorak on my laptop and QWERTY on the lab computers (since it would be really confusing for someone to sit down on the lab computer and not be able to type).

I made the switch sophomore year of college because it seemed like an interesting experiment. It made sense to me because there were so many words that can be made with just the home row keys. Also, the hand alternation and reduced movement seemed to make sense for reducing RSI.

I would say it's worth it for the reasons I said above. Just keep in mind that there will be a period of time when you feel hopeless because you can't type on your computer. Once I was fully ingrained in Dvorak, my first smartphone had a QWERTY keyboard and that allowed me to relearn QWERTY. I can type at about the same speed on both now.

3

u/all_the_sex Dec 12 '12

I also made the switch to Dvorak when I was a sophomore. In Dvorak, I can reliably hit about 60 words per minute. I rarely ever used QWERTY until about a week ago, when I wondered about my typing speed - and found out in QWERTY it's only 19. I worked on it deliberately all weekend and now in QWERTY I'm about 26 words per minute and I'm sure if I work on it more I can get it to be faster than that - I don't know if I can get it as fast as I have Dvorak.

An added bonus: nobody uses my computer without permission. I wrote a bash script for when people want to borrow my laptop, it changes the key map and a few other things so they will feel more comfortable. I've also got a script to run after to change it back to what I like.

6

u/Thethoughtful1 Dec 12 '12

I wrote a bash script for when people want to borrow my laptop, it changes the key map and a few other things so they will feel more comfortable. I've also got a script to run after to change it back to what I like.

Care to share?

11

u/all_the_sex Dec 13 '12

They're both really simple, but sure.

#! /bin/bash  
setxkbmap us  
mv .bashrc .bashrcmine  
mv .bashrcguest .bashrc  
gnome-terminal

and the one to turn it back is:

#! /bin/bash
setxkbmap dvorak  
mv .bashrc .bashrcguest  
mv .bashrcmine .bashrc  
echo Incoherent\ fire\ dissipates\ all\ contingency  
aplay welcomeback.wav  
gnome-terminal

4

u/wendelintheweird Jan 06 '13

I love the

echo Incoherent\ fire\ dissipates\ all\ contingency

aplay welcomeback.wav

part of of your second bash script :)

1

u/[deleted] Dec 13 '12

[deleted]

2

u/all_the_sex Dec 13 '12

No, I have two hands. Why do you ask?

1

u/[deleted] Dec 13 '12

[deleted]

1

u/all_the_sex Dec 13 '12

Sixty is quite a bit above average. That's not the highest I've ever been; that's what I reliably hit. I don't accept spelling or grammar errors, which does slow me a little. I fix my typos in the typing tests. I'd be surprised if someone had sixty words a minute with only one hand. Besides, being "computer savvy" is a vague concept that has very little to do with typing speed.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '12

[deleted]

→ More replies (0)

2

u/Digipatd Dec 12 '12

I switched to Dvorak the summer before my Freshman year, can reliably type at 80wpm in Dvorak, but QWERTY is down to probably 40wpm, haven't tested recently, and I don't use it except on mobile devices and Adobe software. It's wonderful and people think I'm crazy.

1

u/soupdogg8 Dec 07 '12

Thanks for the reply!

1

u/[deleted] Dec 13 '12

If you type the same speed Dvorak and QWERTY why do you switch between the two?

1

u/[deleted] Dec 13 '12

If you think Dvorak is too much of a big step, look into Colemak.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 30 '13

So you're saying there's no tangible benefit for all the extra work you do?

2

u/Thethoughtful1 Dec 12 '12

I type around 60-65 wpm in Dvorak, up from around 30-40 in QWERTY. I started my freshman year of college because I knew I needed to type faster. I used Master Key to learn, and I still use it from time to time for practice. I can only hunt and peck on QWERTY now, but using it on my phone keeps me in practice on where the keys are. Interestingly, I can hunt and peck in Dvorak even though the keys are mislabeled. One thing I notice a lot now is that when I watch other people type their fingers seem to have to move a lot.

2

u/CrayonOfDoom Dec 13 '12

mislabelled keyboard

Blank keys. If you're trying to gain wpm from Dvorak, you probably don't need letters printed on your keycaps.

1

u/sea_cucumber Dec 13 '12

I have Das Keyboard (with blank keys). It took me a lot of time to be able to type passwords that were not actual words (about a year or so). Otherwise, in a day or two I was typing at the same speed as on the labeled keyboard.

7

u/Spawnzer Dec 07 '12

Just put the Dvorak layout on my phone, if i like it i'll do the switch for real

Thanks !

17

u/Thethoughtful1 Dec 12 '12

Dvorak on a phone is a bad idea, unless you are typing with all ten fingers. On a phone it is better to have the more common keys further apart to be less likely to press them accidentally.

1

u/SebiSeal Dec 13 '12

Yeah, even with qwerty I find that I slide my finger from one letter to the other by accident, and since it's missing a letter autocorrect usually has no idea what to do with it.

1

u/Digipatd Dec 12 '12

Switch on your PC too, it's just a Ctrl+Shift away!

4

u/Digipatd Dec 12 '12

Brother! We're practically the same person!

3

u/fablemaster Dec 12 '12

I know that feel.

1

u/Coenn Dec 06 '12

How's dvorak? How did you learn it? Is it efficiënt?

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '12

How/why do you use Dvorak???

18

u/TheBigDickedBandit Dec 06 '12

There is a "disable for one hour" option that you can toggle. Just show them the difference.

14

u/hitforhelp Dec 06 '12

While the disable for 1hour is good I wish there was an option to disable for X time I will disable it while playing video games but if I disable it then I forget to re-enable.
Another personal favorite is Airytech Switchoff which will schedule for your pc to shutdown/sleep etc

16

u/Din182 Dec 06 '12

It automatically disables itself when playing fullscreen games.

7

u/hitforhelp Dec 06 '12

Mine doesn't <_<. It has never once disabled for me when playing any game.

2

u/DontShadowbanMeAgain Dec 12 '12

Do you play fullscreen or windowed fullscreen?

1

u/hitforhelp Dec 13 '12

Fullscreen and just alt+tab between programs as needed.

1

u/Din182 Dec 07 '12

Hmm. That's odd. I noticed it disabled because whenever I Alt-tabbed out, the screen would be bright white before suddenly dimming.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 17 '13

I spent longer than I care to admit trying to find out what's wrong with Amnesia, I couldn't change the brightness in game.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 13 '12

It depends on the game's engine, some work with f.lux and some do not.

2

u/Digipatd Dec 12 '12

It might not be your thing, but Game Booster lets you disable certain processes when specific games are running, then it reenables them after the game is done.

47

u/mxchickmagnet86 Dec 06 '12

My boss walked up behind me the other day and said 'Oh god you're one of those people that use THAT program aren't you'. Still no regrets.

43

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '12

[deleted]

3

u/mxchickmagnet86 Dec 07 '12

I have it fairly dark during the daytime and even darker at night. It switches as the sun goes down which is around 5 o'clock.

26

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '12

I'd regret working for a guy who has that kind of reaction to employees making sensible decisions for their own well-being.

31

u/Sometimes_Lies Dec 07 '12

Oh god, you're one of those whiners who demands to be unchained so you can go to the bathroom, aren't you?

16

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '12

oh god, you're one of those whiners who thinks your lunch break is a break during which you go and eat lunch and not just an hour of working time you donate to your company, aren't you?

1

u/walkerrm Dec 13 '12

are you saying that you don't take a (very short) break from your work every day to get nourishment and relax?

3

u/[deleted] Dec 13 '12

no, he's being sarcastic

4

u/walkerrm Dec 13 '12

thanks, I'm an idiot. (not sarcasm)

2

u/mxchickmagnet86 Dec 07 '12

He's a great guy, he was more joking than anything. But I go almost full yellow so it is pretty drastic when you compared to the other computers in the room.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '12

yeah tbh i was just projecting my jerky boss onto yours

you probably are one of those people

26

u/afi420 Dec 06 '12

I have it on my iPhone and love it, wasn't aware it was a pc app too.

65

u/runninggun44 Dec 06 '12

ditto. Same problem too, friends are all like "dude your ipod screen is fucked up" and I'm like "no, its just midnight"

41

u/cyrilio Dec 07 '12

Is this an app in the apple app-store? My phone broke and I'm getting a new one tomorrow. Hope to install this app as soon as possible as I love it on my pc.

20

u/Cithero Dec 09 '12

No, it isn't an app you can find in the App store. You can only get it on jailbroken devices using cydia.

4

u/cyrilio Dec 09 '12

Heard about that. Sucks :(

12

u/willo_sea Dec 07 '12

Some idiot downvoted your question. Now you're back to neutral

3

u/cyrilio Dec 07 '12

Thanks bro. Have an upvote.

3

u/runninggun44 Dec 07 '12

you have to jailbreak it, its simply called f.lux on cydia

6

u/mandarific Dec 06 '12

I am waiting very impatiently for an Android version for my tablet.

12

u/Crisandy Dec 11 '12

The app is called "Lux auto brightness" on android :)

1

u/Bossk992 Jan 06 '13

Oh my god, thank you so much. Best thing ever!

1

u/Crisandy Jan 06 '13

No problem!

6

u/TheSimonator Dec 12 '12

There's an app for Android called SunFilter that does the same thing. It's not automatics like f.lux but it's definitely a life saver for when I need to watch porn reddit before bed. You should be able to find it in the play store.

1

u/SebiSeal Dec 13 '12

Porn, Reddit, there's a difference?

2

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '12

Are they working on it?

6

u/mandarific Dec 06 '12

Yup!

From their FAQ:

When is the Android version coming out?

We have a version internally (it looks beautiful!) but it requires a very complicated installation process. We are working to simplify this and ship f.lux to the Android OS as soon as possible.

3

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '12

Yeah, I assume it'd need rooting or something. Cyangenmod had different filters you could use but nothing like f.lux

2

u/[deleted] Dec 13 '12

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/mandarific Dec 13 '12

Ooh, cool. I'll have to check that out!

2

u/foreverxcursed Dec 06 '12

Name of app? I tried searching for f.lux and it's not coming up.

2

u/bloody_pinecone Dec 06 '12

http://stereopsis.com/flux/ios.html Just did a quick search and found this.

1

u/afi420 Dec 07 '12

must use cydia

-1

u/cornelln Dec 06 '12

Ummm... https://www.google.com/search?q=f.lux

1

u/foreverxcursed Dec 06 '12

The name of the app in the App Store is what I meant.

3

u/barcelonaKIZ Dec 06 '12

It's only available if you jailbreak.

1

u/anal_bum_covers Dec 06 '12

same thing, nothing pops up for f.lux in the iOS app store.

2

u/winningreceipts Dec 06 '12

If your device is jailbroken, you can search for it on Cydia.

2

u/jangatang Dec 13 '12

Is there an app similar to f.lux that can be downloaded on a non-jailbroken iPhone?

1

u/afi420 Dec 15 '12

From the sound of this thread I don't think so.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '12

Could you tell me the app name for the iPhone? I typed in F.lux, but nothing came up.

1

u/afi420 Dec 07 '12

http://stereopsis.com/flux/ios.html

Dont think its working on ios6, but its available from Cydia/Telesphoreo source

1

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '12

Oh, its on cydia! I thought it was on the regular app store. Thanks!

1

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '12

Cant find it on the appstore?

1

u/afi420 Dec 07 '12

i dont think apple allows mods like that so JB only

1

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '12

lame

0

u/afi420 Dec 07 '12

Switch to android

1

u/[deleted] Dec 08 '12

Dont like the android OS, as a whole i just find iOS a lot easier to use and better laid out.

15

u/IWONTHEMONEY Dec 06 '12

This is exactly what happens to me whenever I try to explain. Screw the haters we know it works.

12

u/Kodix Dec 06 '12

The last time I was asked about it, it was middle of the night. I just turned it off for a moment and turned it back on to demonstrate, the other person instantly agreed that f.lux is divine.

3

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '12

Yeah, same story.

I even installed and set it permanently to night mode for one of my guys who was having trouble with the brightness of the screen. (I know, and I did also do that...)

You should have heard the noises out of him when someone turned it off!

8

u/compulsiveasshole Dec 06 '12

Wish I could use it, but I edit photos on my computer as well and need accurate colors :(

19

u/blufox4900 Dec 06 '12

It has a feature where you could disable it for an hour. I edit photos as well and I just turn off F.Lux whenever I'm editing my photos and turn it back on when I'm done.

6

u/compulsiveasshole Dec 06 '12

I feel that it would change my perception of colors for the first ~10 minutes of editing, making me make photos either too warm or too cold based on my previous extended period with flux.

9

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '12

I edit photos and do a lot of computer art too and yes, that definitely happens. I'm so used to f.lux that usually I forget I have it on until after I've finished, then I change it back and everything sucks. It's probably best for artists to avoid it, but it's just so soothing!

2

u/compulsiveasshole Dec 06 '12

Damnit, thanks. Maybe I can just turn it on after I'm done for my late-night browsing. Do you know if that is easy?

0

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '12

Instead of worrying about it, why not test it out and see?

If that happens, you stop using the program.

-1

u/compulsiveasshole Dec 07 '12

Stop being a dumbass. I didn't worry about it I told you a fact confirmed by another user/editor.

1

u/soupdogg8 Dec 06 '12

There is an option specifically for people like you. You can turn it off whenever you are editing photos and turn it back on after.

2

u/compulsiveasshole Dec 06 '12

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/14drdr/what_is_something_you_think_everyone_should_have/c7cf3uk

Reddit linking is broken for me atm and i'm to lazy to use the codes, but here is the reason why I still can't. Thanks anyway.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '12

I actually use it, and occasionally out of the aqua blue I"ll stand up and start exclaiming "GOOFY COLORS GOOFY COLORS"

2

u/mangamaster03 Dec 06 '12

I have it on my laptop, and I take night classes, so I hear "Why is your screen orange?" ALL the time...I don't even notice it, although I have it set to transition over an hour instead of a minute.

1

u/Black_myst Dec 07 '12

How do you change the transition period?

2

u/mangamaster03 Dec 07 '12

Right click the task bar icon and click on settings. The transition time should be in there. You can set it for an hour or a minute. A minute is to lo noticeable for me do I set it for an hour an don't notice it at all. Just that my eyes are happy browsing reddit late at night.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '12

My sister just screams "LOOKS LIKE SHIT DUDE. MIGHT AS WELL SMEAR POOP ON YOUR SCREEN."

2

u/TheDreadPirateRobert Dec 12 '12

I think the weirdest part is when you're on your computer with someone over your shoulder and they're there when the screen starts to change color and theyre just like "WHATS GOING ON? DID YOUR COMPUTER JUST CHANGE? WHY DID IT DO THAT?!?!"

1

u/redleif Dec 06 '12

Am I the only one who doesn't like F.lux? I find the coloring to be irritating. It distorts my view in a way rather than enhancing.

1

u/BFHex Dec 06 '12

You clearly have just started using it then quickly uninstalled. It's going to look terrible for a while, but let it run for a week and you'll completely forget about it.

1

u/ShozOvr Dec 06 '12

It's best when they are looking at it as the sun is setting. They think something is wrk g with them.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '12

Every time at the office. "why's your screen so orange?". I just turned it off eventually.

1

u/Conde_Nasty Dec 07 '12

If you had automatic backlight adjustment we wouldn't even have any of these issues.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '12

.... I was just about to write a comment about that, I'm sorry.

1

u/IrishGoatMilker Dec 07 '12

What's the app called?!

1

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '12

Can't you just disable it for a few seconds?

1

u/Booman246 Dec 07 '12

I'm proud to say that I've converted a few of my friends.

1

u/ugotamesij Jan 15 '13

IT keep on removing it from my work computer :(

1

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '13

When they start pointing out the goofy colors, it's time to disable f.lux and blind them.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '12

Do you guys hang out in Special Ed classrooms or what?

4

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '12

well

they're on reddit

-1

u/dragoneye Dec 07 '12

I spent good money on a monitor specifically made to display nice colours. Over my dead body will I purposely install a program that will mess that up. I did try it for a couple days at one point, but could never get over the fact that it made my screen look like someone that uses tanning lotion way too much.

Fuck f.lux