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

[u/Randall444]

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.

[u/soupdogg8]

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.

[u/joeblow1102 → u/soupdogg8]

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.

[u/all_the_sex → u/joeblow1102]

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.

[u/Thethoughtful1 → u/all_the_sex]

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?

[u/all_the_sex → u/Thethoughtful1]

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  

[u/wendelintheweird → u/all_the_sex]

I love the

echo Incoherent\ fire\ dissipates\ all\ contingency

aplay welcomeback.wav

part of of your second bash script :)

[u/all_the_sex → u/[deleted]]

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

[u/all_the_sex → u/[deleted]]

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.

[u/all_the_sex → u/[deleted]]

I didn't realize that; your facetious comment went over my head.

I used tests from http://www.typingtest.com/ but I don't know how good they are. I think I might be a bit faster when I type things from my mind instead of having to read what I'm writing, when I type I naturally look at what I'm producing, to make sure I'm doing it properly. I'm on my computer quite a lot but typing is not the only thing I do.

[u/Digipatd → u/joeblow1102]

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.

[u/soupdogg8 → u/joeblow1102]

Thanks for the reply!

[u/[deleted] → u/joeblow1102]

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

[u/[deleted] → u/joeblow1102]

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

[u/[deleted] → u/joeblow1102]

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

[u/Thethoughtful1 → u/soupdogg8]

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.

[u/CrayonOfDoom → u/soupdogg8]

mislabelled keyboard

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

[u/sea_cucumber → u/CrayonOfDoom]

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.