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Headphones. I don't wanna listen to your tik toks on a bus.
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I would add that a pair of good ones is a world of difference for everything you might use them for - music, gaming, movies. Now good != expensive, good headphones can be had for under 50 bucks, great headphones for around 100-200, anything beyond that you are venturing into audiophile waters with very diminishing returns.
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Since we're on Lemmy, USB jump drive so they can reinstall a new distro of Linux every ~3 months
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Do it with Ventoy https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html
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I've been telling myself to stop distrohopping for 7 years.
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I'm addicted to optimizing my OS
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I've got like 5 of these. Only one of them has a Linux distro.
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Keyboard. It’s got hotkeys for the most used characters. It’s so much faster than manually drawing each character in Paint.
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Wow, my MS paint workflow is feeling attacked right now.
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You don't have to use every shortcut you know.
People need to think too, and the less repetitive one's workflow, the less time one has to think.
Time efficiency gains assume practically infinite cognitive resources. Normal human workflow is think/execute/think/execute. Jobs that are only think/think/think/think are unnatural and fuck up your brain. Especially if you think of reality as a sort of test suite you can run against new neural patterns to weed out the ones built on unreliable patterns.
So you do you bro. You take your time on those precious chars. I do recommend you learn chinese in that case though, or Egyptian heiroglyphics. You get a lot more information out of each bmp file that way.
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I haven't used CJK languages in a long time, but for a while I was running a Japanese version of Windows NT and for text input there was an option to draw the character in a small paint window.
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A good chair. I know it's not technically a gadget but if you're spending half of your day on the computer you should spend on a good chair with proper lumbar support. Your back will thank you.
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Just don't fall for those "gamer" chairs. They're designed to look pretty, not to be comfortable.
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Most gamer chairs are fine but they're overly expensive. My chair is just a high quality office chair I grabbed from a local store. Super comfy and relatively cheap.
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When I was last shopping for a chair, a "gamer" chair was, by far, the best chair that I could find for my size (average height, but stocky and overweight). None of the chairs at my local office store went up far enough for my knees and the arm rests did not support my elbows at table level.
I am sure that their are high end office chairs that would fit me, but I did not want to do much research. I had just read a good overview of gaming chairs from Ars Technica and just went off of that.
Every chair I have had at work has the same problem. At one job, they had ergonomics experts come in to help set up our desks at a new office. The expert sat me down, fiddled with my chair, and apologized because it was hopeless.
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Buy a used Aeron chair on Craigslist or something. I’ve gotten 2 of them like this and love them. They last forever and are extremely comfortable.
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Completely agree. I got a Steelcase for a steal on Craigslist and it has been the best chair I’ve ever owned.
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External hard drive big enough to hold more than the entire memory of the computer. Keep everything you find valuable at least, or better yet back up the entire computer on there and update it regularly. Leave it unplugged from the computer between updates.
In other words, an offline backup of everything on your main computer.
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Follow the 3-2-1 rule: 3 copies, 2 different mediums (second HDD + thumb drive, DVD-R, tape if you’re nerdy, etc) and 1 offsite (cloud, VPN tunnel to someone else’s NAS, etc)
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"if it doesn't exist in 3 places, it doesn't exist at all" is an adage I do my best to abide by. I lost a 500mb hard drive in the 90s (oh no...all my funny Sound Recorder clips and funny pics!!) and have been paranoid ever since.
Digital storage is just too cheap nowadays to risk it. Cloud storage, too
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A mouse. Just any mouse. There are so many trackpad warriors out there (primarily Apple users) that complain they're being handicapped but they don't just go for the easy solution.
I've even seen some idiots stubbornly trying to do CAD work with a trackpad, and struggling in the process.
Get a fucking mouse.
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I put my pet mouse on my trackpad. It freed up my right hand for typing, but now my cursor keeps wandering.
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See, that's where you went wrong. You should really use your right hand for petting your mouse, which frees up your left hand for uhh... typing.
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I've seen people with macbooks doing 3D models for living with trackpads.
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Well, Apple actually has good trackpad so I don't really feel handicapped with that. In some cases it's even better than mouse. Although if I had to do lot of CAD work I'd rather use mouse.
On PC however mouse is definitely better option. The PC trackpads I have used are either horrible or ok'ish. One PC trackpad I've used was a cheap mimic of Apple trackpad which made it much worse than an honest PC trackpad. If you try to copy Apple on budget it doesn't work. It just makes it a wish.com version of the better thing.
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100% agree. I wouldn’t be caught dead using a mouse on my MacBook because macOS isn’t built for a mouse. But at the same time I won’t use windows trackpads and will bring a wireless mouse to avoid it.
CAD work is an outlier that would be always mouse, but that doesn’t mean everyone needs one
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A good mouse and keyboard are probably a good start.
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Upgraded my setup to logitech MX Keys and MX Master 3 and oooooh boy, it's so much nicer than the cheap rubbish I used before
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A mouse with programmable keys on the side. It's so convenient combining control keys with mouse movements in one hand.
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I have a mouse with 6 buttons on the side and it's great for gaming. When I used to play fortnite I had all the building mapped there so I could do all my building with my right thumb and it wouldnt distract my left hand from movement controls
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It's certainly great for gaming. I didn't expect it would make things so much easier on everyday use as well.
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I've had Shift+W programmed to my thumb button. Way more relaxed way to sprint in most games.
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MMO mouses for programming
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Get a multi port USB charger. I have some from Anker that have 2 usb-c ports and 2 usb-a ports. Can charge everything from my laptop to all my gadgets.
You can't have enough usb chargers.
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One of my best purchases is the Anker 543 charger:
- 2x USB-C and 2x USB-A ports delivering up to 45W.
- Plugs into socket with an AC cable instead of built-in prongs. Lets you plug it into tight areas where a wall wart won't fit.
- AC cable is a removable figure 8 attachment, so if it breaks you can replace it cheaply without buying a new charger. You can also buy an extra long AC cable to get power further away.
- Power supply is compatible with 240v and 110v AC. If you're traveling, just buy that country's AC cord for $5 instead of all those shitty attachments that travel adapters come with.
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I once bought a couple of 6 or 8 foot charging cables from Anker. My gf and I could both zone out on our phones on the couch then. Before that one of us could hunch down at a time if we needed to look at something on the phone.
It was just interesting how nice it was to be able to be on the phone while it was charging, and that we had two of them.
For maybe $15 apiece or $20 for the pair, it was a lot of value for the money.
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I just bit the bullet and got some from Anker. Gonna have so many fast charging stations, I'll finally stop dragging the one good charger around behind me everywhere I go.
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Monitor arms and/or a standing desk. Monitor arms free up so much space on your desk and having a standing desk is just good for physical health especially if you work from home.
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While I guess not technically a gadget, a nice footrest is surprisingly comfortable when sitting at the computer a while
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I highly recommend anti-fatigue mats and adjustable desk! Alternative between sitting and standing.
Long periods of sitting is bad in general.
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Dude, definitely. I'm a standing desk evangelist and have 2 at home lol
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Right now I'm using a soccer ball, great to fiddle with too.
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Hmm, I might have to try this
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A good pair of pants.
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Way to flex bro. Look at mr moneybags over here with his "pants". Bro everyone struggling out here
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Best computer gadget ever.
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A small screen (3-4") phone
Best way to kick the habit of spending every free minute looking at the screen, but still perfectly functional for a wide variety of tasks, unlike a dumbphone. -
YubiKey
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Wuzzat?
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It's a hardware authentication key. Kinda like a USB flash drive.
You know how some services offer multifactor authentication (MFA), also referred to as two factor authentication (2FA)?
There are typically two types offered: time-based one-time passwords (TOTPs) where you have 30-60 seconds to type in a 6-digit code, and SMS-based where they text you a 4-6 digit code (that also expires within a set time frame).
With a Yubikey, you gotta plug in the Yubikey into your computer or phone. Or, there are some models that use near field communication (NFC) and you just need to bring it near the device you're tryna authenticate.
So rather than typing in those codes you get either from SMS or your authenticator app, you use the Yubikey as your authentication method.
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Yubikey bio key. Now it's two factors. Something you are, something you have. It uses a fingerprint to unlock the key.
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if you draw or photoshop, a wacom screen is a life changer. not an ipad pro or surface, a 20"+ wacom cintiq on a solid desk is still light years beyond anything else out there. also, if you edit video, a usb shuttle wheel with mapable hot buttons makes cutting much faster than click and drag. really good speakers are important. lastly, get the best chair (with a headrest!) you can afford.
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Cintiqs are nice. I’ve been thinking about getting an additional Intuos Tablet though - sometimes drawing in the Cintiq ends up with me drawing with my face 6-8 inches from the screen, which is just reinforcing my near-sightedness. That, and sometimes drawings get skewed because I normally draw with the monitor tilted back at an angle. :T
I think I’d like the option to switch back and forth. Anybody have any advice or thoughts?
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I use my Cintiq, keyboard, and mouse. I was able to build mine into my desktop with a tilt feature that goes from 80 degrees to almost flat. For some reason having it sunk into the table makes it easier for me to draw for long sessions. Your mileage might vary.
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+1 on the good chair. I've spend 500 Euros and don't regret my decision.
But why the head rest? Any source I've had (including a ergonomics specialist I've had a short talk with after buying the chair) said that your head should much rather move freely.
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I got pretty severe shoulder and neck issues from sitting in Aeron and Mira chairs doing production graphics. Lots of pointing and clicking. I found an old gaming chair in a storage closet and haven't had the same issues at all. Never looked back. Ergonomics should include what kind of work, duration, repetitive stress, monitor size, height, distance, body type etc.
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What about a table like that for 3D work or CAD? Do people do that?
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I did, mostly for painting 3D textures directly on models (Z Brush etc). I knew a traditional animator that converted one of her old light tables with a Cintiq. It was pretty badass.
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If you are a pc enthusiast I'm going to say you need a sensor panel. I built one myself, 7" lcd display and driver board costs less then 30€ and the result is incredible. I always look at it for any sort of reason it has temperatures, FPS, cpu/gpu/ram usage, network bandwidth.. I always know what's going on!
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I used rainmeter to do the same thing on my 2nd monitor for free if anyone is looking for a software solution to this :)
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MangoHUD
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One of these, the world's most sophisticated form of protection.
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they sell little plastic laptop camera sliders online for nearly nothing that are more convenient and visually modest
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They have improved then since the picture was made, as I used to go to the store and they'd take advantage of the fact people feel they need the sliders so bad and sell them at the price of an umbrella. And then it was realized after looking at bathroom cups that not only can you make them in an instant for free but also that the translucent ones can imbue certain effects.
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My webcam has a built in physical privacy slider
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I feel like whenever they actually include that they're pulling a Sun Tzu on us.
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Refrigerator
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I used a Kinesis Freestyle 2 split keyboard for my software dev work, and it eliminated the ulnar neuropathy I was experiencing in about a month.
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I've been using a Kinesis Advantage for most of my career. It's safe to say my wrists would have flamed out years ago if it wasn't for that keyboard.
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Nas systems like Synology, u can store photos, files, or anything without public cloud services.
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dedicated nas systems are pretty overpriced imo, often costing as much or more than the drives you put in them. much cheaper to build your own. depending on your needs, this can be as simple as a raspberry pi plus an external hard drive.
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They are overpriced based on a system you can build yourself, but the target audience for a NAS is someone who doesn’t want to spend days googling guides when a hard drive craps the bed or the os glitches. When I think of how much my NAS was, what I have stored on it and how much I use it, it is probably the best value for money thing I own.
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I have a usb ssd attached to my router.
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not that expensive, i got a secondhand synology ds218+ which is based on intel x86 architecture, it costs about 100 usd. campared to raspberry pi, it provides docker support. i deploys teslamate, homeassistant, and openwrt.
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Appropriate game controllers for what you play. Gamepads, arcade sticks, racing wheels and flight sticks all have their uses. Mouse and keyboard isn't always the best control scheme and it's annoying to see steam reviews where people complain about that.
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As somebody that doesn't play a lot of racing games or flight sims or anything, a basic gamepad will go a long way. A lot of games that feel bad on keyboard were simply made primarily for console. Dark Souls was an infamous example of this, but this can apply to a surprising amount of things - I find it's hard to reach for numbers in MMOs, and macro keyboards/mice are too busy, but FFXIV actually handles incredibly well on a controller because it was designed with the PS4 in mind. Even with recent games, Armored Core 6, Resident Evil remakes, Elden Ring, Jedi Survivor, I'm sure these all play fine on keyboard and mouse but they're much more comfortable on a gamepad.
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A good gamepad is a great catchall if you aren't seriously into any of the genres that utilize specialized controls and are absolutely indispensable for any pc gamer.
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Man, I hate gamepads. If a game is clearly meant to be played with a pad and thw kb+m is a garbage afterthought I immediately uninstall. Can't stand them.
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Anything you interact with on a daily basis. Keyboard, mouse, desk, monitor... If you're going to be spending a couple hours a day at it why not treat yourself?
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Large desk mat comfy chair good keyboard wrist rest decent 1440 monitor
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A 4k monitor. It's like making your desk 4 times bigger.
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What about 2nd 4k monitor?
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I don't think he knows about second 4K monitor, Kal.
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Well yes, one is nice but two is more nicer
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I know this is sacrilegious (especially as a professional software developer who works from home) but I actually think it's too much screen space. I have a second 4k monitor that I almost never use because it always ends up with a lot of empty wasted space, so it just stays off most of the time. It really only gets used when I have something on my main monitor full screen, but even then it rarely has more than a 1080p screens' worth of content
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A deej mixer
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https://www.instructables.com/DEEJ-a-Physical-Volume-Mixer/
This looks awesome
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Steering wheel
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I second this, as I have spent far too much on mine, so be warned, your wallet will not be pleased.
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Ultrawide monitor, especially for gaming.
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I thought for so long whether go get a 1440p UW or just standars 1440p. In the end I opted for the standard one. Maybe one of these days I'll try it but the price point just wasn't there imo.
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perhaps even superultrawide
why have 2 monitors side by side when you can have one monitor to
rule them allgame on?
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