• intensely_human@lemm.ee
    854·
    1 year ago

    Keyboard. It’s got hotkeys for the most used characters. It’s so much faster than manually drawing each character in Paint.

      • intensely_human@lemm.ee
        41·
        1 year ago

        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.

    • state_electrician@discuss.tchncs.de
      6·
      1 year ago

      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.

  • simple@lemm.ee
    50·
    1 year ago

    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.

  • KrokanteBamischijf@feddit.nl
    461·
    1 year ago

    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.

    • phorq@lemmy.ml
      181·
      1 year ago

      I put my pet mouse on my trackpad. It freed up my right hand for typing, but now my cursor keeps wandering.

      • KrokanteBamischijf@feddit.nl
        4·
        1 year ago

        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.

    • siipale@sopuli.xyz
      21·
      1 year ago

      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.

      • BURN@lemmy.world
        2·
        1 year ago

        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

  • BigPapaE@lemmy.worldEnglish
    27·
    1 year ago

    While I guess not technically a gadget, a nice footrest is surprisingly comfortable when sitting at the computer a while

  • MicrowavedTea@infosec.pub
    262·
    1 year ago

    A mouse with programmable keys on the side. It’s so convenient combining control keys with mouse movements in one hand.

          • limeaide@lemmy.ml
            1·
            1 year ago

            Yeah sure.

            Whenever I’m working on a big photoshop file and I find myself using a tool very often, I bind the side buttons to that tool. At minimum I always keep the redo, undo buttons binded to the mouse.

            Whenever I’m browsing the web I have forwards and backwards binded so I don’t have to move my mouse across the screen to go back a page.

            It’s all trivial stuff but it makes my workflow slightly more fluid. I initially bought the mouse for gaming, but it has been super useful for me outside of gaming

      • HiramFromTheChi@lemmy.world
        19·
        1 year ago

        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.

        • Makss@jlai.lu
          4·
          1 year ago

          Oh nice ! Thanks for the explanation. Is this type of authentication supported by many apps and services ? Can it completely replace an authenticator app on a phone ?

          • Chobbes@lemmy.world
            6·
            1 year ago

            Not everything supports FIDO U2F (the kind of 2fa that Yubikeys support), unfortunately. That said a lot of your important accounts might. Google supports it, GitHub supports it, Apple supports it. It’s a much stronger form of 2FA, so it’s nice if you can have it.

            Depending on the yubikey you get it may also be able to do PGP so you can keep your keys locked up on it and off your computer so they’re safer. You can use this to encrypt / decrypt things, but also to cryptographically sign emails and git commits. You can also use it for SSH authentication.

          • jet@hackertalks.comEnglish
            4·
            1 year ago

            For services that support fido2 keys, Yes 100% it replaces TOTP apps. Most services do not support fido2 keys. Just services that are very security conscience. Google, Microsoft, GitHub, cloudflare, AWS, azure, anything with a high technical risk surface will support fido2 keys.

    • jet@hackertalks.comEnglish
      3·
      1 year ago

      Yubikey bio key. Now it’s two factors. Something you are, something you have. It uses a fingerprint to unlock the key.

  • Giu176@lemmy.world
    162·
    1 year ago

    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!

  • Destroyer of Worlds 3000@sh.itjust.works
    13·
    1 year ago

    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.

    • semi_sentient@sh.itjust.works
      6·
      1 year ago

      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?

      • Destroyer of Worlds 3000@sh.itjust.works
        4·
        1 year ago

        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.

    • Marvin42@feddit.nl
      4·
      1 year ago

      +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.

      • Destroyer of Worlds 3000@sh.itjust.works
        4·
        1 year ago

        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.

      • Destroyer of Worlds 3000@sh.itjust.works
        3·
        1 year ago

        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.

  • intensely_human@lemm.ee
    111·
    1 year ago

    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.

    • sbv@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      6·
      1 year ago

      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.

  • halliday@lemmings.world
    111·
    1 year ago

    Nas systems like Synology, u can store photos, files, or anything without public cloud services.

    • beefcat@lemmy.world
      5·
      1 year ago

      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.

      • kowcop@aussie.zoneEnglish
        4·
        1 year ago

        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.

      • halliday@lemmings.world
        1·
        1 year ago

        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.