Going Mouseless

I have never really been a fan of the computer mouse. It usually cramps my hand because of bad design and it generally distracts me from my primary tasks – command line administration, programming, etc. The only thing I really like the mouse for is gaming and I think there’s a better way but it just hasn’t been perfected yet. I think companies like NaturalPoint (http://www.naturalpoint.com/) are pushing the envelop on that with their HeadMouse technology. I’d like to see a contact lense that could be inserted, aligned, and used for mouse position control.

Anyway, I was reading a blog post (http://drewyates.net/how-i-use-my-computer) by Drew Yates about his computer setup and I found several valuable tools that I didn’t know about before. I already use Launchy, Vimperator for Firefox, and ViEmu for Visual Studio/SQL editing. But today I found VirtualWin (http://virtuawin.sourceforge.net/) and AutoHotKey (http://www.autohotkey.com/). VirtualWin is a multi-desktop window manager for Windows! And AutoHotKey is hotkey customization program for windows! Party on Wayne!

I also found a keyboard I’m really drooling over. I currently use a Microsoft Natural 4000 ergonomic keyboard at home and I really love it. Compared to the Dell keyboard I’m typing on now it’s like night and day. My wrists don’t get strained and I’m not fixed in an unnaturally rigid position. However, today I found the Das Keyboard (http://www.daskeyboard.com/). This keyboard is apparently made from very high quality parts and provides the audible click of an old IBM keyboard. I miss those keyboards and I’m very interested in finding one of these to check out. I’ve already emailed the company to find out if they are planning on making an ergonomic version. One of the things that sets this keyboard apart from the rest is that there is nothing printed on the keys! Complete touch typing is the only option!

I’m also pulling down Cygwin onto my workstation. I love the linux command line, and I hate the windows command line. However, I love the polished nature of most windows applications and dislike the perpetual bugginess I tend to find in linux programs. Let’s face it – the linux desktop is not there yet, but the productivity in windows is also not there. I want to ultimate in both!