What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?

Gaming wireless headphones, not for gaming but for videoconferencing. Bluetooth headphones are universally terrible for videoconferencing because the Bluetooth standard sucks and requires downgrading to telephone audio quality whenever the mic is enabled. Plus terrible latency. Gaming wireless headphones that come with their own dongle completely fix these issues and are perfect for videoconferencing. Someday the Bluetooth ecosystem will get their act together, but it'll be a while and you'll have to buy all new devices because it's a standard made by hardware manufacturers for hardware manufacturers.

Also, some of those magnetic USB charging cables to keep them charged without fiddling with plugging in cables. The nice thing about these is that the same magnetic cable can attach to both microUSB and USB-C dongles, so you can charge any small device with one cable. And the dongles are tiny so you just put them into all your devices and leave them there, super convenient.

After working for almost 3 years with a barebones work-from-home setup (standup desk + laptop), I finally invested recently in some equipment to improve upon my crappy laptop camera and a room with little natural light. The difference in my video call quality is night and day. This is what I got:

  - A key light (Godox ES45) to throw a bunch of bright, natural white light at my face. Attached to the desk and positioned tilted above my head so that it doesn't blind me. I don't notice it when it's on.

  - A mic (Razer Seiren Mini) on a boom arm attached to the desk, positioned above my face, just out of the camera's sight. Nice, clean sound. Would sound even better if I were speaking directly into it, but I don't like having the mic visible.

  - Repurposed an old mirrorless camera (Sony RX100 III) into a webcam for that sweet HD quality. Way better than any of the webcams out there. Needed to buy a cam link 4K card and connect it via a MicroHDMI <-> HDMI cable. Required a dummy battery kit to connect to AC and some setting tweaking, but it works beautifully. Connected the camera to the key light stand with a clamp mount.

I have a heating pad under my keyboard which keeps my hands warm in the winter. Was like $20 on amazon, and I can't even begin to describe how amazing it is, since I was really tired of always having a mug of hot water / tea / coffee to hold and didn't want to keep the heat on my house super high when I could just wear a sweatshirt and be fine except my fingers.

I wouldn't have thought they were lesser-known, but I've been surprised how many people don't know about today's cheap portable external monitors. They're essentially laptop panels with a USB-C+HDMI board. $100-$150-ish and easily found in 15.6" and 13-14", 1080p or 2K. All the ones I've tried have 2 USB-C ports, mini-HDMI, and speakers. This all depends on what USB-C ports your machine actually has and the right USB-C cables, but a single cable can do power and display from the laptop. Or plug the monitor into USB-C PD source and the same cable will charge the laptop and run the monitor. Mine even has a third USB-C "OTG" port for USB 2.0 speed devices. Good for a second screen on the go or debugging single board computers.

An Elgato Stream Deck but for general purposes https://www.elgato.com/en/stream-deck-mk2 Basically imagine having 15 physical buttons to use with any kind of actions, shortcuts, macros etc. but you have a visual feedback too. It’s pretty great! I know there are alternatives like the Adafruit RP2040 https://www.adafruit.com/product/5128 but the visual knobs make the Stream Deck much better imo.

I used to have a control panel [1] with physical switches for various tasks on my desk. I built it mainly to switch between multiple VPNs and switch bluetooth audio mode between high-quality unidirectional A2DP and low-quality bidirectional HSP for meetings, mounting network drives.

But once I moved from XFCE/xubuntu to KDE (on gentoo, later opensuse), I noticed I don't need it anymore. Bluetooth switching works automatically and NetworkManager has nice widget, SMB/SFTP works out of box.

Now it become a toy space rocket control panel for my kids.

[1] https://tomas.janco.link/projects/?control-panel.html

Rearview mirror at the top of my 52" curved widescreen monitor. I work at home in limited space with family around and there's always activity behind me, doors opening, etc. I also work with noise cancelling headphones. Hard to explain why, but the mirror stops my constant need to turn around to figure out what's happening. It took me a minute to hang, with fishing line and zip-ties. Way less cognitive overhead and fewer self-made interruptions since implementing this. $13 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MFD7BT7

Oh boy, I found/invented a tweak that I can't live without anymore. I use an MX Ergo trackball, not sure how it'd fare on a mouse, but here are the magic runes:

    xinput set-prop  "libinput Scroll Method Enabled" 0 0 1
    xinput set-prop  "libinput Button Scrolling Button" 8

Where you'd change 8 to a chosen mouse button and the mouse device id to its appropriate value from `xinput list`.

What this does is make it so that as long as that button is being held, moving the cursors scrolls instead. It's hard to describe how much better of n experience it is vs. using the scroll wheel. It's much faster, much more precise, and less finger-tiring.

Here's a gist of the Python script I use to set it up - https://gist.github.com/pedrovhb/41e9d5b7b7b5c13fe2c94aa4cee...

Wired headphones. I’ve never had to start a meeting by trying to mess with my audio settings, or had to think about charging another battery.

Dual arm monitors to free up lots of space on my desk and more easily hold displays at eye level so I don’t get pain.

A split ortho homebrew keyboard (helix) that I can program with qmk so that I have shift esc enter space and special keys on other layers right where I want them. Or a dedicated Ctrl-a key for tmux. It virtually eliminated my pain. The OLED screens are useless though and I retrospect I should just have skipped them. I should also have put the two arduinos in it on sockets right away because that USB port will of course break and it’s a pain to desolder it.

A “clearly superior technology” (CST) trackball in the middle of the split keyboard that I try and use most with my left hand to give my right hand a break. It’s chunky, well made, uses standard pool balls as the trackball, and can be easily taken apart for cleaning or servicing. Wasn’t cheap though.

I use a small USB switcher box to let me control my personal machine and my work machine at the same desk. I also use a keyboard that lets me flip a switch to change between Mac/Windows layouts. It has been very helpful to let me cleanly separate work from leisure, without having to give up the ergonomics of my desk setup. The friction to switch is low enough that I don't feel tempted to keep work related stuff on my personal machine.

I used to have dual monitors, but now I use a super ultrawide 32:9 monitor. It required learning to use window managers since most OS's don't support multitasking setups like that, but I can use layouts now that I couldn't before. I also use PaperWM[1] with it and it feels particularly effective on ultrawides.

[1]: https://github.com/paperwm/PaperWM

3-color light (https://www.adafruit.com/product/5127) and associated circuitry (https://github.com/vladak/workmon/) that reminds me to change the position of the standing desk if too long in the same position (using ultrasonic distance sensor mounted underneath the table) and to take a break if working for too long without a break (using smart plug to which my display is connected) and also to alert me if I have worked for too long in total that day.

A Shure SM-58 microphone, with a XLR soundcard to go with it.

I always wanted to get a good microphone for voice calls, thankfully a friend of mine had more than a dozen of them, of all styles: dynamic, condenser, long range, cheap, expensive, etc... We spent a couple of hours trying them.

First thing: condenser microphones are great... in a studio. You are probably not in a studio, so if you use one of them, people will hear all the noise around you. Dynamic microphones, usually cardioids, are definitely the best as they, are less affected by outside noise. You can even use speakers and not get annoying feedback. There is one inevitable drawback: you need to have it close to your mouth. It wasn't a problem for me, but it is something to consider if you are doing video, because it will most likely be in frame. It also makes aesthetics a valid consideration.

Now, why the SM-58. Well, it is possibly the most famous microphone in existence, for good reasons. At around $100, it is relatively affordable, it is indestructible, it is an industry standard and it sounds good enough for famous singers to use it. There are cheaper alternatives, some of them excellent for less than half the price, like the Lanen TT1, and higher output level too, but I just like the way the SM-58 sounds, and it was within my budget. There are also podcasting mics like the Shure MV7. A bit expensive, sound quality wasn't worth the extra for me, but it has convenient features, and arguably looks more in place in a video call.

And generally, you should get a XLR microphone, they tend to be much better value for money than the USB or Jack type. That's what the pros use, and getting a XLR input is not expensive. I bought a Behringer U-Phoria UMC204HD for a bit less than $100, but there are cheaper options that work fine (and also better, more expensive ones). Note that for dynamic microphones, you don't need phantom power.

Note that these are wired microphones. The wireless kind tend to be prohibitively expensive. You can get wireless kits for XLR though, they start at around $100.

I use a Kinesis advantage keyboard. It's expensive and ugly but comfortable. I would not go back to another keyboard ever again.

Have a look at this review https://www.anandtech.com/show/7125/kinesis-advantage-review...

Here’s an actual lesser known accessory: a mouse bungee. It is a small weighted disc with a spring arm that holds the mouse cord up and away from the mousepad.

I don’t like the lag, connectivity, and battery issues of wireless mice, this fixes all of that! It feels _better_ than a wireless mouse, because it has no wires in the way also with zero lag.

After experimenting for many years with many kinds of mice, trackballs, touchpads, trackpoints etc. in the search for the most comfortable graphic pointing device, I have settled to use, instead of a mouse, a small Wacom Intuos graphic tablet (usually with Linux), configured in its "mouse" mode, i.e. with relative coordinates, not with its default absolute coordinates.

At least for me, using a stylus has proven to be much more comfortable, much faster and more precise than using any kind of mouse or any other pointing device.

Now I regret that I did not have the idea of replacing the mouse with a small graphic tablet many years earlier.

A large format (A1 or A0) roll plotter, pencils, compass, protractor and set squares.

Obviously highly dependant on what you do. After being heavily screen only for most of my professional life, having the ability to print off a table sized drawing of an engineering diagram, review it, mark it up, and work with others in that process is really nice. It’s definitely more efficient in pure IO terms to work solely in the digital realm, but the forced interaction barriers help provide a little more room for rough thought before returning there for fine tuning.

I use a 60% keyboard that doesn’t even have dedicated arrow keys. My caps-lock is configured as the Fn key and, when it’s held down, the JKLI letters are the arrow keys. This (and other macros) are actually really convenient when you get used to them. Unfortunately, it’s hard for me to type on “normal” keyboards because when I end up tiYping thinks like that. My keyboard is a Mistel MD600 split.

My favorite unusual accessory is a little 9 key mechanical auxiliary keyboard. I programmed it to be my debug keyboard with all of key combos for my IDEs debugger - run, stop, pause, next, step over/into, set breakpoints, etc. it saves a lot of time (or seems like it does).

(I have worked at home my whole career, so if this seems extravagant consider it is nearly my only business expense. :)

I have a 98” TV on the wall, with two 55 inch TVs in portrait orientation on each side, tilted 45 degrees toward me.

It turns out, the long dimension of the 55” screens equals the short dimension of a 98” screen. So all three screens have the same height.

Having huge screens on the wall means I don’t need my reading glasses, can demo easily, can look at my screen while walking around the room and thinking.

It keeps my desk clear of clutter, cables etc. Wireless keyboard, track pad, mouse & headphones.

Furniture is minimized with a small desk and no screen stands.

Clutter and crowding silently sap my productivity.

I use the two side screens to constantly show my todo’s & reminders, and messages that need responses, respectively. Otherwise for me, out of sight is out of mind.

The TVs are mounted low, only 18 inches from the floor, for a comfortable seated viewing angle. also this leaves room for motivational, decorative art over the screens.

A document camera. Just an ordinary webcam, but pointed straight down at a blotter. It's much nicer than all of the "whiteboard" options I've tried.

I think the most significant keyboard feature is "small spacebar".

Most keyboards have a spacebar which is the size of 5 or more keys. It's more convenient if this very wide key gets replaced with Esc, Tab, Space, Backspace, Enter. (Which saves the pinky from having to reach for those keys).

For better or worse, keyboards which do follow this "no large spacebar" approach then tend to have other design improvements: e.g. the columns will be aligned, & not have the asymmetric row-stagger that normal keyboards have; or they'll be split keyboards (like ZSA's moonlander). -- Many will also opt to have fewer keys, so that layers can be leveraged to allow for a smaller keyboard.

A Crystalfont 2x16 LCD with 4 cursor and tick/cross keys which sits just below the middle monitor of my triple-head programming setup. Normally displays date, time, media volume and incoming email/voicemail counts. When a call arrives it shows the Caller ID (and contact name if recognised). The keys are used to adjust media volume and mute/unmute (and in hot weather, the left/right keys adjust the speed of a pair of 120mm PC fans that blow air over the keyboard).

The vast majority of people still haven't realised the productivity benefits of properly big monitors. The desktop UI metaphor actually makes sense when you've got a monitor that's the size of a desk.

Portable screen. Didn't know that such exists, till about few weeks ago. Have a small apartment and sometimes have to work at the dining table. Using a big screen is not an option.

Portable screen is light, size of the laptop and charges/sends data through one cable. Perfect!

Mx Ergo (by Logitech) is far and away the best "mouse" for me and probably for you. It only takes about two hours to transfer your motor skills of regular mouse to the Mx Ergo. Because this "thumb ball" mouse only involves your thumb to work the mouse you won't get the full wrist, shoulder and neck pain that you can get from a normal mouse. If you have any kind of arm pain then check this out.

A Tidbyt: https://tidbyt.com/

It's next to my computer, and I use it for notifications and smaller dashboards: https://github.com/tidbyt/community

I use one of those desktop whiteboards. Love it. I’m used to use post-it notes all over my desk, but not anymore.

https://fluidstance.com/products/slope

Lesser-known keyboards: I use a small 40% (45-key keyboard) or an ortholinear keyboard for my daily work.

On both I have layers for a built-in Numpad, mouse keys (for controlling the mouse cursor without taking my hand off the keyboard), shortcuts for working with text (selecting an entire line, copying and pasting, etc) and various other finger- and wrist-saving shortcuts that help me ward off the likelihood of RSI.

I had a wrist injury in the past and it had a big impact on my productivity as a tech worker so using these small compact keyboards is a real godsend.

Everything I need is literally just one key away from another--no more stretching or contorting my hands and fingers to do CTRL+ALT+DELETE or CTRL+SHIFT+F5 for example.

The 40% keyboard can be used as a daily driver but the ortholinear keyboard is my go-to since it's perfect for both work and play.

Left handed trackball (Elecom). Sits to the left of my Moonlander while my vertical mouse sits to the right. Not only is it convenient, as an old school Diablo player I get to tell people I duel wield.

I also have a cheap X-Pen graphics tablet that I use for ‘white boarding’ on zoom calls.

Almost forgot I also have a usb wireless numpad that I pair with a usb hid remapped on a pi zero to make hot keys for frequent actions.

I have a mouse cable bungee.

Particularly useful for twitch based FPS shooters such as Counter Strike, but overall ensures never to get the cable in your way.

PS: You don't use wireless for competitive shooters. LAN Cable, cable mouse, etc.

See: https://www.amazon.com/Glorious-PC-Gaming-Race-Bungee/dp/B07...

UPS that can run my PC, monitors, USB hub for 10-30 minutes. I rarely have power outages, but when I do have one it's a non-event Cheap boom arm for the webcam. Stream Deck makes it was to quickly control audio and lights and aps Tourbox makes it easy to edit video Elgato Keylight Airs for video calls Neumi powered speakers. Corsair K100 keyboard. I love the feel and being able to disabled the capslock key Logitech MX Vertical mouse. I hate using any other mouse at this point Syba Sonic USB DAC. Better audio to the headphones plus a big volume knob Jabra Evolve2 30 wired headset. They are comfortable and I don't need to charge them. Since they are USB-C, I can plug them into my phone for longer calls. Audio-Technica ATH M50 headphones. When I want to listen or work on video. Under the desk headphone mount. The convenience of being able to quickly grab either headset without having to look away Desktop mat from drop.com. It looks better and it's another layer of padding for your hand. ErgoFoam Adjustable Foot Rest. It makes my feet happy Steelcase Leap chair. Spend the money on a good chair. Your back will thank you STEALTHO Office Chair Caster Wheels Set. Replace the wheels of your office chair with polyurethane wheels and skateboard quality bearings. Amazon Echo Show 5. It's a desktop clock and a display for the doorbell camera.

People will love you much more if you use a real microphone. I have a travel-sized one from RØDE; the difference it made, in how people perceive my voice, is massive - I sound like a professional speaker rather than a geek in the basement. This brought significant reputational advantages.

I also have an UPS under the desk, keeping up the wifi hub in all circumstances; it has a couple of USB charging ports on the front, so I use those with most random things that need charging. For some things I recently started using elbow USB-C connectors, or ones that can bend either way, to tidy up some corners and reduce strain on connectors.

The rest is about ergonomics - screen at the right level, good chair (Aeron, although tbh I miss my previous Mirrah) to avoid back pain, good split keyboard (Kinesis, although I wish i could afford an ergodox) to take away wrist pain (massive difference), that sort of thing.

I have USB footpedals.

https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2022/01/review-usb-foot-pedals-fs3_...

I joke that I have them programmed for select all, copy, and paste. But, really, it is for microphone mute, camera toggle, and boss key.

Takes up a small amount of under desk space, but worth it.

I have a heated mat for my cat to sit or sleep on, my workflow is greatly improved when she's not sitting on my keyboard.

I recently ditched my external monitor and I’m finding myself less distracted. 16 inch MacBook Pro screen is all I really need. Anyone else prefer working with minimal peripherals?

Probably a little late for anyone to actually see this, but I am REALLY happy with this desk lamp solution:

https://amzn.to/3MlWGhH

It perches up on top of my monitor (taking up no desk real estate which was my original goal), runs on USB, and puts off a pleasant light.

I use a Bastard Keyboard Charybdis Nano. It's an ergo 3x5 keyboard with built in trackball. I built it myself but you can get them pre built too.

https://github.com/Bastardkb/Charybdis

Toslink switch. A kind of device that can switch a path between multiple inputs and multiple outputs. Mine has 4 inputs and 4 outputs and a remote that lets me select current input and output separately with two button presses.

My inputs:

- laptop with external Behringer audio interface with optical output,

- bluetooth receiver/transmitter with optical output

- PS4 (through toslink output)

My outputs:

- DAC (with optical input) into headphone amplifier into headphones

- "large" amplifier (with optical input) for my bookshelf speakers,

- bluetooth receiver/transmitter with optical input

The bluetooth receiver/transmitter is a funny device that can perform one of two roles and has separate remote to toggle. It is connected to the switch twice, once for output, once for input. I use this to send signal to up to two pairs of bluetooth headphones (for example for watching movies on external monitor). I also use this to capture output from my phone or laptop when the laptop is not connected to the docking stotion.

What all this does is it allows me to send any listed input to any listed output, except bluetooth into bluetooth -- that device can only operate in one selected mode. For example I may play PS4 on my speakers and with one button press send it to my bluetooth headphones or my wired headphones. Or I can use my bookshelf speakers with my laptop on my lap. Everything without connecting any cables at all -- just up to three presses on two remotes.

I had non-optical solution before but this caused a lot of interference. Rather than try to debug and fix this I decided to just not have any copper between devices. Optical cables fixed it all for me.

Slightly off-topic, but a "lesser known accessory I use(d)" back in the 1970's was the Microwriter [1], a chording keyboard that provided for a typing speed not possible with normal keyboards. I am a proficient (Pitman) touch typist, but after a clumsy learning curve, the Microwriter more than doubled my input speed.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwriter

I've been using an Elecom EX-G left-handed wireless trackball (thumb operated) for ages: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ELECOM-Left-handed-Wireless-functio...

I'm naturally right-handed, but learnt to use a mouse/trackball with my left hand ages ago when I figured out the twisting/ergonomic issues with a right-handed mouse and a keyboard with a numeric keypad. I was previously prone to hurting my right-shoulder blade (pulled muscle?) as there's a constant twist compared to the mid-line of the keyboard.

I use a Japanese keyboard because it comes with additional thumb keys. I use software to remap the thumb keys to additional layers. For example, if I hold thumb+a, the alpha keys under my right hand turn into a numpad. If I tap the thumb key by itself, it turns the keyboard into a mouse.

I use a Thinkpad keyboard with a track point mouse. So nice to not have to move my hands off the keyboard to move the mouse.

None of this is really unknown, but maybe not super common.

* Standing desk. I work and play on my computer, so I try to spend at least half the working day in a standing position. It's an electric one, ime switching being effortless is very important for actual usage.

* Wired headset. If I'm on a call (work or TTRPG), I plug it in. Otherwise it's lying on the side. I hate charging so much, I even have my wireless mouse permanently connected via USB.

* Sound card. A Creative Soundblaster ZX. Probably not needed anymore, but my last laptop (2006ish) had a soundcard in that pci slot thing, and I bought one for my first Desktop afterwards and stinky kept it. I do like the Soundblaster software and it's not as if I need the pcie X1 slot it takes up for anything else.

* Document scanner. Scan all paper documents I might need again and store them in paperless ngx (the scanner software scans to a smb share on my home server that paperless consumes)

During colder weather I use a heated water bottle under my feet. Warms me up and keeps my fingers from getting stiff.

I built myself a small special-purpose keyboard with two parts: the main part is a 5-key board to control music players: play/pause, volume control, next/previous. The second (and more fun) part is a big blue arcade button that locks the screen. I worked for a while for a federally-funded R&D center where we could get in trouble if we left a computer unlocked and having a big blue button that I could slap as I stood up from my desk helped me stay in infosec's good graces. Now that I'm WFH I still enjoy it.

- DK2 VR camera so I don't need lights. (infrared)

- GV-USB2/Elgato HD60S to capture C64/Amiga1200/Raspberry 4 on Windows my desktop and/or display them on monitors.

- Many screens in a compact area (all 4:3/5:4, matte and low res): http://move.rupy.se/file/station.jpg

- 40% keyboard for that Raspberry 4 so it fits in front of my HHKB JP: http://move.rupy.se/file/last_computer.png

- Recently started using my old "Tab A" tablet with bluetooth Thinkpad keyboard and mouse, much lighter than a laptop, just wish I could install vanilla linux on it.

- UrbanEars Plattan 2 bluetooth (about 10+ of them) because it has wired and bluetooth. (sold out now unfortunately)

- Røde USB mic.

It's not an extremely unusual peripheral, but I use a rather nontraditional display with my Mac Studio, the LG DualUp. It's a 28-inch 16:18 aspect (square-ish) display with 2560x2880 native resolution (roughly the pixel density of a "4K display"). I use it rotated (for 18:16 aspect) and I love it. For general use -- web, photos, terminal windows -- it's great, and it's perfect as a dev machine, which it also is. I'm more fond of it than any display I've used in the past.

The display in my setup: https://www.flickr.com/photos/blakespot/52345176302/in/album...

I use a board with 32 RGB LEDs to show process status: https://github.com/shapr/bloohm

If you ever have multiple hour long builds and/or test suites running, this is is a big help.

Monitor arms freed up a ton of desk space.

Wireless noise cancelling headphones helped with concentration.

UPS saved me a couple times from losing work during power outages.

I use a Tiny Tower Stand with a tablet pc, which enabled my Ergo Mobile Computer setup ( https://reddit.com/r/ergomobilecomputers/ )

I haven't used a second monitor since, and don't need to wear glasses at the computer anymore since the setup is a few inches closer to the face.

(not all are computer peripherals, but other comments seem wider than initial criteria)

* whiteboard placed on a painting easel next to my desk (when I don't use whiteboard, I can use the easel it to paint acrylic) - about 90x120 cm. I put my tasks for work, but also pick exercises with checkbox to do during the day.

* AKAI mpk mini - when tired of work, can jump over to Ableton like software and relax

* MX Master 3S - ordered kind of accidentally, stayed as solid replacement of previously used Apple Trackpad.

* cutting board as mouse mat: https://www.olfa.net.pl/products/Mata-do-ciecia-CM-A4-RC.htm... If I need to cut something, it's there. As a downside - it might be wearing off my mouse quicker.

* wifi/assistant controlled light bulb behind the monitor. Easily to regulate light around my screen - bright when needed, switched to blue in the evening.

* Varier Variable Balans (bought 2nd hand for 20% of original price) - works nicely with electric-standing desk from Ikea.

Lighted USB volume knob - they're inexpensive, the large aluminum knob is on a sturdy base, can be pressed down for mute.

ReMarkable2 e-ink tablet -- okay, it's a standalone device, but interfaces to the computer in cool ways (like screen sharing), and it's changed my life as far as note-taking goes

VR headset, swivel chair, and 270° of screens. What's bigger than ultra-wide?

I use both a Quest 2 (running Immersed on Linux) and a Valve Index (running Virtual Desktop on Windows).

Hackcessories:

An upside-down metal drink tumbler, with an anti-static wrist strap around it, and clamped to the chassis of the computer. In the colder months, I touch it before touching parts of the computer, or my metal keyboard (which is not great for static). Before that, I hung up my system several times from static shocks on USB stuff.

A pile of random stuff with the right dimensions to put my webcam on in front of my monitor, so it looks like I'm actually looking at the person talking. This one doesn't work so well.

A mousepad. I don't often see them used by people with mice any more and stopped suggesting them since almost everyone turned down the idea.

I use an eye-tracker to move the mouse, voice command and a set of 3 pedals: one to toggle the eye-tracking, another to toggle voice command and third for mouse left click. I started using these during a rough patch of RSI but now that I'm recovered still used them because they prevent any of these type of issues happening again and also, they're super comfy to work with (half of my workflow is automated using voice command and moving the pointer with your eyes is essential once you've learn how to use it properly). Highly encourage to try them :D

I have multiple of these boom arms [1] clamped all around my desk. Great for things that require frequent fiddling (webcams / mics / lighting)

https://www.ulanzi.com/collections/desk-set-up/products/viji...

Made my own minimalistic laptop stands to bring its screen to a more ergonomic height https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5633824

I have two circular gel disks to protect my elbows from rubbing the desk too hard (I've put holes in several uniforms). The product is called jelbows.

I'll never buy a new non-split keyboard

I use a ReSound Multi Mic (see https://www.resound.com/en-us/hearing-aids/accessories/multi...) with my MBP. It plugs into the headphone port and transmits the sound to my ReSound hearing aids.

As you can see at the referenced URL, the Multi Mic has other capabilities as well. I’ve used it to hear speakers at conferences, college classes, and other talks given by speakers who were at a distance from me. And, I’ve used it to pick up the signal sent by venues’ audio loops at other speaking events.

The only feature it has that I haven’t used is its “conference table mic” - ReSound says I should be able to lay it flat on a table I’m sitting at with others and it’ll automatically zero in on one speaker or another when they talk and send that person’s voice to my hearing aids. I gotta’ test that feature out one of these days soon because that sounds amazing.

Sadly, not much. The Datahands[1] are long gone. The keyboards I bought for their n-key rollover for Plover[2] are there but I can’t stenography. The Cykey chording keyboard[3] gone I think. The software I made to use a normal keyboard as chording input like that, unused. https://talonvoice.com/ free edition couldn’t make any sense of my accent I think. The webcam from when multitouch was new and could be done in software with the shadows of your hand on paper and camera, I still have but don’t use. The Remarkable tablet and pen mostly unused. Going back a lot further the infra red receiver and software to use a standard TV style remote control, nope.

I never got the Griffin PowerMate or the Leap motion or the new LED button boards aimed at streamers.

Just AutoHotkey survives. And it’s sad, computers could be so much more but I guess I don’t have much use for anything else.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DataHand

[2] http://www.openstenoproject.org/plover/

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CyKey

I wouldn't call it lesser-known, but I tend to use a full-size standard 104-key keyboard with my laptop. It's nice to be able to reach all the keys by feel and to have all those extra keys like Page Up and Page Down, etc. available without having to use a modifier.

A desk mat, like the ones by Nordik [1]. It's like a giant mouse pad that also goes under your keyboard.

I can't stand the size of normal mouse pads and I can't go without one because the years wear on my desk. Plus it also serves as coaster, art, and "clean zone" that my cats know to avoid. You can get them custom printed with anything you want.

[1]: https://amzn.to/3ZyXiU5

This little SD Card fits flush in the M1 and M2 MacBook Pro slot, provides the user with additional storage (shrug) or constant Time Machine backups (hellll yes). Almost worth giving up that fourth Thunderbolt port for.

https://9to5mac.com/2022/04/21/flush-sd-card-macbook-pro-tra...

I use a clear acrylic keyboard protector to prevent my cats from treading on the keyboard, while still allowing me to type. Oddly, the version I have was originally marketed as an underwater camera stabilizer for divers called "Sea Cine FISH". Because I use it with a laptop, I had to cut gaps in the sides to allow cables to be plugged in. You can now find ones where this has been provided for.

Caldigit TSM3 - It's a usb hub + all sorts of other cables connect into it. You can then connect one cable to your mac and have everything boot up each time you reach your desk. It's expensive but worth it.

I have an audiophile speaker setup that has a bit of a complicated setup - it either takes an SPDIF or 3.5mm jack, however the SPDIF way was recommended to me to achieve quality and get rid of DC POP.

For this reason I bought a 4k HDMI splitter that extracts from a HDMI signal the different video and audio channels if needed. So I connect my MacBook pro to this splitter through hdmi and run another hdmi between this and the monitor. The spdif goes to the receiver that drives my speakers.

What's cool is that the video still is at 4k@60hz and I could still get audio through my monitor if I turned on its internal speakers. It has been working flawlessly for me for years and I've only spent about 30 bucks to buy it.

Here is a link to the product if anyone wants to take a look https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07BHYXVTY?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_...

I travel a fair bit for work. A while ago I bought a thin tenkeyless external keyboard (Cherry Stream - it has laptop-style scissor switches). Being tenkeyless it's small enough to fit comfortably into the bag with my laptop yet has full sized keys and layout. Makes a huge difference (along with a laptop stand) to using a laptop to work in a hotel room.

A 3D mouse like https://3dconnexion.com/nl/product/spacemouse-wireless/ is really nice if you need it. It's basically a 6 degree of freedom input - you can move in x-y, up and down, tilt it or rotate it. Even for working in 2D it's useful. And it's a bit more ergonomic than a mouse as well.

I've also tried this weird mouse replacement: https://www.marzhauser.com/en/products/operating-devices/erg...

It's basically the controls of microscope with a USB cable. So that people who are used to working with a microscope can continue to work the same way.

These are the only 2 lesser-known accessories, I used. Not sure why everyone needs to talk about mice and usb hubs here

A Big Knob Passive (not powered), which can toggle audio independently between two inputs (laptop and pc), and two outputs (speakers, and bluetooth transmitter) using tactile toggle buttons with immediate response, and it also has a big volume knob, and a button to turn stereo into mono which has turned out useful for some badly encoded videos having audio in only one channel.

The Bluetooth transmitter is used with sony WH-1000XM3 using the aptx standard and latency this way is good enough for gaming (I know what bad Bluetooth latency is like, and this setup does not have it)

The fact that pc and laptop output to audio jack and don't know I use wireless headphones (or which input or output I use at all) is a feature, not a bug, since I actually don't want the headphones to be able to change state of music players or volume on the pc as it's buggy and annoying if it does that.

The only thing the big knob passive lacks imho is an ability to mix both input sources together passively.

i use this pull switch to immediately end my zoom calls. https://twitter.com/lanewinfield/status/1339257875034566656

Laptop arm -- basically a clamped monitor arm with a laptop tray instead of VESA mount.

That combined with a USB-C dock and another monitor on an arm. I can quickly dock laptop and keep all my desk space.

I use my monitors in portrait mode. Some tools aren't great with it, but when I'm editing a doc it's amazing to be able to see two whole sheets of paper-worth of text.

Kinesis Advantage 360 pro.

Apple magic trackpad.

Savant Elite2 Triple Foot pedal. Left Click, Right Click, ESC.. currently. Still playing with them.

IPEVO DO-CAM USB document camera, doubles as my face camera, but I do a lot of 'whiteboard' sketches on paper which I later translate to lucid if it needs to be kept.

I use ergonomic low-profile split keyboard Sweep[1]. My endgame (I hope so) keyboard after a long journey through the ergomechboard rabbit hole. If you're interesting in improving keyboard ergonomics with really custom solutions, r/ErgoMechBoards's Wiki [2] is a good place to start.

[1]: https://github.com/davidphilipbarr/Sweep

[2]: https://www.reddit.com/r/ErgoMechKeyboards/wiki/resources

I don't use a camera for video conferencing. I use my last-generation mobile device with the Droidcam app. Plus a goose-neck attachment to hold it to one side of the monitor about 10-20 degrees below eye level. Better picture quality and easier to "look at" people when I'm trying to get some point across.

https://www.dev47apps.com/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08MZGPMPX/

I have a 10-input analogue-to-digital converter plugged into one USB port, which allows me to log environmental things like current outside light levels, and a one-wire adaptor plugged into another, which lets me have a string of thermometers on a long cheap cable. I currently log temperature outside in the shade, in my "root cellar", in the greenhouse, 10cm under the soil, and the central heating radiator pipe inside. Helps with the gardening, when to sow seed, when to open windows in the greenhouse. Also, I wanted to know how much sunlight I get here for my plans for solar power.

- Sit with a white wall right behind you. Clean, fresh, quality paint, like Dulux really seems different for some reason. Put the desk in the open facing out. No blurry backgrounds, green screen, bad background edges. While everyone's modifying you're just appearing clear and less reasons to be choppy.

- Three 2K screens - 23 to 25" (2560x1440). 3 of these have more usable pixels than a 4K. I have used 3 monitors so long that breaking work into screen 1/2/3 becomes a quick and helpful thing. I don't always use the third but have told people if I'm having a 3 monitor day, to keep on sliding by.

- MIC: I am heard better by sounding the clearest. I recently bought the best wired mic headset I could find. Steelseries Tusq for $50. Voice quality has been through the roof and close to the best, to the point that almost every call someone is asking me what I'm using. Won't cancel noise, but good otherwise.

- SOUND DAC: Soundblaster G3 - Makes good sound even better. Optionally adds the ability to output to both headphones and speakers. Handier than I thought it would be. Also allows cleaning up your voice with a pre-set and outputting it through a "Creative Microphone". Works great. I had my eyes on a nicer one but don't see myself getting rid of this.

- WEBCAM: Logitech Brio 4K - Clearest low maintenance 4k image wins. Lots of other options emerging, but this one whether I'm sitting in the dark, monitor bias lights or have my overhead light on adjusts quickly enough. I like that it has it's own onboard electronics to do image smoothing or it's other features so zoom doesn't clog.. It's mic isn't bad as well in a pinch.

- AC Infinity Cabinet Fans - Quiet fans placed underneath any Apple or other laptops that are unable to manage their thermal selves. One is up at an angle and draws air away, and the other blows across. I like it enough that I would cut a hole out in my desk with the fans inserted and let the air blow down. Can be dremeled and put into ikea lapdesk laptop holders. Especially helpful for i9 laptops. Quiet.

- Heated desk mat. Use on floor as well if the floor is cold, or get a dedicated one for that.

Edit: added a few more.

I bought an Elgato Cam Link 4K to use my Sony A7II for video calls. I didn't have a webcam before the pandemic so I would have spent at least 100$ for a passable one. Sound was already solved with an Antlion ModMic 5 on a good pair of open headphones (Drop x Sennheiser HD6XX). I like to have a modular setup to reuse/upgrade independently each component.

I use the Logitech MX Ergo as my go-to mouse. Once adapted to the thumb trackball, it's really comfortable. As an added benefit, you need very little space on your desk and no mouse pad because it's stationary.

Ikea Kolon - a floor protector. It's not strictly a computer hardware but I have it for 2 main desktops. Otherwise wooden floor gets damaged when you roll your chair in-place for hours each day.

I use a laptop with zero accessories, which is unusual in of itself for SWE.

I have an ARTcessories mixer and amplifier stacked on top of each other. Very compact, both are 4-channel stereo. I don't really use the mixer as much anymore, but it used to be connected to my desktop, laptop, phone and guitar amp. The (headphone) amplifier I connected to my headset, desk speakers and for a short time to a second headset and some recording device (I know, bad idea). When I was playing Rocksmith (think of it as Guitar Hero with real guitars) this was my contraption for routing the guitar sound through a real guitar pedal and maybe playing with a friend now and then who could also wear headphones. Nowadays it's mostly so I can switch between headphones and speakers quickly by basically just turning the speakers on and off.

The other thing are the lights that light up the walls behind my screens. I don't have a window there so it's easier on the eyes when the lights are on while I'm at my PC. They are controlled by a wi-fi power socket running Tasmota. On my NAS I got Node-RED running which pings my PC. I have an "automatic" setting for my lights so they are on if the PC is on, or when it's dark and before midnight. The "dark" part is currently determined by the time when the sun starts to set, but I'm planning on using a light sensor I already have somewhere else in my apartment instead. And I still need a better trigger that turns it off for the night - I think the humidity data from my bathroom might be the one, since the last thing I do before going to bed is showering.

External dedicated GPU enclosure. Turns a Thunderbolt-3 laptop into a workstation for CAD & AI workflows.

Gigantic mouse mat that takes up so much space it covers half of my desk. I play FPS games. But it's soooo nice. The thing is so big my whole keyboard fits on it too.

It seems like I'm the only person in the office or at home who uses a touch screen on my laptop. I like it, but there are some issues with software that gets too clever with UI widgets, rendering them unusable without a mouse. Routine things like web surfing are great, coding is almost impossible with a touch screen. So I wish I could say that it works better than it really does. And touch screen support for Linux distro's has been hit-or-miss so far.

Solar wireless keyboards. I use both Mac and Windows versions of the Logitech K750. Even indoor lighting is enough to keep them charged if you don’t cover them up, but I typically want a window nearby anyway, which means never worrying about charging them.

My one nit to pick is that they don’t have multiple connections, so for convenience, I just have two at my desk, one that stays connected to my personal system, and one that connects to the work laptop.

I use a drawing tablet as a third monitor, and I use a USB numpad so that I can shove it out of the way when I don't need it (I basically only use it for blender).

Not much is less known in the tech world, so I use as a dock the CalDigit TS3 Plus, connected to two external mechanical keyboards, the blue yeti mic with wired headphones, a Logitech MX vertical mouse, and a huge monitor with a simple ring light and a webcam on top. My favorite headphones throughout the pandemic were the Drop THX pandas, but they broke a month ago and I haven’t fixed them yet, so now I use the Monolith M1060C.

Some fountain pens and a notebook. This allows me to quickly write down notes before jumping into my editor. This makes a big difference.

Each one of these has been said, USB switcher, Screen switcher, and foot pedals. I have this combined, a USB + DisplayPort switcher, with a food pedal to change between the two connected laptops. It's great when it works, which it did in my previous HDMI+1080p screen setup. But as I moved to 4K, I had these issues:

- The noname HDMI cables I had was not the right version, bought 3 new ones.

- The old Apple dongle doesn't support 60hz, luckily I had a newer one which did, worked well on my newer Macbook Pro, but..

- ..Macbook Pro 2016 doesn't support 60hz through the dongles with HDMI, so I've got to move to DisplayPort.

- Now my NEW Macbook Pro doesn't work at all with DP. Macbook issue, as my other 3 Macbooks (on the same macOS) works fine.

So now I am using the KVM switcher for everything except the screen, which I have to manually change the input for, until I can reinstall macOS to see if that solves it (I have spent hours with Apple support).

Overall if you use multiple laptops the KVM is awesome, and the foot pedal is doubly so!

Probably the most special thing on my desk is a HHKB keyboard. Other than the layout I think the killer features for the latest version is that it connects to four different devices using bluetooth (it can also connect to another using USB). You switch between devices with a keyboard shortcut (CTRL+FN+1-4 for bluetooth and CTRL+FN+0 for USB).

I can type on calls without my mic picking it up, it has a custom layout saved on device so I don't need to do any configuration for any device I connect it to and it works fine on Windows, MacOS and iOS devices.

I use a JP version but with US keys on it and a US key layout which gives me a bunch of extra keys to configure. If anyone is wondering, there is a spare key on the home row to the right of the ' key which I use as backspace/del.

It wasn't cheap, but if it broke I would replace it with the same model in a heartbeat. I do have a spare but it's the standard US layout with the big spacebar.

I don't really use it - yet - but I have been quite interested in the concept of pedals. Some people use them to mute/unmute calls, turn caps lock on and off and even to switch between Vim modes, which is quite nice.

For me, I hope it would also help me quiet my legs a little bit and keep me in an upright posture, avoiding me crossing my legs for instance.

Definitely a vertical mouse (it's not well known in my country/outside the dev industry). I've been having occasional wrist pain for a long time (I have a mild case of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome) and the vertical mouse was not only a game changer but very easy to adapt to.

I have a xence labs quickkeys which is a macro button pad with an OLED screen for button labels. You can have like five pages of shortcuts with 40 separate functions programmable PER APPLICATION.

I don't have to remember obscure keyboard shortcuts, the functions switch automatically as I change apps and the scroll wheel (the main reason I bought it) is so nice. I can't use a mouse at all without pain so I use a pen tablet for the most part, this has brought back the smooth scrolling, zooming and other things you'd use a mouse wheel for back into my life.

Since I make music as a hobby, some of these are not gonna be incredibly useful for most:

- Behringer XR18 digital mixer, mounted under my desk

- DIY wooden stand for a small MIDI controller keyboard & an integrated XLR socket for a conference microphone (used for meetings)

- the MIDI controller is connected directly to the XR18 so I have convenient faders and knobs for mic volume, mute, master volume and other stuff connected to the mixer (piano, edrums etc)

- DIY shelf to have my displays & speakers at a comfortable height and distance

- dishpan under the desk for the occasional footbath

Not at all uncommon but still highly recommended: vertical mouse (cheap one), split keyboard (r-go), docking station (old thinkpad ultra dock)

Things I still want but never got around to:

- my desk lamp (cheap wifi bulb) is cold/warm white fadeable but I want that to happen automatically throughout the day based on sunset

- a better drawing tablet so I can ditch my whiteboard (current one sucks)

I'm not too fond of seeing or using big headphones or even smaller earphones (wired/wired) during video calls. I believe even Apple haven't found a design that is more natural with their AirPods. I also don't yet trust wireless for audio.

I have a much cheaper version of those costly wired earphone studio monitor that musicians used on stage/studio -- the one where the wire goes around the ear and hidden behind. I sometimes combine that with a wired Lavalier Mic. Both of which are tucked and hidden under my table for quick and easy access. I have very clear audio and people on the other end have told me that I'm very clear too. Very discrete while audio being clear on both ends. I want to set up something similar but less messy for travels.

However, in most common day-to-day meetings (teams, quick calls), I default to an XLR pointed from above the display.

I was going to joke and say a cup holder (one company actually made a legitimate cup holder that fit in a 5.25" bay back in the '90s or so), but when researching for this comment, I discovered there are actual modern cup holder products that either clamp or magnetically attach to desks or other surfaces now.

Mobile dev here; I had an issue with organizing the vast quantity of mobile devices I have been given for testing.

* Significant QoL gain: take a trip to the dollar store to buy three short CD racks; if you lay them on their sides next to each other, you can mount your laptops and mobile devices vertically!

Much nicer than stacking your devices screen to screen, and you can keep them charged and connect them as-needed.

* Ergo Anti-pattern: I built a 35 inch deep desktop out of 2x4's, perched it on top of ikea motorized risers, all above a "LifeSpan" brand desk treadmill scrounged from Craigslist because I thought Torvalds's setup was cool (circa mid-quarantine).

This year I built a wooden frame with hatch doors above the treadmill and keep my goofy gaming chair forever parked on top of them.

Poly Headset for video conferences! Quite happy with them. I also use my iPhone as the camera for my setup.

I work at my great great grandparents kitchen table, an heirloom that has a gatefold tabletop concealing a large pocket space just underneath the surface.

It has in it a power distribution board, access point, switch, various wall warts for things on the desk, and a mini pc. All housed in a beech veneer dining table.

I had to raise it off the floor a couple of inches to get my legs under it — folks back then really must have been smaller — and I would 100% convert a vintage dining table into a computer desk if I needed to, in the future. It’s so much more meaningful to have a dedicated place to work in the house with all the techno crap hidden out of of sight. I eschew my laptop and really enjoy having this one special place for computer stuff.

A custom desk surface with a pocket cut into it to hold a glass mousepad (Skypad 3.0), so the top of the mousepad is flush with the desk surface. This means items on the desk such as the keyboard can be repositioned freely without hitting the side of the mousepad.

The desk surface is a single sheet of 4'x2' plywood, with solid wood edging strips glued to it. The pocket was cut with a hand router, positioned using wooden fences clamped to the plywood. The surface finish of the inside of the pocket is kind of rough, but it's not visible through the mousepad. The whole thing is varnished, and screwed to a steel desk frame I got for free from a local school that was disposing of old furniture.

Magnetic usb c adapters: adds universally compatible magsafe+data transfer to all devices for $10-20. Very convenient.

Kdeconnect, scrcpy (software): notifications, reply to messages, automute on calls... what MS and apple copied.

Keyboard with QMK or kmonad(software) or other software: e.g. caps works as both ctrl and caps. Easier umlauts. Multimedia keys, shortcuts etc on compact keyboards.

Screenbar: convenient lighting.

Droidcam, camo (software) or hdmi capture cards: again sherlocked, but the original software gives you much more control.

Wacom tablet or sidecar-like: since apple and samsung sherlocked the idea, the original apps dried out a bit. Use a tablet as a wacom contiq. Preferably wired.

Audio interface: use professional mic, headphones with your pc. Also eguitar.

I have a Roccat Vulcan 120 RGB keyboard which has a sweet volume knob on it. Don't use the software that comes with it though. I use Project Aurora[1] to control the lights on the keys. I'm able to program color/fx/animation per key per program that has focus. It's useful if you have new software or a game you're not used to. For example, you can highlight all the relevant keys to help you memorize them.

But mainly I use it to play an audio waveform of any music that's playing. And highlight caps lock whenever it's on.

[1]: https://www.project-aurora.com/

Mouse:

A metal padded mouse with a “speed” mouse pad. It is so sensitive and easy to move that I can’t go back to a regular one anymore. Also it has rests for a thumb an a pinky. Shaped like this:

  _/—\_

I believe that mine is A4Tech T70 or a very similar. The software allows for linear movement which I also like much more than default acceleration-based.

I clipped the cord to the edge of the table, so it lies like S on the mouse pad and doesn’t scratch itself nor makes a sound.

Display:

Also I have a monitor arm - it frees so much space on the table and allows for easy monitor movement when I need to clear the table and draw on paper.

I have an "unorthodox" audio-oriented "KVM" setup that looks like this:

  {PC; Work laptop; …} → HDMI switcher → HDMI digital sound extractor → {S/PDIF DAC → Speakers; Monitor}

The HDMI switcher is actually just for A/V; I use Barrier for the keyboard and the mouse (well actually not mouse, but a trackball).

Though now that I think of it, I wonder if I could cobble something together with CEC to pass keyboard and mouse inputs through HDMI. In theory, that should be possible by attaching a ESP32 or something like that to the CEC pin on the monitor side…?

MX Master 3 mouse. Stopped the hand/wrist pain caused by other mice and can use on any surface.

HDMI switch. Switch monitor between machines.

USB switch. Switch peripherals between machines.

Used to use an arduino with a rangefinder and led matrix to notify when coworkers would be behind me. Always had headphones on and usually would get hit with a jump scare from them tapping me or waving hands in front of my face. Also, had a coworker who routinely interrupted throughout the day just to gab and at times I wouldn't take my headphones off. A bit of a cold shoulder but they were excessive with the interruptions

What do you mean by ring? Because at home in the late 1990's, I remember we had some kind of 3d ring mouse that worked with ultrasonic motion trackers clamped to the monitor. It was either this (the Kantek Spectrum Ring Mouse) or something almost identical:

https://www.microsoft.com/buxtoncollection/detail.aspx?id=19

From what I remember, it didn't work too well. Or it wasn't worth the gorilla arm. I was only using it for clerical work and maybe some gaming.

I use a trackball rather than a mouse. That improves my experience a great deal more than people expect.

I also use a homebrew macro keyboard. It's a 16 key keyboard with nice, clicky keys and two analog knobs. It's very convenient.

A speakerphone box for meetings. Good audio both ways, while much more comfortable than having a headset on all day when the meeting schedule gets out of hand, and has a hardware mute button and indicator.

I have an Atmel-ICE for embedded systems development, however I was too cheap to buy their cable and case (over 200$ vs 80$ for the raw board). Turns out the board has the SWD header installed backward, and their cable assembly silently reverses it back. So I had to build a similarly weird thing to fix it.

Also a Hemmi slide rule. It mostly just sits there to make me think about what accuracy is actually relevant in calculations -- e.g. with what I know about the system, is the answer really 0.6012, or is it really about 0.6 and that's all I know?

I got a ModMic USB after being pretty unhappy with the samples of mic quality that I heard from headsets. I have received a number of positive comments on my microphone quality after switching.

It also gave me back a hardware mute button, which I missed from prior USB headsets.

I have a preference for just USB wired hardware. A number of laptops and sound card addons have some whack spatial audio stuff they do in their chipsets that you have to go trawling through forums to find out how to disable. Since the USB devices bring their own hardware, they get past this a bit.

- Dygma Raise split keyboard (https://dygma.com/) with IJKL + a layer key mapped to arrow keys, similar to some other folks on here have set up. Massively improved my posture. - MuteMe physical mute button (https://muteme.com/). No longer need to have to dig through windows to find the Zoom window to un-mute when I want to speak, but I have to look at another window.

I don't have it connected at the moment, but I built this rotary dial accessory for my Mac [0] so I could make FaceTime calls in an old-school fashion. The signification impact it had on my workflow? It forced me to take it slow, I guess. :)

Petmoj is Swedish slang for a rotary dial.

[0]: https://dahlstrand.net/2016/01/24/petmoj.html

An ancient 8 channel Mackie sound mixer to the left and slightly north of my keyboard. Other than inputs from the main computer, it pulls in audio from a bunch of other stuff/computers in the room, has a handy 1/4" headphone jack with volume control, and lets me instantly mute/mix any way I want without fiddling with keyboards or mice.

Output is to the CD inputs on a Sony mini audio system I bought on my way through Singapore in 1989.

I use a usb polycom deskphone I trashpicked(bluetooth sucks, and I don't want another potential stop to the "oops, sorry" cycle when I join a video call), and a usb to ps2 for the microsoft ergonomic keyboard I've used since I was little. Also, I recently acquired a perixx vertical mouse that felt like holding a cheap taco so I filled it with pennies wrapped in gorilla tape. No problems so far

I don't have these pedals [1] (yet), but considering how much I'm struggling with osteoarthritis at the ripe old age of 49, I do think they might offer some relief during my longer vim stints.

[1] https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2022/01/review-usb-foot-pedals-fs3_...

Idk if it really counts as an accessory, but I used to use Synergy when I had to use a company Macbook. I have the macbook on one side of the desk connected to one monitor, and my PC on the other side connected to the other. I found docker performance to be way better on my PC than on the 8gb RAM M1 Macbook pro I was given, so I tended to do everything I could on the PC and then push code using the macbook

Here's something i've tried but it didn't work out:

- Using an Onyx Boox Max Lumi 13.3 eInk display as external laptop monitor to work outside.

Too much ghosting.

Angled USB adaptors. I keep my laptop in an edge holder to free up work space. The angle adaptors keep the two USB cables from protruding too much.

Jabra Speak 510 or 710 portable speaker with microphone, USB and bluetooth connection.

If you work in a dedicated room and don't need the isolation that headphones provide.

More comfortable than any headphones, excelent voice in and out, buttons with lights for volume and mute control, wired for good quality and latency, can also work wireless for phone. Works with Linux, no drivers needed for any functionality.

Adjustable keyboard tray, negative-tilt split tenkeyless keyboard, vertical mouse. The height and angle of your arms and wrists is critical to reduce carpal tunnel syndrome.

https://ergo.human.cornell.edu/DEA6510/dea6512k/ergo12tips.h...

I spend all day on meetings and love my Mütesync button: https://mutesync.com/

Pretty basic but it's cheap and easy, works with Hangouts and Zoom, etc. The ability to know if I'm muted and rapidly mute/unmute without needing to focus the Zoom window is clutch.

Cheap Wacom tablet for virtual white boarding. Zoom annotations are a great way to quickly draw things in a shared space during a call.

A 2-1 HDMI connector so you can hook up 2 computers to 1 monitor without having to wait while switching from one computer to the other

for me having a separate Anker usb charging block (5 port, 40W) is great to minimize the things connected to my work macbook (mouse charger, airpods charger, wireless charging pad …etc) and a good laptop/mouse mat (Razer Gigantus) has been a great purchase too (provides a nice mouse surface and little more comfortable than a cold desk)

I have a small screen for raspberry pi on a teleprompter with a Sony A6000 behind it for video conferencing. Kicks the crap out of every webcam. The teleprompter lets me look right at you while in a meeting

I use my iPad as a second screen on my macbook air with Duet [0]

Had the software for a few years now and it’s used very frequently. I don’t know if using the app hardwired requires a subscription though as mine was a one-off purchase via App Store.

[0] https://www.duetdisplay.com/

I dunno. My ancient, wired Logitech trackball maybe?

I also have an m.2 SSD on a USB3 dongle which I've used as a Raspberry Pi boot drive.

I am using a Librem Key, USB security token based entirely on free software, to ensure my coreboot is not tampered with.

I work from home as a Data Scientist and I am a standup comedian on the side. I have a standing desk with dual monitors. KVM Switch has been a game changer for my productivity. When I have some downtime in my job, I can immediately switch to my personal laptop to work on my personal projects and comedy.

Instead of a desk chair I use one of the pottery barn wells leather swivel chairs. Perfect for sitting cross legged, with a blanket, straight upright, and good for napping.

One ridiculous thing I have is an old griffin usb volume knob that glows/throbs. It’s really amusing for some reason.

A "Logitech G213 Prodigy Gaming Keyboard with RGB". Bought on a whim on sale. Not unhappy with the keyboard itself, but its killer app is being able to tell at a glance, by backlit keys, if my work laptop has accidentally un-hibernated after I've finished work (I work from home).

I have a small Bluetooth media control. Volume, play / pause, and track controls work even if I've not got the music app up, or if I need to pause something to hop on a call. Not having to find my music app because my wife calls me from the other room is really handy.

I just bought a laptop stand/riser. AU$69 from Officeworks here in Australia, just a basic hinge/arm with a plate on the top. First day using it today as I like to sit in the garden with the laptop vs. in the office with the monitor.

Game changer for posture. I'm looking directly ahead!

For me it would have to be the DELTAHUB Carpio 2.0 Ergonomic Wrist Rest.

Contrary to other wrist rests, this one is tied to your wrist using a magnetic clasp.

I'm aging, or perhaps I just gamed too much using cheap peripherals. Either way, my wrist hurt a lot when using the PC and this helped me a lot.

A foot rest/rocker. Specifically this one: https://www.humanscale.com/products/ergonomic-foot-rests/FR3...

I've got a Yamaha RX-V863 running to some very nice custom built monitors I put together for the stereo channels, and just some yamaha 5.1 component speakers for the rest of my home office. Nothing sucks more than having to listen to crap music while you're working.

3DConnexion SpaceMouse series [1] 6DOF mice for CAD, Photoshop, and pretty much every 2D/3D editing workflow

[1] https://3dconnexion.com/us/spacemouse/#compare

I have a cheap drawing tablet I purchased for about $20. It works wonders for whiteboarding and diagramming things for my remote coworkers. Especially when used in conjunction with tools like Google Jamboard, it's almost as good as an in-person whiteboard.

Keyboard with a left handed number pad and a thumb trackball to the right. The keyboard is a bloody light strike optical gaming keyboard. The trackball has macros set to open a new tab, close a tab, and to use the ball to scroll when you hold down the right mouse button.

Macropad mapped primarily for my email client.

    Row 1: Delete, Archive, Mark Unread and Advance 
    Row 2: Undo, Next, Previous

It’s simple and I know the shortcuts for all of this, but it’s honestly drastically reduced the time spent triaging my email.

I’ve got a wired button to turn on and off my PC without having to bend to reach the power button in front of the PC case. Cost me like $15 from ebay, and also has a reset button, and two usb ports which come very handy in case I want to attach an usb stick.

I quite love the four-way KVM switch I use on my desk. One trackball, one mechanical keyboard, hooked up to four laptops (or occasionally a raspberry pi or two.) Couple keystrokes to switch computers, so I can bounce back and forth easily.

Split keyboard is a game changer

Wacom Bamboo tablet instead of the mouse. Less strain on wrists. Much more comfortable than the mouse and faster with pointing when used to it after some time.

A ZoomSwitch which lets me switch my wired headset between my PC and telephone with 1 button press.

I used to have a job which involved a ton of calls - both telephone and virtual meetings. This device let me easily switch my one headset between the two.

Headphone cable extender is a must for me ever since the first time I stood on a cable and broke off the 3.5mm plug on a pair.

Plus, I get enough distance to wander around the room. I'll eventually upgrade to bluetooth.

I've got USB-powered desk fans at home and the office. I've tried a fair number, and typically get ones that have a couple of different speed settings and good bearing that are mostly silent.

Presonus STUDIO 26c Audio Interface [1]

[1] https://www.presonus.com/products/studio-26c

I have a RTL2832U v3 software defined radio that plugs into a USB port.

https://www.rtl-sdr.com/tag/v3/

I have the (now discontinued) Logitech G13 gameboard. I mainly use it for gaming, but it's also useful for creating hardware-macros and have these be linked to the application in focus.

I have a small heater sitting under the desk. Its power line connects to a WiFi smart plug. I can turn the heater on and off on my phone, without me going under the desk to turn it on or off.

I got an used PCoIP card and compatible thin-client, and now I only move a dual-screen stand with said thin-client wherever I work in the house, while my workstation sits cool in the basement.

Wall-mounted monitor rails, mounted horizontally. Normally I work with two 24" monitors side-by-side, but I can slide them apart if the kids need to use a monitor while I'm working.

Luna Display for wirelessly extending screen to ipad and teleprompter.

Long USB-C extension and a cheap-ish anker hub has proven surprisingly useful. Less glitches on wireless audio/mouse thanks to reduced distance and yubikey is in easy reach

I used to make music so I purchased studio monitors and a mic. I haven't put on a headset in years and I can't imagine how it would feel to wear one for 8+ hours a day.

USB 24-bit 48khz sound device (MBox1) outputting S/PDIF to a proper hifi preamp+amp.

integrated laptop/phone DACs driving headphones sound like garbage now

A 3d mouse for modeling, and a second ten key on the left side of my 3d mouse so I can enter dimensions while my hand is still on the regular mouse.

Not connected to my computer but I have an electric infrared heater next to my chair that I use to keep warm when it's exceptionally cold.

Audio Interface which I plug XLR mics into. I use a shotgun mic (Deity S-MIC 2S) so dont have a stupid boom in your face like most podcasters.

USB foot pedals and midi controllers, use them every day for development and productivity tasks.

They're just input - do whatever you want with them.

SCSI, SFP+ cards, FireWire audio IO interface, BD-writer (wanted to try XDCAM, but too expensive), USB Floppy disk drive :)

A compact radio.

HP E273d monitor with an HP S101

Supports both a desktop USB-B and a USB-C laptop with PD, with auto switch

Has built-in camera

I use a 3d mouse when I do CAD work... Its pretty nice, but takes a bit to get used to.

A surfmouse. I use a standing desk, and shift my body to control the mouse.

::: MIC ::: too often I heard people in Zoom / Teams / Meet sounded so bad, at times I couldn't hear what they're saying.

Cheap gaming microphones, like my HyperX Solocast, is massive change from those. It's probably the best bang for the buck of all other accessories that I bought so far.

::: NOISE-CANCELLING USB MIC DONGLE ::: sometimes my work environment can be very noisy and nothing I can do about it. In those cases I plug my mic into Asus Noise Canceling adapter - and instantly all the noises are gone: https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Noise-Canceling-Artificial-Intel...

At $35, it's an absolute steal.

Unfortunately it only accepts 3.5 mm jack as input - so no joy for the USB mics.

::: EARPHONE ::: when I'm mobile or need to use my Asus Noise Canceling dongle above - I use Apple Earpods.

It's light, it's very comfortable inside my ear for prolonged periods, it sounds amazing, even better than some of my expensive wireless headphones, and it include mic as well, a good quality one too.

At $16, it's a steal: https://www.amazon.com/Apple-EarPods-3-5mm-Headphone-Plug/dp...

::: WEBCAM ::: at first I was like the others, and use Logitech's webcam.

Soon I found out that even its most expensive one suffer from stupid AF (autofocus) problem - it kept making my face out of focus at random times, it's so embarrassing.

So after checking many reviews; I bought Nexigo N60 - and I still can't believe a webcam this cheap actually produces better picture than my previous more expensive webcam, wow. And no more stupid AF. And it works straight away in Linux.

It also claim to have noise-canceling mic, but I haven't tested it yet.

https://www.amazon.com/Microphone-NexiGo-Computer-110-degree...

::: PORTRAIT MONITOR ::: I bought a cheap HP E190i monitor - which can be turned into a portrait monitor.

Suddenly editing documents, Terminal/SSH, etc become much, much more comfortable.

::: Ultrawide Screen Monitor ::: it's a game changer - bought LG ultrawide monitor, and it's so comfortable.

I can put 2 portrait document side-by-side, and quickly compare them, or reference from each other, etc.

Not to mention editing those wide spreadsheets is becoming so much more bearable now.

It's also so much nicer watching movie and playing games using it.

::: GAS-SPRING MONITOR MOUNT::: use it to mount the ultrawide monitor above ; and it's even more comfortably positioned + frees up so much desk space.

::: VACUUM-COOLER ::: my brand-new laptop used to suddenly slowed down to a crawl at times, not only puzzling but of course also, very, frustrating.

Turned out it's unable to expel heat efficiently. Damn this thin laptops.

So I plugged a vacuum cooler on its exhaust port - and instantly it no longer throttled the CPU at random times, yay.

It's now able to consistently run at its peak frequency.

When gaming though it still overheats. I've bought a Carbonaut pad, from Thermal Grizzly. It's supposed to conduct heat about 5 times better than a thermal paste, so hopefully it'll help.

two important things:

- i'm a stickler for input devices. I have a split keyboard and a Wacom tablet in the middle with a little pen stand that's always close by. I keep daypages in beta.tldraw.com, which has excellent pen and touch support. It's super handy.

- a good field mic for video conference calls. I use a Zoom H1 with a fuzzy pop shield and a little stand to minimize microphonics. I'm perceived as quite feminine and it's sometimes hard to speak up, so it's amazing how much more respect I get on conference calls when I have the confidence of excellent sound quality to back me up.

If I could add something to my setup, I'd like to hook up a small trackball that somehow only emits mouse scroll events. That would really help move around PDFs and webpages.

I built one of those custom mechanical keyboards with some "fancy linear switches", but I am not a fan of the mechanical keyboard enthusiast community because it is so sanctimonious, elitist, and close minded.

Lap desk for my laptop. It's really the way to go.

Space mouse for cad. It's pretty wonderful.

digital volume control knob via usb-c. Simply controls the volume of my PC. I Got it from aliexpress

multi monitors, two mice/trackball.

kensington expert mouse trackball Cloud Nine Ergonomic illuminated keyboard with Cherry mechanical keys

Left handed mouse. Saved me from RSI.

A kinesis Advantage 2 keyboard

"Tryone" Gooseneck tablet holder to hold my Linux-running x86 2-in-1 tablet. I get like 2 people a week asking me what the fuck this is and how they can get one ASAP. Unbeatable ergonomics at any place; your screen where you want it. Paired with a Lenovo Thinkpad Trackpoint BT keyboard, and sometimes a mouse.

Gas-spring monitor mounts are well known by now. I semi-recently hacked together a wall mount gas spring arm & am surprised how much more flexibility & space going from desk mount (first clamp then through-hole) arm to wall-mount gave me; better range of motion, zero desk-space is amazing.

I used to dearly love my Griffin PowerMate jog-wheel for volume control. I really wanted to create a morse-code system for it & got quite far but stopped 50% of the way through. But still, jog-wheels are lovely devices. I'm on split keyboards now but I love so much the old Logitech MX keyboards that I had that also had big job-wheels & media-buttons; having on-tap control over devices was so nice.

AtomCube RX1 (now RX7) has a pretty nice battery-powered videography light that also works great as my key light. I hope one day to figure out how to reverse engineer the bluetooth control protocol for it, but haven't started digging in to how to intercept/reverse engineer the Android app. I also really dig the very cheap the Aputure AL-M9 deck-of-card sized light that works great with my camera; just so versatile a light & imminently affordable.

Fiber optic displayport/hdmi cable. I used to use a 50ft 1080p hdmi cable & some active USB extension cables to put my computer in the hallway or bathroom, connected to a separate terminal, so I could have a no-noise environment. Now, my AIO coolermaster watercooled computer is quite quiet. But there are some very cheap fiber optic cables of up-to literally hundreds-of-feet of length for incredibly cheap prices. The no-name brands seem to work fine. Now I can play games on my roof just fine, thanks to these absurd cheap luxury devices. I've tested up to my gaming monitor's 1440p170 and they work great.

A $20 HDMI<->USB "MS2130" converter for plugging in my cameras as webcams. Present as standard usb-video devices. Alas the frelling monsters making Android phones still don't include the kernel module to support these; how very badly I want to be able to use my phone to control & connect to my cameras, but nooo. Tick the kernel module box on for usb-video, you jerks!

ElecJet Ultra is the most interesting battery pack I have. It's only 10k mAh- <40WHr- which is low capacity. But it charges at 100W across a huge part of the charging curve. This makes it an idea travel unit: wherever I am, I can accept wall power at 100W. That's 3x the rate my laptop accepts. I have some ZMI 20k (mAh) Pro packs that I adore as my mainstay everyday travel units, lots of juice, very compact, nice usb-hub features, but they only charge at 45W, or a ~2hr+ charge time. Being able to get a fully charged pack in ~30 minutes is incredibly useful if I'm on the go & trying to keep a couple devices charged. That said, I often have two ZMI Pro packs, and my multi-output charger will do 90W into both packs, and thus the ElecJet often stays at home. It's still a rare noteable gem of a device to me.