autokey – Brushing Up Science

Non-scientific software that helps me get science done

This is a shout out to all the software that helps my science happen despite not necessarily being developed for scientific purposes.

Fair warning, the list skews toward Linux programs since that’s what I use in my day-to-day work.

Tmux

I spend a lot of time at the command line. Or rather, command lines (note the plural). I often have four open at once. And I want to see all four at once, and jump back and forth between them all. Separate terminal windows or tabs don’t cut it. But Tmux does.

Here’s a pared-down example of how I might typically use Tmux: two panes, with one for editing text and the other exploring exploring directories.

Not gonna lie, Tmux is awkward to start with. The default keyboard shortcuts aren’t intuitive, simple things like copy/paste functionality don’t necessary work as you’d expect them to, and many online resources are outdated because older versions of Tmux used configuration commands that are no longer compatible.

But Tmux is well worth the learning curve.

Python spoilt me, Part 2

In a previous post, I listed a range of Matlab’s idiosyncrasies and flaws that seemed so much more blatant once I returned from several years of Python use. This post is a continuation, except this time highlighting ways in which Python makes life simpler rather than Matlab making life more difficult.

If you haven’t tried Python and you’re on the fence about whether it’s worth learning, let the points below convince you.

Continue reading “Python spoilt me, Part 2”

Add any symbol without leaving the keyboard

Writing about science often involves using symbols. Unfortunately, few of the symbols we need can be found on the keyboard, which presents a problem. It is not difficult to copy and paste symbols needed, but it is tedious and annoying. Here I present a solution that lets you input any symbol by simply typing its name (prepended with a slash).

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