Python

AutoHotKey has been incredibly useful for managing to make my electronic medical record actually useful instead of a hindrence to my daily workflow. I am sure I will continue to use it, however, I have gravitated away from Windows unless I have to (i.e. with work) and I prefer to use Linux predominately (CrunchBang, a Debian based distro) and MacOS as well with the family as they are most adjusted to that and it keeps everyone's iPods working smoothly :)
I think AHK has really whet my appetite for additional programming that I can move between more systems, and after trying out a little intro C++, then Javascript, I've decided the most useful for my needs looks like Python. So far, I have found a great reference to get started from by a guy named Zed Shaw (learnpythonthehardway.org) which is available in the HTML version for FREE. Can't beat that. many thanks to him and I will try to place things that helped to clarify things for me here as usual. At some point, if I am able to cleanly make a program that is more universal for typical EMR's to help fix the many lacking areas of usability within most of them, I might share... but until then, I can blow up my own system without harming others.

Mouse Speed

I have been using #! 10 (Openbox) on a USB HDD and a regular USB pendrive because I don't have a computer to dedicate completely.  As such, occasionally I will get running on a computer and the touchpad is either way too fast or too slow.  This can be controlled using the xset command.  To avoid doing this all the time, I added this to my autostart.sh file (and commenting out the ones I did not need but left in for reference).  These were lifted from the crunchbang forums: (http://crunchbanglinux.org/forums/topic/1511/how-to-increase-mouse-speed-or-motion-for-lack-of-a-better-word/)

       xset m 7 10 &                  Very Fast
       xset m 3 10 &                  Normal (Fast)  
       xset m default &              Default speed
       xset m 0 10 &                 Glacial


So, in your autostart.sh file, this might look like this for 'default' speed: 


       ##   xset m 7 10 &             ## Very Fast
       ##   xset m 3 10 &             ## Normal (Fast)
       xset m default &                ## Default speed     <--- not commented out
       ##   xset m 0 10 &             ## Glacial

This way, you can change the sensitivity for a given computer / notebook that you are using on a regular basis without having to change it each time. Of course, if you swap computers a lot, it is worth just knowing the command you can enter at the terminal as well.  It is fairly convenient to remember simply xset m default and this has worked for me on most of the computers I have used thus far.

Linux

so finally, I have entered the world of Linux.  I cruised around the distros for awhile, finding the best one to run on an old Dell laptop, so there is that limitation.  Ultimately, though, the "slimmer" distros run incredibly fast.  It actually makes my everyday computers seem more noticeably slow by comparison.  Top contenders for me were: Ubuntu 11.10 (natty narwhal), Puppy Linux (Lucid Puppy) and Crunchbang 10 (Statler).  I finally settled on Crunchbang, it really is the smoothest, and most asthetic distro and is very fast and trimmed down.  Ubuntu was very easy to transition to, and very useful.  If you can work with Crunchbang, though, I think you will learn more about linux in general and how to navigate / use it better than if you go through only Ubuntu.  But I have to say, Ubuntu smoothed my transition significantly, and I still plan to have that running on one of our computers at home for the rest of the family to use who don't want to try to solve their way through crunchbang (#!)
So, I plan to post some of my issues here as I work through them, mostly as my own repository and reference for myself, but perhaps someone could find it useful.  A lot of this is on the forums, of course, but as they grow it can be hard to find exactly what you are looking for.  And my problems will be absolute, BASE beginner problems so...
Just for info: I ran ubuntu 11.10 from a USB HDD - I found that the best, most stable install was just to install it directly.  I did multiple partitions the first time, etc.. it wasn't as stable.  Just a straight install has been the best.
I then switched the USB HDD to Crunchbang 10.  Same install, just a straight install to the external HDD... most stable and reliable booting.
Puppy I ran from a USB installed using pendrivelinux.  While it was very fast and rapidly configured almost instantly with almost NO input from me (everything "just worked") my only problem was that puppy was not as stable: firefox would crash frequently, streaming media was jumpy.  Otherwise it worked nicely.  Crunchbang, while requiring a little more "set up", has been much more stable, smooth, and constant.  It also introduced me to Conky and openbox which now I find it hard to be without.