I use Keylay to remap the keyboard in Windows. I set the two alt-keys (those closest to the spacebar) to be shift, so I do not have to strike them with my little fingers which tire easily.
I use Unison intensively to synchronise my research data between machines, and for other backup-related tasks.
Document processing.
I use LaTeX with VIM. Long ago I used Emacs, but a friend showed me VIM and I discovered I liked it. In fact, I prefer the command line.
Window managers.
I used Ratpoison (so called because it kills mouse-like creatures) then Ion2 (for its tabs). The overall idea here is to maximise use of precious screen-space. It continually astonishes me how designers waste space on the screen. One day we’ll all be using 60 inch WHUXGA desktops, but until that day every pixel is precious.
I switched to KDE because it was so configurable, but found it too bloated so used Fluxbox, got fed up and switched back to KDE, until version 4. Now I use Gome configured to be as much as possible like Ratpoison/the Console.
TV (programmes)
Discovery channel, UKTV and similar channels, are wonderful. There’s generally something of acceptable quality on one of them, and the outstanding is not infrequent. I read all day for my profession, thanks to this wonderful modern development, I can switch on the telly for a change and get something worthwhile and interesting. It makes such a difference.
Version control
I used CVS and then switched to subversion. Linus Torvalds hates it and designed his own system Git. I’ve never used it, but I agree that subversion is not ideal (specifically, I don’t like having to be connected to the internet to post a commit); so one day I might switch over. But let’s look at the positive here: version control is absolutely fantastic and all the implementations I have seen have changed my life.