||||||||||| ?

[chrissa1]

What are these used for on a keyboard? Why are they there? They are very annoying to non-typists like me.

[venator]

Cricket stumps? |||

[doctordb]

'remove barcode before use'

[chrissa1]

Lol Venator. I keep hitting them when using the shift key. Also, who uses the "back slash" too?

[rojash]

"Also, who uses the "back slash" too?"
Anyone who needs to type in an address to a local file or folder.

It's obviously gonna come as a shock to you lot, but computers have many uses other than just surfing the web and posting lols on facebook.

[ChuckFickens]

They are used to pipe the output of one command into a second command. well that's all I use them for anyhow...

You did ask :)

[Mamyalynne]

http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/p/pipe.htm

learn every day.

[ChuckFickens]

The one that I've yet to find a use for is ¬

[Answerprancer]

The only thing I use them for is the mouth of Homer Simpson ..thus
(_8^(|)

[ChuckFickens]

"It's obviously gonna come as a shock to you lot, but computers have many uses other than just surfing the web and posting lols on facebook."

Maybe there should be two UK keyboard layouts, one for us techies with all the extended keys and another with all the strange symbols removed and replaced with things like "lol", "BRB", "xxx" and so on...

[HowardKennitby]

Chuck

That symbol ¬ seems to be the logical negation operator. No idea what it would be used for.

[Fitzer]

The key Chuck refers to (which ironically isn't on my ipad keyboard!) is used in Delta I seem to recall, can't remember what for as it's been a long time since I wrote any Delta.
Nothing like a good pipe followed by a satisfying grep I always say :-)

[Fitzer]

Chuck, you really shouldn't announce possibly money spinning ideas on an open forum you know.......heads off to patent office :-)

[Robinia]

backslash is so you can do a little man cheering

\o/

[ChuckFickens]

Grep is the main command I really wish was built into windows by default (Findstr just doesn't quite do it).

[chrissa1]

Blimey, I wish I'd never asked!!

Excuse me rojash and Chuck, I'm a 61 year old who has used computers and keyboards for years to run our own business. I am Not someone who only uses them to post "Lols" on Facebook. Thanks for the answer, but I'm none the wiser. LOL.

[chrissa1]

Sorry Chuck. Just checked and you didn't accuse me.

[Mosaic]

Chrissa beat me to it but 'oooh get you Rojash' anyway.

It's like those little cocktail umbrellas ^^^<<<<>>>>>

and square brackets []

They are a leftover from the age before the age of Lol, when bootuposaurus ruled the earth.

[venator]

Chuck - can't you program the function keys to do LOL or whatever?

[jno]

"none the wiser"... but better informed :-¬