Rhonda Tipton’s WebLog

There have been quite a few posts lately where people list the tools that make them productive throughout a given day, so I thought I would share some of the tools that I use on a daily basis.

Rockscroll – Extends the scrollbar in Visual Studio to show a syntax highlighted thumbnail view of your source.

Search .NET – Great .NET search engine

C# Search .NET – Great search engine for all things C#.

Console – A Windows console window enhancement. Features include: multiple tabs, text editor-like text selection, etc.

SlickRun – A free floating command line utility for Windows.  Once you create your shortcuts, it is a big time saver.

SyncBack – Great automated backup application.  Hear about this on the Mike Tech Show podcast.

UltraVNC – a powerful, easy to use and free software that allows you to remote control another system

LogMeIn – allows you to access your pc from anywhere (like GoToMyPC). They have pay versions as well as a free version.  This is great for logging into the office from home.  Saves gas .

FileZilla – Good FTP client from Mozilla.  Works well for Secure FTP sites.

NotePad++ – A free source code editor (and Notepad replacement)

Foxit Reader 2.0 for Windows – Light-weight PDF viewer

TaskArrange – A simple utility that lets you rearrange the buttons of the Windows taskbar.  This is helpful if you are like me and like to have certain applications show up first on your task bar.  I like to have my email app and my work log app open first then everything else.

FastStone Capture – A powerful, flexible and intuitive screen-capture utility

UltraMon – Utility for dual monitors (30 day trial, then $39 – well worth it)

PingMe – A free, web-based reminder tool.  It is easy to set up one time or recurring reminders to be sent to email or texted to your phone.  I use this religiously.

Jott – A tool that allows you to capture thoughts, create to-dos and set reminders with a simple phone call.  Since I drive 80 miles a day, this is very helpful.  You’d be surprised at how many things come to mind while driving. There are pay versions, but I still use the free plan.

Evernote – Awesome note-taking software that allows you to sync notes from any pc/laptop/mobile device to the web.  That way my notes are with me anywhere I go.

Windows Live Writer – Desktop application that makes it easier to compose compelling blog posts

Twhirl – A great desktop client for social networks such as Twitter, FriendFeed and Seesmic.

Texter – Text substitution application.

Stickies – Computerized version of post-it notes.

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The above are the tools that I use on a daily basis.  See my Tool List for a full list of tools I like.

I purchased the Samsung Propel (A767) this weekend and I have to say I am quite happy with it.  I previously owned a regular flip-top phone with no web access and limited texting capabilities, so I guess you could say I am in heaven at the moment.

Once I learned my way around the menus, navigation is pretty easy.  The querty keyboard works well for me; however, I believe someone with bigger finger tips may run into issues as the buttons are pretty flush with the surface and the top keys do come close to the edge.  The battery life is great as long as you are not on the web too much.  Seems to go down pretty quick when you are listening to music or watching video – which is logical to me.

Here are the best video reviews that I found for the Propel.

I have to say that Ozzy had nothing to do with my purchase .  I just did not want to put out the bucks for an iPhone and could not jump the ATT ship to go to TMobile to get the G1.  I am looking heavily at the G1 for the distant future.

I just purchased Sandisk MobileMate SD+ Memory Card Reader.  It works with both Mini and Micro SD cards.  I have found this gadget quite convenient for being able to get pictures from someone’s camera card with little to no hassle.

The size is a little bigger than normal USB flash drives, but in my opinion, the convenience overshadows just about any drawbacks of the device.  It is a must-have tool if you deal with SD cards often.

The price is also good.  With shipping and handling, I paid around $13.

I have listened to the new podcast Deep Fried Bytes and I have to say I have found another favorite podcast.   In Episode 2, they talk about interviewing and being interviewed.  I enjoyed listening to all of the stories, but have to agree with The Coding Geekette on not really caring for the comments of making interviewees cry.

Other new podcasts that are full of information

• Alt .NET Podcast
• Technology Round Table
• Stack Overflow

My top 6 tech podcasts at the moment

• .NET Rocks
• Hanselminutes
• Deep Fried Bytes
• The Thirsty Developer
• PowerScripting Podcast
• The Mike Tech Show

Here is my full list of podcasts.  These are the ones that I listen or have listened to and like.

I listen to podcasts like .NET Rocks, Hanselminutes and Run as Radio on a weekly basis.  This week I am listening to last week’s episodes.  Last week’s episode of Run as Radio was very informative to me because I love to hear about tools for developers and IT pros. 

The interview was with Doug Toombs who is very knowledgeble about his tools. They talked in depth about the following tools:

• FileZilla
• WireShark
• WinDump
• NGrep
• SIW
• TrueCrypt
• SyncBack
• TestDisk

I thouroughly enjoyed the episode and recommend giving it a listen.

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I am a fan of Google Reader, so I was pleased to run across two blog entries from Johnny’s Thoughts this morning about a Google Reader Notifier for both Firefox and Windows.

I have already installed the one for Firefox and I love it.  It puts an indicator down in the right had corner of the browser’s status bar.

Have Fun!!

It was the weirdest thing. My husband and I were discussing an ad on Digg for a 200GB Seagate hard drive for $29.99. We were noticing how many rebates were involved and remembered back to October of 2005 when we bought a Western Digital hard drive for our server. It involved two rebates and we mailed them in pretty much immediately, but as of today — no rebate check.

After about 5-10 minutes of discussion we received an email from Western Digital informing us that they had just mailed our rebate checks. Wow…they must have good ears.