Cool Software and Free Stuff!
Posted 05-27-2010 at 10:42 PM by Rip
I am a pretty heavy computer user, my laptop is on pretty much constantly and there’s always a number of windows open. At the moment I have 39 windows open (if you include the dozen or so tabs within web browsers). If you throw in IM and chat windows / tabs, that number can go quite a bit higher. Thankfully my laptop is a very sweet quad core gaming machine (anyone who has seen it will probably tell you they are a little bit jealous), so with the Patriot memory SSD it purs along beautifully.
Having a dual monitor setup also does help a good bit with my sanity, plus windows 7 handles things much better than Vista ultimate which game on the box. There are a few things I use to keep my digital life running smoothly.
Browser
Internet Explorer has been losing market share pretty rapidly over the last few years, and it’s no surprise why; a number of other options offer faster, more flexible browsing options. I know it seems the majority of the tech community leaped into the firefox bandwagon pretty early on because it was quick, crashed less than IE, and has so many great plugins. I do keep firefox on the computer, as well as IE, but almost never use either of them. My choice of browsing bliss is Google Chrome. Part of me wishes another company made the browser, google already probably knows more about me than I do, but truth is the minimalistic style and speedy operation keep me hooked. Granted there are times that I need to pull out IE for certain pages, but chrome takes me through the vast majority of the net.
Sticky Notes!
I absolutely love the little application that windows 7 has (you could get it as a sidebar gadget in vista) called Stickey Notes. It’s the virtual equivalent of sticking notes onto your screen, and you can place them anywhere, change the size, color, etc. The downside is that they don’t always stay on top – but still they work great for having an informal to-do list. I don’t know about all of you guys, but there’s usually a lot on my mind and throwing down a quick note is usually a great help when it comes to remembering things.
Internet Radio
Having music playing in the background seems to greatly improve my focus and productivity. Interestingly enough, the opposite happens if a movie or TV show is playing – my productivity drops greatly. Through the 90s and into the early 2000s, we all started building our massive MP3 collections and envisioned a magical bliss with tons and tons of music. Oddly enough, I found that even with a collection of about 30GB, it felt like there was so little variety. Plus the work to properly sort and create playlists made the effort a complete pain. I’d usually set my music on shuffle and hope for the best.
Then the world of internet radio really expanded. Pandora was my first love in the scene, and did a great job for a while. Eventually they started throwing in a lot of advertisements and eventually enforced a limit per month of music playtime for free accounts. So….pandora died in my view, the ads weren’t killer, but the limit I’d blow through in just a few days. Especially during my college days, I’d have music just running all the time. Instead, slacker radio is now my ‘go to’ source for online music.
I recently took the plunge and decided to support slacker and buy the 1 year subscription to the service. I’ve got a blackberry storm, so the slacker app gives me music wherever I go. When I’m at home, I just spit out music on a consistent basis. This little laptop I’ve got does a great job playing music (hey its got 5 harmon kardon speakers in it….what would you expect?). Alternatively I happen to own a pair of Bose QC15 headphones which get a LOT of use, especially while playing COD (I pipe my 360 audio through my laptop).
With the 1 year I got, it has 10 one month free ‘gift’ coupons to give out to friends to try the pro version of slacker for a month. So, if you’re familiar with the service and would like to avoid the adverts for a month – post a comment below and you just may end up getting a free code!
Chat / Messaging Services
Whether I’m on IRC, MSN, AIM, Skype, Twitter, or Google Talk – there’s a lot of chat programs that can be a pain to keep track of. Add in different logging features, trouble with signing on in different locations, and the multitude of different bleep noises, instant messaging can be a pain. Fortunately I roll everything into one program called Trillain. I started using trillian a long time ago in its previous incarnation and fell in love with the software. It combines all the connections I use regularly and had lots of plugins. Trillian Astra (the latest version) also brings in multi-location and web support, iphone (and soon blackberry) support, twitter and facebook integration, email integration, and more. It also throws all the contacts into one big list so I don’t have to try to remember which program every person is on. I can categorize and rename to my heart’s content. Oh and might I mention it looks very sexy?
The main trillian website is Here if you want to see what the software can do. I liked to support the company, so a while back I bought into the pro version. Its currently on sale for $15 as opposed to the normal $25. Of course, the reason I’m blogging is because right now if someone with the pro version buys another license, they can get it for just $5. So I figured I’d extend the offer out, if anyone wants to buy trillian pro through me so they can get it for $5, shoot me a PM and we’ll organize it. Otherwise, take a look at the free version and see if it is something you like. I don’t think any software is for everyone, but these are what I use. If you have something you particularly like, let me know below!
Having a dual monitor setup also does help a good bit with my sanity, plus windows 7 handles things much better than Vista ultimate which game on the box. There are a few things I use to keep my digital life running smoothly.
Browser
Internet Explorer has been losing market share pretty rapidly over the last few years, and it’s no surprise why; a number of other options offer faster, more flexible browsing options. I know it seems the majority of the tech community leaped into the firefox bandwagon pretty early on because it was quick, crashed less than IE, and has so many great plugins. I do keep firefox on the computer, as well as IE, but almost never use either of them. My choice of browsing bliss is Google Chrome. Part of me wishes another company made the browser, google already probably knows more about me than I do, but truth is the minimalistic style and speedy operation keep me hooked. Granted there are times that I need to pull out IE for certain pages, but chrome takes me through the vast majority of the net.
Sticky Notes!
I absolutely love the little application that windows 7 has (you could get it as a sidebar gadget in vista) called Stickey Notes. It’s the virtual equivalent of sticking notes onto your screen, and you can place them anywhere, change the size, color, etc. The downside is that they don’t always stay on top – but still they work great for having an informal to-do list. I don’t know about all of you guys, but there’s usually a lot on my mind and throwing down a quick note is usually a great help when it comes to remembering things.
Internet Radio
Having music playing in the background seems to greatly improve my focus and productivity. Interestingly enough, the opposite happens if a movie or TV show is playing – my productivity drops greatly. Through the 90s and into the early 2000s, we all started building our massive MP3 collections and envisioned a magical bliss with tons and tons of music. Oddly enough, I found that even with a collection of about 30GB, it felt like there was so little variety. Plus the work to properly sort and create playlists made the effort a complete pain. I’d usually set my music on shuffle and hope for the best.
Then the world of internet radio really expanded. Pandora was my first love in the scene, and did a great job for a while. Eventually they started throwing in a lot of advertisements and eventually enforced a limit per month of music playtime for free accounts. So….pandora died in my view, the ads weren’t killer, but the limit I’d blow through in just a few days. Especially during my college days, I’d have music just running all the time. Instead, slacker radio is now my ‘go to’ source for online music.
I recently took the plunge and decided to support slacker and buy the 1 year subscription to the service. I’ve got a blackberry storm, so the slacker app gives me music wherever I go. When I’m at home, I just spit out music on a consistent basis. This little laptop I’ve got does a great job playing music (hey its got 5 harmon kardon speakers in it….what would you expect?). Alternatively I happen to own a pair of Bose QC15 headphones which get a LOT of use, especially while playing COD (I pipe my 360 audio through my laptop).
With the 1 year I got, it has 10 one month free ‘gift’ coupons to give out to friends to try the pro version of slacker for a month. So, if you’re familiar with the service and would like to avoid the adverts for a month – post a comment below and you just may end up getting a free code!
Chat / Messaging Services
Whether I’m on IRC, MSN, AIM, Skype, Twitter, or Google Talk – there’s a lot of chat programs that can be a pain to keep track of. Add in different logging features, trouble with signing on in different locations, and the multitude of different bleep noises, instant messaging can be a pain. Fortunately I roll everything into one program called Trillain. I started using trillian a long time ago in its previous incarnation and fell in love with the software. It combines all the connections I use regularly and had lots of plugins. Trillian Astra (the latest version) also brings in multi-location and web support, iphone (and soon blackberry) support, twitter and facebook integration, email integration, and more. It also throws all the contacts into one big list so I don’t have to try to remember which program every person is on. I can categorize and rename to my heart’s content. Oh and might I mention it looks very sexy?
The main trillian website is Here if you want to see what the software can do. I liked to support the company, so a while back I bought into the pro version. Its currently on sale for $15 as opposed to the normal $25. Of course, the reason I’m blogging is because right now if someone with the pro version buys another license, they can get it for just $5. So I figured I’d extend the offer out, if anyone wants to buy trillian pro through me so they can get it for $5, shoot me a PM and we’ll organize it. Otherwise, take a look at the free version and see if it is something you like. I don’t think any software is for everyone, but these are what I use. If you have something you particularly like, let me know below!
Total Comments 1
Comments
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Question! I used Trillian for ages, pre-Astra, and have recently switched to Digsby. (In the last few months, that is.)
Have you tried Digsby as a multi-client messenger, and is there a reason you prefer Trillian?
I like to hop programs occasionally and may try out Astra, which is the reason for my asking.Posted 06-01-2010 at 02:39 AM by Flixxy PMS 
