Well, you may have not noticed, and judging from the responses I got, you haven’t, that I got rid of the RSS Calendar thing in the sidebar. Sadly, I don’t have enough calendar-y things to fill it up with. I have a reminder tiddler set up that I check every day and I’ve got my ‘In the next two months’ page to keep me updated with my ever-changing to-do list. Don’t get me wrong, RSSCalendar is very cool, but it just wasn’t for me.

In that frame of mind, I’ve recently been trying out some new toys and have compiled a list of applications that I’ve come to depend on. Now, everybody has a list of this same kind of thing, but this one is simply to document the programs and webpages that help me get through the day. I highly recommend them all:

1. Firefox – Once and for all, get rid of Internet Explorer (well, stop using it, at least). Out of the dozen or so problems I’ve fixed for friends and family just this year, more than half can be directly traced back to a spyware-infested, toolbar-riddled copy of Internet Explorer. Spread the word.
2. del.icio.us – Bookmarks be damned. Del.icio.us puts your favorites where you want them, on the web. I can access all of my favorite web sites anywhere I go now. Use the built-in bookmarking feature of Firefox to store your private or temporary links, but give the rest of them to del.icio.us. You’ll find other people that have bookmarked the same page as you and you’ll be able to crawl around inside their list of favorites and maybe find something new. It’s the web – it’s about sharing!
3. Clipmarks – Wanna save only a small section of a web page? Maybe just that one paragraph that mentions the time you won the pie eating contest in the local news? Or the picture that went along with the article? Clipmarks will stash away a copy of just what you want. Your clips are taggable, of course, and can be set as public or private. Just like del.icio.us, you’ll find others with similar interests and will be swapping clipmarks in no time.
4. ScrapBook for Firefox – Another reason to switch to Firefox…a Firefox extension that does what del.icio.us can’t. ScrapBook stores a local copy of a web page on your hard drive. A snapshot, if you will. I use it when I want to grab an article from an online newspaper, because those links eventually expire and all your left with is a link that goes nowhere. Store complete web copies of your credit report or Visa bill. Grab a copy of an up-to-the-minute online sports ticker. I don’t know… grab anything! Because now you can.
5. AxCrypt – I don’t know about you but I carry a flash drive (or two) around with me all the time. Heaven forbid I should ever lose one, but if I did, at least I know no one could get at my data. AxCrypt is a super-easy, free, personal file encryption, compression and transparent decrypt-er in one application. What does that mean? It means nobody’s reading my data with out my password. Oh, it works on any file, not just thumb-drives. Password protect your budget, your love letters or your private documents. Then sleep easy.
6. KeePass – Got a ton of passwords to remember? Are you one of those people that use the same password for every account, email or on-line game site? Well, grab a copy of KeePass and start managing those passwords. KeePass let’s you set a passphrase or a keyfile to protect your passwords and stores your passwords in an encrypted database. The database consists of only one file, so it can be easily transferred from one computer to another (or to a thumb-drive!). It will also generate more acceptable, harder-to-guess, passwords for you if you wish. So now you can stop using ‘fifi89′ for everything.
7. SyncBack Freeware V3.2.9 – The first rule of data retention… backup, backup, backup. One day your hard-drive may crash. Or the ceiling will leak water onto your computer. Or you’ll accidentally type ‘format c: /u’ at a command prompt. It all means the same thing… your data is gone! Hope you have a backup. SyncBack will allow you to set up multiple profiles and schedules to accommodate all your data backup needs. Backup to hard disk, external media or FTP site. Remember, backup now or cry later.
   P.S. make sure you get the free version of SyncBack. I haven’t tried the commercial version. Although I’m sure it’s great, the freeware does me just fine.

• Are available free of charge (at least for non-commercial use). Sometimes source code is available under a Free Software/Open Source license.
• Are Small
• Most have graphical user interfaces
• Focus is on diagnostic, network and security tools

Click here: Dirk Loss: Windows-Tools on CD-ROM

These are great for popping onto your USB flash drive and taking with you when you visit your parents this holiday season. When they ask you to fix their computer, you’ll have a head start.

P.S. I also added this link to the “Latest Furls” section of the sidebar. Furl is a social bookmark system that allows me to share my bookmarks. Keep an eye on the “Latest Furls” section – my most recent furls will show up there automatically.