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How time flies! It\'s been over a year since my 2005 wrapup post, and things have *really* changed! I hope you\'ll follow me through another journey that is my yearly post. I like to think the things I use are pretty good, and that I go through the crap so you don\'t have to. Here\'s the one time of year I can tell you not just what I recommend, but what I really use/do/listen to/etc. Step 1.
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I\'ll have to split this into different parts. I could do it by \"Home\" and \"Work\". But i\'d rather do it by \"Windows\", \"Mac\" and \"Other\". Here we go.
It\'s a general purpose blogging client that has a Windows and Mac > version. I\'ve liked that it has both versions, so i\'ve used it as my > full time tool. I\'m using it right now, obviously. It\'s not life > changing, or anything.
Again, no reason to use anything but these two on windows. Both have > been updated this year with new features. The best mail client and web > browser ever.
A great free FTP client. I use it a ton at work.
So i\'ve been using feeddemon as my full time RSS client most of the > year. Mostly because it was purchased by Newsgator, and Newsgator has > sync functionality, and I love the idea of syncing my read/unread > status between home and work. Otherwise you are rereading things you > read already, and i\'m overloaded with news as it is. I still miss > RSSBandit sometimes, but Feeddemon, even though it\'s a commercial > product, is pretty good. I wish it had combined folder viewing though. > It pisses me off that it doesn\'t. But I deal.
I still use PuTTY every day. There\'s some offshoots I ran into, like > PieTTY that adds features to the regular PuTTY, like transparancy. So > I use that. But really, it\'s regular old PuTTY. The best Windows SSH > client around.
At one point I decided I wanted my work PC to act and look like a mac. > I wasn\'t sure what I was thinking at the time. However, after doing > it, I realized that the way macs do things really > <span style="font-weight: bold">{=html}is</span>{=html} the best > way after all. This way is the dock. And with ObjectDock you too can > have the dock on your pc. I rarely have to touch the start menu > anymore. And I never use the task bar. Everything is in my dock, and I > do love it. Check how it looks on some of my >
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My IM client of choice. It lets me combine all of my IM accounts into > one nice package. It talks Jabber, so even Google Talk works. Score. > They\'ve done a great job on the windows port.
My DAW software of choice when having to use a PC, anyway. I\'ve been > using it full time since working on the new album, and it\'s pretty > good. I no longer have to use Acid for anything, when previously I > used Acid for *everything*. But like all PC Audio software, there\'s > just too much hardware crap you have to deal with. Buffers, streams, > drivers, etc, etc. I spend a lot of time trying to make it work better > instead of just working with it.
I love this software. It\'s the best virutal analog environment ever. > You open it up, and you go to work. I use it as the sketchboard for > any new songs i\'m working on, and use it full time for creating beats > and drum loops.
The most flexible, efficient, and fast editor ever. All code I write > is written in this. (or
. I love > vi).
My IM client of choice. Allows me to combine all the accounts into one > nice client. It\'s like Gaim, or Trillian, but it looks nicer and > it\'s all mac-y.
This app rocks. Edit things on the fly, sync folders, QuickSilver > integration (you don\'t need to open up the app to actually connect to > something.. sweet).
One of the best things to ever happen to me. Allows you to create > triggers, usually via key combos, to do anything. At the easiest, it > will launch an app. But it can do so much more. Send an email, zip a > file, connect to a ftp server, dial a phone number via Vonage, append > to a list, play a mp3. Anything you think of you can probably do with > just a few keystrokes with QuickSilver. It\'s not just a launcher, > it\'s a new lifestyle.
Like Feeddemon, purchased by Newsgator this year. It allows me to sync > my newsreading elsewhere through that service. I like it more than > feeddemon since it allows combined folder views.
I don\'t do much web design stuff per se, but this tool was pretty > important when putting together PandoraFM v3. It became less important > once I started using TextMate, though. The CSS functionality in > Dreamweaver is still what I use it for.
This email client for PalmOS rocks. It\'s a realtime IMAP IDLE > compatible client, so when an email shows up in your INBOX you know, > right then and there. I love IMAP for email, and I love Chattermail to > read it. I don\'t remember life before mobile email on my Treo.
The IRC client I use on my Treo.
I\'m not a blogger, really. Bloggers are in their own category where > people want to read what someone says because they\'re interesting. > But I do, however, use Wordpress for a different use. If you go to > www.real-ity.com, that\'s not wordpress. That\'s a RSS aggrigator I > wrote that slurps in all the RSS from everything in my digital life, > and puts it all in one page for you to view. That includes my online > journal, published via Wordpress. But Wordpress doesn\'t actually > power that page. /blog/, then, is Wordpress. I\'ve never really > explained how my site worked, and now I have.
New to \#TheCabin this year, ekpneo, reccomended the IRC client irssi. > I was hesitant at first, as i\'ve been using BitchX for so many years. > I gave it a shot, and while not totally impressed at first, the built > in proxy is quite useful. I never liked running a proxy itself, but > now with the built in one I proxy through irssi with upIRC and XChat. > Three different IRCing environments, three different clients. One > connection. One nick.
Need I say more? Since having a mac i\'ve been more productive, more > creative, more efficient. More a lot of things. A great piece of > hardware, an awesome operating system, and the software available by > developers are top notch.
"http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipod.html" Apple iPod
Another year with my 4G iPod Photo going strong. I\'m not sure this > one will last through this next year though. I use it every day and > won\'t leave home without it.
Again it\'s the center of my digital audio world when doing recording. > Spent more time recording this past year than I have in quite a few > years. This piece of equipment helps make it possible.
I\'ve had this synth for a full year now, and I use it all the time. > It\'s been one of the best additions to my music setup ever, and I > don\'t know how I ever lived without an external keyboard synth > previously.
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MacBreak Weekly (audio) / MacBreak (video)
- [BuzzCast (or Buzz Out
Loud)](http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11455_7-6457370-1.html)
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As you can see a big chunk of them are Leo LaPorte run
. They do good stuff, and that\'s why I keep listening to the shows.
My favorite online radio site. Run by smart people who know music. I > had the unique opportunity to work with a few different people from > there this year, and it was a great experience with helpful people > each time. I paid a yearly fee to support the service (and it removes > ads).
The only useful social networking site. Seriously. If I want to > network with people, I want a reason to do it. And the reason here is > to find new music that other people like, and that you might like too. > It also has a great custom online radio station, but I tend to go to > Pandora instead for that. I donated in order to get the customized > radio. I pretty much had to if I was going to develop for it ;)
I wrote this in order to merge the worlds of Pandora and Last.FM. > Listen to your Pandora, and have it show up on your Last.FM profile. > I\'ve added lots of other features as well. Tagging being the big one. > Without PandoraFM I wouldn\'t listen to Pandora at all, to be honest. > No matter how good it is. I\'ll write a post maybe before the end of > the year wrapping up the current and future of PandoraFM, along with a > list of all the places and people where it was mentioned this past > year.
I only use this because i\'m an RSS addict. I suffer from information > overload on a daily basis. This service doesn\'t help me at all, but > it makes it easier to deal with. Things I read at work will no longer > show up at home, and vice versa. It also has a small mobile page so I > can read things while in transit and mark those as read. It just lets > me be more officiant about my overload. I paid for the year for the > complete service, I forget how much it was, though.
A good, cheap backup service for your mp3 collection. With a coupon > it\'s \$20 per year to store unlimited mp3s. You can then stream them > down using mp3tunes.com custom interface. It\'s handy if you get > online from random places and would like to listen to your tunes > regardless of where you are. I really only use it as a backup, though.
Where I purchase all of my music from online. Dirt cheap, illegal and > high quality. I mean legal. So totally legal.
Allows me to bookmark at work, view them at home. With RSS it lets me > pop that stuff up on my web site as well. Can send bookmarks with > friends. Good stuff, simple to use. I like.
Sends me automated alerts when the concert tour schedule changes on > any of my 99 artists I have listed. Pitchfork is how I find out that > Nine Inch Nails is going on tour, but Pollstar is who tells me that > they\'ll be here next month and where/when the show is. I pay an > annual fee for the 99 band limit.
Maybe i\'m a rare one that makes distinguishing differences between > \"web sites\" and \"web services\". YouTube is a service. They host > videos. And some of those videos are good. With YouTube, any second of > the day, you can view
or the
extended live > dance mix of Ice Ice > Baby
. That\'s a special > thing. I\'m using YouTube to host \"=> http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=realgk Gabe\'s Album > Journal\" video series. I > hope in the next year to use YouTube more and to create more content > in the video realm.
The best place for gadget news.
I don\'t always follow it, but it is the best site about productivity > online. Just as good as the advice it gives is the amount of awesome > Mac OSX tips and software that is discussed.
Where I learn about all the new movies and behind the scenes stuff.
It\'s gotten better this year. I only subscribe to the areas of the > site that I want to ready about. That allows me to filter out what I > don\'t want (sports, games, etc)
Tech news from the UK. The RSS feed sucks, so it kind of bothers me, > and I might unsubscribe because of that. But the content is good when > the content is good.
For World News, Entertainment News
More movie news, about super hero movies. It\'s the place to be when > the new Spiderman plot leak comes out, or the new Batman movie begins > filming.
Music news. If it\'s breaking news about artists that i\'m interested > in, Pitchfork has it. When The New Pornographers come out with a new > album, Out Hud breaks up, or !!! books Chicago gigs, this is how I > find out first.
Hope you got through my post alright. I don\'t write much on my site, and this is my one yearly post I hope everyone reads. It\'s for your own good.
Enjoy your holidays everyone, and check out some of the stuff linked to above.
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