DSF

I thought it may be useful to start listing programs, or useful sites that we all use on a regular basis - we could find something on another list that we haven't tried yet!

So, I'll start:

ESSENTIAL
I know we've mentioned it before on the forum but online storage is becoming very popular and many do FREE accounts with limited storage.

Now, bearing in mind an old floppy disc was 1.44mb and (for laymens terms) there's 1,000mb in a gigabyte .................. how about a FREE ACCOUNT with 50GB of storage to do with as you please?

I use http://www.adrive.com/ which has 50GB for free (need more space? a second email address and you can register another account )

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ESSENTIAL
Another program I use is File Blender:

File Blender is an extensible and customizable file conversion and processing tool.
File Blender is a Video Converter, Image Converter, Audio Converter, PDF/TIFF Splitter and Joiner and more.



details at: http://sector-seven.net/software/fileblender

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Other sites I can't live without:

Photobucket (online image storage, good for ebay listings etc) www.photobucket.com
PhotoBox (I always get prints with these guys - cheap as chips) www.photobox.co.uk
Dropbox (good for sending or receiving large files to/from customers) www.dropbox.com
Pic Resize (online picture resizer) www.picresize.com

And sites that I haven't tried yet are:

Google TV: http://www.google.com/tv/
Skyfire (flash for iphone/ipad) http://www.skyfire.com/


I've got lots more - but let's see what others use?

ONLINE BACKUP & STORAGE

My essential online backup tool is Dropbox. Costs about £6 a month for 50GB and includes file history (delete or change something, and the previous versions are available for recovery). Files accessible from mobile devices, and it integrates well with many iPad/iPhone apps. (You can get 2GB for free but, if you're serious about it, £6 a month is hardly wallet-breaking.)

In conjunction with Dropbox, I use TrueCrypt to create encrypted volumes within my Dropbox. There's a portable version of TrueCrypt, so I keep that (together with my Dropbox folder) on an SD card for ultimate flexibility, portability, and security. All critical files are stored in TrueCrypt volumes both locally and on Dropbox. Should I lose the local copies, it's easy to access the files from another machine but whoever's got the local copies can't access them because they're encrypted.

I use Dropbox to store many essential files - including install CDs of essential software in case I lose access to my install discs, and all my custom-made ICC profiles.

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PORTABLE APPS

Wherever possible these days, I use software that doesn't need installing (and is free whenever that option is available). I have many Portable Apps stored in those same encrypted volumes on DropBox - so all my software is available even in the event that my local computer goes walkabout (or stops working). As Portable Apps don't need installing, it's simply a matter of opening the TrueCrypt volume on another machine and the apps are ready to run.

Many useful portable apps are available direct from www.portableapps.com, For instance, if you administer your own website you can carry Filezilla/WinSCP/PuTTY about with you - assured that you're not leaving delicate log-in details buried in the machine's local registry. There are backup apps, task managers, compression tools, CD burning tools, PDF readers, media players, audio tools, internet browers, email apps, ... the list goes on (and they're all free!).

You can often find portable versions of many other apps - such as Softmaker Office suite, Scribus for DTP, FastStone for image printing/viewing, Artweaver for graphics, etc. Ones that don't come from portableapps.com might not be entirely portable (in that they might leave some files behind on the local machine), but sometimes convenience is key.

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ESSENTIAL

PDF Creator: http://www.pdfforge.org/ Lightweight app that installs as a printer driver. Print to it, and you have a PDF.
Spybot Search & Destroy: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/home/index.html - to check your system for spyware
Qimage - not free, or portable, but it's a great simple way to print and tweak: http://www.ddisoftware.com/qimage/

USEFUL

Free Office software (lighter weight than Open Office, and can be made portable): http://www.softmakeroffice.com/
For microstock images, I use Dreamstime http://www.dreamstime.com
Print & Scan to your smartphone or iPad using your Brother printer/MFC: http://welcome.brother.com/sg-en/suppor ... NScan.html - it's really weird to use your phone for scanning, but very useful.
Similar thing for HP printers: http://www8.hp.com/us/en/products/smart ... index.html
And for Epson: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/epson-ip ... 76192?mt=8 (although their choice of printer support is bizarre).
Puppy Linux: http://puppylinux.org/main/Overview%20a ... tarted.htm A whole OS in 100MB, designed to be booted from CD/USB/SD card/whatever. Sometimes you just don't need the bloat of Windows.



I'm sure there are loads more that I can't think of right now.