personal

Software List

kellyb — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:48:08 GMT

I’ve been maintaining the list of software on my Windows 7 Paving – New Base Image Software List from some time ago. The original intent of that post was to itemize all of the applications that worked w/ the beta of Windows 7. I was using that post heavily for building out new machines. Windows 7 is now in the wild now and there are very few applications left that aren’t compatible. I’m going create a new post that simply itemizes the software I run and why. I’ll keep this current are my world changes

Software	Thoughts
Windows 7 Ultimate	The best Microsoft OS I’ve ever used. Enable the following features Internet Information Services (IIS) Microsoft Message Queue (MSMQ)
Windows Sync	I used to be running Mesh, but it was too I/O heavy and I really don’t need anything more than synching – so I moved to Windows Sync.
Password Agent	It’s my long-time favorite password manager and I couldn’t live without it. I use Windows Sync to keep my .pwa file synched to all my machines. Works like a charm.
Virtual Clone Drive	I’m finally leaving Daemon Tools – it said it supports Windows 7, but it didn’t for me. This package as steadily gotten shadier and shadier (constantly trying to install crap-ware, etc.). I’m happily using the free version of Virtual Clone Drive.
TextPad 5	I’ve been using this as my primary text editor for over 10 years. I’ve tried to use Notepad++, Notepad2, SciTE, UltraEdit, etc. but I like this one the best TextPad Tweaks: Change the global font to Consolas 13 pt. Change the “Selected” color to lime green
Launchy	I used SlickRun for years, but I moved this years ago for my quick launch needs. It’s great
Chrome	I love Chrome, but until they have an extensibility model and catalog like Firefox, Firefox will remain my primary browser. Regardless, I like having it around
Firefox	My primary browser for all the obvious reasons Mandatory Extensions: IETab AdBlock Bit.ly Del.icio.us Firebug Shareholic User Agent Switch
Media Players and Plugins	Silverlight Adobe Flash Foxit PDF Reader - I stay away from Adobe Reader… it’s a pig Windows Media Player Plugin for Firefox
Core Development Tools	Visual Studio 2008 Team Developer + SP1 Remap the following keys: F1 – AttachToProcess F7 – Rebuild Selected Project Ctrl+F7 – Rebuild Solution ASP.NET MVC .NET Memory Profiler ReSharper TortoiseSVN VisualSVN SQL Server 2008 Developer Gallio TestDriven.NET Microsoft Silverlight 3 Tools for VS 2008 SP1 Silverlight Toolkit - Release: July 2009 Expression Blend 3
Misc Development Tools	ClipPath Reflector Snippet Compiler Sysinternals Suite BeyondCompare
Paint.NET	I don’t use this much these days with Windows 7 because of it’s nifty new Paint program that handles PNG’s and does precise cropping. I like to have this installed regardless.
WordWeb Pro	I love having this handy at all times on all my machines. I can lookup any word while using any program with a quick key combo
Windows Live Writer	The best blogging client there is on Windows Install this plugin as well: Insert Code for Windows Live Writer
Office Ultimate 2007	Save As PDF for Office 2007 Live Meeting 2007 Add-In for Outlook
Virtual Box	This is the best VM software I’ve found for personal use. It’s free… it’s fast… and it’s stable.
iTunes	I wish I didn’t have to, but it’s kind of a must with my iPhone, peer pressure, etc.
Windows Home Server Console	I run a Windows Home Server at home (life saver) and this is the client software that goes with it.
Trillian Pro	I finally gave this a try and I dig it. It vastly simplify my IM life.
Skype	Stellar VoIP client
Evernote	I never thought I would ever abandon my paper notebook, but I did. This isn’t the best note taking app out there (that would be OneNote), but they have a great web app version of this, an iPhone app, and a Windows client… and they’re all linked together and synch automatically. That’s hard to beat. The iPhone app is what killed the paper notebook. I just don’t need it anymore
7zip	Fastest zip app there is out there
VirtualBox	This kicks the crap out of Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 SP1. You can run VirtualBox on Windows 7 flawlessly, and you cannot with VPC! It’s just as good as VMWare Workstation, but free.

Windows 7 Paving – New Base Image Software List

kellyb — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 15:23:53 GMT

It’s here… good bye Vista – won’t be missing you. Hello beauty

I just paved my machine with the new RTM of Windows 7 Ultimate. Below is my base image – now it’s time to back everything up to my home server.

Windows Live Mesh	I had to cut Mesh out of my life.... it was hogging too many system resources - especially disk reads. I can't have that on my dev boxes. I moved back to Windows Syn
Windows Sync
Password Agent	OK
AVG Anti-Virus (Free Edition)	OK, but I’ve started to fall out of love with AVG. They seem to be turning into another Norton/McAfee with their annoying attempts to get me to upgrade, feature bloat, and piggish product. I’m trying Microsoft Security Essentials Beta and so far it’s nice (light and free). I found some Comodo fan on Google and tried that – no thanks… way too annoying.
Windows Security Essentials	I'm done with AVG, Norton, and McAfee - they are all pigs. Windows Security Essential is fast, lean and free - I'm sold.
Cisco VPN Client	FAIL NCP offers a Cisco replacement client that I'm strongly considering. They support 64bit as well as Windows 7.
Virtual Clone Drive	OK I’m finally leaving Daemon Tools – it said it supports Windows 7, but it didn’t for me. This package as steadily gotten shadier and shadier (constantly trying to install crap-ware, etc.). I’m happily using the free version of Virtual Clone Drive.
TextPad 5	OK
Launchy	OK
Chrome	OK
Firefox	OK Mandatory Extensions: IETab AdBlock Bit.ly Del.icio.us Firebug
Media Players and Plugins	Silverlight Adobe Flash Foxit PDF Reader - I stay away from Adobe Reader… it’s a pig Windows Media Player Plugin for Firefox
Core Development Tools	Visual Studio 2008 Team Developer + SP1 ASP.NET MVC .NET Memory Profiler ReSharper TortoiseSVN VisualSVN SQL Server 2008 Developer Gallio TestDriven.NET Microsoft Silverlight 3 Tools for VS 2008 SP1 Silverlight Toolkit - Release: July 2009 Expression Blend 3
Misc Development Tools	ClipPath Reflector Snippet Compiler Sysinternals Suite
Paint.NET	OK – I’m not sure I need this anymore. The Paint applet that comes with Windows 7 is pretty impressive.
WordWeb Pro	OK – Awesome desktop dictionary
Windows Live Writer	OK
Office Ultimate 2007	Save As PDF for Office 2007
Windows Live Messenger	OK
Virtual Box	OK
iTunes	OK – I wish I didn’t have to, but it’s kind of a must with my iPhone, peer pressure, etc.
Windows Home Server Console	OK
Trillian Pro	I finally gvae this a try and I dig it. It vastly simplify my IM life.
Skype	Stellar VoIP client

We’re back in the northern hemisphere

kellyb — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 19:54:03 GMT

Amanda and I have been in Australia and New Zealand for the last 3 weeks. It was definitely a life changing experience. I have countless memories that will be with me for the rest of my life.

Here’s links to a bunch of more pics and videos.

Australia - Sydney & Jervis Bay

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=274460760/a=47580151_47580151/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

Australia - Airlie &Hamilton

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=274460376/a=47580151_47580151/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

Australia - Whitsunday Islands

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=274460375/a=47580151_47580151/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

NZ - Nelson to Kaikoura Drive

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=274446453/a=47580151_47580151/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

NZ - Milford Sound

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=274447894/a=47580151_47580151/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

NZ - Queenstown Bungy

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=274445383/a=47580151_47580151/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

NZ – Kaikoura

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=274447891/a=47580151_47580151/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

NZ - Queenstown Arrival

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=274445382/a=47580151_47580151/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

NZ – Queenstown

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=274446449/a=47580151_47580151/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

NZ - Abel Tasman Nat. Park

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=274446450/a=47580151_47580151/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

Me Bungy Jumping from the Nevis cable jump in Queenstown New Zealand

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=7226102923370000687&hl=en

Amanda Bungy Jumping from the Nevis

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-8952863649665495925&hl=en

2009 – Base Personal Image

kellyb — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 03:07:07 GMT

Some time ago I wrote a post called Base Personal Image. I wanted to write an update to that, but decided it would be nice to have it in it’s original date for historical purposes. So, I’m writing a new post and stamping it with the year.

Here’s the topology of my setup

The staple of my setup are Windows Live Mesh (this replaced Folder Share for me – now called Windows Live Synch). This is what ties everything together for me.

Core

Windows Vista SP1 with IIS
.NET Framework 1.1, 2.0, 3.5
AVG Free Anti-Virus
7-Zip – the fastest there is
FireFox 3.0
Foxit Reader - stay away from Acrobat... it's a dog
Windows Search 4.0
Google Talk
Office 2007 Ultimate
- Save as PDF add-in for Office
Windows Live Messenger
TeraCopy – RoboCopy-like features from the Windows Shell
Windows Home Server Console – available for download from your Windows Home Server

Power Using

Cropper
Paint.NET
Launchy - this replaced SlickRun for me when Launchy released a plugin model along with a "Runner" plugin (which does just about everything SlickRun does).
Windows 2003 Resource Kit Tools (Robocopy)
TextPad
Notepad2
Sysinternals SuiteDisk
ClipPath
Daemon Tools
Password Agent
WordWeb
Texter - I need to post on this one. This is a niche utility that I don't use all that often, but very nice in certain common situations. It has its quirks though.

Backup and Recovery

Mozy – I use to have Mozy running on all of my machines, but since investing in a Windows Home Server – I only use Mozy at my office
Keep Vault – I use this to backup my entire Windows Home Server
Windows Live Mesh – Mesh runs on all of my machines. I use it to synch a few other things, but I primarily use it to keep my Password Agent password file in synch across all of my machines. This also backs up all of my files to the cloud and makes them web accessible.
Backup Magic – For simple Backup operations

Media and Entertainment

Development

Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite
Visual Studio 2008 Team Suite
ReSharper – Invaluable refactoring tool for Visual Studio
MbUnit
TestDriven.NET
CodeSmith - I barely use this one anymore, but it still makes the list
SQL Server 2008 Developer Edition
.NET Reflector
SnippetCompiler
TortoiseSVN
Subversion
VisualSVN
.NET Memory Profiler – It does everything you could ever want in the world of .NET memory profiling, for a small price tag… and the documentation kicks the shit out of Ants and dotTrace

Family Tech Support

When my family calls with a PC problem, I use CrossLoop (free and usually works) or Copilot (for the rare occasions when CrossLoop won’t connect)

Universal Drivers, Codecs, etc.

TechSmith Screen Capture Codec - commonly used on web screencasts

Base Personal Image

kellyb — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 05:00:00 GMT

I'm rebuilding my personal laptop - which is my main machine for development while away from work and personal things personal. I thought it would be nice to have a list of everything I put on a fresh machine. This is the base - depending on the purpose, I go down a different path.

Core

Windows XP Professional SP2 with IIS and IE7
- The Windows XP 909095 hotfix for the infamous Hiberation problem for laptops with more than 1GB of ram (that's only available from Microsoft by phone) - email me if you need it.
.NET Framework 1.1 SP1, 2.0 SP1, and 3.0
Zune Desktop Theme for Windows XP
AVG Free Anti-Virus
FireFox
Foxit Reader - stay away from Acrobat... it's a dog
Google Desktop
Google Notifier
Office 2007 Ultimate
- Save as PDF add-in for Office
Windows Live Messenger

Power Using

Cropper
Paint.NET
Slickrun
Launchy
Windows 2003 Resource Kit Tools (Robocopy)
TextPad
Notepad2
Sysinternals
ClipPath
Daemon Tools
Password Agent
WordWeb
Texter - I need to post on this one. This is a niche utility that I don't use all that often, but very nice in certain common situations. It has its quirks though.
SyncMyCal - Need to post on this on as well - great way to keep my Outlook/Exchange world in sync with my Google Calendar world.
TeraCopy - RoboCopy like features from the Windows Shell
DirectFolders - Handle folder browsing utility

Backup and Recovery

Media and Entertainment

Development

Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite
ReSharper
MBunit
TestDriven.NET
CodeSmith
SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition
.NET Reflector
SnippetCompiler
TortoiseSVN
Subversion
VisualSVN
- If the IDE is crashing frequently when invoking TortoiseSVN during Update, Commit, etc. - do the following. There seems to be some issues with Office 2007 unreg'ing a certain dll (discussed here and here).
  
  Start -> Run -> regsvr32 C:\windows\system32\actxprxy.dll -> ENTER

Universal Drivers, Codecs, etc.

TechSmith Screen Capture Codec - commonly used on web screencasts

Geek Weddings

kellyb — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 06:00:00 GMT

I ranted for a while about the wedding planning experience... tonight I'm really fuming

I get a simple request from The Wedding People tonight...

TWP: "Is there any way to sort this guest list spreadsheet alphabetically?"
Me: "Sure - send it to me"

First of all, the email attachment is named "Guest_List4.xls". Visions of being home for Christmas rush to mind... seeing my mom's My Documents folder:

I opened the attachment, expecting a quick Select -> Data -> Sort operation. I realize that the spreadsheet I started months ago for TWP has changed in structure. They didn't having prefix, first name, last name, suffix, etc. broken out in separate columns. Try explaining the benefits of data normalization to your mother-in-law.

Hell, that's not even normalization... is that even half way to First Normal Form?

September 11th, 2006 - NYC

kellyb — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 05:00:00 GMT

I’m currently working with a client in Manhattan, and had the opportunity to be here for Sept 11th, 2006 - the 5 year anniversary of those tragic events.

This was the pic on the front page of the New York Times this morning. As I walked out of my hotel room this morning, and experienced that daily surprise of something colorful at my feet (the complimentary newspaper), this photo jerked at my attention. The first thing I did when I logged into my PC this morning was snag this from their site.

Amanda and I spent the weekend in the city and had a chance to visit Ground Zero for the first time. It’s been a long time since something tugged at my tears like that. After 5 years being appauled at what I see on the news, I’m still shocked by the amount of hate required to commit that act. When I try to mentally process that day and think about what I'd do if I were in charge of the world, my mind quickly begins to eat it’s own tail.

Peace to all…