If you are hear to learn more about caffeine or performance drugs, I’m sorry to disappoint you.
Instead I want to offer my humble recommendations for improving your daily performance on your laptop/desktop.
**Warning** This is one of those posts that isn’t really Oracle-specific, so my apologies in advance.
Instead I want to highlight some software tools and web sites to check out. Now… go forth and be more productive!
MOZY - I love using this web-based software that helps me automagically backup my laptop via the internet. You can use their free option or spring $50 a year for unlimited storage. Mozy works in the background and ensures that even if I lose it all I can get it back. Recently purchased by EMC it can be a life saver. www.mozy.com
ROBOFORM - If you are like me and have 200+ websites you need to access then it’s nice to have a tool that automates your login, remembers your password and encrypts all of that so that you can focus on working, then you are here. I’ve used RoboForm for several years and it’s great. It will create custom passwords based on my specifications. Here’s a secret I want to share with you…. I don’t even know some of my passwords. It’s true because they are hard to remember (sort of like this “A23h098n%oij1Pe”). But! RoboForm knows them and recalls them whenever I log in to the specific web site. I do back them up though… www.roboform.com
TightVNC - a free version of VNC software that lets you access Unix Servers with a GUI interface. You have to start the VNC daemon on the server but after that it’s simple to connect in. Your session stays up even if you are disconnected. www.tightvnc.com
FolderShare - this is a beta service offered by Microsoft. It allows you to share your folders in a peer-to-peer relationship between computers. Great for simple collaboration and works silently in the background to keep files synced. https://www.foldershare.com/welcome.aspx
FireFox - if you haven’t tried this alternative web browser, it’s definitely time. I have both Microsoft IE and Firefox installed. Firefox is faster and lighter but there are times when you must use IE (such as when accessing Microsoft’s sites). Firefox even has a plug-in to load the IE engine when that happens. All of my links are synchronized between the two browsers, so it’s no headache to move back and forth. www.firefox.com
Picasa - this is another goodie from Google. It manages your collections of pictures and is better than anything else I’ve found. Plus it’s free…. I quickly analyzes your graphics and builds collections for you. You can use it to order prints, create collages and do cool edits/fixes to your pictures. It also provides the ability to upload your pictures to a free website and share them with friends who can download them if desired. Lots better than emailing picture after picture to someone. www.picasa.com
Procmon - Microsoft purchased Sysinternals several years ago and added this one. Procmon shows real-time files system, Registry and process/thread activity with all kinds of filtering options. It’s great for figuring out what is slowing down your PC. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx
That’s all I have time for now. Hope you find something here that makes your life (and PC) better!