BONWAG

Here are a few examples of software and products I’ve used for more than a few weeks, and recommend you do, too.

PRTG Network Monitor

If you are responsible for a network of more than a few computers, even at home, this is the best way of keeping an eye on them.

I use it for monitoring the amount of network traffic passing by my router, what computers and services are operating (or not), and whether they are behaving out of the ordinary (there’s an ‘unusual’ setting which points out stuff you may not have noticed). The integration with notification services like email and growl make it irreplaceable.

Site: www.paessler.com

Belvedere

This tool does a great job of automating any file transfers you need to perform on a regular basis: moving incoming files to a documents folder, or archiving anything that has been hanging around on your desktop or download directory for more than a few weeks.

The latest revision also integrates with Growl for Windows, another great application, so you know what it’s doing (and know that it’s not going mad and deleting everything!)

Site: http://lifehacker.com/belvedere

iPhone/iPod Apps:

• Boxcar – a great app for bringing all your various app notifications into one place
• Remember The Milk – a to-do list that follows you everywhere
• Skype – VOIP means never having to pay Telstra any money any more
• Sleep Cycle – monitors your sleeping habits, and wakes you up when it’s best to wake you
• Evernote – a digital scrapbook – I like it for collecting all the crap I see while surfing
• Springpad – another digital scrapbook – I like it for making lists
• Read It Later – an easy way to postpone those long articles for later
• Shopper – the best shopping list since the Palm’s HandyShopper (I miss my HandyShopper)
• MindJet – Mindmapping at its best