Winsmarts.com

Okay, I don't have a lot of stuff. I am not quite the gadget head a lot of us are, but there are a few things I cannot imagine life without.

1. Foldershare: I cannot tell you, how much this one product has made a difference to my life. Moving between computers, repaving machines, travelling a lot and being offline-online, backups, all of these scenarios have been made 200% simpler with this one tool. Wishlist: I wish they would introduce a right click --> Share through foldershare shell extension.
2. My Windows Mobile Phone: I am not kidding, if it isn't on my schedule, it isn't getting done. And working as a consultant, you have so many priorities, so many things to take care of. Getting all your emails aggregated for you in a single device is quite nice also. Though, I must say that I am quite annoyed by WM5's freezing, and frankly, the iPhone makes my XV6700 look like a pre-soviet machine. I think I will upgrade to iPhone, soon as they fix these downers. But for now, I cannot imagine life without this brick I carry around everywhere. Sometimes I put it in my pocket for attention.
3. My 4gig RAM laptop: Again, something I cannot imagine life without. Yes I have a honkin' compzilla desktop at home, but you can't beat the portability of a laptop. It is nice to fire up a bunch of virtual machines, and simply RDP to them from my laptop from my backyard on a nice summer day. Also, I carry my laptop with me wherever I go. I have a custom case storage for it in my car, a stand for it in the bathroom, and by the bed. If you think I am sick, I don't have a TV - and people have televisions all over their houses. I think having a TV everywhere in your house is pretty darned mentally sick! Seriously, how much of Paris Hilton do you need?
4. My iPod: Sorry zune, or whoever else, but iTunes + iPod is a pretty well thought out combination. Frankly, I am not a big fan of iTunes, but the featureset, and the simplicity of both ipod + itunes are very well thought out. I have a 4G iPod going bad on me, and hoping Apple releases an iPhone like 80/120G iPod, consider it sold! iRiver players are quite nice too, but they don't do things such as "rating", "smart playlists", etc. Plus, lets already have a 16 gig flash player please. Oh and get the etymotic ER6 headphones. I've had them for about 2-3 years now.
5. Virtualization/VMWare Workstation: Again, I blogged about this earlier, this has been a huge timesaver for me over the long run. I've been virtualizing a lot to improve my real life.
6. MSN Messenger: This, used right can be a huge boon, or evil. Seriously, all lonely hearts are blocked immediately on my MSN. But to the point communication with the right individuals is what it is all about. I have about 150ish folks on my IM, many of them top notch well known professionals, and we have a good time-efficient, symbiotic relationship going on there.
7. Gmail: I get more emails than I can handle. If it weren't for gmail, and it's searching, and almost 3 gigabytes, my life would be in a complete disarray. Now, Outlook 2007 is pretty sweet, but it is tied to a single machine. I wish there was a way to have outlook 2007 be available on multiple machines without a honkin' exchange server (and sorry, no crazy setups, I like keeping my life simple).
8. 24" LCD Dual Screens + 30" LCD screen on my main compzilla: See, I don't have a TV. TV is the biggest time drag you can imagine. But having a sweet 3 monitor setup is a rather sweet thing to have. I frequently find myself with an eBook on one screen, and the other two screens for visual studio, and internet explorer/tabbed instances. A huge timesaver and worthwhile investment. Wish laptops did the same :-/.
9. My office on wheels: Get a good computer bag. Something with wheels, a telescoping handle, that has atleast two compartments for all your electronics, maybe even an overnight tshirt, and another compartment to store a 17" laptop (though I insist on carrying a 15.4" screen laptop, the extra space is good for cables etc.). Trust me, this thing on wheels is a gazillion times better than a shoulder slung anything, or backpack. And make sure it has a cellphone compartment for easy access :-). Going through airport security is a lot easier if this compartment can store your change, cellphone, and your wrist watch.
10. A business card holder: I have NEVER bought a printer. Why? Because I dislike paper clutter. If you ever hand me a business card, I usually go home and send you an email with your contact info, so you have mine, and I can later on search for you - and then promptly recycle the paper card you handed me. I also don't carry any business cards myself - if you wish to stay in touch, give me your card and I'll electronically be in touch. Frankly, this is much more convenient, efficient, and effective. So WTF do I like a business card holder for? Well, I use it to store QTips. Yes, those ear buds are the same length as a business card :-). And when you travel, 99% of the hotels don't give you QTips. The swankier hotels give you free QTips that have a tendency to come loose in your ear (ouch!). But hey, it is good to give your ears a good cleaning after a warm shower. Makes the travel a bit bearable. heheh :-)

Okay, I'm tagging 5ish of my friends on stuff they wouldn't wanna live without.

Scott Allen

Scott Hanselman

Frans Bouma

Bill Ryan

Andrew Connell

.. and all the codebetter guys ..