Netstumbler

One of the most flexible and user friendly tools out there for interfacing with wireless networks has got to be Netstumbler. With this free application you can not only manage and connect to local wirleless networks, you can also see the technical specifications of each one. This is certainly much more than what you would get with the native Windows Wi-Fi manager.

Netstubler

File-Extensions.org

If there was a time when you have looked at a file extention and had no idea what type of file it is or what type of application to associate it with, then the listings at File-Extensions.org would be a great first step in solving your confusion. A great directory of file extensions and associated applications.

Mozilla Thunderbird 3 Email Client

I've been using Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0 for the last month or so and have been impressed with it's function and orginazation. It is slightly different in the way it organizes and displays email compared to ealier versions of Thunderbird. One major differrence is the way that it can display all emails from all your connected email accounts in one universal inbox, of course you can always select individual inboxes from your individual email accounts, so there is great flexability in interaction and display within the program. Highly recomeneed with great plug-ins that can be added. You can access POP3, IMAP and most HTTP(Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, etc...) based email once configued correctly along with the correct plug-in's added, well worth the time!

Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0

Google Public DNS servers

I was a bit suprised to see that Google now offers it's own set of DNS servers for use as an alternative to your traditional DNS ISP based servers. Then again I'm not surpried, since this is only a natual progression in Google's business model and influence. The nice thing about Google DNS is the easy to remember ip addresses: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4

Some fear a loss of privacy if one would use Google's DNS servers. I'm not sure if I'm ready to switch over at the moment, since I'm currently using OpenDNS as my primary and secondary DNS servers, which have been excellent. Time will tell if it would be beneficial to witch over to Google for DNS.

Google DNS

and of course let's not forget:

OpenDNS

IP2Location

I was recently reading an article by Rick Vanover from Techrepublic.com on resolving the physical location from an IP address. Nice and useful tool when needed. This of course would not give you the exact location, but basically the relative location based on Country, State, City and ISP.

IP2Location

IP2 for LAN and WAN IP's

This is small utility used for finding one's Internal and External IP in one application. No install needed, just execute after unzipping. Yeah, I know you can also log onto your router to get the same info....but I found this a little bit faster and lazier!

IP2

Thanks to http://www.ezlan.net/ip_mac.html for the link!

iCalc Bandwidth Calculater

Have you ever wondered how many Mega Bytes per Second your download serial bandwidth stream is when rated at 12.53 Mega Bits per second? Very easy conversion can be done quickly with multiple results with this helpful tool!

iCal IBeast Bandwidth Calculator