genieyclo

This is basically a parody of a sorts on the LifeHacker team’s post where they listed out what software and hardware they use, individually and categorized it all into the operating systems they “live” in, the hardware they rely on, the peripherals they utilize on a regular basis, and webapps they need. Then they tell you exactly what kind of user they deem themselves to be.

Well, I will do my version of it all:

The Basics

• As anyone does (or should if they don’t), I use Firefox, mine being particularly loaded up with different addons.
• Anything Google; it’s like my primary center for everything online, and quite a few things off.
• SUPER Encoder/Decoder is a must for me. This baby encodes and decodes basically any multimedia format to any other that you want it to. Waayy better than the trashy stuff you find as webapps. Of course, one of the things that makes it soo nice besides its performance is that it’s free.
• uTorrent. Let’s see..I get games, movies, whole seasons of shows, software, Quran..basically anything I want and that’s usable on a computer from there. It’s indispensable for me. Reliable interface that’s easy to use. Not malware or adware like Limewire or other Bittorrent clients..so yeah. It’s great. I use it alot.
• PowerISO is an awesome archiving/unarchiving, mounting, and CD/DVD image processing program essential for any major software that’s in ISO form for quick download and unarchival, like your normal .uif and .daa that’s so common in torrents nowadays.
• CCleaner is a great cleaning tool to run at the end of the day when it’s finally time to let the computer sleep and your body as well. It also has a great registry feature I’ve heard-much better than the notorious RegistryCleaner. idk, I’ve never used that function; cleaning my computer up every night in a very efficient and easy-to-use way is enough for me.
• Notepad2 is the main text editor I use for coding, although I just got Dreamweaver and I’ve been trying out Notepad++ since some of the LifeHacker editors recommended it. It seems to me though, that I’m just way more used to Notepad2, and that I’ll probably stick with it for awhile.
• iTunes and WMPlayer are what I use for media. Never really went with any of the series of Windows Media Centers after they all decided to crash on me repeatedly.
• I’m a Windows guy, so I use the Office 2003 set when I need to.
• Adobe CS3 Design Premium for graphic design as well as some fun time.
• I’m also testing out a new file sharing service that essentially functions something like a socially-interactive p2p program called Wuala.

Primary OS

• Windows XP on my desktop, working on Ubuntu Hardy Heron still with that one, and Vista on my notebook, and again, getting Hardy Heron Desktop Version downloaded onto that also.
• The reason I’m getting Ubuntu is because of it’s great usability and access, and also to convert it later to Muslim Edition.
• And yes, Vista does suck. My philosophy on this is that Vista, like it’s forerunner a little back Windows Millennium Edition, is just a transition Operating System..and that’s why it’s so glitchy and slowish for some. Some includes me. On the transition topic though, if you look at the Operating Systems right before and after Windows Millennium as well as Vista that were developed by Microsoft, you’ll notice they were good and stable receiving good ratings (i.e. Windows 98, 2000, and XP). For Vista, if you try to look ahead, look ahead to the next in-line in the Windows family, Windows Vienna, due to come out in ‘10. Of course, when I say this, I blatantly ignore the server editions that have just come out from Windows after Vista that are reportedly very stable and functional. Reason: most people don’t use them and have never heard of them. The ones I’m talking about are Windows Home Server and Windows Server 2008.

Hardware

• I currently share with my family the family desktop (which I’ve “majorly boosted up” as my friend Rashid likes to say). It’s a Compaq 5000 that’s served us faithfully unlike many others of it’s brethren. It’s the one with XP.
• I own a Sony Vaio NR Series with Vista which is starting to get screwy (I got 3 Blue Screens of Death just last week, yikes!). Visuals are great, esp for games, but I’m going to reconfigure the whole thing and download a Hardy Heron Desktop and convert it to Muslim Edition.
• I still own a Compaq notebook that was doomed from the start when my sister first laid her hands on it somehow managed to burn the battery and make the keyboard type all backwards and weird. Once the screen bailed out, I ripped it off and just hooked up the main base to another monitor. Works :)
• A very old Dell Latitude that works when it feels like it, I just use it for low-key Sega games.

Peripherals

• I’ve got a mouse on my desktop..standard Microsoft optical with the 3 buttons.
• 2 speakers with my desktop. Nothing fancy, just speakers.
• A HP Deskjet printer. Ancient but very efficient.
• A scanner that doesn’t work anymore.
• Qwest LAN thingeemajig and Netgear router.
• 2 extra monitors hooked up with my Desktop that I sometimes connect to the notebook.
• A crap load of CDS. Like a ton. Literally. 99% empty of them are empty because I don’t know what to do with them. Gift from my aunt who moved away. Don’t ask.
• That’s all the stuff on my “desktop” (like the pun ;) ?, I kno it’s bad :)..but besides that nothing special for my laptops/notebooks except one of those mini mice that my dad got from his work.

Webapps

Whoopee! My favorite part!

• Google, Google, and more Google. I use it for everything. gChat for IM, Gmail for email, GoogleReader for my RSS feeds (including my own, yes I’m that conceited :), Google Pages for free web hosting on plain HTML uploads, basically all their services minus a dear few like Orkut and Jotspot. That list for the ones that I don’t use might be growing considering how many companies big, veracious old Google is rumored to buying these days..
• SocialBrowse, which is a Firefox extension made by my friend Zack Garbow and his partner Dave Fowler up in Silicon Valley. Cheers to Zack and Dave!
• There’s so many sites I have an account at, it would be futile to try to name them all. Besides Google, other ones I use quite a bit are Wikipedia, Facebook, any OpenID site, Stumbleupon, and Ning.
• Glubble is a family filtering site which I’ve been using for my sisters. It’s Firefox extension that you as an admin can certain pages for your kids to go on. Kids can request to view a site and it’s in your jurisdiction to choose to let them. Very useful for little kids, but once they hit 7~8, I think it’s high time to welcome them to the real Internet world with a good in your face of what you can encounter and how to avoid it. Protectionism is only good for so long.
• Another app that Zack made is 8aweek, which is a sortof time saver utility that runs as a toolbar in your browser. He designed this before SocialBrowse, but it’s still pretty sweet. I don’t use it anymore.
• There’s a startup that I worked on with a friend of mine, Adwait, called SocialDecks. It’s basically a way to learn with flash cards online, except socially. The whole social part is still being developed, however, and we’re still in beta.

Self Assessment

• I think that I’m someone who likes to check new things out alot, but I’m wary of course, and I see what others say about it first, some times waiting for a TechCrunch or Technorati review first. Still, I think I get to see quite a few new things ahead of others which is always fun *_^
• If I like something that’s new, and I think I’ll actually use it for awhile and I don’t have anything else alot like it that I’m already good with..then I’ll usually adopt it. Some times some things are just so tantalizing I have to test them out even if I have some thing kinda like it; like the whole Wuala vs uTorrent thing. I’m sticking with both in this case though, because they’re not that similiar, each has alot to offer that the other doesn’t.