Five Applications for Netbook Bliss

Productivity Sauce

Want to beef up the software bundle that comes with your Linux-based Netbook? Here are five nifty applications and tools that are worth a closer look.

Day Planner When you are on the move, you probably don't need a fancy do-it-all PIM application. In many cases, a no-frills utility which can help you to keep track of your daily activities is really all you need. If this is what you need, then Day Planner is for you. Day Planner's interface is refreshingly simple, and you can start adding events right away. The application supports three types of events: Normal, All day, and Birthday. The agenda pane below the calendar displays a list of upcoming events, so you can keep track of future events as well. Although Day Planner doesn't contain any fancy features like the ability to sync events with your mobile phone, it does let you import and export calendaring data and synchronize multiple installations of the application. Since Day Planner uses the iCalendar format, you can exchange data with other calendaring applications, and the Import and Export commands under the Calendar menu allow you to get events in and out of Day Planner.

TiddlyWiki When it comes to note-taking and managing small text snippets, few tools can beat TiddlyWiki. The entire TiddlyWiki consists of just one HTML file, which includes CSS and JavaScript codes, and everything you enter in the wiki is stored inside this file as well. Described as a "non-linear notebook", TiddlyWiki treats notes as small containers called tiddlers. You can show and hide tiddlers at will as well as tag them. As you would expect, TiddlyWiki uses a simple Wiki-like syntax for text formatting which supports tables, images, lists, and more. TiddlyWiki is designed to run locally (i.e., either from your hard disk or a USB key), but if you want to use it on the Web, you might want to take a look at the TiddlySpot service which lets you set up a Web-based version of TiddlyWiki in a matter of minutes.

TreeLine is a hybrid application that combines the features of a traditional outliner with a free-form database. As such, it offers a unique way to organize your stuff, be it contact information, bookmarks, text snippets, bibliography, task lists, or something else. This makes TreeLine a perfect tool for keeping tabs on heterogeneous bits of data. Moreover, using TreeLine's outlining capabilities you can easily group and manage the mixed data inside the database.

Droopy is a simple Web server which does only one thing: it allows users to upload files to your computer. Sure, others can send you a file using one of the many services or utilities that allow you to send large files, but why bother if you can just fire up Droopy and let them upload the file directly to your machine? Once Droopy is up and running, you can send your IP address to the person who wants to send a file to you.

Conduit Keeping your data safe should be your first priority, and the Conduit utility provides a one-stop solution for your synchronization needs. Unlike other synchronization tools, Conduit supports not only remote servers and storage devices, but also a wide range of Web-based services like Flickr, Box.net, Facebook, GMail, Backpack, etc. This allows you, for example, to easily upload your photos directly to your Flickr account, or back up your files and documents to Box.net. Better yet, Conduit provides visual tools for creating synchronization profiles. Simply drag the sources and services you want onto the working area, and then specify the connections between them.

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