“Directory Opus is a complete replacement for Explorer, with far more functionality than any other file manager available today.”
Directory Opus has quickly become my favorite way to manage the hundreds of thousands of files on my NAS. Tools for finding duplicate files, folder sync/backup, dual-pane navigation, and an extremely customizable UI lets you make it your own in every aspect.
ProtonMail is an excellent alternative to big tech email providers with an emphasis on privacy and encryption.
The free version gives you up to 1GB of storage and paid plans are available if you need more space/features.
Two of my favorite file/disk encryption tools here.
Veracrypt has two main functions:
https://www.veracrypt.fr/en/Downloads.html
Cryptomator is less advanced compared to Veracrypt but is very good at what it does:
Unlike Veracrypt that creates a single encrypted container for your files, Cryptomator encrypts each file individually. This allows it to work well with cloud storage providers like Dropbox where it would be very inefficient to download an entire container just to access one file inside of it.
SuperScan 3 is a port scanner originally developed by Foundstone and later acquired by McAfee.
While there are newer and ‘better’ scanners out there now, SuperScan 3 is still one of my favorites.
Note that many antivirus scanners will detect this as a hack tool or just block it as ‘malicious’.
The link below is the original, clean, archived copy from McAfee (via archive.org).
Download from archive.org: https://web.archive.org/web/20110705125211/http://www.mcafee.com/us/downloads/free-tools/superscan3.aspx
Or download my own backup copy here: SuperScan 3 (zip file)
Comprehensive Hardware Analysis, Monitoring and Reporting for Windows and DOS.
Just a cool utility to see pretty much everything there is to see about your hardware.
“Firefox Multi-Account Containers lets you keep parts of your online life separated into color-coded tabs. Cookies are separated by container, allowing you to use the web with multiple accounts.”
This simple extension has become one of my most-used. It makes switching between work and personal accounts so much easier.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers
NetLimiter in an ultimate internet/network control, security and statistical tool for Windows.
Use it to manage bandwidth of individual applications, monitor data coming to and out of your machine in real-time, block unwanted intruders, analyze network problems and much more…
NetLimiter is a firewall of sorts that gives you a massive amount of insight into the processes that are making network connections. You have full control over what you want to allow in and out and what you want to block.
If you were familiar with ZoneAlarm back in the early 2000s, this is basically a modern version of that with a lot of improvements.
By default, NetLimiter operates in an “allow all” mode but you can set the blocker mode to “ask” so that it asks for permission before allowing a new process to make any connections. You can then set a permanent “block” or “allow” rule for each one once you’ve reviewed it.
At the time of writing, NetLimiter has a 28-day trial period and costs $29.00 for a two-year subscription.
Here’s a quick and easy way to get a fresh username. I use this for signing up on websites that require a public username, such as forums, but I don’t want to use my real name.
https://usernamegenerator.com/
Many websites provide an RSS feed of the content that they post (including this one!). You can subscribe to these feeds using an RSS news reader app to pull all the articles from your favorite sites into one place rather than having to visit each site individually – kind of like an inbox for website articles. Feedly is my favorite RSS reader for Windows/Web and makes it really easy to find sites of interest and subscribe to their content.
For Mac and iOS, Reeder 5 is my #1 choice. Reeder can be linked to a Feedly account so that the two stay in sync. Reeder is where I spend most of my time with RSS but Feedly is a good alternative when working on a PC.
