So are you like me, someone who has an idea or two that you think will rock this world if you can make it happen? Do you have heart full of hope and optimism, but a pocket that is empty of anything but lint? Don’t let nothing stand the way of your big idea - actually, I meant to say “Don’t let the fact that you have nothing stand in the way!”

I try hard to avoid being penny wise and pound foolish. I try not to buy too many stuff from the 99 cent store only to find out that what I paid for wasn’t even worth 99 cents. If you have something that is “mission-critical,” don’t skimp on it - get the best tools to help you. However, sometimes we don’t have any options. One approach is to incrementally build up to the point where you can afford to get the best-of-breed stuff, but not at the get-go. In my opinion, the tools listed belows are great starter tools that are free, and they may very well be good enough to stick with for the long haul.

• Office-style documents: OpenOffice (been a user for 4 yrs), Google Docs (new app on the block)
• Imaging software: Irfanview (straight-up image viewer), Gimp (aka, Photoshop for the starving artist)
• Multimedia: VideoLAN (plays various formats, including DVD’s off your DVD player - does not need a commercial codec!), SUPER (for converting media file formats, e.g., video-to-audio)

If there are any other killer apps that are freeware, please share them!

[note: this post has been recategorized from Miscellaneous to “Use What Works” in Practice.]