5 ms·

Ask HN: What site or tool is your "can't live without?"

13 points by phlux 16y ago

What do you find to be the best site/resource/tool that you find indispensable and use daily, and would recommend to other HNers?

rchowe 16y ago
I find github second only to the sonic screwdriver.
F00b4r 16y ago
I presume the answer "HN" is too meta? pastebin ftw.
Animus7 16y ago
Mercurial.
kaisdavis 16y ago
* DropBox Simple file syncing between my home and office computers? Versioning, when I need it? Dropbox tops the list. * SimpleNote / nvALT The easiest way to take a note and have it available anywhere. * Instapaper I do more reading through instapaper than I do through RSS feeds. The new feature that shows you articles liked by your twitter / facebook friends? Amazing.
- c_t_montgomery 16y ago
  There's also some great browser add-ons/extensions that act similar to Evernote's "clip to evernote", in that it just saves a webpage to read later. This helps me a lot with productivity, etc...
hi5jonlee 16y ago
*Evernote - specifically the Clip to Evernote chrome extension which allows you to save links, specific text/pictures, and/or whole webpages while browsing the web. God knows a good idea can be as transient as the time it takes to open up a word document or email yourself a note. Plus, having a single place where all your notes go, whether you're on your iphone (evernote iphone app) or laptop makes it much easier later to find that idea, article, etc.
rrhoover 16y ago
Honestly? Facebook. I would be embarrassed to tell you how often I open it up each day but I've found it the best way to stay in touch with my friends back home and schedule/rsvp to events.
atgm 16y ago
gmail, hands down. Not only do I use it for communication, but I also store a lot of notes and cross-computer bookmarks in the form of e-mails to myself.
YuriNiyazov 16y ago
github
JoshKalkbrenner 16y ago
Google
djjose 16y ago
You may laugh, but I still use Delicious religiously and will until I export it to something equally as effective, simple, and useful. Close 2nd and 3rd are Dropbox (I could use a shared FTP server and mount it as a drive, but why?) and Gmail (I guess I could use any other email if I had to). EDIT: forgot to add beanstalk for git hosting.
X-Istence 16y ago
Git as source control. I am absolutely in love with Git and wouldn't want to go back to anything else. I've used CVS, Subversion, Perforce, Mercurial and now Git and I never knew what I was missing until I got to git!
- etherael 16y ago
  As someone who has tried mercurial and are now firmly in the git supporters camp, can you relate how git is superior to mercurial? I've used git for a long time now and I really like it, but it's very hard for most developers to wrap their heads around and it seems like mercurial has a better cross platform toolchain than git, these things have made me frequently ponder how mercurial compares to git.
  - X-Istence 16y ago
    What I like about Git over Mercurial is some stuff that may seem weird to others. - The octopus tree merge, I use it much more than I previously thought I did looking at some of my non-public repositories. - having branches that have completely different history (never did figure out how to do this with Mercurial) - read-tree, filter-branch, and a whole range of other tools to re-write history or change somethings location and all that fun jazz. - tracked branches, makes git push/pull easier - the staging area and being able to select different parts of a patch to commit separately (This is by far one of the most important ones) - amending a commit, rebasing and altering history isn't just supported it is recommended, and makes commits from multiple different sources look much cleaner in a tree view (more linear history). This is definitely great in a company where mainline may move fairly fast and rebasing by developers is a way to have the history look linear, without merging "master" into a feature branch. - Git has support for short-lived play branches, Mercurial has this as well with hg strip, but it is an extension and not part of the core, or you have to clone a full repository, makes working with others harder too as I can't just push the play branch up to my clone on the server (assuming a Github model). I've found that once I realised how Git works under the hood that it made so much more sense, not only that I feel that it is more powerful, for example here is a gist of something I recently did for a repo at work: https://gist.github.com/878192 https://gist.github.com/878192 This helps with other internals projects in that we are not pulling in the full "master" branch, instead we are just pulling in a very specific sub-set of files, which is easy to keep updated with git pull -s subtree. I'm sure that I have only touched the least significant parts of what Git has to offer, and that there is so much more waiting for me, but that is my reasoning and why I like it so much.
Ixiaus 16y ago
BitBucket https://bitbucket.org https://bitbucket.org StackOverflow The dictionary Mnemosyne (for spaced repetition) A pad of paper Google Calendar (it integrates with my phone! and I integrate it with org-mode agenda)
- Tiomaidh 16y ago
  Nice to see someone else using Mnemosyne. I was going to make an Android client for it as part of the Google Summer of Code, but Google rejected Mnemosyne's application. I guess it doesn't have the same weight as OpenOffice or Chrome or whatever :(
datasink 16y ago
Notational Velocity with Simplenote syncing. An awesome combination.
- orlandop 16y ago
  +1. Sync it with iPad, iPhone and Mac OS. Definitely can't live without it.
splish 16y ago
a whiteboard, a moleskine notebook for scribbles I haven't found an adequate app replacement for either of these.
joshzayin 16y ago
1Password is an incredibly valuable tool for me that I use all the time. Before I started using it, I had moderately weak passwords that were roughly the same on every website for which I had an account. But now I can have randomly generated passwords unique to each website and not have to worry about knowing them--I just need to know one password (a randomly generated, strong one) and that allows me to securely log in to any site. And the Dropbox syncing is a killer feature--I have the iPhone app as well as the desktop version, so I can view the passwords anywhere if I need to log in on a computer at school (for example). And, of course, supporting and augmenting that is Dropbox: it lets me easily sync not only my passwords but also my files--I've stopped carrying around a flash drive now--if I'm working on a file at school, I can just upload it to my Dropbox (in the correct folder) and then it's there when I get home, without me having to think about it at all. It's very convenient and I've become somewhat dependent on it.
hagope 16y ago
LastPass fills in all my forms and Passwords ...
c_t_montgomery 16y ago
Evernote and Google Docs are my two that I couldn't live without. Especially with Google Docs' new comment system (much more like a conversation, and more unobtrusive), and the Evernote's ease of use makes it a no-brainer.
jackkinsella 16y ago
Vim. The bulk of my work involves writing - be that emails, articles or code. Vim provides an efficient, RSI minimizing way to rapidly tweak and edit text. I couldn't imagine living without it.
- DevX101 16y ago
  Is VIM integrated with your email client or do you just copy and paste?
  - jackkinsella 16y ago
    I copy and paste, although integration might be worth looking into.
    - Tiomaidh 16y ago
      I haven't used it myself, but I've heard good things about Vmail (Gmail for Vim) http://danielchoi.com/software/vmail.html http://danielchoi.com/software/vmail.html
geraldbaeck 16y ago
Dropbox No Nees for USB drives anymore Google Docs easy collaboration within our startup and of course Twitter
tersiag 16y ago
I cant single them out but here are the ones I use daily - Chrome (and firefox with firebug) - Gmail and Google Calendar - Stackoverflow - Workflowy - Dropbox - Wikipedia (and Quora increasingly)
gcv 16y ago
Pen and notebook; Emacs; org-mode; Gmail; Git (and GitHub); Dropbox.

13 points by phlux 16y ago

What do you find to be the best site/resource/tool that you find indispensable and use daily, and would recommend to other HNers?

rchowe 16y ago

I find github second only to the sonic screwdriver.

F00b4r 16y ago

I presume the answer "HN" is too meta? pastebin ftw.

Animus7 16y ago

Mercurial.

kaisdavis 16y ago

* DropBox Simple file syncing between my home and office computers? Versioning, when I need it? Dropbox tops the list. * SimpleNote / nvALT The easiest way to take a note and have it available anywhere. * Instapaper I do more reading through instapaper than I do through RSS feeds. The new feature that shows you articles liked by your twitter / facebook friends? Amazing.

c_t_montgomery 16y ago
There's also some great browser add-ons/extensions that act similar to Evernote's "clip to evernote", in that it just saves a webpage to read later. This helps me a lot with productivity, etc...

hi5jonlee 16y ago

*Evernote - specifically the Clip to Evernote chrome extension which allows you to save links, specific text/pictures, and/or whole webpages while browsing the web. God knows a good idea can be as transient as the time it takes to open up a word document or email yourself a note. Plus, having a single place where all your notes go, whether you're on your iphone (evernote iphone app) or laptop makes it much easier later to find that idea, article, etc.

rrhoover 16y ago

Honestly? Facebook. I would be embarrassed to tell you how often I open it up each day but I've found it the best way to stay in touch with my friends back home and schedule/rsvp to events.

atgm 16y ago

gmail, hands down. Not only do I use it for communication, but I also store a lot of notes and cross-computer bookmarks in the form of e-mails to myself.

YuriNiyazov 16y ago

github

JoshKalkbrenner 16y ago

Google

djjose 16y ago

You may laugh, but I still use Delicious religiously and will until I export it to something equally as effective, simple, and useful. Close 2nd and 3rd are Dropbox (I could use a shared FTP server and mount it as a drive, but why?) and Gmail (I guess I could use any other email if I had to). EDIT: forgot to add beanstalk for git hosting.

X-Istence 16y ago

Git as source control. I am absolutely in love with Git and wouldn't want to go back to anything else. I've used CVS, Subversion, Perforce, Mercurial and now Git and I never knew what I was missing until I got to git!

etherael 16y ago
As someone who has tried mercurial and are now firmly in the git supporters camp, can you relate how git is superior to mercurial? I've used git for a long time now and I really like it, but it's very hard for most developers to wrap their heads around and it seems like mercurial has a better cross platform toolchain than git, these things have made me frequently ponder how mercurial compares to git.
- X-Istence 16y ago
  What I like about Git over Mercurial is some stuff that may seem weird to others. - The octopus tree merge, I use it much more than I previously thought I did looking at some of my non-public repositories. - having branches that have completely different history (never did figure out how to do this with Mercurial) - read-tree, filter-branch, and a whole range of other tools to re-write history or change somethings location and all that fun jazz. - tracked branches, makes git push/pull easier - the staging area and being able to select different parts of a patch to commit separately (This is by far one of the most important ones) - amending a commit, rebasing and altering history isn't just supported it is recommended, and makes commits from multiple different sources look much cleaner in a tree view (more linear history). This is definitely great in a company where mainline may move fairly fast and rebasing by developers is a way to have the history look linear, without merging "master" into a feature branch. - Git has support for short-lived play branches, Mercurial has this as well with hg strip, but it is an extension and not part of the core, or you have to clone a full repository, makes working with others harder too as I can't just push the play branch up to my clone on the server (assuming a Github model). I've found that once I realised how Git works under the hood that it made so much more sense, not only that I feel that it is more powerful, for example here is a gist of something I recently did for a repo at work: https://gist.github.com/878192 https://gist.github.com/878192 This helps with other internals projects in that we are not pulling in the full "master" branch, instead we are just pulling in a very specific sub-set of files, which is easy to keep updated with git pull -s subtree. I'm sure that I have only touched the least significant parts of what Git has to offer, and that there is so much more waiting for me, but that is my reasoning and why I like it so much.

Ixiaus 16y ago

BitBucket https://bitbucket.org https://bitbucket.org StackOverflow The dictionary Mnemosyne (for spaced repetition) A pad of paper Google Calendar (it integrates with my phone! and I integrate it with org-mode agenda)

Tiomaidh 16y ago
Nice to see someone else using Mnemosyne. I was going to make an Android client for it as part of the Google Summer of Code, but Google rejected Mnemosyne's application. I guess it doesn't have the same weight as OpenOffice or Chrome or whatever :(

datasink 16y ago

Notational Velocity with Simplenote syncing. An awesome combination.

orlandop 16y ago
+1. Sync it with iPad, iPhone and Mac OS. Definitely can't live without it.

splish 16y ago

a whiteboard, a moleskine notebook for scribbles I haven't found an adequate app replacement for either of these.

joshzayin 16y ago

1Password is an incredibly valuable tool for me that I use all the time. Before I started using it, I had moderately weak passwords that were roughly the same on every website for which I had an account. But now I can have randomly generated passwords unique to each website and not have to worry about knowing them--I just need to know one password (a randomly generated, strong one) and that allows me to securely log in to any site. And the Dropbox syncing is a killer feature--I have the iPhone app as well as the desktop version, so I can view the passwords anywhere if I need to log in on a computer at school (for example). And, of course, supporting and augmenting that is Dropbox: it lets me easily sync not only my passwords but also my files--I've stopped carrying around a flash drive now--if I'm working on a file at school, I can just upload it to my Dropbox (in the correct folder) and then it's there when I get home, without me having to think about it at all. It's very convenient and I've become somewhat dependent on it.

hagope 16y ago

LastPass fills in all my forms and Passwords ...

c_t_montgomery 16y ago

Evernote and Google Docs are my two that I couldn't live without. Especially with Google Docs' new comment system (much more like a conversation, and more unobtrusive), and the Evernote's ease of use makes it a no-brainer.

jackkinsella 16y ago

Vim. The bulk of my work involves writing - be that emails, articles or code. Vim provides an efficient, RSI minimizing way to rapidly tweak and edit text. I couldn't imagine living without it.

DevX101 16y ago
Is VIM integrated with your email client or do you just copy and paste?
- jackkinsella 16y ago
  I copy and paste, although integration might be worth looking into.
  - Tiomaidh 16y ago
    I haven't used it myself, but I've heard good things about Vmail (Gmail for Vim) http://danielchoi.com/software/vmail.html http://danielchoi.com/software/vmail.html

geraldbaeck 16y ago

Dropbox No Nees for USB drives anymore Google Docs easy collaboration within our startup and of course Twitter

tersiag 16y ago

I cant single them out but here are the ones I use daily - Chrome (and firefox with firebug) - Gmail and Google Calendar - Stackoverflow - Workflowy - Dropbox - Wikipedia (and Quora increasingly)

gcv 16y ago

Pen and notebook; Emacs; org-mode; Gmail; Git (and GitHub); Dropbox.