I've been moving away from using Firefox as my main browser due to the fact that Chrome seems much faster at running Javascript and uses less memory, but I keep getting pulled back due to the fantastic plugins that Firefox has available. I've found some equivalents in the list of Chrome extensions, but they just don't seem quite as...good. Today I was directed to another amazing Firefox plugin - Pixelperfect.

I've had some trouble finding an FTP program for Ubuntu that works as well and reliably as WinSCP. In fact, it's got to the point where I've been considering running WinSCP under WINE (Windows Emulation for Linux). I've tried Filezilla, a very popular program, but it was a disaster. It dropped connections halfway through large transfers, transferred files using the wrong protocols when in auto mode, and cost me a lot of time in tracking down bugs due to files incorrectly or not at all transferred. In trying to figure out what was wrong with my setup I discovered the Filezilla support forum, where the developer was extremely rude to people reporting problems like mine. FAIL! I instantly uninstalled it.

 Having gone to the trouble of making that long blog post about productivity tools in Windows for Web Developers, I went and switched to Ubuntu on my main desktop PC and I'm now wondering if I'll ever want to use Windows again. I'll briefly mention a few things about my Ubuntu experience so far that have really impressed me.

1) It's unbelievably easy to access and install new free software.

2) Unlimited desktop panels (really really useful)

3) Total control and configurability without the agony of trying to modify your Windows experience

4) gEdit (I know I JUST said I'd probably never switch from Notepad, but...)

I thought it was worth noting down the tools I've discovered along the way that make my life as a web developer more bearable - it might be useful to you, possibly, if you've found this page, since I've gradually accumulated these tools over a couple of years.

1) WinSCP

I've used a few FTP programs over the years, but for reliability, flexibility and power WinSCP is the best. It just works, it's free, and doesn't get in my face about the fact that it works, which is a quality I appreciate in a program.

I've been working from home for close to a year now and it's interesting to see how my attitude to it has changed. After 10 years of working in various different types of office, from the small-startup-in-condemned-warehouse variety to the cctv-system-recording-your-cubicle-time evil corporation type, and after years of school, I had developed a deeply ingrained attitude that work is not fun. Fun is something you have outside of work, and therefore during your working life you fantasize constantly about getting away from it. Weekends of stress release, holidays of escape, early retirement through sensible financial planning, writing a bestseller.

Well, after yet another website revamp, I feel like I've finally got a site that won't make co-workers laugh when they google my name. Actually, I don't have co-workers any more, and that's the point. I've been self-employed as a freelance web developer for almost a year now, after 10 years in the corporate IT world, and so my personal site has now morphed into a business site with a personal twist.