Brad Howland

Links & Resources

Other Sites, Windows Software, Cool People

Brad's Other Sites

Howland Tax Services
Income Tax Preparation Services for Musicians

Music For Brass.com
Download High Quality Sheet Music for Brass in PDF Format

Brad's Favorite Windows Utilities

Windows Enhancements…

PlacesBar Editor
Change the buttons on the left side of Windows Explorer to any folder you like

Classic Shell
Customize the Start Menu, if you don't like the changes introduced after Windows XP

Desktop Icon Layout
Save and restore the desktop icon layout in Windows Vista (and above)

FileBox eXtender
Enhances the standard Open File and Save File dialog boxes in Windows

FreeCommander
Alternative to the standard Windows file manager

Just Manager
Another alternative to the standard Windows file manager

Close All
Close all windows with a single click

Everything Search Engine
Quick and easy way to instantly locate files and folders by name

Splat
A handy tool for launching applications, files, folders, URLs, etc.

WinMerge
Tool for comparing files and seeing the differences

Productivity…

Trello
Organize projects with boards, lists, and cards

JitBit Macro Recorder
Tool for automating repetitive tasks

Todotxt.net
Text-based to-do list

sChecklist
Simple checklist app, not as geeky as Todotxt.net but with fewer features

Breaker
Windows timer to help get up from the computer

Texter
Save snippets of text to copy into any program with a keyboard shortcut

Computer Maintenance…

Karen's Replicator
Automatically backup files, directories, and drives (the link takes you to a download page at MajorGeeks.com - the best place to get it at the moment)

CCleaner
Handy tool for cleaning and speeding up a Windows PC

Defraggler
Defragments the PC to speed things up

Security…

Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition
Excellent and unobtrusive anti-virus protection

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
Protection from online threats

Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit
Additional protection for browsers

KeePass Password Safe
Easy-to-use password manager

Office…

Atlantis Word Processor
Basic word processor that can turn documents into ebooks

AutoMetadata
Free software For editing metadata in pdf files

CDBurnerXP
Free software for burning CDs and DVDs

WPS Office
Excellent alternative to Microsoft Office

7-zip
File archiver for making password-protected zip files

PDF-XChange PDF Viewer
Replacement for Adobe Reader

Sumatra PDF Reader
Simple, powerful pdf/ebook reader that starts up very fast

Email…

Windows Live Mail
Adequate email program for most purposes

Fossa Mail
Open source email, news and chat client from the developers of the Pale Moon browser

Sylpheed
Excellent software for text-formatted (non-html) email

MailStore
Archive, backup, and search old email

Browsers…

Mozilla Firefox
A favorite browser for the many useful extensions that are available

Cyberfox
Alternative browser for those who don't like Firefox's new style

Pale Moon
Another open source browser for Windows

SeaMonkey
Browser, email, newsgroup, IRC chat, and HTML editing in one application

Web Development…

CoffeeCup HTML Editor
One of the few html editors that is still actively developed

FileZilla
Free ftp software

NoteTab Pro
Text editor with syntax highlighting and a killer find and replace feature

W3C Tools
Link checker, HTML and CSS validators

Vibralogix
eCommerce and PHP scripts for selling products online with Paypal

WinSCP
Free FTP client for Windows

Entertainment…

Calibre E-book Reader
Free, open source e-book library management application

MP3Tag
Powerful and easy-to-use tool to edit metadata of audio files

SMPlayer
A great video player for Windows

VLC Media Player
Free, open source multimedia player

MusicBee
Software to organize, find and play music files

Tech Writers/Sites

Michael Horowitz
Writes a blog on Defensive Computing at Computerworld

John C. Dvorak
A well-known "cranky geek"

Leo Notenboom
Helping people with technology...one answer at a time

dotTech
Reviews, advise, tips and tricks

Freeware Genius
Technology blog focusing on free software

ghacks.net
Another popular technology blog

Raymond.cc
Another popular technology blog

Cool People

Alan Friedman
CPA, Guitar Player and Founding Member of The Accounting Crows

Barry McCommon
Trombonist, Recording Artist

Bev Norman
Alexander Technique Teacher in Victoria, BC

Chase Sanborn
Canadian Jazz Trumpet Player and Educator

David Leisner
Guitarist and Composer

Eileen McGann
Canadian Folk Musician and Painter

Erik Abbink
Saxophone Soloist, Recording Artist and Teacher

Frances McGuckin
Small Business Consultant, Speaker and Author

Gordon Clements
Saxophone Soloist, Recording Artist and Educator

Ian McDougall
Awesome Jazz Trombonist, Composer, Educator, Yamaha Artist

Zav RT
West Coast Fiddler and Jazz/Folk/Celtic/World Musician

Jon Aquino
Software Engineer and Bloggist

Michelle Cox
Wonderful flute player in Victoria

Mike Herriott
One of the Finest Trumpet Players Out There

Tanya Kalmanovitch
New York-based Viola and Violin Player