Obligatory presentation

Hello all! Before I begin to fill this blog with a lot of stuff (and mainly, before you decide if it's worth something or not to you), I'll take a couple of minutes to explain what you're likely to find (and not find) here. The "About" box, in the upper-right corner of this page, is a quick and useful intro. (Go read it, I'll wait... Done? Fine, let's proceed then!)

So this blog is all about the tricks I find useful for myself, in terms of productivity and/or technology. You'll find information, advices, how-to's, tools (both home-made and more official)... This being said, all I'll publish will be solutions that work for me, but it may not suit you at all. Or maybe it will offer you a nice starting point, from which you'll be able to come with your own better-than-the-original solution. Or maybe it will be something you had running for a while, but then decided to switch to something you consider better. In any case, please don't be afraid to contribute with your own experience. That's the main point of this blog: finding the best solution.

Naturally, I'll be focusing on the tools I'm using. That's where a couple of you may want to leave the boat. Without any order of preference (those tools all work best when brought together anyway), I'm using: Ubuntu Linux on a Fujitsu laptop, and on a home server; an iPhone 3G; Google services (gmail, calendar, docs, reader, blogger...); other cloud services (DropBox, SpiderOak). When choosing a software, I always try to go with a multi-platform solution. Please note that, even though I'm a Linux user, I'm not a Windows (or Microsoft) hater, nor do I despise non-free software development. After all, I'm using some paid-for services and tools, and I'm not ashamed of it. You won't see me bashing a product just for the fun of it, and I expect the same level of respect from anyone contributing in the comments. In fact, the only reason I may moderate the comments would be a clear lack of respect for anyone/anything (well, that and legal reasons, if necessary). That doesn't mean you should not voice your opinion, on the contrary. Please, just do it in a civilized manner (I don't know you personally, but I think you're able to do this).

And a final remark, for those who didn't notice this when reading this article: English is not my primary language. I'm publishing in English, so I can reach a larger audience, and share the love to more of you people. If what you read is unclear, please tell me so. I'm trying really hard (really!), but I'm not perfect (really!).