VideoLan Client (VLC) is a media player that works with many OS’s. Unlike Windows Media Player, and many others, VLC has all of the codecs that you might need built in. So if you’re having trouble playing a particular file, give it a try. Also, there are several advanced features of the software that allow you to do transcoding, live streaming, and video capture.

KeePass Password Safe is a password management program. Passwords are stored encrypted in a file, and are listed in a simple spreadsheet style interface within the program. In addition to user names and passwords, you can store additional notes and information about the service that they’re used for. It also has some nice features, such as creating strong a password for you automatically when you add a new password to your safe. KeePass will allow you to copy any password from the program to the clipboard, and it will then automatically clear the clipboard after 10 seconds, helping to keep your password secure.

The Firefox plugin User Agent Switcher is a quick and dirty way to often get past login requirements on several news sites. By setting the plugin to report that you’re the GoogleBot, you can often view content on sites that would otherwise require a login. This works because sites will allow Google to browse their site freely so all of the content gets indexed for the search engine. However, when you show up, it realizes you’re not Google and forces you to log in or sign up to view the same content.

The plugin is also useful if you’re your checking out how your site handles requests from mobile phones. I set it to report the my browser was a Windows Mobile phone and then used the Mobile Press plugin for WordPress to reformat my blog for mobile phones. This way I could check out how everything was working without having to go back to my phone constantly.