Software

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Here I want to list some of my favorite software I am using for a long time already. For some of them, I want to write a short introduction to make it easy for you to dive into it and get familiar with it. Most of the software is free to use.

First of all, I use a Windows 10 System. But most software I am using can also be installed in Linux Systems.

Anki
Libre Office
calibre E-Book management
Portfolio Performance
Gimp
digiKam
KeePass
Thunderbird

Anki

For any kind of flashcards I am using for learning, I switched from paper cards to a mobile phone application Anki for four reasons:

I always take my mobile phone with me
the cards are in a very useful order (today I repeat what I didn‘t remember yesterday; what I remember today can be repeated a few days later)
files like data tables can be imported easily; all data can be synchronized between windows and mobile application
I can add audio files, pictures, diagrams, cloze, …

Libre Office

For writing texts, tables, presentations, … I am using Libre Office. If you are familiar with Microsoft Office products, it should be easy for you to use Libre Office instead. Libre Office is free, compatible, open-source, usable for every operating system, …

calibre E-book management

A few years ago, I bought a Tolino e-reader. Sorry, that´s hardware, not software. So I am not talking about it here, but if you are interested, you can go on reading here: read more about Tolino…

But in addition to that e-reader, I am using an application, called Calibre, to manage my e-books mainly in e-pub format. Tolino has no problems opening any PDF-Files. But sometimes I prefer to convert them into the e-pub format. It is much more comfortable to read. But more importantly, why I am using Calibre, is to write my e-books by myself. Sometimes I only like to play or to try something new. But I was writing my homework in e-pub format to transfer the content to the Tolino. A few years ago I had trouble displaying Chinese letters in the Tolino. I had to download a suitable font and install it in the Tolino, but as far as I know, nowadays, it shouldn´t be any problem anymore. The Tolino receive updates regularly.

Portfolio Performance

One of the newest software I installed was the Portfolio Performance. Since I care about money a little more, I started to make my own budget plan in a table (you can download it here), but also started to use Portfolio Performance. Since I am using it, I often think, what a great software that is. Developed by a single person, made in Germany, but the among of functionality is enormous. And regularly updates make it even better and better. You can add different bank accounts with payments, incoming payments and transfers. In case you have any stocks, … just add them by date and amount, possibly need to change the price for each. You can check the sum of the money, the Kursgewinne compared to Schwankungen in one diagram, many other numbers are calculated automatically, like interest rate, gains per stock, per broker or in total … Many diagrams can be shown, …

Read more about Portfolio Performance …

Gimp

To edit or create pictures, I often use Gimp. It is easy to use but still mighty. If you used photoshop before, you would not be happy with Gimp but in case you just need free software for a little editing, I think you would be happy with Gimp. It is quite famous and there are already a lot of tutorials online.

digiKam

One program I use almost every day is digiKam. This software I am using to store and manage all my photos. First of all, I am sorting all photos using unique album categorizing. For me, the easiest are monthly folders. But then I can build up a tree of categories like buildings, animals, … Because I usually do less photo editing, I am already satisfied by the included editing possibilities. Cropping pictures, lifting up the contrast in some areas of the photo, convert from raw format to jpg, … that’s it.

KeePass

KeePass I use for storing all my passwords in an encrypted database. This even helps me to remember all the websites, … where I registered once. Even stuff like bank accounts, master passwords, … I store in there. I am using a local key file to open it, in addition to the password. It is quite comfortable, storing data like URL, user name, and password once, you just need a shortcut to open the website + enter.

Thunderbird

For all my e-mails I use Thunderbird. I added all my e-mail accounts into and just need to open Thunderbird to receive all my e-mails, business and private.

WordPress

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