HTML5 introduces the ability to cache content client-side so that often-used resources can be used without re-downloading them. This also enables a site to be viewed from the client when no network connection is available (i.e., offline viewing of the site).

In order for this to work, there are a few things one must do:

1. Create a plain text file listing all of the resources that should be cached by the user agent (e.g., a web browser)– the cache manifest.
2. Refer to that file in the opening html tag of every page that will use cached resources.
3. Configure the web server so that the file is sent to the user agent with a specific MIME type: text/cache-manifest
4. Regenerate the cache manifest any time you change the files in your site.

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While many content providers are working diligently to find ways to lock us in to their content and to exclude aggregation, it’s aggregation that I want!! I want to be able to read my content in the form and manner that fits my workflow of the moment.

Reeder for the iPad is a great example of an app that makes reading a pleasure. It’s fast; amazingly fast. I can read my Google Reader subscribed feeds, mark items for further follow-up, forward them to my Twitter feed (Note to Reeder devs: I maintain more than one Twitter account and more than one account on other social networking sites, to separate the personal from the professional roles vested in me), add it to my Instapaper account, and so on. In short, reading news feeds in Reeder is a pleasure; very nearly perfect.

Audacity is a free, cross-platform sound editor.

Notepad++ is a free, Windows-only text editor offering syntax coloring, line numbers, and other programmer-centric features.

TextWrangler is a free, Mac-only text editor with advanced features such as regular expression find and replace, syntax coloring, line numbering, etc., making it an excellent free choice for programmers.

G.I.M.P. is an open source, free, cross-platform alternative to commercial image editing software.

CMapTools is a free, cross-platform that allows the user to create and share concept maps for any topic they choose. Concept maps can be used for brainstorming activities, to assess students’ models of concept domains, or to capture individual or group domain knowledge.