JAD is a sweet java decompiler. There is also a plugin for jbuilder called JADClassFileNode that allows you to use the find definition command and drill down into the decompiled source from the jar file. This is nice, for instance if you are using an open source project you don't have to download the source if you want to check something simple.

Lots of applications in windows, like MS Word, lock the file. I think the file it makes in the same directory with a similar name and usually a tilde (~) as the first character is the lock file.

If you are using ant and expect to get line numbers in stack traces, set debug="on" attribute in the javac tag. Otherwise you end up with (source unknown).

A Windows path can be composed of no more than 256 characters, including the c:\.

in a web application javascript should never be your only validation. it can be disabled in any browser.

Spyware keeps coming up. AdAware and Spybot Search & Destroy are two popular choices for removing spyware and adware.

tracking down javascript errors in ie today. first of all in ie when you get an error double click the little caution icon in the status bar. then you often have to use the previous button to get to a meaningful error (usually the last error is on line 1 where there is no code) and then use ctrl-g in notepad (win 2k pro) to get to the line. also in dreamweaver mx ctl+' will do braces matching in javascript, and it has code insight for custom libraries (struts in my case).

i found a site (vonage.com) that offers a good deal on voice over ip to replace residential phone service. it's cool because you can use your existing telephones with an adapter and if you have a cable modem (not a dsl) you can get rid of your local phone service. the drawbacks that i can think of are that if your internet service goes down so does your phone, and the sound quality is supposedly not as good. clay shirky wrote an interesting article that metions vonage.

several companies i work for are considering using oracle collabaration suite in place of exchange server.

i have recently set up several windows home networks with netbios over tcp/ip. here is a good tutorial.