Orly

orly is a gem developed by Yon Bergman that notifies you when it is necessary to run either ‘bundle install’ or ‘rake db:migrate.’ It does this by detecting changes to the Gemfile and/or changes to the schema and migrations. It is most useful when doing a git pull, but you can also run a check without git pull, for those who are a little more forgetful, with the command ‘orly –run’.

Symbolset

Symbolset is a collection of semantic symbol fonts, which means that symbols or icons are assigned to keywords instead of letters. Unlike emoticons where <3 would be a heart, you type the word ‘heart’ and a heart appears, or the word ‘twitter’ and a twitter icon appears. Symbolset can also access symbols using standardized Unicode values. This allows code to be human and machine-readable. It also cuts down on bulky image loading for icons by accessing an entire set of icons with just one HTTP request.

Cloud9 IDE

Cloud9 IDE is an IDE (integrated development environment) tool that allows developers to store, access, edit and collaborate on their code from anywhere. Whether a developer is on the go and needs the store/access/edit capabilities or has been looking at the same project for months and needs some collaboration to fix a bug Cloud9 IDE is a handy tool. For the developer on the go, the recent addition of offline syncing could be useful so code can always be available (even when offline). Add to that the ability for developers around the world to edit the same code and chat in real-time using the collaboration tool and it could be a pretty useful tool.

Toggl

Toggl is a time-tracking app that is compatible with Mac, PC, iOS, and Android devices. And by allowing a user to track time via timesheet or timer, it will fit any preference. With features like Quickbooks/Freshbooks/Basecamp syncing, the ability to create Excel or pdf reports (for internal or client use), flexible billing (different rates for clients or team members), and creating time budgets (handy for project managers and business development teams), it seems worth trying.

skrollr

skrollr is a stand-alone parallax scrolling library built with “just plain JavaScript (and some love).” Because it is independent it allows users who only know HTML and CSS to create a site with parallax effects. There are some limitations that may make it less useful for more advanced developers and more advanced sites, but in general it seems like a good tool for beginning or mid-level developers or for low-budget projects.

Use it or Lose it

Use it or Lose it is an iOS app that allows you to take a photo, upload, and organize your possessions. If you are a business owner and want to keep an inventory of your assets, a pack rat that needs to keep track of things in various storage spaces, or just a cautious individual who needs to know exactly what you have, this app can act as your memory. The web tool could also be handy for online “yard sales,” by allowing you to tag or group items you would like to get rid of and share a link to that collection. So here’s to getting organized and decluttered.

rvm-patchsets

For anyone who has used RVM, you know it’s awesome in how easily you can switch between versions and patches of Ruby. Now add to that rvm-patchsets, which is a library of special patches you can install for different purposes (we know, your mind is blown) and things get even easier. For example certain patches allow you to benchmark the performance of Ruby to test for memory performance against garbage collection, or some other suspicious behaviour of your Ruby app. Rvm-patchsets makes it convenient to test, debug, optimize performance or just use a patched version of Ruby for a particular application.