I encountered a problem with one of my  USB Keyboard Controllers (Specifically Roland PC-300) . It has been working for ages and suddenly stopped working. Running the usual diagnostics didn’t yield any solution, but there was no way for me to confirm a MIDI signal was actually being passed from the keyboard controller to the sound card. MIDI-OX is here for the rescue!. This small application provides all the information you need about any incoming midi stream, as well as manipulate it, script it, record it and more. I don’t use it often, but it is a must have, even for its diagnostic value alone.

Midiox

I may be a bit bias, but I found bbpress to be a very effective solution to the challenge of adding a forum to a blog (specifically, to a  WordPress blog). Because of their similar roots,  the integration between a WordPress blog and a bbpress forum allows for easy maintenance and management. Furthermore, the whole approach (UI, LAMP,plugins) of the design of the forum makes it very easy and familiar to work with when coming from a WordPress background. Though it is pretty young, I believe that with time, the support of the WordPress community will make bbpress into a leader in its field.

bbpress