I run qmail for sending/receiving mail (on Gentoo; netqmail package), using maildir, of course. On top of that, I run the Courier IMAP server on my internal network (with TLS encryption). Until a few months ago I used Mutt as a client (console-based), but I've moved to using Roundcube (web-based email), which I initially installed for my wife, and have been happy with it. I also have some automatic filtering to folders via Maildrop (another Courier utility; it looks at a ~/.mailfilter file to route mail).
Roundcube/the IMAP server's search is OK most of the time - I keep my inbox small and move older mail to sub-folders - when I want to do advanced searches or search large mailboxes I log in and grep through folders of interest; this works well with the maildir format with one file per message. Maildir was also quite resilient when I had a HD crash and needed to recover some lost mail (block scan for blocks that look like mail headers found most missing items, and I do better backups now - mail is under ~/.maildir and gets backed up automatically).
I would move older messages to maildir (there are plenty of mbox converters, and almost anything non-proprietary should be convertible to mbox or maildir via existing programs or a short perl script) - even if at some point maildir dies off entirely, which seems unlikely, converting it to another format will always be trivial due to its simplicity and it has the advantages mentioned above of being able to search easily with grep etc.
Oh? It's unfair that you wouldn't have to pay damages for something they couldn't prove you did? Really?
I can't prove that you sold 30,000 unapproved copies of Microsoft Office on the street corner yesterday, so it's OK that you be made to pay as if you did? Or perhaps it's only OK if I can prove you sold one copy?
What are these "books" of which you speak?
They sound a little like "newspapers"—do you know that some companies actually make money from printing out news websites and selling the copy? Astounding, right?
Books for university cost a bundle because they kind of have you over a barrel, so to speak, by specifying a particular book (and sometimes edition), but you can still buy used. But if you're educating yourself, certainly an admirable thing, it'll take you a long time to exhaust the computer science material available for free online.
You may not like it, but recruiters tend to prefer a Word-format resume. (In part, I think, because it's easier for them to remove your contact information so that principals don't contact you directly, and monkey with it in other ways - they can do this with HTML, too, and PDF, but it's more difficult.) I get ideological purity (although given that
Personally, I have a link to both a PDF and a Word (.docx) resume on my site. I used to have a plain text version, but nobody cared, so I yanked it; and I prefer providing PDF to HTML and both are equally accessible these days.
To add to what you said about contracting, which I think is right on (would have modded up if I had points), there are also different ways contractors can be paid (in the US): W2, 1099, or corp-to-corp (c2c). I found this page (I am not the author) which has an excellent summary of the three, pros and cons, and the tax implications, including some worked examples. Basically W2 is the easiest for tax purposes (but the rate will usually be lower because the company is paying more taxes), 1099 might draw the attention of the IRS, and corp-to-corp is a little more difficult to set up but probably a good idea if you plan to be contracting long term.
1.5x may be right for 1099 or c2c, but for W2, taxes will be the same but you do have to factor in benefits (including vacation and sick days which won't usually be paid). Given a W2 rate, figure for, say, 48 or 49 weeks (allowing 3-4 weeks unpaid vacation/sick) and check rates for getting your own healthcare (both premiums and what you may need to pay out of pocket; if you have been employed FT, look at what your insurance paid on your behalf in the last few years and average, and account for expensive items like having a kid). We've been (2 of us, no kids) using $12k/year as a round figure, and neither of us has any unusual conditions/diseases. For example: $75/hour = 75 x 40 (they usually won't let you bill more than 40 hours without approval regardless) x 48 - 12k = 132k equivalent salaried. (And I'm not factoring in some things like having access to a 401k plan, extra accounting costs, or, that medical coverage is deducted from salaried paychecks, which may reduce the 12k a little.) So in this case compared to a "naive" 75 x 40 x 52 = 156k, the ratio is closer to 1.2x.
Sure. Update your resume and start pounding the pavement (make use of any contacts you might have first, then hit the usual online boards). Or strike out on your own (maybe take a few friends with you, depending on what you signed when you started) and build web apps as a contractor.
Fact remains that your best chance at a pay (and maybe responsibility) increase is to switch employers.
If you're set on staying where you are, the same kinds of things that you would do to make yourself look good on a resume (e.g., enumerate your accomplishments in terms that can be seen to relate to a company's bottom line - not necessarily in a dollars and cents-specific manner, but in way that makes clear what you built or directed and how you took responsibility) can also help you when talking to your manager.
If you're strictly looking for a raise, first do some research about prevailing pay rates (check ads; check GlassDoor) - if you're underpaid, you have an easier case (you can also try talking to friends at work - good friends, as pay tends to be something people don't talk about and management encourages not talking about it for obvious reasons). Either way, you want to present a case that has something for them, too. Saying "I think I deserve a raise" doesn't help much and creates defensiveness. Better to come to an agreement about a goal. Ramit Sethi has some great advice in How to Hack Your Day Job (short article and a couple of videos).
If you're looking for a promotion, and not so much the money, you still want to proceed along the same lines, but first consider whether the company has openings at the level you're looking at. If you want to go from, say, developer to senior developer, that's likely not a problem since the company defines what "senior developer" means, and you can help yourself by examining others at that level and trying to do what they do as well as you can within the constraints of your present position. However, moving to a lead/manager position will require an opening. For any promotion, try to take on more responsibility where you are - volunteer to write requirements documents, coordinate builds, create tools and processes that streamline or automate poor processes. Keep a log of these accomplishments, even if it's just in a text file, so you can present specific reasons when discussing advancement.
A book I'm reading now called Dinosaur Brains (Albert J. Bernstein) has some interesting observations about office politics and psychology and it may be helpful to you. Avoiding "office politics" isn't really an option, but you can participate on your own terms. Seth Godin's books—Lynchpin (on being indispensable), in particular, in your case, and perhaps The Dip—will also be helpful and help you marshal your arguments and perhaps give you a push to move forward or move on to somewhere that can better use your talents.
I considered using EverNote at one point, but my concern was offline availability (for personal use on my laptop) and security (for use at work). I didn't think management would be happy with me storing proprietary/confidential data on someone else's remote server, so I stuck with OneNote. (I also didn't realistically think they'd get broken into, to be honest, just thought it would be frowned upon. Sometimes paranoia works for you.)
I have looked into several open source alternate note-taking programs, but none of them worked for me as well as OneNote - some were too clunky, didn't have decent search, didn't do quick page hyperlinks, poor formatting, whatever. (Full disclosure: I used to work for Microsoft, which is where I started using OneNote - it was free for internal use - but I stuck with it after I left because it really is a great product.) I would be ecstatic to learn of a free/open source note-taking program that had parity with OneNote, but I haven't found one.
Lots of folks confuse bad management with destiny. -- Frank Hubbard