1. BSPlayer, vastly preferred over VLC. I occasionally use VLC if I want to do something weird like rotate video, but everything else is BSP.. tiny/fast, lots of options and single-hotkeys aplenty (^_^;;;)
2. Chrome+FFox, for browsing different kinds of sites I prefer one over the other for..
3. IrfanView for random image viewing needs. can do quite a bit more than the standard Windows version and it's tiny/fast..
4. Audacity for recording audio from the machine.. I am a hoarder of audio streams that have very limited online playability and prefer ripping them this way..
5. FileZilla for FTP. A few sites I need to update periodically..
6. mIRC 4.72 for IRC, which is an old and special-to-me 16-bit ver for Win 3.1 that I still use from the era..
7. WinRAR. I know Windows can now unzip things on its own, but I'm just a fogey in this way =P
8. DVDFlick, simplest video file to disc image program I've ever used..

This is really a super easy question for me, and I'm not sure how anyone else could possibly think otherwise -- Pilots should get safety gear that prevents laser flashes from doing the damage they supposedly cause, end of story. If the danger is authentic, then going without protection is an action of the pilot willingly putting the lives of the passengers in danger. There is no other interpretation. Arguments to the contrary are a bit like, let's drive a tandem bicycle into Mad Max world wearing a hunters-bright-orange business suit, and if anyone gets shot, we'll offer a reward for whoever finds who shot them. No. You drive a freaking cast iron battering ram of a vehicle in Mad Max world. If there is an authentic danger that a $10k reward would go to the discovery of someone who shines a laser pointer at an airplaine could cause it to crash, then the prevention of crashes is a matter for the pilot to assess. "Oh, it's all Pearl Harbor outside, and I'm a pilot. I don't need a vest or anything, because the company is supposed to pay for that stuff." In what reality does that make sense?