WebDesignerDepot.com’s list of Essential tools for every web designer includes some of the usual suspects, like Adobe’s free Kuler, Dribbble.com, Google WebFonts, Balsamiq wireframing tool, 960 Grid, and the like.

One tool I found particularly interesting was Radiant CMS, a Ruby-based Content Management System. I’ve been studying Ruby since January of this year (ever since the place where I work adopted it as an alternative to an ancient scripting language that hasn’t been updated since about 1998). A few days ago, I looked up Ruby blogging and CMS software as a possible alternative to WordPress, and I saw Radiant mentioned then. I wasn’t sure the package really had “legs”, but it looks like I’m going to have to check it out.