For the first post of the new year, why not talk about a newly released tool? Kaxaml 1.0 is now available, and if you do WPF or want to learn some WPF, this is a great tool.
A lightweight split-view XAML editor, it is a nice tool to have when you want to be able to did around with XAML by hand. That is a great way to try things that high level tools like Blend make harder.
Try it out.