I run into this issue every time I build a new site in Drupal. I typically use the Views module to create a list of nodes. A possible use of this is a list of news items on a news page.
Tired of typing your passwords all the time?
Check out this excellent guide on how to set up SSH keys on your web server to automate logins from your SSH client.
Here's a site I came across that lists a nice collection of plugins for use with jQuery.