Inspired by the venerable Mike Arrington of TechCrunch and his post, 2009: Products I Can’t Live Without I decided it would be fun to just jot down a short list of the types of technology I depend on daily to be efficient. 
I don’t usually like to do too many of these kinds of posts but I know sometimes people get a kick out of a post that is a bit more personal. I have some posts coming down the line that are going to be more helpful. :)
Here goes. Rough order from most important to least…
| 2008 Technology | |
| 1. Firefox (App) | Best browser period. I have too many plugins to admit to. |
| 2. WordPress (Code) | Best blog platform – holds its own as a CMS too. |
| 3. Google Reader (Site) | Great feed reader, add a little Greasemonkey and it rocks. Handles the plethora of reading I have to wade through. |
| 4. Windows Live Writer (App) | Whoa, hold up. Yes it is Windows but it is a terrific blog editor. I use it linked up to multiple blogs and post directly from it. |
| 5. Google Analytics (Site) | Stats for all my sites. Free. Powerful. |
| 6. OneNote (App) | I really like Office 2007. I use OneNote with its many tabs to keep organized with all my projects/classes info and to-do lists. |
| 7. WinAmp (App) | Good music player, controlled by FoxyTunes in Firefox. |
| 8. FileZilla (App) | Show me a better, more lightweight FTP program… |
| 9. Meebo (Plugin) | Both allow me to consolidate all my instant message accounts and Facebook chat. Meebo resides in Firefox.. Trying Digsby, not sold yet. |
| 10. NotePad++ (App) | Notepad on steroids. Highlights code syntax. Tabbed. |
| 11. FireShot (Plugin) | Powerful FF plugin for screenshots. I also use Jing and SnagIt on occasion. |
| 12. ColorZIlla (Plugin) | Color picker for FF. Allows quick sampling of a web pages color. |
| 13. MeasureIt (Plugin) | FF plugin that lets you measure onscreen elements. Very simple. |
| 13. Firebug (Plugin) | Terrific tool to examine a website’s architecture, especially CSS. |
| 14. Delicious (Site) | Social bookmarking. I have over 1300 bookmarks and 800+ tags. Handy for tagging a site to come back to as a reference. |
| 15. LinkedIn (Site) | I can live without Facebook but LinkedIn keeps me connected to people I need to stay connected with. |
(All of these are free except OneNote.)
Tool I am most excited about, new in 2008: EtherPad. This is like a live version of Google Docs and lets several people work on a simple text doc and see the text instantaneously. It is in closed beta due to overwhelming demand.
If you really want to try it and can’t get in LMK and I may be able to help you.
I decided to exercise some self-control and only bore you with 15. You’re welcome lol.Watch out for 2009. Have any favorites you want to share?
GERNY says
May 7, 2009 at 9:54 pmHow about APEX DC++? I know I can’t live without it.