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?