:: TechBlog ::

After having recently wiped out my main workstation’s RAID array [see twitter link] – i wanted to compile a list of softwares/services i had picked up over the course of the year and couldn’t do without. These were going to be the first things i would need to reinstall after restoring everything else from an older backup. Fortunately, nearly all of my most recent data is stored online and thus, i didn’t lose any “important” information. I did however temporarily lose access to many of my newer web-based accounts, as well as bookmarked shortcuts to these accounts, that sort of thing. Basically, i had to deal with the hassle of downloading and reinstalling anything Firefox might have lost since my last backup.

Anyway, here are all the new webapps and firefox extensions i picked up (and “stuck” with me) over the course of the year:

Web-based Tools:

• Twitter – Just started using it (less than 3 months ago), but obviously it’s a keeper.
• Brizzly – Best web-based Twitter app i could find.
• ReadItLater – One click bookmarks, online sync between browsers, delicious integration.
• Su.pr – URL shortener of choice with Twitter and StumbleUpon intergration
• Feedly – Next generation feed reader with Google Reader and Twitter inegration
• Shareaholic – Social networking tool that integrates with tons of popular services including Su.pr, Del.icio.us, and Twitter.

Here’s some stuff i’ve been using for a while now and will continue to use – although technically all of these were restored from my older backup and i won’t be linking to or describing each of them at this time.

Web Apps:

• Del.icio.us – Still my online bookmarking tool of choice.
• Google Products – Gmail / Docs / Reader (and more but i don’t feel like going into detail here).

FireFox Extensions:

• All-in-One Sidebar
• Download Sort
• Download Statusbar
• Firebug
• Link Evaluator
• Live HTTP Headers
• BookmarkDD
• SEO for Firefox
• Tab Kit
• text/plain
• Web Developer Toolbar
• YSlow

Also, I was impressed by the decreasing number of desktop softwares i needed to reinstall.

Desktop Apps:

• VMware player (win/linux)
• Firefox (win)
• 7zip (win)
• unrar (linux)
• Inkscape (linux)
• gftp (linux)

That’s all i could think of at the moment. If i missed any important ones, i’ll probably just add them to the list. I’m sure there are many other great web-based tools out there. These are just the few i’ve been using. I wonder what new and cool webapps will be added to my arsenal in the coming year? In the meantime, feel free to use the comments below to let me know if you’re using a great webapp not mentioned here.