30 Resources I regularly use
by Justin D. Long, http://www.justinlong.org
Now, updated for 2013!, and reordered for time used.
0. Gmail: all of my email comes here. Can't beat its anti-spam and virus protection. After nearly a decade, Gmail is still my go-to spot, and retains the top slot on the 2013 list.
1. SaneBox: this is a brand new tool I started using in December 2012. It automatically organizes email for me. I use this in addition to OtherInbox. In one fell swoop these two tools have dramatically simplified my email life. I get about 3 or 4 messages a day in my inbox now, all of them messages I want to read. Sanebox isn't cheap but works out to about $5/month if you buy it in a 2-year chunk.
2. Writethat.name: This is a pay service, but it's pretty cheap. It works with Gmail. It scans incoming email for contact information and automatically updates your Google Contacts list, bringing in things like email addresses, phone numbers, physical addresses, etc. It's a great time saver. Since my Google Contacts address is automatically synced to my phone, and becomes my phone address list, it's also helpful for updating the phone book on my phone. Much better and less privacy invading than Plaxo!
3. Scrivener. I use Scrivener for writing my Cluster Forecasts, essays, and for dabbling in novel-writing. I'm in Scrivener about 3 hours or so a day. It's available in both Mac and Windows editions.
4. Dropbox: ever since I figured out how to sync Scrivener files to different computers via Dropbox, this has been used daily (in the background).
5. Adobe Indesign. This is what I use when I'm formatting the Cluster Forecasts for PDF. I ended up getting a copy purchased outright when it became available on nonprofit license through Techsoup.
6. Twitter. Twitter is the center of my news world. I have several carefully curated lists which cover breaking news, top news sources, global thinkers and influencers, activists, mission agencies, and the like. I use Flipboard on the iPad to access this, as well as Tweetbot (and often Twitter on my desktop Mac).
7. NetNewsWire/Google Reader. I still consume a lot of material via Reader RSS feeds, and I have custom software which automatically shares anything that I star in Reader via Twitter. On my desktop, I use NetNewsWire which syncs with Reader.
8. Google Docs. Most every general file that I write (outside of my Scrivener files) is in Google Docs these days. I have 400GB of additional storage from Google (cost: $100/year). I have never run out of space yet. I also use a shared Google Docs folder for "The Long Shelf" online missions library.
9. Picasa. I use Google's online photo storage to archive and backup all of our photos, thus making them available from any computer we use. But I keep the privacy controls pretty high; very few of the photos in my collection are publicly available.
10. Google Voice. I don't do a ton of voice calls, but when I do, Google Voice is my preferred app. I still use Skype for those people that need to use that. When traveling internationally, I use Skype on my iPad (I haven't gotten G Voice to work there).
11. Facebook. I am using Facebook much less these days. I normally go here about once a week. Twitter dominates my social networking time. If you want to catch me online, http://www.facebook.com/justindavidlong is your best bet.
12. Camtasia Studio. This is what I use for recording videos for the Mission Manual. I got it pretty cheap through a non-profit license via Techsoup. (I haven't made a video in a very long time, unfortunately.)
13. Filemaker Pro is probably going to be my go-to database for the Mac. I recently had a great demo by Darrell Dorr, which convinced me.
14. Tripit maintains my travel calendar automatically. Anytime I purchase a flight, Tripit (which monitors my Gmail account) automatically sucks the flight data in and gives me a nice itinerary. It syncs to the iPhone/iPad app as well, so that's always up to date, and shares the itinerary with my wife, so she has quick access to my schedule.
15. Spanning.com maintains a complete backup of all of the data I have in Gmail, all of my Google Docs, my Contacts and my Calendar. I am not afraid of some hacker logging in and wiping everything, because I can easily restore from backup. (Also, not afraid of deleting a file and discovering 30 days later I really wanted it--but it's gone in the trash). Cheap: $3/mo.
16. IWantMyName.com: cheap domain registration. Simple, no frills, better than GoDaddy (which I've used in the pst).
17. Hostgator: probably, for the money, the best domain hosting I've ever had. Very responsive customer service. No, it's not Rackspace, but I can't afford them, and I've never ever had a problem with Hostgator. And, their service is quick, no frills, no long download times (unlike GoDaddy), and never doing intrusive upsells.
18. Kindle: I love Amazon Kindle. I probably have 200 books/files in it. Apple's iBooks is nice, but at this point I have so much in my Kindle that I would be hard pressed to abandon it. I actually use my Kindle App on iPhone/iPad far more than I do my actual Kindle, at this point.
19. Google Apps for Domains: we use this internally at MUP for email, documents, calendaring and the like. So I include it here just to mention it.
20. Paypal: I use this a lot for donations and small purchases that people make from me. I'm very satisfied with it.
21. FileZilla: this is my FTP transfer program of choice. I've tried a bunch (including CuteFTP Pro) but this is the one that's the simplest.
22. Putty: This is my SSH terminal of choice. I use it when I need to login to my host server and make minor changes or run programs on it.
23. Sketchbook. This is my Mac-based drawing pad. It's not as nice as Smoothdraw, but it works.
24. iTunes: what I use to play and scan in music. I know, others find it kludgy. It works for me. Besides I pretty much need that because of the iPhone and iPad.
25. LastPass: my password manager. My passwords are typically phrases (not crazy alphanumeric codes) but Lastpass is great for automatically logging me into sites so I don't have to remember all the passwords I've used. (Wish it worked with Safari.)
26. Chrome: the app I am in nearly every working day of the week. I'm a Chrome guy. I like it more than any other browser I've ever dealt with. I run it pretty clean.
27. Delicious: where I save links that are of interest to me long-term. I have the Chrome plugin, which makes it very easy.
28. Instapaper: where I save articles to read later. I also tried ReadItLater but Instapaper worked better with some of the other apps I use. I have the browser bookmarklet, so I just hit it when I want to save an article, and it syncs to my iPad for later viewing.
29. Wordpress. The engine that drives JustinLong.org.
30. Gumroad: this is an excellent and very simple way to offer PDFs and other digital media for sale. I've made some very good use of this and anticipate using it more in the future.
31. Checkthis: this is a dirt simple place to put up a longer article in HTML version without having to host it anywhere on a server. (That's what I'm using for this file.) It gives you traffic counts, too. I'll probably be using it more in the future as well.
Now, updated for 2013!, and reordered for time used.
0. Gmail: all of my email comes here. Can't beat its anti-spam and virus protection. After nearly a decade, Gmail is still my go-to spot, and retains the top slot on the 2013 list.
1. SaneBox: this is a brand new tool I started using in December 2012. It automatically organizes email for me. I use this in addition to OtherInbox. In one fell swoop these two tools have dramatically simplified my email life. I get about 3 or 4 messages a day in my inbox now, all of them messages I want to read. Sanebox isn't cheap but works out to about $5/month if you buy it in a 2-year chunk.
2. Writethat.name: This is a pay service, but it's pretty cheap. It works with Gmail. It scans incoming email for contact information and automatically updates your Google Contacts list, bringing in things like email addresses, phone numbers, physical addresses, etc. It's a great time saver. Since my Google Contacts address is automatically synced to my phone, and becomes my phone address list, it's also helpful for updating the phone book on my phone. Much better and less privacy invading than Plaxo!
3. Scrivener. I use Scrivener for writing my Cluster Forecasts, essays, and for dabbling in novel-writing. I'm in Scrivener about 3 hours or so a day. It's available in both Mac and Windows editions.
4. Dropbox: ever since I figured out how to sync Scrivener files to different computers via Dropbox, this has been used daily (in the background).
5. Adobe Indesign. This is what I use when I'm formatting the Cluster Forecasts for PDF. I ended up getting a copy purchased outright when it became available on nonprofit license through Techsoup.
6. Twitter. Twitter is the center of my news world. I have several carefully curated lists which cover breaking news, top news sources, global thinkers and influencers, activists, mission agencies, and the like. I use Flipboard on the iPad to access this, as well as Tweetbot (and often Twitter on my desktop Mac).
7. NetNewsWire/Google Reader. I still consume a lot of material via Reader RSS feeds, and I have custom software which automatically shares anything that I star in Reader via Twitter. On my desktop, I use NetNewsWire which syncs with Reader.
8. Google Docs. Most every general file that I write (outside of my Scrivener files) is in Google Docs these days. I have 400GB of additional storage from Google (cost: $100/year). I have never run out of space yet. I also use a shared Google Docs folder for "The Long Shelf" online missions library.
9. Picasa. I use Google's online photo storage to archive and backup all of our photos, thus making them available from any computer we use. But I keep the privacy controls pretty high; very few of the photos in my collection are publicly available.
10. Google Voice. I don't do a ton of voice calls, but when I do, Google Voice is my preferred app. I still use Skype for those people that need to use that. When traveling internationally, I use Skype on my iPad (I haven't gotten G Voice to work there).
11. Facebook. I am using Facebook much less these days. I normally go here about once a week. Twitter dominates my social networking time. If you want to catch me online, http://www.facebook.com/justindavidlong is your best bet.
12. Camtasia Studio. This is what I use for recording videos for the Mission Manual. I got it pretty cheap through a non-profit license via Techsoup. (I haven't made a video in a very long time, unfortunately.)
13. Filemaker Pro is probably going to be my go-to database for the Mac. I recently had a great demo by Darrell Dorr, which convinced me.
14. Tripit maintains my travel calendar automatically. Anytime I purchase a flight, Tripit (which monitors my Gmail account) automatically sucks the flight data in and gives me a nice itinerary. It syncs to the iPhone/iPad app as well, so that's always up to date, and shares the itinerary with my wife, so she has quick access to my schedule.
15. Spanning.com maintains a complete backup of all of the data I have in Gmail, all of my Google Docs, my Contacts and my Calendar. I am not afraid of some hacker logging in and wiping everything, because I can easily restore from backup. (Also, not afraid of deleting a file and discovering 30 days later I really wanted it--but it's gone in the trash). Cheap: $3/mo.
16. IWantMyName.com: cheap domain registration. Simple, no frills, better than GoDaddy (which I've used in the pst).
17. Hostgator: probably, for the money, the best domain hosting I've ever had. Very responsive customer service. No, it's not Rackspace, but I can't afford them, and I've never ever had a problem with Hostgator. And, their service is quick, no frills, no long download times (unlike GoDaddy), and never doing intrusive upsells.
18. Kindle: I love Amazon Kindle. I probably have 200 books/files in it. Apple's iBooks is nice, but at this point I have so much in my Kindle that I would be hard pressed to abandon it. I actually use my Kindle App on iPhone/iPad far more than I do my actual Kindle, at this point.
19. Google Apps for Domains: we use this internally at MUP for email, documents, calendaring and the like. So I include it here just to mention it.
20. Paypal: I use this a lot for donations and small purchases that people make from me. I'm very satisfied with it.
21. FileZilla: this is my FTP transfer program of choice. I've tried a bunch (including CuteFTP Pro) but this is the one that's the simplest.
22. Putty: This is my SSH terminal of choice. I use it when I need to login to my host server and make minor changes or run programs on it.
23. Sketchbook. This is my Mac-based drawing pad. It's not as nice as Smoothdraw, but it works.
24. iTunes: what I use to play and scan in music. I know, others find it kludgy. It works for me. Besides I pretty much need that because of the iPhone and iPad.
25. LastPass: my password manager. My passwords are typically phrases (not crazy alphanumeric codes) but Lastpass is great for automatically logging me into sites so I don't have to remember all the passwords I've used. (Wish it worked with Safari.)
26. Chrome: the app I am in nearly every working day of the week. I'm a Chrome guy. I like it more than any other browser I've ever dealt with. I run it pretty clean.
27. Delicious: where I save links that are of interest to me long-term. I have the Chrome plugin, which makes it very easy.
28. Instapaper: where I save articles to read later. I also tried ReadItLater but Instapaper worked better with some of the other apps I use. I have the browser bookmarklet, so I just hit it when I want to save an article, and it syncs to my iPad for later viewing.
29. Wordpress. The engine that drives JustinLong.org.
30. Gumroad: this is an excellent and very simple way to offer PDFs and other digital media for sale. I've made some very good use of this and anticipate using it more in the future.
31. Checkthis: this is a dirt simple place to put up a longer article in HTML version without having to host it anywhere on a server. (That's what I'm using for this file.) It gives you traffic counts, too. I'll probably be using it more in the future as well.