Online Apps I Couldn’t Work Without

Today while troubleshooting a really irritating bug with an Autonomy based search application, my mind started to wander. For some reason I started thinking about the different on-line based applications I depend on to get my work done in a day …

My Essential Online Business Apps:

• Gmail - all of my emails (business or personal) head through Gmail at one point or another. Gmail serves as my filing cabinet for all things important, including files of various sizes.
• Google Reader - gotta stay current. Reader is actually my homepage, and is definitely the best online feed aggregator I’ve used to date.
• Google Notebook - throughout the day, I need to jot down quick notes. Whether they’re things I have to remember to do while writing code, things I’ve heard people talking about that I need to follow up on, or just all round average thoughts bouncing around in my head, Notebook is indispensable!
• Google Docs - I prefer writing documentation using Google Docs over any other word processor, or spreadsheet. I really don’t need many features, as I’m not a publisher - I’ve collaborated with others several times using the sharing features of Google Docs, and damn I’m freakin’ impressed!
• Blinksale - hey, I got’s to get paid! Oh, and be able to bring up what I was paid for come tax time …
• JungleDisk - well, not really an online app, but it uses Amazon’s S3 for backup - pretty sweet!
• DotProject - I use my own customized version of DotProject to track projects that I’m working on - DotProject has been around for ever and could definitely use a bit of modernizing, but it’s still damn reliable!

Apps I Used to Use:

• Basecamp - an excellent product - simple is good. I used to use this quite a bit for managing/brainstorming ideas for clients, but have recently been able to switch to Google Notebook for just about everything I used Basecamp for.
• Wiki’s - again, I used to use Wiki’s as personal development tools, be it for the design, implementation or testing of different systems. Between Google Docs and Notebook, this need has dwindled.

Stay tuned, as tomorrow when I’m working on the same bug, I’m sure my mind will wander and I’ll start thinking about what on-line applications I could use and haven’t found yet …