Blog:

Inspired by Adaptive Path's blog post titled Software We Use, I've compiled a list of tools and services that I depend on to get my work done.

Software

• Adobe Fireworks. Fireworks is the most powerful vector image editor out there. There is no substitute. Back when I first started using it around version 1.0, I found it very rough around the edges when compared to the also 1.0 Adobe ImageReady (since folded into Photoshop). In those days, Fireworks and ImageReady centered their value around optimizing images for the web. Shaving an extra 5k here or 10k there of a JPEG or GIF would ensure those viewing your web content on a 28.8k modem had a decent experience. By Fireworks 2.0, it became very apparent that it was the definitive vector drawing tool for the web -- far surpassing even Flash and Freehand in terms of utility for web developers. Over the years, I've relied on it for creating mock-ups, specs, prototypes, websites, and diagrams. It's really only getting better with time as well. A little known fact is that Fireworks was used to create the logo for Firefox. Today, I use it to primarily create prototypes and specs -- particularly for AIR-based applications. The only thing it's missing is the gorgeous new work space that Flash and Photoshop introduced in CS3. However, my guess is that this will be addressed in CS4.
• FolderShare. This is an incredibly valuable P2P file/folder synchronization application that runs in the background. It's very dependable, secure, blazingly fast and lightweight. I've been using it for years and I still depend on it to get my work done. A few months back I urgently needed to share a private build with a person writing an article for the Adobe Developer Connection. Within minutes, I had a folder setup on my local machine that allowed us to securely transmit files back and forth. Interestingly, the development of FolderShare has been fairly dormant since Microsoft bought it, but fortunately the feature set is rich enough. It's also available on the Mac.
• Aptana. When it comes to free IDE tools for building Ajax-based applications, nothing comes close to Aptana. The icing on the cake would be if they offered advanced PHP support. That said, the fantastic support for Ajax frameworks keeps me more than happy.
• Mozilla Firefox. I've been a loyal Firefox user since somewhere around version .1. During the past year, I've been increasingly disappointed with how it manages memory. That said, there are so many great plugins for Firefox I cannot imagine switching anytime soon. For instance, Google Browser Sync and Joe Hewitt's indispensable Firebug. I'm also a fan of Yahoo's YSlow extension which helps evaluate bandwidth inefficiencies in your code. Also, I depend on the parameterized keyword capabilities. If I need to perform a quick search on Wikipedia, I simply type wiki PHP in the URL field.
• Google RSS Reader. Google Reader is basically my dashboard to events of the world. I use it daily to track particular subjects using custom Google search RSS feeds, competitors, emerging market news, photos from my friends' Flickr feeds, and so on. That said, it's a double-edged sword because there's simply too many interesting things happening in the world. I can easily spend a couple of hours trying to catch-up on feeds instead of doing something more productive. In my industry, it's critical that one have the latest information -- industry news is happening 24 hours a day and last weeks' news is often ancient history.
• Trillian. Like Firefox, I've been using Trillian since it was in an early beta release many years ago. I have mixed feelings about Trillian -- most of the functionality I use was available in the early versions and occasionally I find it more buggy than it should be given its maturity. Since some of my contacts use Yahoo and others AOL for IM, Trillian helps me make sure I'm available to both without having to log into a separate system.
• Adobe Flex Builder 3 Beta. Definitely the tool of choice if you're building Flex-based AIR applications. Flex Builder 3 also introduces support for a profiler revealing tips on memory allocation thereby allowing you to tune your Flex/AIR applications.
• Adobe AIR. Yes, even if I didn't work on the product, I'd still be using AIR-based applications like Finetune Desktop or BuzzWord <grin>.
• Launchy. While not nearly as powerful as QuickSilver for the Mac, Launchy does provide almost instantaneous access to your applications. It offers advanced functionality such as piping commands together,. It's open source and a must if you're a Windows user though it's also available on Mac and Linux (hooray for cross platform software!).
  
• Adobe Acrobat. Whether I'm providing feedback to the marketing team on early drafts of messaging material or submitting my expense report, Acrobat plays a key role in my PDF workflows. The most recent version features some improvements like a new interface and faster performance.
• Dreamweaver. I often use Dreamweaver to write my blog posts before posting them to Movable Type or updating the websites that I maintain. This past year, I've done very little original website design on the side. If I need to upload a file to share with someone, I also tend to use Dreamweaver as my FTP client -- though I also have an older version of CuteFTP I purchased from several years back.
• Movable Type. Though technically I don't use this blogging software for work purposes, I do use it to maintain my personal blog. I upgraded to 4.0 this year and have been pleased with the improvements.
• MediaWiki and Confluence. To make it as easy as possible to access notes and important information, I run a personal copy of MediaWiki -- the same web software that powers Wikipedia. This has proven to be a major productivity booster since I can usually find what I need within a few seconds (again using Firefox keyword shortcuts). Confluence
• X1 Desktop Search. I have a major love/hate relationship with this desktop search software that indexes all of your emails and files. A few years back, when I first started using this software, it worked flawlessly. Now, however, it runs slower than molasses and frequently crashes. In fact, it's no longer even indexing my email due to several bugs. I've played with al of the settings -- reducing the frequency at which it indexes -- but I believe my Outlook files may be pushing it over the edge. However, I really do think the software has declined in quality which is very unfortunate especially since Yahoo used to give it away for free. Google Desktop Search is a little too clunky and the Microsoft one is better but seems to run slowly though it may be time to give it a second look.
• Microsoft Outlook. I don't have a choice. For better or for worst, this is the tool that I depend on for setting up meetings, ripping through emails, and managing tasks. If there is one tool I'd like to replace, it's this one. However, my company has standardized on it and so it's open about 90 percent of the time on my work machine.
• Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint. Again, not much of a choice here. I like Word's revisioning feature and the data analysis features of Excel. However, in general, I feel like all three of these products of stagnated in terms of offering new capabilities.

• LinkedIn. The first time I used LinkedIn, I knew that it was destined to change the rules of business relationships. For years, I had collected business cards only to be disappointed by the fact that they became out of date as individuals moved between companies. If I met an interesting contact, I always wanted to know more about that person. So while LinkedIn didn't kill the business card (or resume), it helped create a workflow where it suddenly became more useful. When possible, I attempt to add people I meet to LinkedIn. Quite frequently, old contacts will follow-up with me or vice versa. I no longer have to track people when they move between companies as LinkedIn handles that for me. I've also used it to find interesting people and perform background checks on candidates.
• Adobe Acrobat Connect. Formerly known as Breeze, Acrobat Connect allows you to setup online meetings with coworkers and business partners. There are many similar types of software out there, but I like it the best because it's fast, cross platform (Mac and Win) and has advanced features such as polls and URL based meeting rooms. Disclaimer: Price isn't a consideration for me since this is free to me through my company. .
• Wikipedia. Need to know some obscure detail about h.264 or information on a competitor? Wikipedia to the rescue. It seems to only be getting more valuable with time. While I'd never make a business critical decision, I find it significantly more reliable than other forms of web research.

There are a variety of other "recreational" tools that are not required by my job including:

• Stellarium. A free open source planetarium for your computer available on Mac, Windows and Linux.
• Google Earth. Endlessly interesting, I use it to check out trails or Geocaching sites.
• Geocaching.com - Bottomless source of real-world puzzles that force you to beat your feet.
• PHP/MySQL/Ubuntu - PHP/MySQL are used to power this website as well as other web side projects I've created. I'm hopeful that Ubuntu may become my primary desktop environment, but today I run it as a virtual machine.
• Replay Media Catcher. Have a favorite online radio station that you want to make sure to record? This is the best tool I've come across for capturing mp3 streams -- even though embedded within Flash movies.
• iTunes. Now on version 7, I have to admit that this software really hit its sweet spot, at least for me, around version 2.0. My needs tend to be pretty simple when it comes listening to music and features like smart playlists and burning to MP3 CD's keep me happy.
• Mozy. A super cheap online back-up service. Although I wish the UI was a bit richer for rolling back to earlier version, it's hard to beat the price.

Back in my developer days, I used to use more developer tools like Perforce, Visual Studio.NET and CodeWarrior. These days, I tend to have them installed (except CodeWarrior), but rarely use them much due to the scope of my current job.