TOP 10 TOOLS 2007, 2008 & 2009
Clark Quinn

Clark is the Executive Director of Quinnovation, an eLearning consultancy in the US.  He has a PhD in applied cognitive science , lots of experience playing with computers and networks since the late 70's, a passion for learning/ performance technology, and a history of being at the leading edge. More at quinnovation.com

Clark's Top 10 Tools as at 10 May 2009

1. Twitter - using TweetDeck on the Mac, TwitterFon on the iPhone, for #lrnchat, and more

2. OmniGraffle - brilliant for diagramming. I'm visual/conceptual and it works the way I want and makes my output look good (I went back and recreated old diagrams just because it was so fun; when's the last time you said that about productivity software?)

3. WordPress - blogging. Customizable to the way I want (er, mostly), and reliable

4. Firefox - my Web tool for searching, googling, surfing, and has great plugins

5. Evernote - capturing thoughts and transferring ToDos (ahem), syncing between mobile and desktop

6. Word - outlining and writing. I write by outlines, and I've used Word since I bought a Mac II to write my PhD thesis on (Pages' outlining still ain't quite there)

7. iTunes - how I connect my iPhone to my Mac, download mobile apps, and more.

8. Mail - part of my move to centralize on Mac apps (iCal, Address Book) to accommodate iPhone; I use email a lot (e.g. RSS feeds from Feedblitz), but Mail's missing some things I liked in Entourage

9. Keynote - presentations. I give lots of talks, so I need a standard tool (made the switch from PowerPoint)

10. Skype - international calls and IM. Reach out and touch someone (I also use Adium and iChat, but I'm not supposed to sneak them in).

Need a mobile version :)

Mail, TwitterFon, Evernote, Google, Safari, Facebook, iDoodle2lite, Safari, Maps, Calendar

Clark's Top 10 Tools as at 20 August 2008

1. OmniGraffle - brilliant for diagramming. I'm visual/conceptual and it works the way I want and makes my output look good (I went back and recreated old diagrams just because it was so fun; when's the last time you said that about productivity software?)
2. WordPress - blogging. Customizable to the way I want (er, mostly), and reliable
3. Firefox - my Web tool for searching, browsing, surfing: with the new engine, it's fast, and has great plugins
4. Twitter - I'm using TwitterFox on Firefox, and Twittelator on my iPhone. A whole new world...
5. Google - their search engine, their maps, their website tracking,...
6. Word -  outlining and writing. I write by outlines, and I've used Word since I bought a Mac II to write my PhD thesis on (now, if Pages had outlining...)
7. iTunes - how I connect my iPhone to my Mac, download mobile apps, and more.  
8. Mail - part of my move to centralize on Mac apps (iCal, Address Book) to accommodate iPhone; I use email a lot (e.g. RSS feeds from Feedblitz), but Mail's missing some things I liked in Entourage
9. Powerpoint - presentations. I give lots of talks, so I need a standard tool (though I'll begin exploring Keynote)
10. Skype - international calls and IM. Reach out and touch someone (I also use Adium and iChat, but I'm not supposed to sneak them in).

Clark's Top 10 Tools as at 11 January 2008

1. OmniGraffle - brilliant for diagramming. I'm visual/conceptual and it works the way I want and makes my output look good (I went back and recreated old diagrams just because it was so fun; when's the last time you said that about productivity software?)

2. WordPress - blogging. Customizable to the way I want, and reliable

3. Google - search. The home page for my browser; still the best.

4. Wikipedia - reference. The link from my searches I'm most likely to select when I want a definitive answer

5. Google Maps - navigation. Directions, finding nearby locations, particularly when mobile

6. Word -  outlining and writing. I write by outlines, and I've used Word since I bought a Mac II to write my PhD thesis on (now, if Pages had outlining...)

7. PalmOS - my mobile environment. Syncs with my desktop, and supports productivity: ToDos, contacts, notes, calendar, photos, passwords, email, web browsing, whatever I need I can find an app for.  If I make a promise to do something and it doesn't get into my system, we never had the conversation (but if it does, it happens

8. Feedblitz - RSS feeds.  Rather than a reader, I want the blogs I track to come in email.

9. Powerpoint - presentations. I give lots of talks, so I need a standard tool (though I'll begin exploring Keynote)

10. Skype - international calls and IM.  Reach out and touch someone (I also use Adium and iChat, but I'm not supposed to sneak them in). 

Clark's Top 10 Tools as at 19 July 2007

1. Entourage - for email

2. Palm Desktop and The Missing Sync - calendar, ToDos, Memos, Contacts and more between laptop and Treo (which may soon go to Mail, Address Book, Calendar to sync with the iPhone ;)

3. Word -  writing, outlining and PowerPoint - Presentations

4. Firefox - web browsing

5. Google - searching, news

6. OmniGraffle - diagramming (brilliant program)

7. Adobe Reader - PDFs

8. Skype, Adium, iChat - IM & video conference

9. QuickBooks - timekeeping, invoicing

10. Dreamweaver - site editing