|
TOP 10 TOOLS 2007
David Parry
David is an assistant professor of emergent media at
University of Texas at Dallas. He can be reached at OutsidetheText.
David's Top 10 Tools as at 26 July 2007
-
Quicksilver:
I use this application for everything (really
everything—sending quick emails, running search
queries of sites like
Amazon,
Wikipedia, or
Google,
cropping photos,
manipulating files,
launching
applications . .
.). In fact when I
sit down at a Mac
without Quicksilver
I feel like I am
working with only
half a computer
-
DevonThink Pro:
Lots of "Brain in a Box" software out there,
this is my favorite. It manages all forms of
research I want to keep from web page captures
and .pdfs to video and audio sources this
program does it all. Plus it has some killer AI
search features. The UI is ugly but apparently
they are working on this for the next release.
-
Mellel: For many years Microsoft
frustrated me. This word processor is built by
academics for academics. The key: the ability
to separate form from content and change the entire
style of the document with just a few clicks. Plus
you can format text left to right and right to left
in the same document.
-
Firefox:
I use several browsers, and not always Firefox,
but this is the most
reliable.
-
Parallels:
Now I can check how web pages look in IE without
finding a Windows machine. Its like getting a
windows machine for the price of a software program.
-
TextMate:
Good for whatever text manipulation you need, from
simple mark-up to editing blog posts this application handles it
all and has custom shortcuts.
-
WordPress:
The ease of installation and active plugin community got me
hooked, and I have been happy ever since. Use
it for my own blog and ones for my class. Also
related would be
Edublogs, if I didn't have my
own domain I would use this service (it seems
like I recommend it every day to another
teacher).
-
NetNewsWire:
I think RSS is one
of the most important information technologies.
I haven't been able to make the shift to Google
Reader like everyone else, I just prefer a
desktop application.
-
Apple Mail:
Again while most people like gmail I prefer this Apple Program
for the way it integrates with other
applications (I have a gmail account I just
filter it to Apple Mail). Add in Mail-Tags and
Mail-Act-On and email has never been easier.
-
Textpander: Like Quicksilver I use this so often I
forget. I never type my full address, I can
paste something from the clipboard automatically
including link tags, it autocorrects spellings, adds
in accent marks
|
Advertisements
|
