Advanced Operators: Some of My Favorite Tools

The topic for this Advanced Operators session is a roundup of our favorite tools -- online, desktop, or otherwise (paper?). I haven't jumped in for the last few conversations, but after grabbing lunch with Justin, I realized it's been too long! So, that being said, here are some of the tools in my daily arsenal:

Blog tools

• Lijit - I am loving this new widget for my blog (look at the search box, to the right). It is ridiculously simple to setup. Basically, it is a slick interface to build a Custom Search Engine for all your web content (blog, Digg, del.icio.us, MyBlogLog, etc.), and then hook it into your blog sidebar. But it's better than Google CSE alone, as it tracks tons of stats, is readily skin-able, shows a tag cloud of popular searches... And works some magic for users who arrive at your blog via a search engine. If it detects users coming from search, it offers up other content in your network that might also be of interest (try this search, click my blog, and look above the post title -- you don't see that box if you arrive there without performing a search first).
• CLIQ - a new widget coming out of local Portland crew StepChange (with technology from Offermatica), that groups your friend's blogs together into a "CLIQ." Then it shows popular and featured content from your blog and your friends' blogs in the sidebar (based on its tracking algorithms). While it sounds really cool, it is still in private beta and getting some kinks worked out. Like what happens when you want to be part of multiple CLIQs -- I have a few friends who are already involved in another CLIQs, and can't intuitively be involved in mine too. Luckily, the support team has gotten back to me with answers to my questions, so I have been able to find work-arounds. I've been constantly searching for a Featured/Popular Post widget for TypePad, and this finally looks to be the answer! With a social flare.
• coComment - this tool keeps track of conversations you have on other blogs, and lets you know via RSS if people respond to your comments. Then, it can spit out a widget to toss on your blog sidebar, to display your conversations elsewhere.
• Last.fm - Ok, a fun on. Perhaps the best music community I've found online, it tracks everything I listen to with iTunes, Pandora, Yahoo Music Engine, Windows Media Player, and its own player (that has tons of great, free music). Then it ties together all sorts of stats, which can be used on your blog sidebar (see my photo blog -- bottom left sidebar) or on Facebook. It's also a great way to explore new music, and connect with other people who share your tastes.

Other tools

• Snag-it - This one is indispensable. It's the best screenshot tool I've found. I wrote about Snippy earlier, and have since realized that this was totally worth the cost. Not only can it capture entire web pages with auto-scroll, but it makes the print screen button about 300 times more useful -- let's you annotate and markup screenshots on the fly, before saving them as files or copying to the clipboard for use in email, Powerpoint, etc.
• RoboForm - I use this a few times an hour. It saves all my passwords and personal information, and then automatically fills forms online. I don't have to remember passwords any more, and it fills in pretty much any form the Web can throw at you (even has user-defined fields). Most importantly, it's encrypted. But it's also super portable. I sync it to my USB thumbdrive at home, and sync it to my PC at work, so it all flows seamlessly. Plus, it syncs to my Treo, so I have my passwords on the fly when I am at an Internet kiosk or a friend's house.
• DesktopSidebar - While Google, Yahoo (Konfabulator), and a number of other players have rolled out desktop widgets, I still swear by this. For people who live in a Windows world, this by far and away has the best Office/Outlook support for power users (and those of us who follow GTD practices). It puts a heads-up display of all my tasks due the next few days, appointments, scratch pads (notes), multi-snip clipboard, and pretty much anything else you'd really want on your desktop for instant use.

While this list is by no means exhaustive, there are plenty more tools I am in the midst of using, that I could write about: FeedBurner, BlogRoveR & FeedDigest (hat tip to Marshall K for these), Picnik, Wufoo, CrazyEgg, Greasemonkey... so many!