Most Useful Sites/Services/Persons of 2008
These are services, products or individuals that over the year have influenced my life. Made life easier, more efficient, or overall I have benefited from. There is no number one, this is not a ranking, just services that deserve recognition for doing a great job.
OtherInbox: Has changed my inbox for the better. It's cleaner, skinnier and more confident. I am able to make up emails on the spot and have sales people look at me as if I'm crazy or a spy from corporate. Just a great service that keeps getting better. I can't wait to see how they improve upon an already great service.
You can follow them on Twitter: @otherinbox
(They have shut down for updates until 2009. Send them a message and they will put you on the invite list)
Twitter: I heard of Twitter over a year ago. Checked it out, and ignored it for more than 7 months. While doing research for new services to promote myself and the new start up that I'm involved in, I got hooked. I love reading random thoughts, links to interesting articles, and being part of an exciting community of mini-blogging mavericks.
Tim Ferris: A force of efficiency. Everything that he does has a purpose. He analyzes a certain task and takes the necessary steps to perfect it. Check him out, you will pick up couple of tricks that will save you time and energy.
You can find his book here: The 4-Hour Workweek
TechCrunch: Have followed this blog for a few months. It's always well written, and has something new or interesting to say everyday. I have found number of services that I have started using by reading TechCrunch. If you are interested in start ups and technology, this is the blog for you.
TypePad: This is my blogging platform. Love the layout, posting is very easy from the web or from the iPhone. I am still learning to use all the different widgets, I think I'm getting better. (I hope)
LaLa: Music on a cloud. Lala goes through your music library, anything that matches their online library is automatically added. Songs that they do not have on the cloud are uploaded and put into the cloud. You can get your music from any computer, just log in and it's all there. Great. Love it. Best part is saying their name.
Posterous: This is the in between a blog and twitter service. You can post by sending an email to post at posterous dot com. Send a picture with text to describe it in the subject and it can be posted on your blog and a link sent to your twitter account. Very simple and easy to use.
Hulu: Streaming videos of popular TV shows. They keep adding shows and movies. Love the interface. They are backed by major studios/networks. And only few commercials per show.
SlamOnline: I'm a basketball junkie. I started to follow the "Links" on SlamOnline years ago when the whole operation was Lang Whitaker. SlamOnline has number of witters all over the world. They have really grown up. I enjoy the online editorials and posts more than the magazine. For anything basketball this is one of the sites that must be bookmarked.
Elance: Find anyone for anything, anywhere in the world.
Guy Kawasaki: An online and technology guru. I've learned to use twitter more efficiently, I read many interesting articles and have marveled at his sheer presence on the net.
You will know what I mean when you follow him on twitter: @guykawasaki
Sites/Services That I am anticipating for 2009
FitBit: "Automatically tracks your fitness and sleep." (www.fitbit.com)
Fotonauts: "fotonauts’ mission is to enable the creation of the definitive pool of
images for everyone to contribute to, discover, use and enjoy, covering
all areas of human interest." (www.fotonauts.com)
I wish everyone the best for the new year. Let's keep growing and improving each and every day.
JK
