…right now. This is a seriously temporary list!
1. Gmail – never have I stuck with an email system or even address for so long. Quick, easy to use, almost perfect.
2. Newsgator – you could possibly substitute this with Bloglines, as I seem to switch between the two, but this is my current favourite, largely due to the clarity of the layout. Must have a look into the FeedDemon synching.
3. Writely – simply a brilliant idea, brilliantly executed.
4. ProtoPage – has fully taken over from the Google Portal for me. Am looking forward to any additions to the service next year – how about integrating with other services, like
5. HipCal – the online calendar that has actually got me using an online calendar – and that’s while it still only displays dates in US format!
6. WordPress – easily, to my mind, the best blogging platform there is. With version 2, it’s even more accessible.
7. Flickr – since upgrading to a Pro account I have started to realise the true benefits of this service. And all the talk about sharing is fine and dandy – but nobody gets more out of seeing their photos online than the photographers themselves. Makes me want to carry my camara around all the time.
8. phpBB – even though I have had to move Palimpsest onto VBulletin because of the workload, this remains the easiest to install, administer and use free internet forum. It’s amazing, really, that this doesn’t cost anything.
9.Wikipedia – lots of people sneer about it, but here’s my view: if you use Wikipedia as your only source for a piece of academic, or indeed any, work, you are a nitwit. I wouldn’t use Brittanica, say, as my only source for something, so why use something as obvious open to error as Wikipedia? But, as a quick guide to something, a way of genning up on something you knew little about, or as a way of whiling away a bored hour, there’s nothing better.
10. Palimpsest – well, I have to mention it. A haven from internet witlessness. Read this if you don’t believe me, if you have a spare couple of hours. Be there and be square.
gmail as number 1? Don’t use google email services: their privacy policies are inadequate http://www.google-watch.org/gmail.html , they lock people out (always seems to reject my .coop email if it goes to a list @googlegroups, for example, and there are javascript/cookie funnies too) and the quoting and deleting interfaces suck (reportedly) which is encouraging bad behaviour with a size of effect not seen since the release of Outlook. Finally, to cap it all, google were a 2005 World Economic Forum sponsor and their “google.org” hand-outs are a marketing project.
It’s not like better webmails are hard to find. ippimail.com and many ISPs seem decent enough.
Well…
The list was unordered so I didn’t mean to make it appear that Gmail was #1 in that sense.
I’ve heard of all the privacy stuff (heck – I even link to it on my email page), and those other things you mention are interesting. But…I just like it. I went through a process where every year I changed email addresses, and sometimes within those years I changed mail clients, but I have stuck with the gmail for getting on for two years now, and feel no desire to change from a user’s point of view. That must count for something, though I don’t deny it could be getting old and settled in my ways!
The quoting thing is, though, a pain in the arse. Fortunately a lot of the people I email regularly simply don’t care about it; for those that do I take the time to quote properly.
FeedDeom2.0 Beta is great on its own or with Newsgator Online