Favorite Productivity Mac Apps of 2009

2009 is my first full year as a freelance web designer and developer. Being in charge of my own time and resources makes me realize how I took for granted the ease of collecting a paycheck and the beatings project managers can sometimes take from demanding clients. This past year was a great journey and I'm confident freelancing is a great fit for me right now. Here's a list of some of the apps I'm using to manage my workflow, including Quicksilver, DropBox, Tweetie, PingFM, Google (RSS) Reader and TextExpander.

These tools are just apps I use to keep on top of news and technology. I plan to post another article of tools I use to manage client correspondence, invoices and maybe even a few tips for tax-season.

Could Google Wave Become a BaseCamp Replacement?

Google Wave is still currently an invite-only application. I was fortunate to receive an invitation from Brandon Carson over at Agami Creative. All conversations are organized into "Waves." If you can't sit through the 120-minute explanation of Google Wave's capabilities, try the short, 10-minute version. Its what got my wheels turning to envision this as a replacement for BaseCamp. Don't get me wrong, BaseCamp is an incredible tool for collaborating on projects, but it still costs money and its not perfect.

Essential Firefox Add-Ons for Everyone

As a web-developer, I browse the web more than the average person. Between keeping up with trends, fixing my broken MacBook Pro, keeping in touch with friends, networking...its a perpetual juggling act. So here are a few tools that I began using recently to boost my productivity in Firefox (currently 3.0.11 on OS 10.4.11).