Tools the alpha geeks use

April 17, 2008

Tools the alpha geeks use

We’re winding up our Innovation Israel tour of Israel’s tech community today, and I’m in awe of some of the Silicon Valley alpha geeks I’ve been traveling with this week. (Here’s our group blog: Travelinggeeks.com.) Especially loved spending quality time with Robert Scoble, Susan Mernit, Cathy Brooks, Sarah Lacy and Deb Schultz.

So I thought you might want to take a peek at some of the software applications and Web 2.0 tools (on the Web and on the desktop) that these folks use on an almost daily basis. Sorry, no hardware comparison; Scoble would win hands down.

Robert Scoble

Scobleizer

Firefox (web browser)
FriendFeed (social media sharing)
Google Reader (RSS news reader)
Techmeme (a tech news dynamic link aggregator)
Twitter (social network)
GoogleTalk (live chat on Windows)
Gmail (email)
WordPress (blog software)
Flickr (photo sharing)
Skype (communication)
Facebook
Qik (live video streaming and hosting)
iTunes (music)
TweetScan (Twitter add-on)

There’s more, but those are the main ones.

Craig Newmark

Craig from craigslist’s blog

Firefox
SSH (secure shell)
Pine (email client)
TypePad
Twitter ("curse you, Robert Scoble!")
MovableType (blog software of Huffington Post and MyBarackObama.com)
SmugMug (photo sharing)
YouTube
Bloglines (RSS reader)
Skype
iTunes

Susan Mernit

Susan Mernit’s blog

FriendFeed
Twitter
Techmeme
Bloglines
Facebook
Flickr
del.icio.us
Gmail
MovableType
Pandora (music player and collaborative filtering)

Cathy Brooks

Otherthanthat

MovableType
TypePad
Firefox
Seesmic (record and share short video clips)
Facebook
FriendFeed
Socialthing (digital life/social news feed)
Gmail
Twhirl (a Twitter client)
Adium
Flickr
Skype
Flock
AppleMail
YouTube
GoogleTalk

Deborah Schultz

Deborah Schultz’s blog

Firefox
Twitter
NetNewsWire (RSS news reader)
Seesmic
Adium
Skype
TypePad
Twhirl
Skitsh (save items to your desktop)
Techmeme
Flickr
Facebook
FriendFeed
Viddler & Vimeo (video sharing)
Foxytunes (music)
del.icio.us
Magnolia (social bookmarking)

Dopplr (social network for travelers)

Sarah Lacy

SarahLacy.com

Firefox
Facebook
TypePad
FriendFeed
Zimbra (web email)

Renee Blodgett

downtheavenue.com

Firefox
NetVibes (RSS news reader)
Facebook
TypePad (blog platform)
Skype
Outlook (email)
ClearContext (an Outlook add-in that manages information)
Yahoo Messenger (instant messaging)
YouTube

JD Lasica

socialmedia.biz

Firefox
Twitter
Google Reader
Facebook
TypePad (blog platform), but switching to WordPress
Gmail
Google Talk
Flickr
del.icio.us
Skype
Ourmedia (video sharing and media publishing)
Veoh
SpinXpress (private file sharing)
ImageWell (image capture and resizing/cropping tool)
iTunes
Activewords (PC-only productivity tool)
Snapz Pro (Mac-only screen and video capture)
Flock
Dopplr
LastFM
iChat

Will now start:

FriendFeed
Foxytunes
Seesmic
Magnolia

Pretty cool list. Want to add your own favorite software applications? List them in the comments.

JD Lasica is founder of Socialmedia.biz. We work with large companies and nonprofits on social media strategies and campaigns. See JD’s business profile, contact him or leave a comment.

Categories: Israel, Web/Tech

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174116 CommentsTools+the+alpha+geeks+use2008-04-17+21%3A16%3A19JD+Lasica »

Go Firefox! (and twitter and facebook, too.)

Comment by Asa Dotzler — April 17, 2008 @ 5:28 pm

Quicksilver (Mac) to give rapid access to all your apps.

Comment by Peter — April 17, 2008 @ 5:29 pm

Great list! Thanks for sharing.

Personally:

Firefox
Friend Feed
Flickr
Zooomr
Google Reader
Pownce
Techmeme
Hype Machine
30 Boxes
Upcoming
Blogger

Comment by Thomas Hawk — April 17, 2008 @ 5:43 pm

Curiously for ‘alpha geeks’, most (if not all) combinations specified above imply they are are running MS XP or Vista ….

Is this correct ?

Comment by martin english — April 17, 2008 @ 5:48 pm

That’s interesting, I don’t see anyone who actually writes significant amounts of code for a living on there. Odd definition of “alpha geek” you have.

Like, a web app for posting crappy mobile phone videos is on there, but git, Erlang, and TextMate are nowhere to be found. Are you really that out of touch?

Comment by someone — April 17, 2008 @ 6:25 pm

Great post! Interesting to see the habits of all those people. My dailies:

Twitter, Dodgeball, Flickr, Ma.gnolia, LastFM, Dopplr, Meebo, Pownce, Facebook, Pandora

Then there’s the Twhirl client for Twitter, the Hahlo iPhone site for Twitter, as well as mobile versions of Meebo, Pownce, and Facebook.

FriendFeed and Socialthing are not a daily thing for me because I would get way too sucked in, and I already spend too much time at twitter.com.

Comment by Hillary Hartley — April 17, 2008 @ 6:43 pm

Don’t forget GIMP and Thunderbird!

Comment by Glenn — April 17, 2008 @ 7:27 pm

Where are the development tools?

Comment by Matt Lynch — April 17, 2008 @ 9:47 pm

Firefox (web browser)
Diigo (link sharing)
Google Reader (RSS news reader)
WordPress (blog software)
Google BlogSearch (Blog search)
Google Calendar
Google Sync (Blackberry)
Google Maps
Gmail (google email, Docs, Calendar)
Twhirl (micro blogging)
Pidgin (chat)
Skype (communication)
TweetScan (Twit search)
Ubuntu 8.04 (fast virus free OS)

Comment by Colin Henderson — April 17, 2008 @ 11:02 pm

10.

And so what have we learnt from this post? That all the usual suspects use all the usual tools. Is there anything new and remotely illuminating in this post?

Comment by Nick — April 18, 2008 @ 2:32 am

11.

Nick, you can take your elitist attitude and stick it. Or, skip on to something you find more illuminating.

The majority of readers, I’d estimate, are unfamiliar with at least a dozen of the tools and applications mentioned here. What’s equally relevant: If you’re not using some of these tools but have heard of them, this will give you an incentive to take another look.

Comment by JD — April 18, 2008 @ 5:17 am

12.

Great list and even though there are a lot of products out there in the Social space it is nice to see that everything is not nearly as fragmented as it could be.

Having market leaders like Delicious, Twitter, Firefox and Flickr means that as new products emerge they will build on whatever is there and hopefully have a common UI within their market.

I know with something really new like Twitter it took me a long time to get it and to use it the way that works best.

Comment by Internet Business Blogger — April 18, 2008 @ 11:31 am

13.

I don’t think you need to be a developer to be an alpha geek. If Scoble isn’t one, I don’t know who is.

As for Martin’s question: No, actually. Of the 10 bloggers on the trip, 7 of us were using Macs. (I’m cross-platform but plan to go all-Mac soon.)

Comment by JD — April 18, 2008 @ 3:42 pm

14.

Yuwie
Firefox
Facebook
Blogger (blog platform)
Yuwie Blog
Wordpress
Gmail (email)
Techmeme
Twitter
YouTube
Itunes
Google Reader

Comment by Noel Schlachter — April 20, 2008 @ 9:37 am

15.

I’m very surprised that none of these “alpha geeks” use Opera as their browser. Very surprised. If you’re a power user and you are not using Opera, you are missing out on one of the best pieces of software ever coded.

http://www.opera.com/

Comment by TXNerd — April 21, 2008 @ 5:30 pm