I am sure many of you are very aware of the shift in how we are using our computers and our time these days.  Social media is all the rage and people are connecting to more people via the internet than ever before.  I am pretty sure my dad is more active on Facebook than I am.  A sobering thought.

Another new trend is cloud computing.  No longer do you have to start up a word processor to create documents or open your daily newspaper to get news.  Most of the things you do on your computer can be moved to web applications that act in a similar manner.

What I want to give you today is a list of some of the applications I use to stay connected on the web and make it a productive and easier place to be.

• Dropbox:  This is one of my newest discoveries.  Dropbox offers a great way to backup files to the internet and to keep your important files at your fingertips where ever you roam.  It is a simple but elegant idea.  You install the Dropbox software on your computer and it creates a folder called “My Dropbox”.  Anything you put in that folder will immediately be synced up to their servers effectively backing it up for safe keeping.  The file still resides on your computer as well.  If you were to install Dropbox on another computer and link it to your account it would keep all your files synced between the two computers and the web.  Anytime you change a file on one computer it automatically update the one on the web and the other computer as well.  If you don’t have access to one of these computers you can always log into their site and get the file you need.  This means that you always have access to the most recent version of the file where ever you are and they are safely backed up as well.  I am using this thing quite a bit.
• Google Wave:  The newest addition to all of the great Google products, Wave promises to be very useful once more people are on it.  It is a great way to communicate and collaborate with several people at the same time in real time.  If it gets a strong enough user base it will definitely take off.  I wrote an extensive post on it here if you want to read more.
• Google Docs:  Don’t have Word and want to create a document?  Look no further.  Google Docs allows you to create, edit, and store all kinds of documents all on the web.  There is no application to install.  As long as you have Google account (which is free) you can access this.  Docs also supports spreadsheet files, presentations, and forms.  And all you files are available to you where ever you have an internet connection.
• Gmail:  I know I have mentioned this one before.  Gmail is, in my opinion, the best email service out there.  Period.  And it is on the web so you have access to it anywhere.
• Google Reader:  Another reason to have a Google account.  Do you ever find yourself browsing multiple blogs or news websites?  I used to go to each one and it takes time to keep up with them all.  I ended up with so many that I wanted to keep track of that it got discouraging.  This is where Reader comes in.  Think of it as an Inbox for all the news stories and blog posts from all the websites you read.  Each time one of these sites if updated that story will come to your Reader.  Then you can go to your Reader and browse through all the the stuff  in that Inbox, deciding what you want to read or don’t, and all in one place.  No more jumping around from site to site.  A great tool for people who, like me, are information junkies.
• Photoshop.com:  The advent of digital cameras and huge amounts of storage means lots of pictures these days.  Have you ever wanted to do a quick edit to some of you pictures but haven’t wanted to fork over the cash for one of the fancy editing programs?  Photoshop.com is your answer.  It offers up some of most common editing options all online.  And it is free!
• WordPress:  I can’t say enough about this one.  Wordpress is the software that makes my blog possible.  It is easy to use and under heavy development which means that they are constantly improving it.  If you are looking to create a blog, this is what you want to use.  Head over to WordPress.com for a free blog or WordPress.org to get the software to host your own.
• Google Chrome:  I realize that this isn’t a web application but it is just as important.  The browser you are using to access these web apps matters.  Google Chrome just happens to be the fastest browser out there.  It is also very well designed so as to maximize your browsing space.  It is currently only available for PCs but it should be out for Mac before the end of the year.

So there you have it.   What are some of your favorite web applications?

Brian