Essential Online Software

What follows is a roundup of what i consider to be the 3 most important apps/utilities that i am currently using that i just thought i would share with you.

Version Control – Dropbox

[www.getdropbox.com]

I love subversion, i love version control, it is an essential part of my working life, but setting it up can be a real headache, especially for us mac users who expect everything to be cocoa wrapped in brush metal with installation so easy you don’t even have to click.
Alas where servers are concerned life is never so shiny, so many are put off. That coupled with the requirements of having your repository on a web server mean that many who would greatly benefit form version control are missing out.

Enter DropBox.
What is it, ..simply put, managed version control.
Managed i hear you cry, yes currently we are limited to 2gb each, ..but GMail started with 1gb, remember, ..i don’t see this staying this way forever.
It is FREE, ..yes you heard me FREE, ..and i would happily pay for it. Although i would imagine premium membership with larger storage will be available soon, but to be honest they would need to be offering in excess of 80GB for me to move my entire work archive into it, so for now i use it for active projects, which is fine for everything except large audio/video/3d projects, which have always had their own HD’s anyway.

So how does it work, ..simple, install the app to any of your machines (it integrates seamlessly into your Finder, and you get a folder that is automatically subversioned across you machines (prerequisite being you go on that internet thing every so often).

You can also create folders to share with other dropbox users, and even give url access to none dropboxers, ..although personally i would just send them an invite and not talk to them until they accept it.

I am currently using it for the one piece of functionality i yearned for, the ability to keep my todo list in textEdit, but have one list accessible on all machine, ..oh yes, ..and did i not mention the iPhone too, ..yes, all files are accessible through a web interface :)

I also collect, share and build up a collection of Worpdress utilities between my other nerd friends saving searching and waiting for email responses when needing to know ‘what that think was you used’ !

I am done trying to persuade you.

GETDROPBOX!

Accounting – KashFlow

[www.kashflow.com]

I have actually been using this for a while now, but as i have just finished a mammoth 2 day accounting session i think it is time to sing the praises of this little gem that again i could not live without.
If you are freelance, run a small business, or even a large business for that matter, but are not blessed with a massive accounts department, and do not want to spend a fortune on outside services, then this is for you.

It is not free, around £150/year, but anyone who pays tax and accountancy fees will not balk at such a yearly fee, for me it is worth it in the time it saves alone.

I tried A LOT of packages before settling on this one, an i hate the colour of the interface, ..but this is accounting, not a design award, ..plus the functionality means that i have long stopped caring about baby blue and baby pink.

This comes with a free 60 day trial so give it a whirl.

It automates all of your invoicing, imports form paypal directly, and produces all of the common required reports and a whole lot more.

I am done talking about accounting now for a year, but trust me, this one is worth a look.

iPhone File Control – AirShare

It seems the biggest problem with the iPhone has finally been solved (file management).
It also seems that everyone else knew about this long before me ..

“In a mere two weeks, the file storage program AirSharing has been downloaded over 1 million times according to the company’s president and CEO, Dave Howell.”

However, this is a godsend, allowing you to manually stick whatever the hell you want onto your iPhone/iPod wirelessly, and then access the content from your phone.

Get yourself to the AppStore and get it !!

Now come on Apple, all we need now is copy and paste !, or am i missing out on that too?