Because I've had a number of instances where I've pointed out some tech thing to friends lately and it's helped them out, I figured I'd post a number of blogs on some of the "lesser known things" that I use on the tech front. Now, nobody could argue that Firefox is lesser known, but it is essential for a number of the other lesser knowns that I'll be talking about later.

So, why Firefox? As I mentioned when the Mac Air came out, I'm one of those people who is diving in headfirst into the whole Web 2.0 (and maybe even Computing 2.0 or 3.0) approach. One example of this is that, the vast majority of my information, is now kept in the cloud, that is, on a remote server that I can access from any web terminal in the world (I'll post on where in the cloud later).

Because the key to my information is no longer my hard drive, but my Internet browser, having a browser that not only performs well but also has the ability to be tweeked for my personal preferences is of utmost importance.

While Firefox is a memory drain and doesn't run as quickly as Safari (although the soon to be released 3.0 edition is supposed to be a huge jump in these categories), the ease at which it can be modified through extensive plug-ins and scripts (I'll share some of these later) makes it my browser of choice.

I'll admit it, I love having a long list of things to do and getting to check them off one by one as tasks are completed. Be it making a phone call or finishing a presentation, there's just something rewarding in that little word, "Complete."

Lately I've run across a few tools that have been wonderful on this front. For a while now I've been a fan of Remember the Milk (RTM), a wonderful little online task list that allows me to file tasks based on my various projects (including a task list that I share with Anita). But RTM recently moved to a whole new level in my book when they developed a Firefox extension that brings RTM to the gmail interface. Not only does it mean that I have to keep one less tab open on my browser, but the gmail interface is more user friendly than the main RTM site and it shows up in with both gmail and google aps (assuming you have your aps domain set to receive the latest gmail site updates).

The other awesome little deal that I found is Jott, a free service that I can call on my cell, tell who I want to contact, and then leave a voice message that is transcribed by a computer and sent via email. Now, this isn't all that exciting because you could just call a the person (although the group feature will come in handy when trying to get the same message to a large group quickly), but the killer feature with Jott is that I can add messages to my RTM or my Google calendar from my phone with just a few voice commands. So, for example, when I was listening to the Geeks and God podcast in the car and they announced the dates for the Web 2.0 conference this summer, I paused the iPod, used my bluetooth and cell phone to call Jott, and added the conference to my calendar. The voice recognition isn't perfect, but if you have a tough word, Jott allows you to spell it out.

Okay, time to get back to checking stuff off!