Every month I try to choose 10 top websites/web apps I absolutely cannot live without on a daily basis. Whilst putting my list together this month, I notice that some of them have dropped off from years past. The reason why some drop off? Well, new applications are up and coming all the time and sometimes these new apps have cool bennies that are worth switching over, or the site itself is a technological coding nightmare and has not kept up with the times. Sometimes they can be fads and the fad has worn off.

What were the biggest changes this year? Seeing eBay drop off not only my top ten, but my top million. Why? Since Meg Whitman left, I swear the website and the crap on it have turned the site into some college dorm room closet. Messy, crappy and you just need to shut the door before anything crawls on to your foot. Maybe that is a little harsh, but darnit, I am very mad eBay looks so horrible!

What is on my wishlist for the future? More Business Apps. Yeah, I know you can use Facebook for business, but I want some stellar business apps to connect more business people to use my services and web applications. As much fun as I have playing Beirut with erstwhile college kids, I don’t really want that picture on my business profile. Except of course if I was playing Beirut with Mark Zuckerberg, the (so-called) founder of Facebook. Then that would be cool. But Mark does not strike me as a beer and Beirut guy – more like a gin and tonic or red wine kinda player listening to Andrea Bocelli. But, I digress…

One of my jobs for my company is to try out as many web applications and websites as possible to find out the best ones for my company, but also for my clients, which are usually two different lists altogether. I spend a lot of my time demoing, reading reviews, commenting on blogs, and finding the right ones for my clients to use and for my own company. And I have hundreds of logins/passwords on every app you can think of. I have just listed the ones I use daily on this post, otherwise I could probably do a Top 10 list in every category.

Here are my Top Ten Websites/Apps for July 2008 (in no special order):

1.) Twitter – Say no more, say no more! Twitter is like crack and there is nothing else like it on the market. I also hate email and find this a great way to broadcast things I normally would have had to on email BT (Before Twitter). For the same reasons a design purist would b-slap it for its aesthetics and a coder would for its abrupt downtime is the same reason we love it. It doesn’t have a million buttons and fields and things, it’s raw. It’s fun. And it’s addicting. Both for fun and business, for guidance, for commenting, for breaking news, for posting your latest blog post, for finding the coolest local hangouts when you are traveling, to just letting the peeps know, “What are you doing?”

2.) Flickr – Flickr is still the best photo sharing website out there. I love it. I also underuse and should be using it a lot more. But, now that I have my new Canon Rebel EOS XSI, I believe I will. The iPhone pics just were not cutting the beauty of my shots. Plus, you can join some great groups that have similar interests as you.

3.) Facebook – I added this because all my friends on Facebook told me to. See, that is how Facebook works! Peer pressure! I like Facebook, but I must be honest and say I don’t check it every day. If I was 18, I probably would be on it all day. The only thing we had when I was 18 was a beatup 1980 VW Rabbit, a fake ID and miles of Rhode Island beaches to drink Yukon Jack and throw up on. My, times have changed.

4.) LinkedIn – Because it is the only business web app out there, of course I have to include it every month. What I like about it is the the ability to have everyone’s info and (hopefully) they modify it when they go to another job, get promoted, updated news or someone provides them with a nice testimonial. What I don’t like about it is that everyone seems to be a “pro” and answers questions they really should not be. I just love the responses about programming a web application from some clueless SEO bozo, and even better, a guy from BNI trying to tell me how to sell, sell sell! Believe me, the fact you are in a BNI group is reason enough for me not to listen to you. Toad.

5.) Wikipedia - I don’t care what the educational perspective on Wikipedia is, it is the best single source for information that you would normally find in an encyclopedia, and it is editable and updatable! So, they make mistakes. And they correct them. It’s not like North Korea, folks, trying to change the course of history one book burning at a time. No one is lying on purpose to get more karma in heaven.  It’s a living, breathing encylopedia/dictionary that has the luxury of always being updated and fact-checked. This is a phenomenal accomplishment and Jimmy Wales should be praised, not high-browed. Now, if I can only convince someone to add me…

6.) Google – Google, is well, now it’s a verb. All the kids say,”I don’t know that word that Auntie Leslie always says, I’ll just Google it.” Chances are their parents will never let them get that far based on the word uttered from my mouth, but suffice it to say, Google is a noun and a verb, and has a large spot in the global vernacular as the place to go to find something, anything.  Do you hear that Yellow Pages drive-by person throwing your books in my hydrangeas? You are out of a job. Now come pick up these fire starters.

Caveat: Your searches on Google will also be used against in a court of law. So I highly recommend – even if you are not indulging in these famous pastimes -  that you should not, under any circumstances, search for the following on your computer on Google: How to Murder my wife, child porn, and David Hasselhoff.  My advice? Go to that neighbor’s house you really hate, then search for those terms on their computer. Zing.

7.) StumbleUpon – If Twitter is crack, StumbleUpon must be…meth? Sorry, I had no where else to go with that analogy. Let’s just say, it is an addicting force in the Universe.  I suggest all you web dev/design/SocMed types use it for all your clients and yourself, and use it vigorously to make all your websites and blogs visible on the Internet. If you are just in it to waste some time, then sign up, add it to your browser and StumbleUpon all the categories you chose. You will need methadone after 3 hours of mouse clicking. That’s a fact.

8.) BaseCamp – Until something more customizable comes along, BaseCamp is for me. We run all of our projects on BaseCamp and make every one of our clients log in to deposit their content. I am not a big email person and I am a strong believer in a central repository for everything that is web-based, so that I can access it from anywhere. It’s brilliant and it works! If I could equate this with anything else and why you should use it if you are a web developer, designer or for any other client-based projects: CYA.

9.) DropBox – I believe I have mentioned how much I hate email? Well, DropBox is an awesome app in which I can take documents in “drop” them in a box for the rest of people in my company to read and edit and they drop it back in so I can get it. It has saved so much time, and if I really need to save the doc, then when I am done, I archive it on the server. All done!

10.)  TinyURL – (Including SnURL, MooURL, etc. – I mention these because they save my buns every time when I need a short URL. Especially those three liners. I use these every day on Twitter and emails and they are lifesavers.

Honorable Mention:

Pownce – I love ya, but ya just don’t have that…je ne sais quoi…like Twitter – even though you are nicer in design, have more characters, can publish links and can add events. You are just not cracky enough. Yet.

Etsy – Just because I do not have time to do crafts, does not mean Etsy should be left off a list as this is an incredible site and a great concept. I just do not have time to make pin cushions in the shape of marsupials. Maybe next year.

Dopplr – Still playing witcha, and loving ya!

Digg – I still love Digg and use it daily, but I don’t like how it turned from technology to just any crap someone wants to throw at it to see if it sticks. Wish it was back to being just tech.

Yelp – Still the best for reviewing restaurants, pubs, stores, etc.

Del.icio.us – The best online bookmarking service – easy to use.

Craig’s List- I still love it, I just don’t use it as much anymore. I just find it laden with spam comments and ads and I miss the juicy days of old when it was more, I don’t know, local and endearing? I also need to stay off it for sentimental reasons. That is where I met @genevate 6 years ago so it seems so anti-climactic to go there anymore. No need to now that I have the Asian version of Daniel Craig as my lifetime cabana boy. But, it is still a great site for jobs, apartments, and even dating. And that’s a testimony for Craig’s List. Boo-Yah.

DesignFTP – How can I not put one of my own web apps on my own list? That’s like Donald Trump not combing over his hair. Or Superman not wearing his cape. Or kamikaze pilots returning from a flight. It’s just wrong. This is a great app and will save loads of time if you are a business that needs large files sent to you effortlessly from your clients and want to retain your own brand. And as Sy Sperling always says, “I’m not just the owner, I’m a client”.

So, what are YOUR favorite Top Ten websites/web apps you use on a DAILY basis?  Comment below as well as click the title links and add me to any of your Social Networks!