I love great tools. I REALLY love when those great tools are free. The list below details some of the free tools I use on a regular basis. You’ll notice that many are web-based, which make them accessible from anywhere.

• Do lots with Google Tools: Google has several free tools that I use on a daily basis. I use Google Documents to track my favorite training resources and a budget I share with someone else for managing a non-profit organization. I use Google Reader to read my blogs. I use Google Analytics to track traffic to my blog and other web sites. Google. Google. Google. I should probably be worried about the whole big brother thing and having one area track so much of what I do. But, their tools are so great and so free that I just don’t seem to care.
• Send Large Files: Trying to send a file and having e-mail limitations? I’ve used www.transferbigfiles.com and Adobe’s Share service to send large files to folks and really like each option. Both allow you to send files to recipients, include passwords, etc. (Share does a lot more than just send files – it allows you to permanently store and collaborate on documents). Each site lets you transfer up to 1 GB at a time.
• Blog with Wordpress: I use Wordpress for my blog. You can download it for free (or host an account on their free servers). There are lots of neat plugins, themes and more. If you want to become a blogger, you should check it out.
• Manage Wallpaper on Multiple Monitors with Display Fusion: Display Fusion allows you to span a single wallpaper across multiple monitors on Windows. Check out my previous review of it here.
• Protect Your Data with Freebyte Backup: There are a ton of options available for backing up your data. I found something for free that runs on Windows Vista (I buy the cheaper external hard drives that don’t come with backup software). My criteria were that it worked and that it copied files directly. I didn’t want anything that would store it in a proprietary format and require installing the program to retrieve my files later. Freebyte Backup is very simple and easy to use. You can choose directories to backup and a destination location. Best of all? It’s free.
• Collect Data at Survey Monkey: Need to ask 1 or more people a question? Give SurveyMonkey a try. It allows you to create surveys up to 10 questions and send them out to up to 100 people for free (surveys with more questions or responses require a subscription). The site is REALLY easy to use and the features are pretty flexible.
• Photos at Flickr: Share your photos on Flickr. The site allows other to favorite, provide comments and more.
• Professional Contacts at LinkedIn: The MySpace for professional contacts, LinkedIn allows you to stay in touch with other professionals. You can post your own resume-like information. In a world where 80% of jobs come through networks, this is a very important tool. Check out my profile on LinkedIn here.