A monthly podcast about a few good tools you should know! If you're like me, you're always on the hunt for the one little thing that will help you get through your to-do list a little faster, or make your work a little bit better. That's what this podcast is all about!

This month, Marshall Kirkpatrick, Director of Content at Splashcast Media tells us about:

• Del.icio.us TagRolls
• FeedDigest (see also FeedRinse)
• BlogRovr
• Google Co-Op Custom Search featuring Marshall's Magic Search
• NetNewsWire and FeedDemon desktop RSS readers
• Beth Kanter's blog and screencast
• Splashcast Facebook application
• Rep. George Miller's AskGeorge Facebook application and the RocketBoom app
• Marshall's personal blog
  

Cool Tools Ep. 1

Once a month or so, I'm lucky enough to catch a few minutes with my favorite technology prognosticator, Marshall Kirkpatrick, Director of Content at Splashcast Media. During each visit, Marshall shares with us the tools and tips that no one can live without. This month, Marshall offered up 6 tools that any nonprofit can use today.

Check out this video podcast to learn more about:

• Adium (for Mac) and Trillian (for Windows): Muti-client IM software.
• Twitterific: a desktop application for Twitter
• URLTea: a very useful URL shortener
• Ustream.tv: Live streaming video
• memeorandum: a political discussion agregator

Marshall Kirkpatrick, SplashCast

New services and applications are coming online all the time and some of them can prove immediately useful for nonprofits. Here are ten of my current favorite tools for research, collaboration, and productivity.

1. News Alerts Via IM and SMS
Some things are best responded to in real time. For watching your high priority concerns, I recommend using a service that checks RSS feeds frequently and alerts you by instant message or text message whenever there is a new item of interest. Most feeds are better watched by feed readers or a start page but nothing beats real time notifications about urgent matters. This is how I break a lot of stories in my sector.

Rasasa.com is the smartest tool available, but if you're a Verizon customer in the United States you'll need to use something else. In that case, check out Zaptxt.com.