Posted by We probably don’t realize how much technology has changed our lives, can you imagine life without your computer, without your smart phone, or without internet?
I want to write about how much I myself depend on the technology by listing the software or application I use which improves my daily life quality. The software listed are all free, try them out if you never heard of it!
1. Online calendar
I cannot live without my online calendar, if someone asks me, “do you want to meet next week Tuesday 7 pm?” I would say “Just one second.” I use this second to check my calendar if I have a slot free. 🙂
Years ago I began to use Google calendar then I realized it changes my life so much! I never forget my appointment any more, I seldom get late any more(still working on it :p) Also nice is, with google calendar, I can create a Shared calendar with my boyfriend for our common activities, I just need to create the event once, then it appears on both our separate calendar.
Anyway, the best way to get to know it is to start using it, let me know if it changes your life as well!
2. Google maps
I am not a person with good sense of directions, but I love going out even in a strange city or country. With the help of Google maps, it can tell you exactly how to get to your destination, by foot, by car or by public transportation. It also tells you the time estimation to your destination including the traffic condition.
3. Waze
It is an application for smart phone, if I am driving, I always use Waze as GPS navigator. It tells me accurately which D tour I should take if for instance there is traffic in front, or road construction, it also reports when there is speed trap, even the temporary ones!
It is very good because it is interactive, it always shows the most updated information because other drivers or passengers are reporting the traffic to the server.
By the way, due to the innovative idea and the popularity, Waze was bought by Google on June 11, 2013
4. Online drive
Back up is sooo important, you never know when your devices break and I hope when it happens you say: “Phew! luckily all my data is online!”
I usually back up my photos on Google Drive, alternatively, you can use Dropbox, Baidu and so on.
5. Chat software
The first day I got in touch with internet, I registered an email account and a QQ account, was soo excited! Nowadays, there are so many chat software. I use Skype, Whatsapp, Facebook chatter, QQ, Wechat and Gtalk.
6. Social networking software
I think most people spend most of their internet time on the social network, most popular ones are Wechat in China, Facebook in the rest of the world, Instagram, twitter..
7. Easy appointment scheduler: Doodle
Ever have to schedule an activity with your friends when they all have different availability? Well Doodle will be your best friend here! Just a few clicks, then you have your meeting scheduler, a glance:
8. My online to do list: Trello
Did you ever get annoyed when you have sooo many things to do but don’t remember where to start? I used to write what I need to do on the post-it, but you know, not environment friendly, not easy to management and information is not centralized on internet.
Trello is your digital post-it! Check an example below, and you will get the idea!
9. My online notebook: Evernote
You never need to panic when you leave your notebook at school when you want to write some diaries. And you never need to carry tons of heavy notebooks around for different notes. Evernote digitally provides ability to create notes and you can categorize them into different notebooks.
I use Evernote to store different notes like my diaries, new things I learned in my profession, recepies, my working documents and so on.
10. My online language partner: Duolingo
If you are into languages like me, you can practice your language online or on your smart phone on Duolingo. Like a game, it is simple and motivating, you just need 10 minutes a day to keep yourself going!
11. My online knowledge base: coursera
I got to know this site from a colleague, it is never too late to learn, and the world is big, you don’t need to know everything, but it doesn’t hurt if you get to know more things out of your profession, right?
I am currently following the free course Finances for non finance professions.
12. Looking for some fun? Go to http://imgur.com/
If you are having a boring lazy night and looking for some fun, you will be able to kill hours on this site, sometimes my boyfriend just laughs crazily while watching it 😀
13. Looking for creative ideas? Download Pinterest
It is an awesome application, you can find creative ideas for almost everything, cooking, travelling, wedding planning…
There are so many more, I will come back!
Hey Lin, I just downloaded Coursera & Duolingo 😉
It’s interesting to check out our habitual stuff. For sure, social applications like Wechat, Microblog really take time. But just like you, I am also a smart phone highly dependent being. Map, calendar, Pinterest are musts. Some other frequent used apps like music player Xiami, Air quality reporter (extremely 🙁 important here), online shopping Taobao, Alipay, Dianping (search for great food, tickets, nice badminton court, etc… w/ coupon :D), Didi Taxi, and ONE (magazine in CN by Han Han).
Different from you, I didn’t take too much fragmented time to study, but just to relax on music, random readings or my favorable weekly talkshows e.g. GaoXiaosong.
Hey Qiao,
Thanks for reading my blogs 🙂
I also need to add the music apps in the list, really important. I use Kuwo music, and Shazam. Reading is also important, I spend a lot of time in Wechat reading other people’s blogs 🙂
And it is amazing how convenient it is in China with the apps, sometimes it is even more advanced than europe. I like the idea of Didi and Dianping. I hope my parents can master them too 😀
I will update the list with your suggestions, especially the music and reading part.
See ya!
Lin
Yes. Nowadays Internet products competition is extremely fierce here and it makes our lives very convenient . Can you imagine that I can live here without a single cent of cash in at least one week? Eating outside, purchasing groceries, buying vegetables one line, transportation… All are paid buy cellphone. Place order in the morning and then get the products in our mailbox of house when I’m back from work today or on the coming day. So I’m kind of enjoying the life style here. 😀