On the move a lot?

If you are like me, then your life is busy.  It seems everyday is crazy and there’s always someplace to be!  Home, work, church, family, friends – there’s always something going on somewhere.  Sometimes that makes it difficult to get things done.

You need the tools to do what you need to do!

Have you ever found yourself in a place where you did not have with you the tools to get done what you needed to get done?  If you’re on the go a lot then this has probably happened.  Well, it happens to the best of us!

Well, this same thing happens in the “computer world.”

If you are away from home, sometimes you end up in a place without the programs to accomplish what you need to.  I know for me there are specific things I do most often on the computer and I think it may be similar for a lot of people.  Here’s a list of my most common tasks:

• Photo editing
• Web browsing
• Typing (commonly known as “word processing”)
• Chatting (more specifically instant messaging)
• Some web design

Sure, I do more than just these, but these are the tasks I do the most.  These tasks require specific programs that aren’t necessarily found on every computer I come into contact with.  That can be quite the handicap!

Enter portable applications!

With portable applications, this problem is solved (or at least minimized)!  Did you know that there are programs out there designed specifically to be run from a portable hard drive?  They’re known as “portable applications” or “portable apps.”  That means that you can carry a program you need to use right on your thumb drive to be used on almost any Windows machine you come in contact with!  In a previous post I wrote about a classic example of such a program: Portable Firefox.

The PortableApps.com Suite organizes your needed portable apps into one handy portable program menu!

Since discovering the PortableApps.com Suite, my digital life has become extraordinarily easier!  The PortableApps.com Suite includes programs for almost all of my computing needs and more are being added as time goes by!  The makers have been taking open source software and engineering them to be portable!  Now I have programs in my pocket for almost anything I do so I don’t have to worry about being on a PC without the ability to do what I need to!

Best of all, PortableApps.com Suite is easy to use!

The PortableApps.com Suite is accessible by an icon in the Windows taskbar:

Then up pops the menu:

Click the program you want to use and open it does!  As you can see, there is a program for almost anything, even including a game or two!  Some of the programs I use constantly are:

• Portable Firefox, of course!  Carry all of your bookmarks and extensions with your very own copy of Firefox (now you never have to use IE again!)
• FileZilla Portable is a very handy FTP program so I can upload files for my website projects from any PC connected to the internet!
• Lightscreen Portable is a small, easy program for capturing screen shots when I want to put together a quick tutorial!
• CoolPlayer+Portable is a small and easy to use music player.  It even remember the song you left off on!
• OpenOffice Suite always comes in handy for typing, number crunching, and putting together presentations!
• IrfanView is a small photo editor I am beginning to use when I’ve got to do some quick tweaks on the fly!
• GIMP Portable is the all-so-famous graphics design program meant as an open source replacement for Adobe Photoshop!

There are more programs, too.  Explore a bit and see which ones you find yourself needing.  As you can see, most of my PC tasks are covered by the PortableApps.com Suite!  Check it out to see if it’ll meet your needs too!

Note: When using a thumb drive on public computers, there’s always the possibility of a virus being transmitted to the thumb drive.  Use precautions when using unknown or untrusted PCs.  Keep your home computer AND your thumb drive scanned with up-to-date virus software (the PortableApps.com Suite comes with Clamwin antvirus software) and PLEASE check out the Safe Portable App-ing page for more tips!

Aren’t Firefox Fridays like the best day of the week?

This week I want to talk to you about a program I’ve been using for some time and I love: Firefox Portable!

Firefox Portable is a version of Firefox that will travel with you on a USB thumb drive (or a travel drive) so that any computer you use you’ll have all of your bookmarks and plugins with you AND so you don’t have to leave behind a browser history.

Portable Firefox comes bundled with a handful of other portable applications (AKA apps) and the bundle comes handily with a menu making it easy to find the program you want to use.  I’ll post more later about the Portable Apps Suite but all you have to know now is that it’s free and easy to use!

Why should you use a portable version of Firefox?  I have several reasons:

1. Your browser history goes with you. If you ever use a public computer, you want to be very careful about the history you leave behind.  Anyone else can hop on there after you and see where you’ve been and possibly compromise your accounts (email, facebook, bank, etc.).  With Portable Firefox, everything stays on the thumb drive!
2. Your bookmarks and extensions go with you. One of my main reasons for moving over to Portable Firefox is because of the Zotero Firefox extension which holds many of my links and notes about them (I’ll post more on this sometime).
3. Not all public computers have Firefox installed on them, who knows why – If you want to use Firefox wherever you go, either carry a laptop or just a thumb drive, you choose.  If you can’t whip out a laptop where you are going, Portable Firefox may just be your choice!
4. It’s, like, the coolest thing ever! Who knew that even you can be an uber-geek and show all your friends how tech-savy you are?

Installation is pretty easy!  Head over to PortableApps.com and check it out!

Buy Firefox and Mozilla T-shirts