PortableApps Suite

In my previous post, I told you about portable applications you can use on Flash Drive. Taking it to the next level, the people of PortableApps.com has created a portable application suite called, oddly enough, PortableApps Suite. Taking several of their most useful software, they have created an easily accessible suite of programs which run from your flash drive. The suite comes in two versions, Standard and Lite. Below is a list of the programs available in each suite.

Standard
OpenOffice.org Portable – Word Processing, Spreadsheet, Presentation & more
Firefox Portable – Web Browser
7-Zip Portable – Zip File Extractor
ClamWin Portable – Virus Scanner
FileZilla Portable – FTP Client
Gaim Portable – Instant Messenger
Thunderbird Portable –Email
Sunbird Portable – Calendar


Lite
AbiWord Portable – Word Processing
Firefox Portable – Web Browser
7-Zip Portable – Zip File Extractor
ClamWin Portable – Virus Scanner
FileZilla Portable – FTP Client
Gaim Portable – Instant Messenger
Thunderbird Portable –Email
Sunbird Portable – Calendar

All versions of the PortableApps Suite include the integrated PortableApps Menu (pictured below) and the PortableApps Backup utility along with a set of custom icons, an autoplay configuration, folders and a quick start shortcut.


If you'd like to pick and choose exactly which apps to include, you can try Portable Apps Suite (Base Edition). This is a stripped down package with just the PortableApps Menu, PortableApps Backup utility and custom folders, icons and autorun. It's less than 1MB installed, so it's a great option for smaller drives.

AI RoboForm/RoboForm2Go

If you juggle multiple usernames and passwords trying remember which one goes with which site, you might be interested in AI RoboForm & RoboForm2Go. They are actually the same product except one runs from your desktop (AI RoboForm) and the other from a USB Flash Drive (RoboForm2Go). RoboForm is a username/password manager and it does this incredibly well. I’ve been using both versions for about 3 months now. Below is a list of RoboForm features:

• Memorizes your passwords and Logs You In automatically.


• Fills long registration and checkout forms with one click.


• Encrypts your passwords to achieve complete security.


• Generates random passwords that hackers cannot guess.


• Fights Phishing by filling passwords only on matching web sites.


• Defeats Keyloggers by not using keyboard to type passwords.


• Backs up your passwords, Copies them between computers.


• Synchronizes passwords between computers using GoodSync.


• Searches for keywords in your passwords, notes and Internet.


• Portable: RoboForm2Go runs from USB key, no install needed.


• PDA-friendly: sync your passwords to Pocket PC and Palm.


• Browser Neutral: works with Internet Explorer, AOL/MSN, and Firefox.

I’ve tried other password managers in the past and RoboForm is by far the best. After you install the desktop version or launch it from your Flash Drive, it appears as a toolbar in your browser. You have to setup a master password which gives you access to your other username/password and information. Whenever you come to a web site which has the RoboForm has the login information stored it will ask you if you want to log in. If you choose yes it prompts you for your master password. It only does this if you have not put in your master password. Once you do it remain active until it Auto-Logs off if there is no activity. The default is 120 minutes. You may want to decrease that to prevent someone from have access to your information. To prevent Keyloggers from getting your master password click the little hand on the right side to pull up a mini onscreen keyboard you can click with your mouse. If you come to a web site that you haven’t store log in information, RoboForm will ask you if you want to save it. Just give it a name and RoboForm will log you in next time you visit that site.

There is also a Pro version which doesn’t have the 10 account limit.

Firefox Extensions Part 2 - Forecastfox

This next Firefox extension is for those that want to keep their eye on the weather. Forecastfox is a helpful little tool which will not only tell you the current temperature and conditions but can also be set up to show you the weather up to 8 days in advance. This program resides in the status bar of Firefox and with its easily recognizable images of different weather conditions you know whether or not you’ll need an umbrella.



If you want a little more information, hover your mouse over the day in question. Doing so brings up a small help window which tells you more about the weather conditions.



Placing your mouse over the green icon will bring up the satellite radar so you can see large weather patterns as they move across the country.



Double clicking on Forecastfox will take you to Accuweather.com where you can find even more information on weather in your area or around the world. So don’t install those other weather programs which tend to slow down your computer. Forecastfox is all you’ll need.

Firefox Extensions Part 1 - Google Send To Phone

I said in a previous post that Mozilla Firefox is one of the (If not THE) best web browsers on the market. One of the reasons for this is it's "extendibility" by adding extensions. The next couple of posts I will highlight some of the better extensions for Firefox. The first is my favorite Google Send To Phone.

If you're like me, you hate having to type a text message on your phone using the phone pad. With the small keys and having to "scroll" through the letters to get the one you want it tends to take a long time to type a short message. Using Google Send To Phone, you can send a text message from your computer quick and easy. After you install it, the icon appears on your Firefox toolbar as a little phone.



To send a message, simply click the icon and type your message. (Sometimes, you may need to highlight a bit of text to activate it). Choose the service provider of the recipient and put in their phone number.



It even breaks it up into multiple messages if you write a little more than a normal text message can hold. So stop fumbling with that phone and get Google Send To Phone.

Portable Software

If you haven’t heard, Flash Drives are not just for saving files anymore. You can also carry your useful software with you wherever you go. Below are a few Portable Apps which run directly from your Flash Drive.

Portable Firefox
For those that don’t know, Mozilla Firefox is one of the best web browsers on the market. How can you improve it? Make it portable. Mozilla Firefox is a fast, full-featured web browser that's easy to use. It has lots of great features including popup-blocking, tabbed-browsing, integrated search, improved privacy features, automatic updating and more. Plus, thanks to the PortableApps.com launcher bundled in Mozilla Firefox - Portable Edition, it leaves no personal information behind on the machine you run it on, so you can take your favorite browser along with all your favorite bookmarks and extensions with you wherever you go.

7-Zip Portable
If you ever need to open a zip file on a PC without Winzip or WinRAR, now all you have to do is pull out your Flash Drive. 7-Zip Portable is the popular 7-Zip packaged as a portable app, so you can take your file archiver with you and work with your compressed 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, RAR files and more on the go. You can place it on your USB flash drive, iPod, portable hard drive or a CD and use it on any computer, without leaving any personal information behind.

Portable OpenOffice.org
OpenOffice is the free alternative to Microsoft Office suite. It does almost everything Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint can without the bloat and expense. Making it portable only makes it that much better. Portable OpenOffice.org is the complete OpenOffice.org office suite -- including a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tool, drawing package and database -- packaged as a portable app, so you can take all your documents and everything you need to work with them wherever you go.


There are many other portable applications available. Here are a list of a few of them found at PortableApps.com

GIMP Portable - Image program
ClamWin Portable - AntiVirus Program
FileZilla Portable - FTP Program
Miranda IM Portable - Instant Messenging Program
NVU Portable - Web Development Program
Sunbird Portable - Calendar/Todo
Thunderbird Portable - Email Program
Portable Gaim - Instant Messenging Program
VLC Media Player - Music/Video Player

Irfanview

One of the best graphic programs I have come across when it comes to viewing any image format is Irfanview. Not only can this program view over 60 different graphic and video formats but it can also play several audio formats such as MP3, MIDI and Wav. It can even view Photoshop’s PSD format. This tiny program has many features such as:

• Thumbnail/preview option


• Slideshow (save slideshow as EXE/SCR or burn it to CD)


• Show EXIF/IPTC/Comment text in Slideshow/Fullscreen etc.


• Support for Adobe Photoshop Filters


• Fast directory view (moving through directory)


• Batch conversion (with image processing)


• Multipage TIF editing


• Email option


• Multimedia player


• Print option


• Change color depth


• Scan (batch scan) support


• Cut/crop


• Effects (Sharpen, Blur, Adobe 8BF, Filter Factory, Filters Unlimited, etc.)


• Capturing


• Extract icons from EXE/DLL/ICLs


• Only one EXE-File, no DLLs, no Shareware messages like "I Agree" or "Evaluation expired"


• No registry changes without user action/permission!

So if you ever get a picture from a friend that’s in a format your current programs can’t open, give Irfanview a try. Not only will you be able to open it, you can resave it in a format that you can use.

SpamBayes

There are many "solutions" for dealing with spam but the one I'm going to talk about is free and works very well. If you use Outlook 2000/XP/2003 then you'll love SpamBayes. SpamBayes is a free plug-in for Outlook which reviews all incoming emails and moves known spam into the Junk Email folder and moves suspicious emails into the Junk Suspect folder. My experience has been that SpamBayes identified 90% of the junk on the first attempt. The great thing about this software is it learns from you on what it missed and what it got wrong. If an email that is not spam somehow makes into the Junk folder, just select it and click the Recover From Spam button. Now future email from that address are no longer shuffled into the Junk folder. On that same note, if some spam doesn't get filtered or has made it to the Junk Suspect folder, just click the Delete As Spam button and in the future you'll never see it again. After using this program for over 6 months the program has a 99% accuracy when it come to spotting spam. I've tried other programs and not one of them comes close this. Try SpamBayes.

Delete As Spam button


Recover From Spam button

Blogger for Word

Welcome to the first of many entries on free or shareware software you will find useful in your everyday computing. What better way to start than with a program that makes blogging easier. The program I'm talking about is Blogger for Word which allows you to write up your blog entries in Microsoft Word and upload it to Blogger.com while in Word. I actually used it to create this entry. Using it is as simple as using Word. After you install Blogger for Word, you'll see the Blogger for Word toolbar.



Type up your blog entry, even using Word formatting tools like Bold and Italics. When you're done, you can publish it to Blogger.com by simply clicking the Publish button. You are greeted with a dialog box where you log into your Blogger.com.




After you log in, you are then presented with options to name the title of your post and which Blog to post it to, if you have multiple blogs.

That's it. Your entry now appears on your Blog.


Blogger for Word is a great program if you use Blogger.com and Microsoft Word.