Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Portable Apps to the rescue



Portable Apps (http://portableapps.com/) is a wonderful resource for people who use a usb key for their own documents and want apps not available everywhere.

For instance, want to use the library computer to do some homework, but there is no decent office software available? You can get OpenOffice, or Abiword from PortableApps.com to do it for you, and carry it with you.

Here is the list of portable software as of Tuesday, May 31 2011: (From http://portableapps.com/apps)

Accessibility

Firefox Accessibility Extension - Make Firefox more accessible
On-Screen Keyboard Portable - Easily access an on-screen keyboard
Virtual Magnifying Glass Portable - A full-featured screen magnifier

Development

AkelPad Portable - lightweight plaintext editor
Database Browser Portable (Freeware) - Database management utility
Frhed Portable - free hex editor
Geany Portable - Text editor and basic IDE
gVim Portable - advanced, feature-rich text editor
HM NIS Edit Portable - NSIS development environment
Notepad++ Portable - A full-featured text editor with syntax highlighting
Notepad2 Portable - Simple, lightweight text editor
Notepad2-mod Portable - Lightweight text editor
NSIS Portable - Windows installer and launcher creation
Nvu Portable & KompoZer Portable - The easy-to-use Nvu web editor
PortableApps.com Installer - the easy way to package portable apps
PortableApps.com Launcher - make apps portable without writing code
SQLite Database Browser Portable - Simple SQLite database management tool
SWI-Prolog Portable - Prolog programming environment
XAMPP - Apache, mySQL, PHP, phpMyAdmin, etc in one package

Education

BPBible Portable - bible study tool
Celestia Portable - portable space simulator
FreeMat Portable - scientific prototyping and technical computing
GoldenDict Portable - dictionary and encyclopedia lookups
Gramps Portable - genealogical research software
Marble Portable - virtual globe and atlas
Mnemosyne Portable - flashcard memorization tool
Stellarium Portable - portable planetarium
TIPP10 Portable - touch typing tutor
TypeFaster Portable - touch typing tutor

Games

Armagetron Advanced Portable - 3d lightcycle game
AssaultCube Portable - fast-paced, online, first-person shooter
Atomic Tanks Portable - overly-powerful tanks blow each other up
Battle for Wesnoth Portable - turn-based fantasy strategy game
Big Solitaires 3D Portable - collection of 40 solitaire games
Brutal Chess Portable - 3d chess
Canabalt Portable (Freeware) - outrun the demolition of your city with just one button
Chromium B.S.U. Portable - fast-paced, vertical scrolling space shooter
Cube Portable - old-school first person shooter
DOSBox Portable - classic DOS games to go
Freeciv Portable - empire-building strategy game
Frets on Fire Portable - rock out anywhere with this Guitar Hero™-style game
Get Sudoku Portable - interactive sudoku solver
Hedgewars Portable - turn-based strategy, artillery and comedy game
Hex-a-Hop Portable - hexagonal puzzle game
IceBreaker Portable - wall-building-style arcade game
Jooleem Portable - simple and addictive puzzle game with great music and visuals
Kobo Deluxe Portable - 3rd person scrolling 2D space shooter
LBreakout2 Portable - breakout-style arcade game similar to Arkanoid
LMarbles Portable - pattern-matching puzzle game
Mines-Perfect Portable - a classic hunt-for-mines game with advanced features
Monster 2 Portable - retro-style role-playing game
NetHack Portable - single player dungeon exploration
netPanzer Portable - multiplayer tactical warfare
Neverball Portable - 3d rolling ball obstacle course
OpenTTD Portable - urban planning simulation
Pathological Portable - color-matching puzzle game
PokerTH Portable - classic Texas Hold Em style poker at its best
Puzzle Collection Portable - dozens of single player puzzles
Quick Bridge Portable (Freeware) - play bridge against the computer
Quick Cribbage Portable (Freeware) - play cribbage against the computer
Quick Poker Portable (Freeware) - play poker against the computer
Quick Solitaire Portable (Freeware) - seven classic solitaire games
Rocks'n'Diamonds Portable - fast-paced gem collection game
Sauerbraten (Cube 2) Portable - first person shooter
Scorched 3D Portable - turn-based over-powered artillery in 3D
Sudoku Portable - the wildly popular and addictive puzzle game
SuperTuxKart Portable - multiplayer cart racing
T^3 Portable - 3 dimensional tetris
The Mana World Portable - a free, 2D, retro-style MMORPG
Tick5 Portable - 5-in-a-row puzzle game
Tile World Portable - engaging and fast-paced tile-based puzzles
Twin Distress Portable - color matching puzzle game
Warzone 2100 Portable - single or online multiplayer real-time strategy game
WarMUX Portable - turn-based war of Unix mascots
WAtomic Portable - molecular puzzle game
WinBoard Chess Portable - advanced chess engine
X-Moto Portable - 2D motocross platform game
Zaz Portable - color-matching puzzle game

Graphics & Pictures

AniFX Portable (Freeware) - full-featured cursor editor
Blender Portable - 3D modelling, animation, rendering, post-production, playback
Cornice Portable - image viewer with slideshow
Dia Portable - full-featured diagramming tool
Fotografix Portable (Freeware) - lightweight image editor
Fyre Portable - 2D computational artwork
GIMP Portable - Photo and Image Editor
Hot Spot Studio Portable (Freeware) - mix light to create art
IcoFX Portable (Freeware) - full-featured icon editor
Inkscape Portable - vector graphics editor
IrfanView Portable (Freeware) - lightweight graphic viewer
JPEGView Portable - image viewer and processor
K-3D Portable - 3D modeling and animation
PhotoFiltre Portable (Freeware) - image editing and effects
XnView Portable (Freeware) - view, organize and convert photos

Internet

aMSN Portable - chat and video chat on MSN/Windows Live
DamnVid Portable - video downloader and encoder
DownThemAll! Extension (for Firefox) - download the files and images you want faster
Feed Notifier Portable - RSS/ATOM popup feed notifications
FileZilla Portable - the full-featured FTP client
FireFTP Extension (for Firefox) - a lightweight extension
Google Chrome Portable (Freeware) - fast, simple, themeable browser
gPodder Portable - podcast receiver and manager
Iron Portable - advanced web browser
Juice Portable - podcast receiver and manager
KVIrc Portable - full-featured IRC chat client
Maxthon Portable (Freeware) - fast, powerful browser
Miranda IM Portable - chat with AOL, MSN and Yahoo users in a customizable interface
Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition - the award-winning web browser that's safe and secure
Mozilla Thunderbird, Portable Edition - the handy email client
Nvu Portable & KompoZer Portable - the easy-to-use webpage editor
Opera, Portable Edition (Freeware) - lightweight, customizable browser
PChat Portable - full-featured IRC chat client
Pidgin Portable - chat with AOL, MSN and Yahoo users in an easy-to-use interface
PopMan Portable - lightweight email notifier
Private Browsing by PortableApps.com - enhanced private browsing
PuTTY Portable - lightweight telnet and SSH client
qBittorrent Portable - lightweight bittorrent client
QuteCom Portable - softphone, text, audio and video chat
Sage Extension (for Firefox) - A full-featured RSS extension
SeaMonkey, Portable Edition - complete internet suite (browser, email, chat, newsgroups)
Skype Portable (Freeware) - instant messaging, video chat and phone calls
µTorrent Portable (Freeware) - lightweight bittorrent client
WinSCP Portable - SFTP, FTP and SCP client
WinWGet Portable - take and manage your downloads on the go
wxDownload Fast Portable - multi-threaded download manager

Music & Video

Audacity Portable - A simple audio editor and recorder
CDEx Portable - cd audio extraction and conversion
cdrtfe Portable - CD, DVD, VCD burner
CoolPlayer+ Portable - Lightweight, fast, easy-to-use audio player
DVDStyler Portable - DVD menu authoring tool
fre:ac Portable - extract, convert, and encode audio
InfraRecorder Portable - full-featured CD and DVD burner
MP3Gain Portable - MP3 audio normalization
MuseScore Portable - music composition and notation
Paul Stretch Portable - extreme audio stretching
SMPlayer Portable - Full-featured movie player with support for most video formats
Songbird Portable - Full-featured digital media library and player
VirtualDub Portable - video processing and capture utility
VLC Media Player Portable - Aeasy to use media player that plays many formats
XMPlay Portable (Freeware) - Full featured audio player and library

Office

AbiWord Portable - a lightweight word processor compatible with Microsoft Word files
Dia Portable - full-featured diagramming tool
Evince Portable - document viewer (pdf, ps, djvu, tiff, dvi)
Finance Explorer Portable (Freeware) - personal financial management
FocusWriter Portable - distraction-free word processor
Foxit Reader Portable (Freeware) - small and fast PDF reader
GnuCash Portable - accounting, expenses and financial management
Gnumeric Portable - full-featured spreadsheet
LibreOffice Portable - word processor, spreadsheet, presentations with excellent compatibility
Lightning Extension (for Thunderbird) - A lightweight extension for your calendar and tasks
Money Manager Ex Portable - easy-to-use personal finance software
Mozilla Sunbird, Portable Edition - Calendar and task management with a familiar interface
Mozilla Thunderbird, Portable Edition (Address Book) - Email client's built-in address book with import/export functions
OpenOffice.org Portable - word processor, spreadsheet, presentations with Microsoft compatibility
PDFTK Builder Portable - split, collate, watermark and password protect PDF documents
PNotes Portable - sticky notes to go
RedNotebook Portable - modern journal and diary
SpeedCrunch Portable - an intuitive algebraic calculator
Stickies Portable (Freeware) - lightweight sticky notes
Sumatra PDF Portable - a lightweight PDF viewer
Task Coach Portable - to do list and task manager
The Guide Portable - two-pane outliner
ToDoList Portable - customizable task management
WinDjView Portable - a lightweight DjVu viewer

Security

ClamWin Portable - Antivirus on the go
Eraser Portable - securely delete files and data
EraserDrop Portable - easily secure-erase files and data
KeePass Password Safe Portable - Secure, easy-to-use password manager
Spybot - Search & Destroy Portable (Freeware) - Spyware detection and removal

Utilities

2X Client Portable (Freeware) - remote server and RDP access client
7-Zip Portable - File archiver and compressor
Ant Renamer Portable - Advanced file renaming utility
AquaSnap Portable (Freeware) - Screen productivity enhancement
BleachBit Portable - cache, temp file and history cleaner
CamStudio Portable - screen recorder and video producer
Checksum Control Portable - create and verify MD5/SFV checksums
Command Prompt Portable - Simple link to a customizable command prompt
Console Portable - console window enhancement
Converber Portable (Freeware) - convert units of measurement
ConvertAll Portable - convert units of measurement
Cook Timer Portable - simple countdown timer
CrystalDiskInfo Portable - disk health monitoring tool
CrystalDiskMark Portable - disk benchmark utility
CubicExplorer Portable - advanced file manager
Daphne Portable - process explorer, killer and debugger
Diffpdf Portable - compare PDFs textually and visually
Disk Cleaner Portable - cache, temp file and history cleaner
Ditto Portable - clipboard manager and extender
DM2 Portable - window control enhancer
Don't Panic! Portable - one-click application hider
DShutdown Portable (Freeware) - remote PC shutdown and wake up
DTaskManager Portable (Freeware) - advanced task manager
DSynchronize Portable (Freeware) - directory synchronization
Explorer++Portable - multi-tab file manager
FreeCommander Portable (Freeware) - easy-to-use windows file manager
Free UPX Portable (Freeware) - advanced executable compression
HDHacker Portable (Freeware) - MBR and boot sector manager
IObit Uninstaller Portable (Freeware) - uninstaller and cleaner
JkDefrag Portable - Disk defragmentation and optimization
jPortable (Freeware) - Java virtual machine made portable
jPortable Launcher - Run Java JARs portably
Lightscreen Portable - easy to use screenshot tool
Listary Portable (Freeware) - find-as-you-type search for Windows Explorer and more
PeaZip Portable - Easy to use file archiver and compressor
PortableApps.com AppCompactor - shrink apps without affecting functionality
PortableApps.com Backup - integrated backup utility bundled with the platform
PortableApps.com Menu - integrated start menu bundled with the platform
Regshot Portable - registry and file comparison
Revo Uninstaller Portable (Freeware) - easy to use uninstaller
SIW (System Information for Windows) Portable (Freeware) - software/hardware info
Smart Defrag Portable (Freeware) - disk defragmentation and optimization
Synkron Portable - file and directory synchronization
System Explorer Portable (Freeware) - task manager and process analyzer
TeamViewer Portable (Freeware) - remote PC support and screen-sharing
Texter Portable - text substitution utility
TinyTask Portable - simple macro record/playback
Toucan - backup, sync and encrypt for advanced users
UUID-GUID Generator Portable - generate unique identifiers
Virtual Volumes View Portable - drive and disk cataloger
VirtuaWin Portable - virtual desktop manager
WinDirStat Portable - disk usage analyzer and cleanup tool
Windows Error Lookup Tool Portable (Freeware) - find windows error code details
winMd5Sum Portable - check md5 sums to verify files on the go
WinPenguins Portable - penguins running around your desktop
WinMerge Portable - file comparison and merging
WinMTR Portable - network diagnostic tool
Workrave Portable - repetitive stress injury prevention
Xenon File Manager Portable - portable file browser
XN Resource Editor Portable -lightweight binary resource editor
Zint Barcode Studio Portable - barcode generator
ZSoft Uninstaller Portable (Freeware) - uninstaller and cleaner

This is what PortableApps.com has to say for themselves: (Found at http://portableapps.com/about)

"PortableApps.com is the world's most popular portable software solution allowing you to take your favorite software with you. A fully open source and free platform, it works on any portable storage device (USB flash drive, iPod, memory card, portable hard drive, etc). With millions of users all over the world and a full collection of open source software as well as compatible freeware and commercial software and partners in the software and hardware industry, PortableApps.com is the most complete solution for life on the go.

PortableApps.com was founded by John T. Haller, the developer behind numerous portable applications including "Portable Firefox" which started the portable software trend. We've been making software portable since March 2004. Today, our team stands at nearly 100 developers, translators, application packagers, designers and release testers. Our goal is to centralize the knowledge and development of portable software efforts and build a single, open platform which any software or hardware developer can use."

My personal favorite portable app is IrfanView.

If you would like, or need a portable app, check PortableApps.com out.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Chromium Web Browser (Chrome)



As much as I love Mozilla Firefox, There are some pages that run poorly on it, one in particular is Launchpad.net, which I frequent, and which slows down almost any machine to a crawl when displayed via Firefox in Ubuntu.

I also find it quite useful to have more than one browser when doing web editing.

Chromium is my close second choice in the Ubuntu world for several reasons.

One is that it's built quite differently from Firefox, and is not a WebKit browser, which is built on Firefox technology.

The second is that Chrome, and it's Linux counterpart Chromium, are becoming (or are) quite popular, which helps you to see how your webpage will react to an up and coming web browser.

Enough of the reasons why I use it, here is what the
Google people have to say about their product:

*From the webpage "http://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/make/features.html?brand=CHMB".

Chrome is designed to be fast in every possible way. It's fast to start up, fast to search and load web pages, and fast to run all your web apps.

Chrome is built to help you browse more safely and securely on the web. Chrome's sandboxing, Safe Browsing, and auto-update technologies help protect you against phishing and malware attacks.

Chrome's browser window is streamlined, clean and simple. Its combined search and address bar makes it easy to search and navigate the web, all from one box.

The Chrome Web Store is an online marketplace where you can discover thousands of apps, extensions, and themes for Chrome.



My suggestion is to use the wrench icon to add your favorite start up page, and to add a home button, both found on the main "wrench" options page.

Other than that Chromium is pretty much ready to go upon installation.

In all fairness I must point out that the actual page for chromium itself differs, and is found here: http://www.chromium.org/

What the good people at Chromium.org have to say specifically about Chromium (not Chrome):

"Chromium is an open-source browser project that aims to build a safer, faster, and more stable way for all users to experience the web. This site contains design documents, architecture overviews, testing information, and more to help you learn to build and work with the Chromium source code."

If your in the market for another browser on your Linux machine, consider Chromium, I have found it to be rather reliable.