You can click here to see the YouTube video in the same space occupied by this blog. Use the browser “Back” button to get out of the video and back to the blog. This example uses the embed a link method.

Blah, blah, blah.

More blah, blah, blah.

1. the body of the blog text (the intro and this list)
2. a horizontal rule
3. the Technorati icon followed by a list of tags
4. the uploaded VPCT logo

This is a test of the blog template file that contains some special code to generate a bunch of Technorati Tags after the horizontal rule that should be placed after the blog content.

The template was opened, the blog content (ha ha) was typed at the beginning, and the whole mess was cut and pasted into the “code” tab of a new blog entry. The tags used in this test were borrowed from Dr. Marty Klein’s Sexual Intelligence blog.

Type 1

Oh, the Largo city motto? “To provide superior services that enhance the quality of life and community pride.” In one gesture, they’ve

• gotten rid of the guy who coordinated the superior services,
• undermined the quality of life for all tolerant people, and
• smeared the community’s pride with shame.

Type 2

Oh, the Largo city motto? “To provide superior services that enhance the quality of life and community pride.” In one gesture, they’ve

1. gotten rid of the guy who coordinated the superior services,
2. undermined the quality of life for all tolerant people, and
3. smeared the community’s pride with shame.

Technorati: sexual freedom, sexual repression, censorship, sexual intelligence, sexual censorship, sexual politics, war on sex, america’s war on sex, sexual rights, sex education

Following this is a test of the Insert Table plugin I downloaded.

	Good	Better	Best
Alpha	Yes	No	No
Bravo	Yes	Yes	Yes

Following this is a test of the Insert Text Template plugin I downloaded.

This is signature line 1

Here’s my attempt to insert a picture.  The text is supposed to wrap around the picture as it would in a real word processor so let’s type in a bunch of stuff to see if it works.

If two witches had two watches, which  witch would watch which watch?

OK, text wraps where I selected.

Now let’s try a link to my web site because that’s a pretty nice feature to have.

This sentence was added 2-26-2007 to try out updating an existing post.

Lets call this the end of the test case post and use the feature to insert some tags.

It’s USB-compatible, flash memory based storage, small, lightweight.

But what is it?

They’re known by many names, pick the one you like: Flash drive, thumb drive, jump drive, pen drive, key, token, USB drive, and so on.

What matters is that they’re finally really useful when combined with Portable Applications. For a long time I’ve admired the flash drive technology but couldn’t find a reason to buy one or two or six. I just didn’t have a compelling reason or need.

Then I came across the concept of Portable Applications. If the flash drive is the peanut butter, Portable Applications are the jelly. What a combo!

Portable Applications are simplified versions of common programs, reduced in size for ease of storage and quick loading. They’re specifically designed to be stored on a flash drive, carried around so you’ve got your favorite tools available when the need arises, and launched from the flash drive when plugged into just about any PC.

This is a stretch…but, you could just about get away with leaving your laptop at home and relying on your personal flash drive and a borrowed computer.

By now you’re anxious to hear about the applications themselves. I’ll give you a quick overview then we’ll get into some technical details that divide the solutions into two different classes of programs.

Portable Applications for Every Need
Portable Applications can be grouped into the following general categories. Development, Games, Graphics & Pictures, Internet, Music & Video, Office & E-mail, Operating Systems, Utilities, Security, Education, and Audio Video.

Just about every program you currently use falls into one of these categories.

Here’s a small sample, by program name and function, so you can get the general idea.

Firefox – Browser
OpenOffice – Office suite
ThinkFree Office – Office suite
Sunbird – Calendar\task manager
Essential PIM – Calendar\task manager
Thunderbird – E-mail
Pocomail PE – E-mail
Skype – Internet telephone
Gaim – Instant Messaging
Trillian – Instant messaging
ClamWin – Anti-virus
Avast! – Anti-virus
McAfee – Anti-virus
Sodoku – Game
Noble Poker – Game

So, What’s the Catch?
Unfortunately, there’s a technical wrinkle that will require you to make a choice before you run off and begin downloading and using Portable Applications.

The technical wrinkle is just like the old VHS vs Betamax war or the current HD DVD vs Blu-ray Disc war.

In this case, we have two types of Portable Applications which are very similar but incompatible. In one camp we’ve got the U3 Smart Drive group (www.u3.com) with a well defined run time environment consisting of a standard software platform, security measures, and a full complement of compatible applications. In the other camp, we’ve got the PortableApps.Com (www.portableapps.com) group with a fine collection of applications, easily launched from a central Suite framework.

The big difference between the two camps is their view of the run time environment. In the case of the U3 Smart Drive platform, they’ve defined a runtime environment where the launcher attempts to maintain a level of security and system housekeeping to ensure your applications and data remain safe. You can run with automatic anti-virus checking and when your application terminates memory is cleaned of all your program and personal data so nothing is left behind.

In the case of the PortableApps.Com platform, they’ve defined a Suite environment that is essentially a program launcher. It’s easy to add and delete programs in the Suite menu but there’s no real security enforcement so you’ve got to be more careful about what is left behind in system memory.

Apparently not all flash drives are physically compatible with the needs of the U3 Smart Drive platform so you need to make sure the device is U3 compatible before attempting to load this run time environment on your device. The reality is that they’d rather have you purchase a U3 Smart Drive device with the basic U3 Smart Drive software platform factory loaded. You then just add or delete programs as you see fit.

In the case of PortableApps.Com applications, they’re not as fussy because they don’t rely on a standard hardware/software platform. You can simply download a bunch of applications to your PC then install them on any flash drive with sufficient space. Of course, since there’s a PortableApps Suite, that’s the best place to start then you can add or delete applications as needed.

Conclusion and Recommendation
I know you want me to tell you the best solution of the two so here’s my final assessment and recommendation.

I like both! I am starting out with two flash drives and I plan to use both platforms. Here’s the deal. I really like the attempt by the U3 Smart Drive effort to establish and maintain a secure system with no personal data left laying around. On the other hand, I really like the applications supported by the PortableApps.Com group.

I’m hoping that a clear winner will emerge, a single platform and group of portable applications will be established, and we’ll all benefit by having a unified source of new programs and support. Hey, I can dream!

Either way, Portable Applications are here to stay and we’ve finally got a compelling reason to get really excited about flash drives.