Making the jump from longtime corporate employee to self-employed or freelance web worker carries a lot of challenges. One of those is finding the right tools for the job, since in a corporate environment, standard equipment and software deployment is most often determined for you. Being left to sort things out for yourself can be fun, but it can also be overwhelming.
Luckily, there are a few shortcuts available that provide all-in-one solutions to give you a running start. These packages include a lot of essential software, without the RAM-stealing shovelware you tend to bundled with new PCs from most major hardware manufacturers. Whenever I set up a new PC, I like to strip it down to the bare essentials and build it back up piece-by-piece; these packages help expedite the process considerably. Read the rest of this entry »
PortableApps has issued a new beta version of its Platform 2.0 release, downloadable here. If you’re unfamiliar with PortableApps, I covered it previously here. It’s a suite of pre-selected free, primarily open-source applications that you can stick on a USB flash drive. It’s especially popular as a way to store many useful applications on a pocketable drive, so that you can work anywhere, from any computer. It’s only available for Windows at this point, but if you tote any type of portable drive, it’s worth having. Here are some of the details on the new beta.
Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve written before about the PortableApps suite of mobile applications, which is a convenient way to put many free, open-source applications on a USB thumb drive, or any portable drive, in one download. Once the applications are on your portable drive, you can use them from any Windows-based computer, anytime. USB thumb drives offering lots of capacity have become very inexpensive, but what if you have an older one with less capacity, or a drive that’s nearly full? If that’s your situation, Tiny USB Office is a solid suite of tiny applications that, at only 2.5 megabytes, can give you a lot of functionality on virtually any drive.
Read the rest of this entry »
Most web workers are constantly adding new applications to their arsenals, and it’s common for our computers and mobile devices to become loaded with them over time. At the same time, many mobile devices these days can’t tolerate arrays of bloated applications. I’ve written before about PortableApps.com and MacLibre, both of which deliver bushels of free, open source applications for Windows and Mac users. They’re especially good for putting applications on a USB thumb drive, where the applications are stripped down into light, portable versions. These downloads are also popular among netbook users, who often have limited local storage. Another site to keep in mind if anti-bloatware is an attraction is OldApps.com.
OldApps delivers exactly what its name implies: older versions of popular applications, where users may favor the older versions because of their smaller sizes, or their lack of complexity, or both. Here’s more on what the site offers, and what to be careful about.
Read the rest of this entry »
Of all the new portable technologies I’ve adopted over the past couple of years, USB thumb drives are near the top of my list of useful, convenient accessories. I carry one in my pocket at all times, and am constantly looking for new applications to put on them. At this point in the continuing evolution of these devices, you can get so much capacity for so little money that you don’t have to feel restricted to collecting only tiny applications on them. In case you haven’t yet adopted a USB thumb drive and put good applications on it, here are some ideas.
Only a few years ago, many people carried USB thumb drives that topped out at 256MB of capacity, and those were pretty expensive. Now, you can get this 8GB SanDisk drive for under $25, and I’ve seen other 8GB drives for under $20.
Read the rest of this entry »
Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
