USB drives let you take your work with you
Portable USB drives have changed the way people move about and connect with the Web.
Many post-2001 USB drives can carry a whole group of applications that you can use and run from any computer you plug the device into.
We’ve just test-driven the Lite suite from PortableApps.com. We think it’s quite handy and highly useful if you want to carry your e-mail and browser with you in a compact unit.
PortableApps has two versions: Standard runs 260 megabytes, the Lite suite runs about 105 megabytes (it replaces the productivity pack, OpenOffice, with a slimmed-down version).
Included in both are a Firefox browser, the Thunderbird e-mail application, a task manager, antivirus software, a calendar and an instant messaging program.
The suite also includes a built-in backup function and a launching menu that appears in the system tray. (On many computers, you must first start the launcher manually through Explorer after inserting your flash drive.) If you only want this menu and the backup utility, you can download just that from PortableApps as well; it consumes only 1 megabyte after installation.
ControlC.com
If you cut and paste your way through a busy day, ControlC is a Web application that might be useful. The free service, once you create a free account online, uploads any clipboard text to the controlc.com server, under your name. And it stores the ongoing series of cuts you make whenever you’re browsing on a Web site (but not in other documents).
That uploaded text is encrypted so only you can look at it.
You can share the clipboard with friends. If other users make their clipboard collections public, ControlC lets you search through them to find if people are finding information more useful than what you’ve gathered.
Utterz
A lot of people are spending big bucks to deliver new services for the mobile phone community. Utterz is a Web-based service that lets phone users quickly post ideas or comments to a blog by calling a phone number and recording your thoughts.
Utterz apparently takes care of translating your comment into a text post that can be added to whichever blogs you have indicated with your account settings. Or you can have the comment sent to you or others via e-mail.
Wait, there’s more… and Utterz lets its users snap photos or videos with their phone and send them as well. Utterz’s automated system mashes the pictures, video and your comments into a multimedia post.
This is the kind of thing our man Doug Dobbins needs to try. We’ll have him post a review in a few weeks.
Or if anyone else cares to review Utterz, be our guest; e-mail comments or send us your Utterz posts to TXT@spokesman.com