USB thumb drives, the good and the bad

I blogged the other day about Must Have Gadgets. Reading LifeHacker today I ran across this article. The good news is that almost every PC has a USB port these days. The bad news is that not every computer has the software necessary to open your data or documents. But there is hope.

I found this great site, portableapps.com. The reason this is such a great site is you can download just about any kind of software that will run right off a USB Thumb Drive. So, here is what I have on mine:

1. PortableFirefox #1 must application (web browser, with my book marks imported)
2. PrtableOpenOffice (word processor, spread sheet)
3. PortableGaim (Instant Messaging for MSN, AOL, Yahoo!)
4. PortableFilezilla (FTP Client)
5. EssentialPIM Portable (Contact Manager)

I have PortableThunderbird loaded (email client) but since I use Gmail as my primary mail client, all I need is an Internet connection and I have email.

There are a few things to consider when using a USB drive, and the biggest is security. Don't forget, if you lose it all of your documents are vulnerable. There are a couple of products out there that will lock your drive and I would suggest investing in one if you are going to use your USB drive a lot or use it while on vacation. You can also purchase drives that have Biometric access (use your thumb print) to gain access. So, check these out, and do as the article says, go on vacation and leave the laptop at home.

Good luck.