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"Portable computing" is the method of running software applications at remote locations. In the past, this was accomplished with your own laptop. Recently, portable computing can be accomplished with special CD's and USB sticks. CD's The CD's are normally "LiveCD's" that run some distribution of Linux. You can download the "iso images" of the LiveCD's from the distribution's website, and burn those images onto a blank CD. Popular LiveCD's include Knoppix, Ubuntu, Gentoo and Slax. Once you burn the iso image onto the CD (turning it into a LiveCD), all that you need to do is load the LiveCD into the PC or laptop, and reboot. If the machine's bios is set correctly, it will try to boot from the Linux image on the LiveCD before it tries the to boot the operating system on the hard disk (usually Windows). Most Linux LiveCD's will automatically connect to the Internet, and enable you to access web-based email, such as gmail or Hotmail. Aside from Interent browsers, LiveCD's normally come fully equipped with office suites, graphics software, and many other applications. Depending on how much RAM the host computer has, you may be able to create/e-mail documents from the host computer with the LiveCD. One of the best things about Linux LiveCD's is that you can make your own customized CD, with only those apps that you want. USB Sticks USB sticks can be purchased inexpensively, and loaded with your favorite software applications. Larger usb sticks (such as the 1GB variety) are large enought to fit an entire Linux distribution on them, with room to spare for your personal files. The simplist thing to do is to run your own personalized software applications under the PC's host operating system (usually Windows). There are software applications that are tailor made for this task. Unfortunately, only the open source applications have been so modified. The mainstream software companies (e.g., Microsoft) are lagging behind. There are several advantages to using USB sticks rather than LiveCD's. First, unlike a CD, you can modify the contents of the usb stick, thus saving your work. Second, in some cases, you can direct that the operating system kernel be loaded into RAM, making the machine much more responsive than with a LiveCD. The boot process is much the same as a LiveCD, except for the fact that the bios in many PC's are not set for booting from a USB device. Consequently, the likelihood that you will have to fiddle with someone else's bios settings increases dramatically with There are several choices for portable computing outlined below. Accompanying each choice are one or more links to applications or other software that can assist you in using applications in a safe manner that minimizes (or even precludes) compromise of client information.
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