USB Flash Drive Portable Surfer Thingy
 

Some time ago, I read in a computer mag about getting a usb flash drive and loading on a bunch of software (browsers, encryption, antivirius), and being able to plug it into public computers for surfing and email, while keeping your history/cookies/favorites private.
Does anyone know about this?

There are quite a few apps modified just for this purpose. Here's a list of a few (firefox, thunderbird, sunbird, mp3player, graphics viewer, pdf viewer, editor, ftp, zip...):

http://www.techtastic.ca/articles/portable.html

I use portable firefox daily, i really like it, i use it at work ll the time cause i can't stand pop-ups and ads

I can see how these really can come in handy.

I wonder if it'll work at the library.

Like, you just have to mount the drive? Nothing has to get installed onto the computer you're using?

Right. They're modified to use their local path for their environment. They read prefs locally, etc. Also, those that need a cache write it locally and try to minimize writes. That saves the flash RAM. (flash RAM doesn't have ~limitless writes like HD space or DRAM.)

Some of the apps are even good for read-only CD use, some need a little modification, but it's a bunch better than the autorun apps that try to merge thumbdrive settings with the desktop apps, if you've been unlucky enough to try them.

As for the library, unfortunately, smart IT people often lock down USB ports on public systems. They're a nightmare waiting to happen.

Never thought about this, but...great idea. I'm downloading one of those now.

I don't actually understand what that means, does it mean you can't use the USB ports anymore, or something else? Because at my school, everything on my USB stick works fine, I can open up portable firefox, but it doesn't seem to be able to connect to the net, however, I've tried it at internet cafes and it works fine there.

Just meant the USB ports might not be available on public systems, disabled through hardware or software. They're a security weakness.