I am a bit overwhelmed with the number of responses for the 32 MB USB Drive Contest. We have 23 systems that are in the contest with several different ideas and options for each of them.
What we are looking for now is for you, the DCoT readers, to tell us which one is the best idea. The criteria for voting can be whatever you want. It can be the most creative idea, the most useful, the funniest, the one submitted by your best friend, the dumbest, whatever you want it to be!
I have copied all of the information from the original contest page over to here so that you can look check out all the entries below before voting.
Feel free to use the comment section to provide people with reasons why they should vote for your favorite selection.
Good luck to all the contestants.
Voting closed! Check out the results!
1. Web Server System
alforaba writes:
Not my own idea, but it serves the contest (almost);
The (dutch) site describes the bundling of Apache, MySQL, PHP & PHPMyAdmin on an USB-stick. There is an english version + manual,
that says you need 33,3 Mb (so almost).
There you have your travelling design-environment.
I think I could get this going using a few tweaks I am aware of. Excellent entry!
2. Application Control
This is one of my ideas so if it end up in the top four, it will not count (but I will still build it).
I want to build a system that monitors whether or not a specific USB drive with a key file exists on the system. If it does, everything runs normally. If it does not, then specified applications will not be allowed to run.
This could be a good way to monitor or restrict access to things like web browsers or mail clients.
3. Remote Access System
Steve suggests the following:
How about a drive which includes the ultra vnc single click setup with the encryption addon to allow end users to connect for product support. This could also include the help manual for the product, hashcalc or the like to calculate checksums, an upload utility (or a link to the upload page on a website) and a keystore for the encryption keys. This would dovetail nicely with the idea to utilize the drive to control licensed access.
This sounds like a cool idea. But, Steve, I’m going to need more information about the upload utility and the keystore as they sound like they may be application specific. Send me an e-mail and I can get some more details.
4. CD Burning System
PJ would like to be able to burn CDs from her USB drive:
Well I think a usb with some cd burning software on it would be great. Maybe cd xp burner portable. Alot of times people only have lite versions on there systems and if you need to burn from it this would work well. And if possible throw in SIW, great tool for seeing what is really behind the scene of your computer. It can tell you more than you know.
I don’t know if CDBurnerXP Pro comes in a portable version but I do know of other burning software that does. There are some other utilities that I would probably add to this system as well.
PJ responded with:
How about Deepburner portrable instead of the cd xp burner.
Sounds goof good (sorry for the bad typo) to me!
As for SIW, it is a great tool but I do not think it fits into the whole CD burning theme but it could easily fit into a different system (nudge, nudge, wink,wink!)
5. Web Developer System
Steve comes in with his second submission, a web developer system. Steve suggests:
How about a web designer/developer key with nvu, filezilla, notepad++ some open source paint or graphics program, denim a sitemap tool, link checker and portable firefox with the web developer plugin
Nice idea. I think that I may even be able to expand on it a bit with a few other tools I have found along the way. Good one, Steve!
6. PC Repair System
Decoy want to fix computers with his system:
I was thinking a PC Repair/Toolkit would be nice. There are a variety of free and/or open-source tools for file recovery, anti-virus, anti-spyware, system info & system maint.
Always a handy thing to have. Decoy, if you could get a list of applications that will run from a USB drive (with links if possible), that would be very helpful.
7. Wiki System
Chris wants his wiki to go where he goes:
You could put a wiki on a stick..the required web and database servers installed, configured and run under various versions of Windows in 10 minutes after downloading 2 files totalling 7MB in size.
Because the installed and configured software and databases use less than 21MB of storage, everything fits on 32MB
Believe it or not, I actually worked on a variation of this a few months ago so I know it will work. Good job, Chris.
8. Traveler’s Companion System
PJ’s second contribution plans to help those away from home:
WELL THOUGHT ABOUT ANOTHER SUITE TIM, MAYBE FOR THE TRAVELER, HOW ABOUT SUNBIRD PORTABLE FOR A SCHEDULER AND NOTETAB LITE AND A LITTLE PHOTO DISPLAY EDITOR TO SEE THE FAMILY WHILE ONE IS ON THE ROAD. THE SCHEDULER WOULD BE HANDY FOR THE TRAVELER AND NOTETAB IS GREAT FOR ANYTHING AND THE PHOTO EDITOR JUST TO SEE THE KIDS OR THE FAMILY POOCH FOR THE HOMESICK TRAVELER.
You’re coming through loud and clear, PJ. This should be easy to set up.
9. Graphics System
In light of the fact that Steve could not get everything into the web developer system, he suggests another system:
Since we can’t fit this on the web app drive How about a graphics app key with gimp portable, paintbox and snico edit
There are a few others that I can thing of adding to that list. It sounds like a good one.
10. Audio System
Five minutes after Steve submitted the graphics system (literally), he came up with this little gem:
How about an audio/podcast key with audacity, winlame, xmplay/winamp, mp3 direct cut, and mp3 bookhelper
Again, little pain for big gain!
11. Gamer System
Moshe is all about getting into the game:
How about a gamer USB key? Ya know, you go to your college professor brother-in-law, and all he’s got are Solitaire and Minesweeper. Put a couple of older, classic, free games, like Doom, , Nethack, Tetris, and so on. It should have automatic backup capability, so you can backup your saved games, and the autorun file should bring up a list of all the games after a gamer-appropriate splash screen. Just for fun, there should be some retro MIDI 80s arcade game music, to listen to while in middle of Nethack. If there’s still room, (I know I’m pushing it) you can have an installation of Firefox portable with a bookmark list of sites to waste time on (www.bored.com, www.cruel.com, or, failing that, an html doc that lists them all for your browsing pleasure.
Very cool idea. I think the hard part will be finding appropriate games that can reside on the USB drive.
12. Internet Security System
Matthew wants to keep his kids safe on the Internet:
My idea: It is maybe a combination of the second item in the overview-list (the app-stick, apps don’t run if stick is not present).
How about a stick that protects kids online in multiple ways. You did a piece on content filtering not so long ago and I am now hooked to the freeware/opensource(?/?) app called NAOMI.
Hand out this stick to a kid and it can only use a (specific) computer online with the stick plugged in.
Filtering/protection I would like to see in a stick:
* Time-keeping: how long is the kid online, what apps are used.
* Time-limiting: passing the allowed time-online a day kills the connection…
* Time-focusing: Kid can only go online between certain hours.
* Regular filtering: Adult/Violence/Drugs/Dating etc.
* App-limiting: Kid can not (or limited) run certain apps/websites
* Privacy filtering and auto blocking giving out personal info.
* Easy limiting specific sites: ( I know of a familiy who wanted to kick any access to the website Runescape.com because all three kids got heavily addicted…)
I know some of these are pretty drastic but so is some kids online behaviour
A very good idea, Matthew. If you could send me some links to some of this software so that it can be easily integrated into a system, that would be very helpful.
13. Crucial File and Setting Backup System
Mr. Steve (not to be confused with Steve) wants to have his files and settings wherever he goes:
How about a Sync Toy, or something like that, where when you insert your thumb drive, it auto syncs your documents, ie bookmarks or something like that, I hate it when I am at work, and I need a document at home… so I am trying to come up with a way to do that.
With only 32 MB of disk space, you would not be able to carry around a lot but you sure could keep some critical files and settings on the drive. Any particular settings that you are interested in, Mr. Steve? Let me know.
14. Video Encoding System
Video work would be a cool use of a 32 MB drive. This is what Phobos would like to see:
I’m not sure if someone had this idea before, but what about an portable video encoding system? It could contain e.g. VLC as player, TMPGenc as MPEG encoder, etc.
To be honest I dont know if this would work on a USB drive, but at least it’s an idea.
Well, Phobos, if we can’t get everything on one drive, we can sure get some of it. Good idea!
15. Shortcut Systems
Plasma wants an entire system dedicated to shortcuts. Here’s his idea:
I got a good idea…. heck, i even tried to do it myself already, haha.
I know its been mentioned above a few places in certain ways, but how about a drive made STRICTLY for shortcut purposes. And they could be integrated into the Windows popup menu through use of the autorun.inf file. Look at the screenshot of what i tried to put together already…
http://loader.schwippy.com/schwippy_drive.gif
Clicking the links prefixed with ‘web’ obviously launch the default internet viewer with whatever web page is in the inf file. Clicking the link prefixed with ‘run’ will launch a program. (I have it launch a pc fixing program)
The real beauty is if there was an actual program that was added to the drive that would parse and be able to manipulate that autorun.inf file so that it would be extremely easy to add shortcuts and the likes to the file. I did the above by hand, but i would have loved a program that did it all for me. Think about it…. it would keep an entire bookmark list all in the autorun.inf file!
A pretty cool idea but I think it could be an addition to on existing system. But I world be wrong! I’ll make it a part of the contest and let the readers decide!
16. PDA System
Karen would like to replace her PDA with a USB drive:
I think a USB stick would be perfect for a calendar and address book. Kdepim 225 For Memory Stick weighs in right at 30MB and syncs with both Outlook and KOrganizer.
With about 2 MB free for some tweaks, this looks to be a good one! Thanks Karen!
17. Client Meeting System
Karen also suggests a system to help the on-site consultant:
I sometimes design websites for friends, and during the planning stages I may find myself at their computer looking at other websites they find attractive. While I would probably not to do any actual editing or coding at that time, a couple of tools could be handy to show the possibilities. I would probably like to have CSS Tab at less than 10MB along to give an idea of tab styling options and the concept of style sheets in general. Color Calculator at 868 KB would be indespensible for demonstrating color harmonies. website and download.
Like it or not, while I am there my friend will probably ask a specific question about her computer, and I will be glad I have SIW along at 1.20 MB for general process info, password recovery, and all kinds of odds and ends. At only 460kb Idisk does a great job of showing where all that disk space has gone.
Treeline at 10MB would be nice to have along for notes and also to import any CSV or XML files my friend might happen to have, and also to hold my bookmarks.
Any extra space could hold a pretty good sized photo.
Definitely aimed at the web/desktop consultant but a good idea none the less.
18. Bootable DOS System
Steve wants access to non-bootable systems:
Since a full bootsble copy of windows won’t fit and linux shouldn’t write ntfs disks, how about a dos bootable key with fdisk that could be used in an emergency (happened last week) to boot a floppyless laptop to the command line and copy a clean copy of the corrupted file to the harddrive might even make sense to include a memory test app to debug a bad memory chip
Definitely doable with room to spare!
19. Emulation System
Phobos is back, itching to play some games:
Another idea that just came into my mind would be a portable Commodore 64. There are several C64 emulators out there, would be nice having some of them on a USB drive. Even on a 32MB drive there would still be enough free space to store many disk images and maybe some tools to manage those.
If there is still some more free space you could add a SID-Player and many SID-tunes so you could always listen to the C64 music.
Of course something like this could be done for other systems as well, maybe Atari or Amiga, or even consoles like NES, SNES, etc.This idea is similar to Moshe’s Gamer System, but more focused on emulation. Therefore I don’t know if this idea will count for the contest.
Definitely a different concept than Moshe’s so I believe that it is a go! I think that I will focus on the C64 since it is the first one you mentioned but the other systems are all possibilities (but not as contest entries). Phobos, if you could get me some links, that would be really helpful!
20. PDA Emulation System
If Tom’s PDA goes belly up, he wants to be able to work with a virtual version of it:
PDA emulation software (Palm’s POSE in my case) and a batch file to copy the last sync’d data from your computer to the USB drive.
Useful if you need to run something that is only on the PDA.
Nice idea, Tom. Could you help me with come links? Thanks!
21. Mini Linux Bootable Browser
xxFelixx has found the limits of my technical experience with his entry:
mini linux system bootable off the 32mb usb drive designed specifically for surfing the internet and maybe if there is enough space you could include a word processor like notepad or somthing
This would be awesome but if we are to make something like this, I’m going to need a lot of help. Just a warning that I may not be able to actually do this. (Actually, there is a pretty good chance I can’t do this but I would still be willing to ship you the USB drive!) But, I don’t want my lack of skills to be the reason that an entry is rejected. This is still a great idea.
22. Must Have Utilities System
OnePiece slips one in just in the nick of time:
-http://portableapps.com/apps/games/sudoku_portable
Sudoku Portable
0.4MB
Sudoku On The Go!-http://www.photofiltre.com/
Photo Filtre (install, then copy to folder of your choice)
I Think Under 3MB (approx: 2MB)
Photo Editing-http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/ProcessExplorer.html
Process Explorer (useful when CTRL+ALT+DEL is blocked)
1.5MB
Handy For Monitering what is happening-http://www.pegtop.de/start/
PSTART
Under 1MB (Approx: 0.5MB)
USB Launch Pad-http://www.opera-usb.com/operausben.htm
OPERA
Under 10MB (approx: 9MB)
Portable Web Browser–Some type of a small sized calendar/planner (under 5MB) from:
—http://www.portablefreeware.com-http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/7-zip_portable
Portable 7-Zip
2.1MB
7-Zip-ing On The Go!
I think that is a good one, OnePiece. You’re in!
23. Hardware Testing System
Our final entry is from Thierry:
And why not a mini system (linux, dos) and some free utilities to test screen, disk, memory, audio,benchmark,… of a second hand PC before purchase
Nice idea. I can probably put together the DOS version easier than the linux one but the linux version would be a very interesting challenge! Fire me off some links ASAP so that I can put together something useful.
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December 11th, 2006 at 1:45 am
Hey everybody! Vote for meee! First post!
No seriously, I would like to thank Tim for motivating me to focus on the portable aps that would be most handy in an unexpected situation. Really, and maybe I should have submitted this wonderful idea, but in my experience just having a blank thumb drive on ya at all times is most helpful.
Anyway, I have enjoyed reading about what the other worthy contestants would put on their drives, I have learned about some great new apps, and I can’t wait to see what the public favors.
Great contest, Tim.
December 12th, 2006 at 12:39 am
WOW I am in top four. What age do we have to be?
December 12th, 2006 at 5:55 am
Tim give me a percentage of how much i can win. To me, Mine looks decent if you had to do something with 32MB USB Flash Drive. Only a rough percentage would do.
December 12th, 2006 at 7:51 am
OnePiece,
Anyone can win, regardless of age.
Can you clarify a bit what you mean by
The prize is a free 32 MB USB drive.
Tim
December 12th, 2006 at 3:39 pm
vote for the mini linux bootable browser!!
just think of the possibilities
you can boot it from a school or an office computer and maybe use more applications than u could on the restricted windows
December 13th, 2006 at 4:31 am
You answered the question. I actually went into the contest without knowing the prize! Um now I think i might swap a 32MB for a DVD+RW if i can.. or maybe it’s a U3.
NOOOO I AM LOSE-ING
Tim, wad-did-you-vote-ef-for
December 13th, 2006 at 6:09 am
OnePiece,
The USB drive is not U3.
As for what I voted for, I did not. I did not think it fair that I vote.
Tim
December 13th, 2006 at 8:09 am
I can’t understand why there aren’t more votes for the gamer system
December 13th, 2006 at 11:07 pm
Are people’s computer’s older than me?! I mean look at the repair system. Now please people point out what is wrong with ‘Must Have Utilities’.
December 14th, 2006 at 1:37 am
Another reason to vote for the gamer system:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Portable_Computer_Games
March 28th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
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