Here is something for the weekend: a collection of 9 classic arcade games (well, if you want to count tic-tac-toe as an arcade game). This is a great collection that I have been playing for a while that isn’t packaged as a portable game but can be made to be portable by first installing it to a PC, copying the files to your flash drive (except for the uninst.exe), then uninstalling it from your PC (if you want!).

The Arcade Pack (version 5) has the following games – just like the originals:

• Asteroids
• Space Invaders
• Snake
• Frogger
• PacMan
• Tetris
• Hexxagon
• Pong
• Tic-Tac-Toe

You can download this collection at CNET’s download.com.

Probably the most essential application you can have on your flash drive is an app launcher. A launcher allows easy access to all your portable apps. The one I use is PStart. It’s small, simple and helps you create an autorun.inf file to place in your flash drive’s root directory so that when you plug your flash drive in to your PC, the PStart app launches automatically.

Here is a list of some popular portable launchers:

• Pstart
• WinPenPack (This site is in Italian, but app is multilingual)
• Colibri (Select “Enable portable mode” in the program)
• SlickRun
• ASuite
• Mydrive
• TinyComp

This is one of my all-time favorite arcade games! I have played so many versions of this game, I should start a collection. Arkanoid goes by many names, such as Breakout, Brick, Pong and MegaBall.

One of my favorite versions that I’ve ever played is DX-Ball but it isn’t packaged as portable. It makes entries into the registry and is only packaged with an installer. Anyway, I tried to make it “portable” and it works. I installed version 1.09, saved all the files from the game’s directory and then did an uninstall from the Windows Control Panel. I was then able to play the game from my copied directory without a problem. (This game has a built-in level editor to make your own levels. You can access it by pressing CTRL-F1).

A truly portable version of Breakout, called LBreakout 2, can be found here. Select the “Win32 port w/o installer” version if you are a Windows user (they also have Linux and Mac versions). This is a pretty cool version as well. It features network play as well as a built-in editor. The local game is located in the Client folder. After playing DX-Ball for so many years, I guess I need a period of adjustment to get used to a new Breakout game but it looks like this version is worth a try as I’m really enjoying it; sometimes change is good!

Here are the download sites:

• DX-Ball version 1.09 (can be made “portable”)
• LBreakout 2 (truly portable)

If you are into game cheats, check this site out for a list of DX-Ball cheats.

There are a variety of FM stereo transmitters on the market that plug into your car’s cigarette lighter and play your MP3s off of your USB flash drive. This is a great way to turn your flash drive into a music player at an affordable price (several models are priced around 30$ US), provided you own a car!

Plug your flash drive into one of these transmitters then select an FM channel on your car and player and the music is broadcast through your car’s speakers. I haven’t tried these transmitters out but if any readers have, I would love to hear feedback regarding the sound quality of these devices.

UPDATE AUGUST 12, 2006: I’ve re-evaluated a clamwin/winpooch combination. From my understanding, Winpooch has to be installed on a PC to work (correct me if I’m wrong). I’m currently evaluating Avira AntiVir which seems to be portable and it has integrated real-time protection. Results to follow…

Having a good portable antivirus on your flash drive that runs in real-time is a must if you connect to computers you are unsure of. As you probably know, your flash drive can get infected the moment you plug it into an infected computer, whether you have a portable antivirus software (like ClamWin Antivirus) on it or not. The reason for that is that antivirus software currently available does not work in real-time unless you couple it with additional software (like Winpooch, for example).

Switching your write-protection switch to read-only is a good safe-guard if you plug into a computer you don’t trust. While some flash drives have a write-protection switch, others, like my SanDisk Cruzer Micro, does not. So, real-time virus protection is the only other solution (aside from not plugging it into a computer you don’t trust!). Portable Clamwin Antivirus is an excellent open-source version of the Clamwin Antivirus, made portable by John Haller. As mentioned on his site, however, it doesn’t offer real-time support.

In Part II of this post, I’ll be outlining how to install and use WinPooch with ClamWin to protect your flash drive in real-time.

Software referred to in today’s post:

• Portable Clamwin Antivirus
• WinPooch

As mentioned in a previous post, I use the portable DocReader when reading on my laptop; however, I have recently found another portable ebook reader called Tom’s eTextReader.

Great Features for Reading

I find this software really great. It does everything DocReader does, but has many more features. For example, the interface is styled in the format of a book. This goes beyond being cute; it allows for 2 page display which reduces the amount of scrolling the reader has to do. What’s more, in the preferences you can set the number of seconds for the page to turn automatically so you never have to touch the keyboard/mouse.

File Formats

It also opens more formats than DocReader. You can open HTML, TXT, DOC, OpenOffice formats, PDB, XML, and you can even read directly from zip archives. It also has an integrated Project Gutenberg browser and downloader. Like DocReader, you can edit documents as well.

Summary

Tom’s eTextReader is my new favorite eReader! It’s packed with features and time-savers that makes reading on my laptop as enjoyable as reading on my Palm PDA; I never thought that would happen!

Did you know that even Fido can have his own flash drive? The Top Tag Pet ID ($39.95 US) is a mini flash drive for your pet where you can outline your contact information, your pet’s diet, commands, medical information, personality and exercise habits in an easy to use interface. It comes with a waterproof case (that doesn’t seem to be 100% waterproof since they mention in the FAQ that it can still get wet), but I would be afraid that the cover poses a choking hazard to your pet.

I guess this product could be useful for some pet owners, as for me and my dog Molly, I think we’ll just stick to the old fashioned bone-shaped tag with her name and my phone number on it for now. After the Canadian exchange and the taxes are applied, this gadget becomes too expensive for a single purpose item that would go on an active dog who is sure to loose the cover and probably damage the drive.

I spent most of the 1980s playing arcade games on my Commodore 64 (and a few precious times at the arcade) and, like many people who grew up in the 80s, never lost my love for them. I continue playing arcade games on computers, on my Palm Tungsten E, on my Google personal page and now my flash drive. Since I haven’t yet found a site specifically for portable arcade games, I thought it would be helpful to start one for other arcade aficionados out there. So, each week I will be testing out some portable arcade games and write up about it. The games that make it on the list will have to follow these criteria: 1) They’re FREE!, 2) They’re faithful to the originals (I prefer to stay away from 3D remakes and such), and 3) They’re completely portable!

This week, we’ll start with the quintessential arcade game: none other than PacMan (and his sweetheart, Ms. PacMan!). You can download both portable PacMan and Ms. PacMan here.

The screen in this version is very large, which can take some getting used to since the game scrolls up and down automatically depending on where you move – i guess because it was designed for older DOS machines. These 2 games are very faithful to the original and the sounds are great; just like the good ol’ days! (Incidentally, there is also a version of QBert on the same site – it looks good; however, I have not gotten it to work on my PC yet).

If you’re looking to know more about PacMan so that you can become a true PacMan Geek or because you want to learn how to improve your scores, check out this great site : The PacMan Guide. I had never noticed that the ghosts had different characteristics and control zones – amazing the valuable information you can find on the Internet! I haven’t yet tested this version of PacMan to see if the ghosts behave as the guide describes, something I’ll have to do!

Have fun and drop me a note if you have other versions of PacMan (if they are free, portable and as close to the originals as possible).

I’ve been searching the web for some ideas on modifying my flash drive and found a few some ingenious ideas and instructions.

If your looking for ideas to customize your flash drive, perhaps these sites will offer some inspiration!

Pez Dispenser mods:

• Pez drives pitcures
• Nice Darth Vader Pez intructions
• Instructions on making your own PEZ mod

Lego:

• Lego brick instructions

Cars:

• Mini Cooper
• Ferrari

Other:

• Teddy Bear with instructions (link updated!)
• Homer Simpson with instructions
• Clear Case with instructions
• Miscellaneous drives
• Guitar USB flash drive
  
• Top 10 Weirdest USB Drives

Boy, does this look complicated! Good luck to you if you want to attempt making your flash drive bootable!

From Information Week. Langa Letter: A Must-Have Repair And Recovery Tool

Here’s another how-to article:

www.weethet.nl/english/hardware_bootfromusbstick.php

And once your flash drive is bootable, here are two great sites that have tons of useful diagnostic tools and file recovery programs that you can load onto your flash drive :

Ultimate Boot CD

Dirk Loss Windows Tools – more than 600 diagnostic and file recovery tools