I can't always get to my main laptop when I feel like putting together a blog post. If you've read some of my other lists, you probably noticed that I'm a big fan of portable applications for just this reason. As long as I've got my trusty USB flash drive, I'm always equipped with the programs I need to get things done.

Here are ten of my favorites (plus two alternatives). With these programs in my pocket, I'm always able to write when inspiration strikes - regardless of what computer I'm using.

1. Windows Live Writer is the best offline tool for composing blog posts, hands down. While Microsoft doesn't offer a portable version, it's a simple DIY project (Brad first covered it in September 2007). You can download the portable launcher from Scott Kingery's blog: it's over a year old, but it works just fine with the latest beta of Live Writer. With a rich feature set and support for Wordpress, TypePad, LiveJournal, Blogger, and more, it's a necessity.

2. Portable Firefox and SRWare Iron are both great browsers. I keep Firefox handy in case I need access to my favorite extensions, and use Iron when I just need to do some quick surfing. Why Iron instead of Chrome? For the added privacy.

3. GreatNews is a decent, portable RSS reader that's actually portable (no Java runtime needed, like RSSOwl). The download is under 1mb, and it formats feeds into a tidy newspaper-like layout. If I'm using a machine where I'd rather not log in to my Google account, I'll fire up GreatNews to read my feeds instead.

Just about a week after open source image editor GIMP 2.6.1 was released, a portable version is available. What makes GIMP 2.6.1 Portable different from the original application is that you don't have to install the portable edition on a computer to run it. You just download the application, run it once to unzip it to a directory of your choice, and then you can run it from that folder. In other words, you can unzip it to a USB flash drive and plug that drive into any computer you want to use GIMP on.

GIMP Portable is part of the Portable Apps suite which also includes portable versions of Firefox and OpenOffice.org. The portable applications are Windows only, although most of the applications are open source and capable of running on Windows, Linux, and in some cases, OS X. You just need to install them the old fashioned way on Linux and Mac systems.

There are plenty of applications that let you write blog posts without using the default web interface for Blogger, Wordpress, LiveJournal, or other blog platforms. But most have one limitation - you have to download and install the application on each and every computer you plan to work on. While Zoundry Raven might not have as many features as Windows Live Writer or be as easy to use as ScribeFire, the free Windows tool has one major advantage: You can install it to a portable flash drive and use it on any Windows computer.

Zoundry Raven supports about two dozen platforms including Wordpress, Blogger, Moveable Type, TypePad, and LiveJournal. The program has a WYSIWYG editor and supports the ability to upload images and add tables to blog posts. Zoundry Raven also let you select from a small list of remote storage options in case you want to upload all of your blog images to Picasa Web Albums, Flickr, or another online storage site.

[via Smashing Magazine]

Like the idea of carrying a portable office suite on your USB flash drive, but think that OpenOffice.org and even smaller applications like AbiWord take up too much space? Tiny USB Office provides a ton of useful applications, hold the bloat.

Tiny USB Office started its life as "Floppy Office," an application suite with a footprint so small that it could fit on a 1.44MB floppy disk. You know, if you happen to have one lying around. But the developers have packed so many features into the latest release that there was no way to keep the suite that small. No, Tiny USB Office now takes up a whopping 2.4MB.

Here are a few of the applications included int he suite:

• CSVed - Database application
• NPopUK - Email Cleint
• FTP Wanderer - FTP client
• Spread32 - Spreadsheet application
• Kpad - Word processor
• 100 Zipper - File compression utility
• PDF Producer - PDF creator
• DScrypt - Data Encryption

And the list goes on. As you'd probably expect, these applications are missing some of the bells and whistles you'll find from Microsoft Office or OpenOffice.org. But the price is right. Tiny USB Office is free, and we're betting you've got at least 2.5MB to spare on your flash drive.

[via Shell Extension City]

Microsoft is reportedly working on a system that will allow users to run software and store system settings on USB flash drives. Microsoft is working with SanDisk to develop something called StartKey, which will be a replacement for the U3 software that allows users to install and run applications from a flash drive.

StartKey will allow for further integration with Windows than you get from U3 or other portable application technologies. For example, you'll be able to store things like your desktop wallpaper, icons, and contact lists which means you can plug a StartKey drive into any computer and experience your familiar desktop environment.

For the most part, it feels to us like Microsoft is reinventing the wheel here. You can already install Firefox, Thunderbird, Pidgin, and OpenOffice.org on a flash drive. Do you really care that much about carrying your wallpaper around? On the other hand, we're sure there would be some folks who would prefer to install Outlook, Office, and maybe even Internet Explorer on a flash drive, so if that's what Microsoft has in mind, StartKey could be something to keep an eye on.

This summer the developers of open source financial management software GnuCash released their first build that would run on Windows as well as Linux. Now you can install GnuCash on a portable flash drive. That means you can carry GnuCash with you from PC to PC, while keeping all of your data and settings.

The installer is compatible with the Portable Apps suite, meaning you can use the Portable Apps program launched to install and run GnuCash portable.

GnuCash Portable is still in the early beta stags, so we wouldn't recommend chucking out your old Microsoft Money just yet. But if you like the idea of being able to update your financial data on the go and aren't scared of a little Beta tag, you might want to check GnuCash portable out. You can also easily export and save your data so that if you do have a problem with GnuCash portable, you can always import your info into the desktop version of GnuCash.