Great stuff for travellers. Carry all the essential cannot-live-without programs with us anywhere we go. Recently, the guys at portableapps.com have just released their new “Portable Apps Suite”, a collection of necessary applications configured to work portably. It includes a PortableApps Menu abd PortableApps Directory for including / excluding other Portable Applications. Neat! Here are the programs recommended by portableapps.com for a 512MB thumb drive.

512 MB

• ClamWin Portable (antivirus) 5.8MB
• Firefox Portable (web browser) 5.7MB
• Gaim Portable (instant messaging) 6.9MB
• OpenOffice.org Portable (office suite) 65.1MB
• Sudoku Portable (puzzle game) 0.4MB
• Sunbird Portable (calendar/task manager) 5.7MB
• Thunderbird Portable (email client) 6MB

256 MB

• ClamWin Portable (antivirus) 5.8MB
• Firefox Portable (web browser) 5.7MB
• Gaim Portable (instant messaging) 6.9MB
• OpenOffice.org Portable (office suite) 65.1MB
• AbiWord Portable (word processor) 6.3MB
• Sudoku Portable (puzzle game) 0.4MB
• Sunbird Portable (calendar/task manager) 5.7MB
• Thunderbird Portable (email client) 6MB

Download Useful Applications
For your USB device’s size

A free wifi location directory for USA, Europe and the world. The information provided is very useful for business and vacation travelers who are in town. It has a large listing of wifi hot spots in cities and towns of states in the USA. They also cover countries in Europe, Canada, Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America, Middle East, South Africa, Asia and Oceania.

As far as I know, common locations for free wifi are usually found in libraries, academic locations, hotels, cafes, coffee shops and restaurants. For laptop and PDA users that travel often, it is recommended to bookmark the site. One never knows when one may need it. =)

How in the world is a developer’s skill and knowledge in java measured? How is it recognized? Well, at javablackbelt.com, a java developer gets an alternative way to measure and demonstrate his skills. There are supposedly 2 traditional ways of getting recognized. Get certified by Sun Microsystems or by finishing a project. Several websites have been developed to gear a developer towards Sun Microsystems high quality certifications. Here’s what javablackbelt has to say about it :

We feel frustrated by these certifications, because they don’t really match what a typical Java developers knows. We feel there is a huge hole in the community :

1. only a small subset of the necessary technologies are covered by the certifications
2. the knowledge required to succeed with these certifications is more extensive than what most developers need on their project.

Hence, the birth of javablackbelt.com

There are 4 main actions that an user can do :

• Taking Tests

Start by taking tests on the belt track. Gradually, a white belt java developer will grow to yellow, orange, green, blue, brown and finally black.

• Contribute

Sometimes, the questions may be too easy or too hard. An user can contribute his or her ideas on ways to improve a question and at the same time earn contribution points to proceed to get grades from the following belt colour.

• Guidelines

A list of guidelines on programming and designing on Java are useful to any Java Developer. Here’s an example of a list of guidelines for Object Oriented Programming.

• Auctions

Auctions is a generous way for the people at javablackbelt to thank it’s users for using their website. Users that have collected contribution points may use it to bid on items in the auction room. Once an user wins, the bids are delivered accordingly.

Java Black Belt
Get yourself certified