PortableApps Suite v1.1
The PortableApps Suite has just been upgraded to version 1.1. It contains many new features, such as a movable menu, an eject button which closes the menu and opens the Safely Remove hardware dialog, and a global keyboard shortcut for opening the menu. I used this platform daily and it’s continued development is very welcome.
USB Portable Applications
When I started my current position, I decided that I wanted to establish a distinct separation between my work data and personal data. While I’d love to have a separate personal laptop, the ultra light models have been too expensive to justify the cost. This year looks to change that with the introduction of many small inexpensive laptops. In the mean time, I am using USB flash drives and a USB portable hard drive. With all of these drives, I had three different options for running portable applications: Ceedo, U3 and PortableApps.
Ceedo came pre-installed on a 160GB portable hard drive. I use this drive to backup data from my home computer and my work laptop. The Ceedo application site has a very good selection of applications. Some are paid, but most of the offerings are free. My favorite is JetAudio, which I use to play music synced to the portable drive from my home machine. One of the nice features of Ceedo is the one-click eject; a single click closes the Ceedo application and makes the drive safe to eject. I also like how applications run from Ceedo can display a colored border to distinguish them from locally run applications. Overall, Ceedo is a solid portable application launcher.
U3 came pre-installed on a 2GB SanDisk cruzer USB Flash drive. I used the U3 applications for a couple months and was not satisfied at all. The U3 applications site was painfully slow, the application selection was poor, they are not frequently updated and many of them are trial software. The whole system it geared towards selling add-on software, not providing any type of portable convenience. The only nice feature is the one-click eject. The best U3 application is the uninstaller, which removes all U3 software and the extra system drive.
PortableApps is an open system that offers only free and open source software. There is a solid selection of software available, not as many as Ceedo or U3, but overall quality of applications is on par with Ceedo and blows away U3. The PortableApps Suite launcher is lightweight and fast. I use many of the applications available with PortableApps, some of which I discovered when there were converted to the PortableApps format.
- 7-Zip and PeaZip are file compression tools.
- AbiWord is a word processor that makes a great off-line blog writing tool. It doesn’t paste bloated markup like Microsoft Word!
- BonkEnc is a amazingly fast CD ripper. I’ve used EAC for a long time, but BonkEnc appears to be on the order to 10 times faster and is much easier to setup.
- FileZilla for FTP. I’m an old LeechFTP holdout. I tried SmartFTP for awhile, but it quickly got so bloated as to be not worth the nice interface. FileZilla now rivals LeechFTP and I’m not going back.
- KeePass is a password storage tool. Having the ability to store passwords securely on a USB drive is key for anyone who uses multiple systems.
- Mozilla Firefox, of course. The key extension is Google Browser Sync, which keeps my bookmarks and history synced between my home computer, the USB-based browser and various virtual machines. My browser settings anywhere!
- Notepad++ has become my coding tool of choice. I was a diehard HomeSite fan, but Notepad++ is stable, mature and frequently updated. I use it for HTML, CSS, Javascript, ActionScript, Linden Scripting Language, widgets, XML, game configuration files, etc.
- Task Coach is a new task manager. It’s still alpha software, but has a nice feature set and it updated regularly.
- WinDirStat is directory size utility, similar to, but not quite as mature as TreeSize.
- WinMerge is a file and directory comparison utility.
These are just the titles that I use, there are many more. I have also successfully installed some non-PortableApps software. Applications that don’t use the registry work best. The only downside to PortableApps is that ejecting the USB drive requires that you close the PortableApps Suite launcher and then eject the drive in Windows. This is a minor annoyance. The selection of applications and frequency of updates easily makes this my favorite USB application launcher.
Coding IDE
I’ve switched my development tools from Flash and Notepad++ to Flex Builder. I have tried a number of environments in search of the best environment for my style of coding. Since all of the ActionScript 3.0 Cookbook examples are all based on Flex Builder, i decide to give it a try. It has some clear advantages.
- Based on Eclipse
- Cross-Platform
- Integrated AutoComplete and Help
- Excellent debugging features – This has saved me a bunch time!
Currently, I’m working with the public beta for Flex Builder 3, which looks pretty solid at this point.
Source Control and Coding
I knew I would use source control right from the start. There are a couple reasons. First, it just makes sense as a best practice. It provides a good form of backup and offers a way to revert to earlier versions of code in case I get into trouble. Second, I want to be able to switch between multiple computers for development. I have a home-brew WinXP system and a Mac Book Pro laptop. The laptop is great for working outside on the deck, especially in the mornings when it’s cool. At other times, I can work in on the PC in the basement. Source control allows me to easily work from various systems and keep the code in sync.
I selected Subversion. It’s quite popular and has good clients for both platforms. The CollabNet Subversion package for Windows was a breeze to install and configure with the built in svnserve. For Windows, I’m using the Subversion client TortoiseSVN, which is a shell extension that integrates with Explorer. On the Mac, I’m using svnX.
Once the clients were connecting on both platforms, I started creating ActionScript classes based on the Technical Design document. On the Mac, I’m coding in Flash. On Windows, I’m using Notepad++. I’ve completed the skeletal structure for the classes and written some of the lighter functions. I’ve also setup a couple of XML structures to store game related data. Next comes the real fun, displaying objects on screen and controlling them.
Documentation
I’ve finished pouring over the Flash Help documentation for ActionScript 2.0 and 3.0 and I now know just enough to be dangerous. I’ve started work on a design document for the third game idea, space tank. It seems like a good concept to get started with and learn the basics.
I want to do all of the documentation online so that I can easily work from multiple computers. Google Documents is the obvious choice for word processing and spreadsheets. So I just needed to find an online drawing application to handle user interface wireframes. Cumulate Draw is a nice online drawing application. However, it doesn’t store your files online. Saves occur locally in a variety of formats, but the application can only open files in it’s native format. Online storage would be a nice addition. Gliffy has a very similar feature set and it does offer online storage. The only drawback is the on-page plug for the premium service.
Here are the preliminary wireframes, click to see a larger version.
My ET:QW Stats
