For training people in use of the Bloom program, having a portable app version of Bloom would be really useful. There are quite a few NGOs that provide computers for community centers, but often in order to avoid viruses they lock the computer down pretty securely. If there were a portable app version of Bloom it could be run from a usb on any Windows computer. Trainers could in this way arrive at a location for training, no matter how remote and have most of the files needed to run the training off of a usb. Those who don’t own their own computers, but use library, work, or NGO computers would also be able to run the app off a usb or plugged in cell phone.
This already exists for computers, but not for cell phones. Ask someone for help putting together a Wasta Linux thumb drive with Bloom installed on it. Just plug it into the USB port, reboot (and maybe change the BIOS to boot first from a USB drive) and you’re all set. The training is easy too, since they will always be using the same version of the program as long as they use the bootable USB drive.
Hello Luke, I just happened to be checking this list and saw your post. I agree with Marty and would have said the same, except perhaps given more details. Wasta Linux a custom version of Linux, sort of a distro that is SIL maintained and handles well certain thorny issues like complex scripts and keyboard, “out of the box” so to speak. An application, such as Bloom runs in that environment well.
The advantage of an Linux based machine, in your case, running off the inserted USB stick in real time and not using the other memory of the main computer, is that all the data can live on the USB as well, so when you unplug the memory stick, say from the Library computer, both your software environment and your Bloom books can walk away in your pocket. That is very cool indeed. Plus NO VIRUSES whatsoever. Since Linux is not Windows, most of the viruses in the world are immediately thwarted by an “alien” environment. That too is extremely powerful in the African and Asian context where I formerly worked.
As for cell/mobile phone I would assume you are planning to use the memory of the phone as a storage device and then plug in as if it where a USB memory stick. That would probably work, but I have never done this. If you are asking for a full running Bloom design app running say in the Andorid OS space… that doesn’t exist as far as I know, and I can imagine with the tiny screens involved would not be desirable… but tablets are another story. Maybe the developers could see a “tablet Bloom” as a great feature request, but that would asking a lot of the developers at this time with limited resources. Hope this all helps.