When I bought my first USB stick years ago (a Viking 512MB), I use to stream MP3s from it at work. I "broke" 2 usb sticks within a couple of months doing this, and the company RMAed me a replacment both times. After removing the USB stick at the end of the day, all data would be corrupted on the stick. I could see my files, but they would mysteriously start disappearing.

Like I said, this was years ago, but since then, I don't run much stuff off of my USB sticks.

Does this sound like a fault on this particular manufacturers USB sticks? Is there a Do's and Don'ts list for USB sticks? Whats the average lifespan?

I used the tutorial at http://www.tamba2.org.uk/wordpress/usb/
to install Wordpress on a usb drive that I use as a personal journal. Works great.

Mike Panic pointed to a Lifehacker post about lost thumbdrives and a nifty solution. This whole thread (that the LH thread pointed to) was an interesting read:
http://www.dailycupoftech.com/have-your-lost-usb-drive-ask...

Also, JrezIN, I think you are on to something with the partitioned thumbdrives. The first to market a drive with simple partitioning (not those lame "security zones") would make a mint. Truecrypt could then encrypt one partition while leaving the others alone, etc.

Also note that I have a SanDisk Micro (1GB). I have run it through the washer and dryer several times...and it works incredibly (and cleaner).

Personally, I enjoy using the "Webserver on a Stick":

http://www.chsoftware.net/en/useware/wos/wos.htm

It's great because I can test and deploy code, databases, etc. to the portable webserver without having a live internet connection (ie, on the road, on the plane, or in a not-so-free hotspot). Then once I get to my live connection, I can copy the files up on to my 'real' webserver. Plus, it's a small footprint.

The older version was huge, but now, you can pick and choose what packages you want installed. Me? I stick with Apache, MySQL, and PHP.

Wikipedia has a nice comprehensive list of a ton of portable apps, and not just the ones listed at portableapps.com.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_portable_software

I run InstantRails on my thumb drive, which really comes in handy as I shuttle between home and work. And because I can't stand Notepad, I also carry around a copy of Notepad2 on the drive, and use it as my editing environment when I'm on a friend's computer.