Have your linux handy

My wife and I just cant stand running MS-Windows, often a system is locked down for security or other annoying reasons, I get past this with DSL (Damn Small Linux). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damn_Small_Linux
This is run from a tiny I-stick usb drive which is the same thickness and just a bit longer than a SD card.
DSL used to be a business card size CD distro
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_card#Other_formats
it was a hack down of Knoppix taking up about 50meg and bootable on almost any pentium or higher x86 MS-Windows system.
This easy guide will lead you through the process of making DSL for you USB keychain drive on a MS-Windows system
http://www.althack.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=27
Why not carry a businesscard cd? These mini cd's are great as gifts if you can find the business card form factor but carrying one in your wallet will leave you with an unusable scratched or cracked CD in about a month of normal wear. The DSL CD is still useful for older machines which will not boot from A USB port, just think about protection of its surface.
Having your own portable Linux is useful when visiting and you dont want to touch or install on a local system, or if you are annoyed by MS-Windows. My 128Meg USB key has 11meg left after installing DSL and Putty ssh client.
Putty is used when accessing a server shell account it is tiny and can be run from your USB keychain on even the slowest machines. http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/
One of the neat features of newer versions of DSL is that it has an emulator so it can be run in a window on a regular MS-Windows system even if you are unable to boot off of the usb stick.  ¶ 1:05 AM