;;;  segregation
;;; '(1 2 3 4 5 6) -> (seg 3 ls) -> #((1 4) (2 5) (3 6))
(defun seg (m ls0)
  (let ((a (make-array m)))
    (labels ((rec (i ls)
               (if ls
                   (progn
                     (push (car ls) (aref a (mod i m)))
                     (rec (1+ i) (cdr ls)))
                 (dotimes (j m)
                   (setf (aref a j) (nreverse (aref a j)))))))
      (rec 0 ls0)
      a)))

;;; a simple launcher			      
(defmacro launch (&rest apps)
  (let* ((a (seg 2 apps))
         (lsym (mapcar #'(lambda (name) (intern (concat "launch-" name))) (aref a 0))))
    `(progn
       ,@(mapcar #'(lambda (sym exe)
                     `(defun ,sym ()
                        (interactive)
                        (call-process ,exe)))
                 lsym (aref a 1))
       (add-hook '*post-startup-hook*
                 #'(lambda ()
                     (add-popup-menu *app-menu*
                                     (define-popup-menu
                                      ,@(mapcar #'(lambda (sym name)
                                                    `(:item nil ,name ',sym))
                                                lsym (aref a 0)))
                                     "‹N“®"))))))

;;; change following according to your use and system
(launch "ftp"   "d:\\wbin\\ffftp\\ffftp.exe"
        "mail"  "c:\\Program Files\\Mozilla Thunderbird\\thunderbird.exe"
        "www"   "c:\\Program Files\\Mozilla Firefox\\firefox.exe"
        "word"  "c:\\Program Files\\OpenOffice.org 1.9.79\\program\\swriter.exe"
        "calc"  "c:\\Program Files\\OpenOffice.org 1.9.79\\program\\scalc.exe"
        "draw"  "c:\\Program Files\\OpenOffice.org 1.9.79\\program\\sdraw.exe")