PonyProg can use the serial port or the parallel port, depending on the interface that you use. As for me, I use PonyProg with the so-called "STK200" dongle (the "dongle" is the "interface," it has a '244 and some other misc. parts on it) for the chips PonyProg supports. Problem is, for me, it doesn't support many of the ones I like to use, esp. with higher densities. That's why I built my own. It transfers binary files using a terminal program using XModem/CRC Protocol. Next week I'm going to start on a DataFlash programmer using the same scheme, unless one of ya'll knows of an existing programmer for PC->DataFlash.
j.