Ryan J.com

Like most techno savy individuals I find myself frequently needing to help family and friends to fix their computer problems.  Most of the time the  issue is something I would be able to fix within a few minutes if I were physically at the location.  Since that can't always be the case I have taken to remotely connect whenever possible in order to be as efficient as possible.  Previously I used Window's Remote Desktop feature to do this but recently something changed with my mom's router/computer configuration that kept me from making a connection to her machine.  After multiple failed attempts I was about to give up when I stumbled across an application called CrossLoop.  CrossLoop is a "simple, secure" and FREE method of connecting remotely.  All that is necessary is for both parties involved to download and install the CrossLoop application and create an account.  Once everything is set up you will see a screen like below... allowing you to either share (give access) or access (gain access) to a machine remotely.

Access

Share

That is all there is to it. The application takes care of the rest and you can be on your way to fixing problems in less than 2 minutes! So far I have had no issues and connected at least 4-5 times to someone's PC to help out.

Give it a try!

Here is a quote as of this writing taken directly from the Comcast Help & Support page:

"Comcast initiated the 250 GB monthly data usage threshold on October 1, 2008."

So, you see that? I'm lucky enough to not be forced into using their service (yet), however, my parents aren't as lucky. I have been looking since around May at different pieces of software that allow you to monitor your bandwidth to keep below this limit.  Either through the router or by making an educated guess by monitoring the machine being used most on a network.  Granted, you may think this is a lot of usage... but my mom happens to work as a transcriptionist pulling down large files pretty frequently during her work day.

I ran across a Lifehacker article talking about a piece of software called Networx created by a company called Softperfect.  I installed this app and I've been watching it's footprint for a while now.  The actual download is less than 1Mb in size and it seems to be averaging 7Mb of memory usage - pretty good if you ask me!