Tech Thoughts

Moving along in the calendar, I completed an online RSVP for an engagement party. You see, back in the old days, when we wanted to announce a family occasion, we sent out professionally made invitations. (Think of all those innocent trees!) We hired a professional calligraphy expert to address the envelopes. And, those wanting to send gifts would either send a check or call up the gift registry at the national chain store. Oh, and don't forget the small fortune spent on postage in both directions! Our kids will never believe that we used to do it this way! If you have any event coming up, it is worth visiting Paperless Post . It allows for instant notification as to how many people are coming. It allows everyone to write something cutesy on your wall & post pictures. They can order gifts directly from the wedding registry. There is no postage cost either. We should continue to share good times!

DISCLAIMER: Please don't use this tool for spying on anyone illegally or immorally. There are times when, as a boss, you wonder if your employees are really working as hard as they should or are they checking personal e-mail, Facebook & Twitter -- or YouTube.  Recently, I came across a great (FREE) tool which can track employee (or kid) productivity, instantly perform stealth screen captures, list which apps are being used, run a nice mix of reports & other great song & dance features. Let me introduce you to: ActivTrak  ( https://activtrak.com/ ) If you have an interest in monitoring someone's productivity, this is a good place to start.

It's been some time since I've setup a Hamachi VPN for a client, but alas it looks like we're about to go down this road again.  However, what is becoming clear to me is that some users are unclear as to the differences b/w using a VPN vs. a remote solution like TeamViewer or LogMeIn . Without getting into the techno-babble, let me draw a clear distinction: When using a VPN, you are doing your work on your VPN-enabled device while accessing the data within the network, but most likely it resides on a different device. In contrast, when using a remote solution like TeamViewer or LogMeIn , you are running a program on your device which takes remote control of a PC in the office, which by design has access to resources. Was that clear?

https://www.grammarly.com I will admit that the spell-checker has been a godsend for my writing. However, recently I found a great browser add-on that catches my typos on the fly. Linked above, Grammarly catches my typos, punctuation mistakes and stylish inconsistancies. My only concern is that "smart" technology seems to keep making us dumber. Once spell-checker came along, we no longer needed to know how to spell everything. This closely resembles how math skills have gone down with the advent of calculators. And, likewise, perhaps my grammar skills might take a dive if the computer covers for me. I'm using this technology, but with some concern.