Remote controlling your computer: How logmein.com has saved my sanity.

[Clint Checketts]

Here's a fact of life at any University: any lab computer will never be 'your' computer. There are plenty of common sense reasons: security, performance, customiztions. You know what I mean, you have your home machine just how you like it, and every class on campus you have to go to a new lab with a different computer.

This is a mild annoyance for 99% of the rest of the students, for an IS student though, it can be fatal. (Well, not fatal, but blue screen of death annoying maybe) So here's a solution: logmein.com

If you want to use your computer at home you can set it up and get it running just how you like it then go to logmein.com and create a free user account. They don't even ask for your credit card. You just set up the account and install their service on your home computer (it's quite secure) and you can then assess it from anywhere via the internet.

Requirements:
-The home machine must be running Microsoft Windows
-You will want a reasonable always-on internet connection. (Normal DSL works fine for me)


Benefits:
-You can always get to your computer
-You aren't tied to any particular client machine (you can move around in class finally!)
-Since only the GUI is running on your client machine you can run it on a wimpy laptop while the powerhouse at home runs the server, ide, and other software
-You can finally do tech support for your mother-in-law without having to purchase a plane ticket


-Clint

[xman]

I think that you answered your question in your statement. The real
answer is to get a laptop that can handle those kinds of operations.
Why bother with going through some company that says they are secure
only to find out that they really weren't. A laptop, which by the way
is required as of this fall, is your safest bet. You can take it where
ever you want to and still be able to get everything done. Also, one
point about logmein, you can't transfer files, so if you have to print
something out, you can't. If you want to save something, it's saved at
home. The answer to this is to get the paid version, where as the free
version doesn't allow that freedom. One other thought on logmein is
that your computer must be running all the time. This might not be
such a hassle for some students, but for me, a poor married college
student, I try to conserve as much energy as I can so my electric bill
isn't through the roof. Just a thought.

[John Martinson]

Pretty Good pro-con list here.  Obviously there is not one answer for everyone. But with knowledge we can go forth and make educated decisions.

[Clint Checketts]

On 3/21/06, xman <dultima...@gmail.com> wrote:

I think that you answered your question in your statement.

There was no question here. I was posting to help others.

The real answer is to get a laptop that can handle those kinds of operations.

You forget that a number of students already have a laptop (some are a couple of years old) and my weak laptop (only 2 years old) cost 1,300 while a simple powerhouse desktop I built was only $800. In the end I already have two computers that can connect with a very nice development environment available at home.

I'm sure many other students have solid computers at home while powerhouse laptops will always cost much more than an equivalent desktop (because of portability and power issues). That is why I offer this solution

Why bother with going through some company that says they are secure only to find out that they really weren't.

 Tell me more about 'finding out that they weren't' secure. I'm sure other would be interested. Otherwise FUD is, um, pointless.

 

Also, one point about logmein, you can't transfer files, so if you have to print something out, you can't.  If you want to save something, it's saved at home.  The answer to this is to get the paid version, where as the free version doesn't allow that freedom.

I would recommend emailing files to yourself (gmail gives you 2.7 gig of space) we'll save the headaches of printing from a laptop using the current campus setup for another thread. The paid for version of logmein isn't necessary since gmail is good enough.

-Clint

[Reed Stone]

a great way to enable file transfers and avoid paying for the
functonalaty or emailing would be to set up your own service. Ultra VNC
is a Source Forge project that enables you to do just that. you would
have to put up with cconffiguring it and it would only work if you have
control of your network as there are some ffirewall and port forwarding
issues that need to be worked out.

[Marn...@gmail.com]

Just a couple of points...

Security isn't really an issue with logmein. On their webpage they
publish a security spec
(https://secure.logmein.com/go.asp?page=security) of which
incidentally, Bro. Rigby approved.

Like Clint mentioned, for many of the seniors that are leaving soon,
its not worth the time or cost to upgrade / purchase a new labtop (as
most businesses will give you a new one - anyone remember the student
that was trying to sell his a while back for 650, because his job got
him a brand new one?) Logmein, is simply a useful alternative for many
students which already have a desktop and no desire / ability to switch
over to labtops yet. (Besides a labtop that matches or comes close to
my desktop specs is over 3k...)

[john.g.m...@gmail.com]

Just a clarification,

As I seem to remember Prof. Rigby did not endorse or "approve" the spec
but simply said it didn't look bad or something along those lines and
that he didn't have time to check it all out.

But we are educated and can read for ourselves so check out the link
and judge for yourself.

-- john

[Marn...@gmail.com]

John is correct (my bad)... Bro. Rigby didn't exactly approve it, he
just said it looked pretty good.

[xman]

Whoever said that you have to have a powerhouse computer as a laptop?
There is a reason that there are guidlines for buying laptops. With
the specs that they gave, one could reasonably execute nearly all
programs. I agree that not everyone has a great laptop, me included,
but I'm going to have to buy one in the future. I'm not bashing
logmein, obviously I have used it, as well as many other remote control
programs. My current job actually requires them, specifically Altiris
6.5, so I know the implications of using remote control. Both options,
logmein and a laptop, are just different ways of doing the same thing.
The only reason that anyone really indicates that they must get a
high-end, top-of-the-line laptop is because of hype and bragging
rights. You can disagree with me all you want, but I am a computer
geek also and I know how things work.

[Makoa]

After trying out logmein I totally agree with the posts made about it
being an excelent alternative to buying a new laptop. I have recently
started using the service and have not only been impressed with the
quality and ease of use but also the security it offers. Ii'm not sure
what the above poster meant by saying, " Why bother with going through

some company that says they are secure only to find out that they

really weren't" but I have also talked to Brother Rigby who endorsed
their security. If I had a spare $1,500 sitting around I would love to
go out and get a laptop that would measure up to the desktop I
currently have, but like most other students that kind of money isn't
sitting around so loginme in continues to be an excelent alternative.
True it does have some limitations with the free version, but Clint and
Reed both offered solutions for some of them (emailing yourself the
files needed has worked great for me). But all in all i'm gona have to
give Clint a 2 thumbs up on his post and bringing this service to the
attention of everyone.

[Clint Checketts]

On 3/21/06, Makoa <tect...@gmail.com> wrote:

But all in all i'm gona have to give Clint a 2 thumbs up on his post and bringing this service to the attention of everyone.

Thanks for the kuddos. I'm passing them on to Ben Finnigan who introduced me to it.

I honestly thought he was crazy for using remote control software last term since it seemed slower, but now that I've tried it I've changed my tune.

-Clint

[William Dalton]

After the many statements and opinions that have been given on the matter, this is a statement I would like to make.  Do whatever your little heart desires.  You are free to choose for yourself the path to computing success or headache.  But one man's headache is another's nirvana.  <humor>If you want to use remote software do it. If you want to buy a laptop do it.  Anything you want to, do it, as long as it's legal and ethical there's nothing to it.</humor>  We seem to wrap ourselves up into trying to convince others that our way is the best way but what have learned during our process of becoming IT professionals.  When confronted with a problem the solution is always "it depends".  It depends on many constraints: money, time, compatability, scalability, usability, and whatever the boss says. <philosphical moment> And if we haven't learned anything from our major we should at least leave with the fact that how smart we think we are is probably not very smart at all but how capable we've become to learn, apply and critically think will be the measure of our success.</philosophical moment>

 

There's my two bits for what they're worth.

 

-Chuck

[WayneH...@gmail.com]

Personally, I set up my own VPN server at home. Once authenticated at
home I can remote desktop to anything on my home network (the server
itself, my pc, or laptop). I think it's an elegant solution to the
problem of needing remote access. This solves the problem of printing,
storing, etc. because you can copy files as if you were on the LAN.

However, it doesn't solve the power issue. I am a 'poor married
college student' too, but I find the benefits of being able to get
access to my network from school out weigh the costs of an increased
power bill.

I'm not here to dis, just that there are other solutions that meet my
security requirements and ability to have 100% to my files.

[wheaties.box]

I'm always excited to come across new programs to try out, as I'm sure
most of us are. When I read this post about logmein.com, the usual
excitement came and I immediatedly downloaded their client. I was
disappointed to find that they only offer a Windows version of their
software. I use Linux on two of the three computers that I have up
here at college (one laptop and one desktop). These two machines have
no trace of windows on them--I made sure of that ;)

The laptop that I use Windows on (the "powerhouse" of the bunch) is
usually with me, so remote login to that would be dumb. I have over
400GB of space that I would like to be able to take better advantage of
in my desktop, but if I'm always away from my desktop (class/work) it
becomes more complicated. My desktop is used for a good portion of my
development. Also, all of my computers reside behind at least two hard
firewalls. I control one of those firewalls, but I have no admin
access to any others. Does anyone know of a program like logmein.com
that allows such functionality for Linux behind firewalls?

Or perhaps how to circumvent the firewalls to access my own files ;) j/k

[xman]

I know how you feel. I run Ubuntu on my laptop and windows xp on my
desktop. Try this site out http://www.freeos.com/articles/3292/
It uses VNC, although I haven't personally tried it out yet. Hope it
helps

[wheaties.box]

Thank you for the suggestion. I've used VNC quite a bit in the past,
and I still occasionally use it. Sometimes I hop onto my desktop from
this laptop (Pentium 1, 300Mhz, 32MB RAM with DSL as my flavor of
Linux) using VNC. The problem here is that I've never had it work
through a firewall without setting up port forwarding. Any pointers
here?

[xman]

Unless you have access to that router to get a port forewarding, you
might be out of luck. The only reason that Logmein.com works is
because you load an agent from both ends and then they both talk to the
proxy at logmein.com. That way you are going through the firewall from
the inside and you can connect to it. I haven't heard of any Linux
program that does that, so you might just have to wait. Sorry

[wheaties.box]

blast.

thanks.... I suppose it's about time to start writing another custom
program and conquer the world one more time ;)

[Tones]

I haven't looked at their security spec, and I haven't used them
either, and I'm not going to say that they are bad or anything, ....
but keep in mind that even though they may say that they are secure and
what not, policies can only go so far. You never know if one of their
employees is breaking their policy or security system and logging into
your computer or something.

I guess what I'm saying, is yeah, they may claim to be nice, but who
says that everyone that has access, (either authorized or unauthorized)
is nice too.

[Clint Checketts]

On 3/27/06, Tones <ant...@rexburg.com> wrote:

You never know if one of their employees is breaking their policy or security system and logging into your computer or something.

Actually, their system logs every access to your computer and even everytime you log onto the website itself so you can track access. :)

I agree that whenever using another system it is important to investigate it and not just take some marketing guy's word for it. Thanks for bringing up that point.

-Clint
PS- Its good to see you Anthony

[Tejay Cardon]

Furthermore, there is no such thing as secure.  This is really like any other security concern out there.   You have to make your computer harder to break into than it is worth.  In the case of most of our home computers, I think we are safe with these risks.  Worst case senario we have to rebuild a computer.  However, if you set this up on a corporate machine you are nuts.

Tejay

On 3/27/06, Tones <ant...@rexburg.com> wrote:

[wheaties.box]

excellent point. I have a philosophy that I stick to when people ask
me if I can do something.... If it's on the computer, chances are that
it can be accomplished. All it takes is time. In some situations,
that could be years of research and experimentation, but it the end it
is likely that the solution will be found. I'm not sure if that made
sense, so let me give you a simple example:

You know the sites that disable right clicking to protect their
content, right? Say... photos or something. If you can see something
on your computer screen, you can always get it into a format that you
can work with.

Anything is possible if you really want it to be. As stated before,
security doesn't *really* exist. If something exists on a computer,
there are always ways to access it. It would just take time and
patience. All we can do is make things more frustrating for anyone
trying to access our data (if we have things worth securing). That is
why I have my own firewall--too many people were leeching off of my
system before my mission. Have fun getting into my computers now :D

Putting something on our computers that gives access to one or more
persons is just asking to be hacked. It's an open port mates. That is
announcing that your system is not necessarily secure.

I'm rambling. Oh well, deal with it.

[Tones]

Clint,

Cool. Do they give the end user access to that report, or is that for
their own internal use?

-Anthony