Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Log Me In! We here at What's Up have been impressed of late with the ease and utility of LogMeIn.com, a free downloadable program that enables you (with permission and by prior arrangement) to access and operate a designated computer from afar: your office computer from home or an internet cafe in Papua New Guinea, for example, or your father-in-law's computer in Connecticut. With the free version of LogMeIn, you can work on documents and check email -- even send yourself an attachment of the file you forgot to bring. You can help distant friends and family sort out software problems by taking over temporary command of their computer. With the Pro version ($12.95 US per month) you can also transfer files from one computer to another efficiently and in bulk. If you are planning a research trip, you can (upon request) arrange for a Pro subscription for just a month at a time. Security is an obvious concern, but LogMeIn allows only designated users access to designated machines. The program is fast and remarkably easy to set up, and helpful and efficient support staff are just an email or 1-800 call away.