4 Essential Elements for Your Parents' IT Care Package

Your parents know how to turn on the computer and are getting better at sending texts. But let’s face it, they are basically clueless when it comes to technology. Have you ever once seen your mom pick up that iPad you and your brother chipped in to get her for Christmas? Probably not unless she’s reading a book. She doesn’t know how to use it. Now that you’re away at college and the other kids are already out of the house, your parents are floating around in technological darkness.

Since you’re not at their beck and call for tech support anymore, give them a helping hand. They’ve sent you plenty of care packages of the comforts of home since you’ve been at school. Why not do the same for them with an IT care package? Include items allowing your parents to handle their Internet and tablet needs on their own (or by you, remotely).

Spyware Protection

Most parents don’t have a clue how to protect their computers from spyware. They may not even know how important it is to do that or how easy it is for someone to hack into their computer. Fortunately, you do know and you can help them. Teach them how to avoid spyware by sending them your favorite anti-spyware program with instructions for how to install and use it. Include the tech support number for their Internet service provider if they have any trouble removing existing spyware from their computer. They’ll love you for it once they realize how important this is to computer security.

Skype

It’s inevitable. Your parents will need personal help from you every now and then until you get them independent enough to handle computer issues on their own. Send them to Skype and instruct them to download it. If they have a real problem that only you can solve, they can have a face to face conversation with you and you can walk them through it until they get it right. Just make sure they know that Skype is like the Batphone as far as you’re concerned — they should only use it to contact you in a computer-based emergency. You’re not a one-person tech support department who is always on call and this is something your parents have to learn.

Remote Assistance

Sometimes, even an in-person conversation isn’t enough to help parents solve their tech problems. You’ve simply got to do it yourself. In the past, this might have been a problem if you were across the country at school. Now, you can take charge of your parents’ computer wherever you are with Remote Assistance for Windows. This will only work if they have a PC, but most parents aren’t Mac-savvy (as you discovered with the iPad incident).

Remote access can be installed on both your computer and theirs. You can use it to simply get into their computer and fix the problem for them. Remind them that this option is to be used even less frequently than Skype. Ask them to consider Remote Assistance the 9-1-1 call of tech support for you. There may be financial penalties for misusing it, just like in the real world, such as having to send you extra gas or grocery money this month.

Google

This is probably the simplest solution to any computer problem. It’s also the one your parents are most likely to overlook. Send them a big sticky note with the word Google.com written on it in their IT care package. Remind them that any tech question they have can often be answered by Googling it and then following the instructions found on a website Google provides. This should save a lot of unnecessary phone, Skype and Remote Assistance sessions with you, so you can finally untie those tech support apron strings and start to enjoy the college life at last, knowing your parents are on their way to becoming IT independent.

Henry Tinsley — Henry teaches business courses and ESL at his local community college.

Gadgets that look promising for Christmas! (2013)

Christmas is coming!

I thought it was high time to do another good post about Christmas gifts.  I how ever am going to do it a little more different this year.   I thought we should at least show you girls what men may want this year and why.  

• Google Nexus 7 — With Google slashing the Nexus 4 Unlocked phones by 100$ which means you can now do more things with an unlocked android phone than ever before.   The only downside is it has no 4G capabilities.   I am certain they are slashing the prices to introduce a 4G phone in the near future.
• Nexus 10 — Which looks extremely nice and sleek is one of those ones that any man would love to get during Christmas!  
• Netflix — I am probably going to keep telling people this but at least this is one of those that you can’t go wrong with.   Great movies and great shows for the geek in all of us.  
• A new Phone — I have been helping my sister decide for a new phone and I would recommend a Samsung Galaxy S3 or S4 device from Virgin Mobile.   It is one of those that I have been wanting because I could use this at work!

Finally the one thing that you probably want to know about is what I’ve talked about in the past two to 3 years and here they are:

• Christmas Gift List for 2012 : How to Shop for the Geek in all of Us!
• After Holiday Inventory — What you should know and why!
• How to find the right Tech gift your significant other (Christmas Tips)

As you can see I’ve done a few post on the subject, afterall I know what I’d want at least that is a start for you as well.  I am sure it isn’t going to be simple for the man of yours but at least you know where to start!

After Holiday Inventory -- What you should know and why!

After Christmas is time to relax!

So you've given you family some technology gadget for Christmas and you really didn't research it.  It always seems to happen that way.  We're so excited we found something that we think will do the job.   I know all about this because my extended family seems to want to give these types of gifts to my kids and their own.  So here is a quick breakdown on what I've observed over the last few days and what seemed to worked and what didn't.

• Kindle Fire HD 7' [Affiliate Link]-- So my sister got one of her kids this and I must say she wasn't happy.   Here are a few things you need to worry about.   Easily remove parental controls without a password, and no wall charger for it.  Seems kind of useless to give to kids right now.
• Paper Jams Pro Guitar [Affiliate Link]-- My kid got this one, but It isn't really that good.   I don't think it sounds anything like a guitar but it does work really well to entertain my kids.  I personally would of wanted something a little more authentic but it does the job.  
• Nintendo DS Lite [Affiliate Link]-- This is one of the ones that I bought my kids and knew they'd play this very much.   It wasn't easy to find the games they liked but if you search around you should have a lot of success like I did.  Worth the money I paid for it, keeps my kids happy.
• Cricket Phone [Affiliate Link]-- I have talked about Cricket Wireless in the past but recently they are being available in my local area.  I might go back to them if it looks to be more reliable.  I've loved them in the past but it seems to be a good choice for my daughter even if I didn't think she was ready for it.
• Skywriter UFO [Affiliate Link]-- Great little helicopter for my 7 year old.   He loves to fly this helicopter around and write out messages.  It was worth the money to buy this little beauty.   It probably won't last long but it as least is being used and flown around the house.

So this was my quick breakdown on the electronics that worked and what you should be careful in your future buys.   I'll be talking with my other sisters about what they gave their kids and will report back later.   It however is just luck what works with my kids, as it probably does with your kids.   So I just wanted to tell you my experiences and let you decide what they might want to get for their birthdays or next year when it comes to buying gifts.

Happy New Year and I'll see you in 2013!!

Paul Sylvester

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