Your gigantic desktop at home doesn’t have to collect dust while you’re away traveling and can actually come in quite handy protecting your home, files, and taking some of the bandwidth burden off your laptop. These tips are also useful for those of you with parents or other relatives who aren’t especially tech savvy but kind enough to give you a digital hand.
Turn That Desktop Into An Offline Backup Center
Crashplan is incredibly easy to setup and once you select the files and folders you want, the program works in the background keeping a backup of your travel pictures in a distant second location.
There are a number of ways to get around regional censorship like Hotspot Shield and its alternatives; yet still you can turn your home computer into a private proxy. The free Hamachi2 lets you create private VPNs, giving you the benefit of a proxy whose bandwidth is all yours, generally providing quicker access than using a public VPN.
Remote desktop has many uses personally for you, but if you’re using a less-than-computer-literate relative’s computer it can also be a good way to do a little remote support to keep your folks quiet to help out your family when they can’t find the Internet Explorer icon.
A Home Security System
Let your desktop keep an eye on your house for you by being your digital eyes and ears. Most desktop monitors or USB ports have cameras attached to them these days; and using motion-detection software like Yawcam (Windows) or iAlertu (Mac) you can get email (photo) updates if any uninvited guests happen to walk past your living room. You can also configure either program to quietly keep an eye on any house-sitters or Couchsurfers if you happen to be the suspicious type.
Task Scheduler built into Windows 7 and the Mac-equivalent Automator can automatically open and close any noisy applications around dinner time and the weekend.
Offline backup services like Crashplan are good for a shotgun approach to backup but when it comes to your latest travel photos, travel reservations, or downloaded travel guides, Dropbox can be your direct route to backup. The little folder Dropbox creates can be synced back and forth with your computer at home in case you accidentally delete your hostel reservations or end up with a corrupt memory card.
Dropbox also creates yet another backup point for you which can be synced with mobile devices as well – for quick access in tight trains or metro systems.
Your Downloading Workhorse
Don’t let your desktop sit on idle Internet hands and save your own web access by initiating large downloads remotely. The (hopefully) stable and secure connection will help you avoid broken or disconnected downloads. Using the aforementioned remote desktop you can browse for the applications or large files you need and then use Dropbox to sync them back to yourself.
Chances are your home computer has a better Internet connection than most hostels or hotels and you can just pickup the files when needed. Better yet, have the downloads save directly to your Dropbox folder so there’s even less for you to micromanage.
Think Online When You’re Offline
Your desktop can be your connection to the Internet on your behalf, downloading, backing up, and securing your home while you’re enjoying life offline in countries around the world. There are about multiple ways to perform the tasks above and several other ways to put your desktop (and Internet connection bill) to creative use. It’s certainly better than letting both computer and connection go idle; that time away from the Internet is reserved for you, not your desktop.
[photos by: Cennydd (desktop computer), Images by John ‘K’ (dead hard drive), ismh_ (computer within a computer), Johan Larsson (syncing mobile device), mag3737 (working horses)]