With flashy Web 2.0 applications popping up left and right, my favorite new tech tool is a little closer to home:
Plain old Windows Remote Desktop.
If you haven’t heard of it, remote desktop allows you to control a computer at a distance online. Other than a slight delay in accepting commands, it works just like using windows. The desktop of the remote PC shows up on the one you’re using.
Sure, it isn’t perfect. I wish I could drag and drop files between computers when logged in remotely. But for basic productivity, remote desktop is a lifesaver. When I’m at the reference desk and things are slow, I work on projects that require my office computer. When I’m at my office PC and need to reference travel plans on my computer at home, I can do that too. Of course, I have to plan ahead and leave the computer on that I’m trying to access.
During the Gaming in Libraries conference, I needed to get some information from e-mail stored on my work computer. I sent an e-mail from my laptop to the co-worker I share an office with. She pushed the power button on my PC, and voila! Full remote desktop access to a computer in Alabama from Chicago.
Maybe I’m easily amazed, but we do live in amazing times.