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Recently, someone in my family was not able to get into their home PC with their password, and called for assistance. This means having to drive down to the machine to see what they are doing, and log in with the appropriate account that can reset that password. Work commitments preclude driving there right away to see what is happening, and I am trying to locate a remote access solution. If they were logged into the machine, I could use some sort of remote assistance tool, but that is not an option in this case. There is the possibility of setting up SSH or OpenVPN to access the machine via the Internet, but I am not certain leaving those tools running all the time is the smartest idea in this day and age.
What recommendations do the Soylent community have for securely managing a machine over the Internet when someone is not logged into it?
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Sunday April 30 2017, @08:53PM (2 children)
Um, which 70 year olds are those?
People in my family. Relatives of my friends. Lots of older folks.
I know at least a few people over seventy who have a programming background
So do I. Please re-read my post. The one sentence you quoted sounds like an overgeneralization, but you will note that I specifically referred to blue-collar workers, many of whom may have retired before they got a lot of computer experience.
In fact, with the single exception of my 89 year old mother I don't know a single person over the age of 65 who doesn't have smart phones, computers, or tablets, and usually all three.
My family members I referenced have all three too. That doesn't mean they have any clue how to use more than their most basic features.
It's absurd to suggest that we are any less capable of using technology than you are.
I didn't suggest any older people are "less capable" of learning how to use technology. I used the word "intuition" in the very quote you used, which is something that generally comes from experience. I merely suggested that many older people lack significant experience, and it's pretty much an established psychological fact that older folks have a harder time absorbing new skills. I myself will admit to that -- I certainly don't "pick things up" as fast as I did 10 or 20 years ago.
In other words, you can't complain about old people not understanding tech, and then also complain that they've taken over Facebook and Twitter.
Who is complaining about older people taking over Facebook and Twitter? I don't give a crap about either.
The problem is aptitude or training, not age.
And my statement was that a larger percentage of people over the age of ~70 (maybe closer to ~75 now) had significantly less exposure to technology (which means less training) than people tend to in everyday work, etc. today. Therefore, the minimal skills many of them have are somewhat limited to tasks they actually do everyday (see the list at the end of my email).
By no means did I mean to imply (and I certainly didn't say) that older people are all stupid or incompetent or whatever you think I said. And plenty are experienced and have spent decades working with computers, etc., but it's more likely to find those who AREN'T among older people than younger ones.
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Sunday April 30 2017, @09:14PM (1 child)
By the way, if anything my statements were meant to mirror the adage that was popular about 20 years ago about how people needed the grandkids to program their VCR. I assume you remember when people used to say that. And I'm sure, given your background, you were able to program your own VCR at the time. That didn't make the statement less apt for lots of older folks.
But really what it was about was unfamiliarity with interfaces coupled with decreasing desire to experiment with new tech. How many older people back then really cared enough to program their VCR? Most of them certainly didn't fiddle around with buttons on the remote just to see what they did as their grandkids did.
Now we have devices like tablets that have dozens or even hundreds of times the number of functions that those VCRs did, often with interfaces that are just as unintuitive, non-discoverable, and filled with jargon.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 30 2017, @10:28PM
the adage that was popular about 20 years ago about how people needed the grandkids to program their VCR. I assume you remember when people used to say that.
Hey, Gramps! What's a "VCR"?
(See, now the grandkids need a grandparent to explain what magnetic tape was, why we say "dial" a phone, and how to wear on onion on your belt.)