One triumph of my trip back to the Midwest (back now) was that I finally convinced my parents to ditch their old Imac G3 job for a shiny new 21" Imac. The old one was running OSX 10.2, and was getting to the point of being almost useless.

My mom, who uses the machine more than my dad (who mostly uses it for accounting) is now deliriously happy. Due to typing difficulties, she rejected the "modern" keyboard that came with the new machine and plugged in the more conventional keyboard from the old Imac. I can't blame her at all. I still use old PC-AT keyboards myself.

Last year I talked them into broadband, and the two combined are great. When my mom has computer trouble, I can now use this little piece of software to open her screen here at home and help her out. The company has a "day pass" deal for about ten bucks that lets me hook up as needed without paying the huge price for an unlimited license (over $600).