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You all know this is probably the busiest time of the year for a blogger. It’s great that I get to work from home especially when I have company. My parents are arriving this evening from Canada to spend some time with us over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Then I realized – my mom is going to want to use a computer while they’re here. And that’s hard for me to let her do, because no matter how many times we tell her to not click links in e-mails, she just doesn’t listen. Admittedly, it’s partially my fault – my husband and I got her her first computer. The pluses of being able to e-mail across the border seemed to outweigh any problems she might inadvertently cause on it. The verdict is still out on that one.
It makes me feel a little guilty sometimes to tell her that I don’t want her mucking around on using my computer, but I rely on it to be free of junk in order to get all my blogging and social media done. Reformatting my computer is NOT on the menu for the next 10 days.
But I was recently asked to be a Hotspot Shield Ambassador, and after learning more about this software and what it does, I can turn my frown upside down and let my mom play Bejeweled on her game site (she actually just messaged me last night on Facebook to ask me if she could play it on my computer while she is here!) and let her check her e-mail with little to no worries. No more pointing my finger at her and telling her to ‘behave’ when it comes to her internet browsing (talk about role reversal!).
Hotspot Shield is a VPN service which secures browsing sessions, detects and blocks malware, and hides IP addresses. While I got a trial run of the Elite version which does not display ads, there is a free version to download.
I generally research software pretty in depth before I’ll just download and install it but after reading what Hotspot Shield does, I jumped onto the bandwagon with our laptop and my iPhone so I could secure our networks at home and on the go.
Do you have guests coming to visit over the holidays that will want to use your computers or tablets? Then Download Hotspot Shield. It’s Free! You’ll get Malware Protection, Internet Privacy, Security and more by downloading Hotspt Shield VPN today. You can also purchase the Elite Version which is ad-free. You can also connect with Hotspot Shield on Facebook and Twitter.
I am compensated by Hotspot Shield to share my experiences with it, but if you knew my reluctance to let my mom even power on my laptop you’d know that the opinions about Hotspot Shield are truly my own, because I’m actually letting her use my laptop while they visit this week!
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Tammy Litke is a Dallas blogger, blogging since 2008. She loves to watch movies, play video games, spend time in the kitchen, and travel. Between recipes and reviews you’ll find many helpful and some just plain funny posts on her blog. Welcome, pull up a chair and stay for a while!
I will have to try this for my grandma! She is 75 years old and loves using the computer to stay in touch with family and friends, but always ends up with viruses.
That's awesome that it protects against malware. That's something we could all use.
Very cool. We have so many visitors over the holidays and worry about the same thing.
I would be way too scared to let my dad use my computer, he's notorious for clicking on spammy stuff. HotSpot Shield is perfect for this!
No thankfully they are not interested in computers!
I worry about my kids using my computer – this sounds like a good option.
Thanks for sharing!
I always have to baby-sit my 40 something sister when it comes to the computer. ~lol~ She always clicks on the links no matter how many times I tell her not to.
ooohh i have to install this. The parents are now venturing into the online world!
My mom is pretty tech savvy. I am sometimes amazed by what she can do by herself but sometimes she needs some hand holding too.
I'm so glad I no longer have people at my house that use my computers! I have the kids using the tablets, though, and I really need to keep an eye on that!
Yes, we do have company that uses our computers. I will be checking into this! Thanks!
We have visiting grandchildren and I cringe when the little one want so play her games. I get called in when a pop up window appears and instructed them to not click on it. I need to check into this to put on the main family computer, it may save me headaches when I have to reformat, especially when I misplaced the disks.
This is something i would really need me and my 7 year old share a computer so shes always clicking about on things, so knowing that i could have protection from all the harmful stuff thats out there.
I love this. It can definitely be useful to me. I hate to let others use my computer, but sometimes you hate to say no.
I would be willing to try this but I bet it will conflict with my Trend program. It sounds like it would be helpful to have.
I get a little nervous when hubby uses my computer. I don't say anything so this would be an option.
Scott's mother is exactly like that, but with a computer we gave her. He has to go over at least once a week to "fix things" for her.
This sounds like a pretty good deal. My rule of thumb here is no one but me touches my computer. It might be mean but that's the way it is here.
This does sound great…I've had to do some damage control after family visits, and this would save me so much worry.
My grandpa could use this. My brother bought him and computer and tablet and he will click whatever link there is in emails. He is getting better about it but this would help save his stuff to survive without having tons of viruses.
This is a handy service for computers with multi-users!
I don't think getting a new computer for grandparents is a bad idea, but I think we need to explain and make sure they understand why they should not be clicking strange links rather than just telling them not to do it.