CosmoPOD - personal online desktop

Hello,
Recently I have been experimenting with this little thingie:
http://cosmopod.com/
It allows you to build a sort of client on your pc that allows you to dial to a remote pc and browse the internet through that pc. The remote desktop can be Windows, Linux and such - for instance, I use KDE. The traffic is encrypted. The remote pc allows you to store up to 1Gb of data.
This sounds like a nice concept idea for backups or safe browsing.
Well, I believe this is a useful thing, so be welcome to try and explore.
The only "catch" is that they serve ads onto your virtual desktop - similar to free Opera browser some time ago.
Cheers,
Mrk

 

Hello,
Why my posts rarely get answers?
Mrk

 

Interesting Mrk, but.

I don't get what this thing does, what does it offer that Remote Desktop Connection cannot offer? Is this like Remote Desktop Connection but has support for other Operating systems?

 

Hello,
This is different because you do not use your own pc.
You get a remote pc to work on, with a variety of utilities and 1Gb storage. This is totally dependless of your own pc. You work on some emails, essays etc and store them on that other pc. Then you go to Angola, in a pc cafe you redownload the nxs client and connect using your username and you access your files. Rather than carrying 1Gb of data with you. Plus the various softwares that might not be available to you at a given moment.
This is sort of like webmail. You can use a mail clinet on your pc, but then you are limited to one location accessibility. If you use webmail - or keep copies on a server - then you can access your webmail from any pc, regardless of its capabilities.
Same here. You access a linux machine (or win or whatever they offer) and use the utilities on that pc (for instance, open office which you might not have on your local pc or the one that you use at that moment). Save some files on that machine, end session.
4 days later, in France, you access these files where you need them - let's say an office of a company you traveled to visit or something.
This is different from web in that it allows you safe browsing - through other pcs, including linux, encrypted traffic (except the owners of the site), storage that is ok (1Gb) and a variety of programs.
I hope this explains.
As to my opinion, this could be nice. Reminds of bullguard suite (I hope I got the name ok), sygate firewall, some anti-virus and 3Gb storage for backup on their servers. Here, you get a machine and storage, for free, in return for ads.
Mrk

 

I already use LogMeIn which allows me to remotely access my PC from anywhere on the 'net, even using a Linux- or Mac-based computer, and there are no adverts. And it's free. Without trying CosmoPOD, I can't see what the point is, since I hate advertising and will do anything to keep it from bludgeoning itself into my life.

I may give it a try just to see what it offers, but the ads still put me off. I even bought Opera early on to rid myself of the ads, so as you know where I'm coming from.

 

Hello,
I'm not pro or con on this thing.
Just one question - suppose you need to go away for 3 months?
Can you leave your pc on at your home for 3 months?
Now, the most sensible option is - burn a couple of dvds with data and cds... or use remote storage (webmail like yahoo, gmail - give you 1-2Gb) or something like this. Or a nice usb key.
Mrk

 

But can u trust the privacy in this case.

 

Well, if I was to go away for 3 months I'd most likely either take my PC with or better still take my laptop with, so leaving it switched on at home doesn't really figure. I also have a couple of 1Gb USB flash drives so many of my needs are already met, and as far as I'm aware, I'm not likely to need to go away for several months in the foreseeable future.

I'll take a look at it but as I said before, the fact that it's ad supported is a major turn-off for me.

 

Hello,
For that matter, can you trust msn, yahoo, google? Can you trust your isp?
You should always be aware that anything and everything you send to the Internet is no longer private and will be logged at several waypoints along the way.
Mrk

 

Ok, I signed up and took a peek. It's pretty good as it stands and the software install (4Mb) was quick and painless and after a couple of very minor hiccups, I was looking at my remote desktop. Said desktop was KDE on a Linux machine and had loads of software installed on it, including OpenOffice and all the KDE Office apps as well.

The advertising takes up around 15% of the desktop at the right-hand side and comprises vertical banner ads which cycle. The area of the desktop with the ad banner is not usable by apps, full-screen or otherwise, so the ads are always visible and the available screen real-estate is smaller than normally available, but it's by no means unusable.

I'm still looking for a personal use for it, but so far I can't see one, but I can see that it does have possibilities. The biggest drawback is the need to install the remote client on the PC you're using to access your desktop, which would preclude its use from any PC which was locked down against such software installs.

I'll play with it more when I have some time to get a better feel for it, but as I hinted at earlier, the banner ads will be a major turnoff for me. We shall see.

 

Hello,
The software install is nothing more than a sort of vpn client.
The software does not install per se - unless you mean the association with nxs files - it's a configuration package that defines where to store the session cache (and the cookie), and which ports to use for dialing.
I agree that the banners are annoying. You can duct tape a piece of paper over the right 3cm of your monitor to hide them - adblocker!
BTW, you can change desktops - you can also use windows and some other linuxes.
Mrk

 

I'm not sure it is only a VPN client - I thought that NX was the X equivalent to Windows Terminal Services, or VNC, hence the .NXS files being associated, as they will be NX Session files (or rather NX Configuration files).

I'm also not sure that you can use different desktops and OSs - those are options in the NX client but if you change them, nothing works any more, unless I'm doing it wrong.

Have I misunderstood what's going on here? It wouldn't be unusual...