VPN fun

As tobacco veterans know, travel is hurry up and wait. During the down times you need something to entertain yourself. Technology makes that easier.

I have downloaded to my smart phone an application that allows me to access my computer at work. That enhances productivity, but it can also be used to play tricks on your co-workers.

For example, Google’s translation service (www.translate.google.com) has a function that lets your PC articulate the translated sentence. That’s handy if you’re not sure to how to pronounce words in a foreign language, but you can also use it to make your computer say bad words.

Last night, I spent part of my evening at York Lodge instructing my computer in Raleigh, N.C., to utter inappropriate statements.

It kept me entertained for a good hour, trying to picture my startled co-workers trying to figure out where the bad language was coming from.

Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten a reaction yet, which can mean two things: Either my speakers were turned off (I cannot activate those remotely), or the company president happened to be standing nearby just as I was typing vulgarities. In the latter case, this might be my last post as editor of Tobacco Reporter.