Are you afraid that your kids/employees/etc. are carrying out some sort of illegal activity over the Internet, and that's why you want to keep an eye on them at all times? Well, there are several ways to accomplish this (some involving quite advanced hacking skills), but one of the simplest methods you can use involves a nifty little device developed by a company called "Solid Oak Software", namely the SnoopStick USB flash drive.

Thus, this tiny gadget allows users to monitor in real time the online activity on any computer, provided that you manage to carry out some very simple steps. All the user has to do is plug the SnoopStick into the computer targeted for monitoring, run the setup program in order to install the monitoring components on the computer, unplug the SnoopStick and then go on his/her merry way. Now, anytime the user wants to check out the activity on the monitored computer, all he/she has to do is plug in the SnoopStick to any Windows based computer with an Internet connection and a USB port, and the device's software will automatically connect to the target computer.

However, the SnoopStick allows you to do a lot more than simply monitor a computer's online activity. Of course, you can check out all web site access, monitor both sides of all "instant messenger" communications, all email access (SMTP, POP3, IMAP) to see who and when emails were received from and sent to, both in real time or from activity logs. But that's not all. You can also take control of the respective computer, turn off/on Internet access, set allowable times for Internet access, prevent users from using certain types of Internet programs, block access to specified ports or even to certain websites.

This very "Sub-Seven"-ish device is available for around 60 US dollars, which is not that much for invading one's privacy. The SnoopStick could actually be useful in some situations, but I'm pretty sure it will rather be used for some less-than-legit activities (snooping on spouses, employees etc.) than simply checking out what one's kids are doing.

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