This month's hot tool is SO hot that it's been written about in "The Wall Street Journal," "Fortune," "PC Magazine" and "The New York Times," and featured on CDNet, CNN, and ABC Eyewitness News, just to name a few. It's called GoToMyPC, and it is an easy and secure way to access and control your own home or office computer from any web browser, anywhere.

What that means, to the business traveler, for example, is that you can access and use your computer from hotels, airports, satellite offices, Internet cafes - anywhere with Web access. You don't even have to carry a laptop if you don't want to. And if you do, just imagine the convenience of working on that file or spreadsheet you meant to upload, but left at the office.

Now, PC users might be tempted to point out that this type of program has been available for years, so what's the big deal? Well, the big deal is that in the past, the process required the installation of special software, like Symantec's pcAnywhere ($150) or LapLink's LapLink Gold ($140), on both computers. That limited you to running a remote-control session from some PC on which you had the foresight, as well as the permission, to install that special software, often leaving behind its remains, replete with all the accompanying instability and security risks. And, most users found these programs complicated to set up and use.

Here's the difference with GoToMyPc, the brainchild of a Santa Barbara, CA company called ExpertCity. First, you go to www.gotomypc.com, register, and download a small program (a java applet) on your office or home PC, whichever computers you think you might want as potential "targets" for remote control. Then, when you want to access the target PCs, you just log onto the GoToMyPC Website, specify the PC you want to control from the list of those you've enabled, and voila! The screen of the PC sitting on the desk in your office appears in a window on the remote computer's screen; it's almost like being there! The mouse and keyboard of the remote computer operate all the programs on your target machine.

According to ExpertCity, as well as the reviews from tech sources like PC Magazine and CDNET, the process is highly secure. Two passwords are required -- one to log onto the service and another to gain access to each target PC. And all of the data exchanged in each remote-control session is encrypted. The company even claims the service will work through many corporate firewalls without requiring costly IT reconfigurations. Hacker deterrents are also built into the system: put simply, it doesn't leave "open port holes" the way other remote control applications do, so there's no way for hackers to get in by scanning around for open ports.

So far, the program only works if the host computer is a PC, although the remote computer can gain access from any java-ready browser running on any computer with a web connection, including Mac and Linux systems. When you want remote access you simply log onto any computer, go to www.GoToMyPC.com, type in two passwords, and click Connect. The higher your connectivity speed, the faster you will make the connection and see your own desktop open up before your eyes. Obviously, remote access works better with high-speed connections, but then again, so does just about anything.

So, take that business trip, go on vacation, commute to work and suddenly remember that you needed that file you left behind, and stop worrying. Remote control just got incredibly easy. Check it out at www.gotomypc.com, and let us know what you think.