The Tech Steward

What's a Tech Steward?

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 09:00:00 -0400

There’s a job nobody hands you. You just end up with it.

You’re the one who gets the call when the email won’t open, when a card gets declined online, when a scary popup says the computer has a virus and to call this number right now. You’re the family’s IT department, except there’s no ticket queue, no budget, and no end of shift. Most people call this tech support for your parents and roll their eyes.

See Their Screen From Anywhere — Safely

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 09:00:00 -0400

When Dad calls and something’s wrong, the worst version of help is “okay, now click the green button in the top left — no, your other left.” The best version is: I see exactly what he sees, on my own screen, and I just fix it.

There are a dozen paid services that do this. I don’t want any of them touching my father’s machine. A steward keeps the keys in the family — so here’s how I do it with two free, open tools and zero strangers in the middle: ZeroTier to put both machines on the same private network, and VNC to see and control the screen across it.

Holding the Keys: Password Management for Your Family

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 09:00:00 -0400

If “Tech Steward” means the one your folks trust with the keys, then this post is about the keys themselves — literally. Passwords are the keys to everything now: the bank, the email that resets the bank, the photos, the medical portal, the bills. Get this one thing right and half the future emergencies never happen.

Most families “manage passwords” with a notebook by the phone, the same word with a number on the end everywhere, and a lot of “click forgot password” every single time. That’s not a system — it’s a series of small crises waiting to line up at the worst moment.

About

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

I’m John Brantly. I’ve spent 40 years building systems for a living — and lately I’ve pointed all of it at a quieter problem: helping capable parents stay capable, and helping the family tech person stop drowning in being on-call forever.

I call this role the Tech Steward — the one your folks trust with the keys to their whole digital life. Not the unpaid IT grunt. The keeper. It only works on trust, which is exactly why I keep it in the family instead of handing it to some company’s cloud.