Microsoft’s Surface Earbuds are out now and have some extras for Word, Outlook and PowerPoint users. When we look past the hype there’s more than a few special conditions to keep in mind. Surface Earbuds have been some time coming, we first mentioned them about nine months ago. Now they
Word for iPhone now has a reading mode … at long last there’s a way to look through a document without the keyboard and other editing tools getting in the way. When a document is opened, it’s in read mode. No pesky keyboard or menus. The top line has Edit,
Microsoft has expanded Teams to allow personal groups like families, clubs and groups to use the service. Within Teams it’s possible to text chat, save and edit documents, share calendars and lists. A family could have a grocery list to which anyone can add items before the next supermarket run.
Microsoft has gone public with their Money Excel template to import and manage financial transactions from bank accounts. There are some undocumented tricks available and an important security recommendation that Microsoft overlooks. Money in Excel can import transaction details (US bank accounts only) and show current balances. And convert that
The latest global exchange rates can go directly into Excel 365 for Windows and Mac. No plugins or extras are necessary because it’s in Excel 365 though it’s hiding away. Foreign exchange rates are part of the Stock data type. They weren’t part of the original Stocks data feed but
It’s now possible to open two Word docs or PowerPoint decks side-by-side on an iPad. iOS has multiple window or side-by-side support already, but Word and PowerPoint didn’t allow more than one document open at a time. That meant you could have a Word document open alongside another app but
A pop-up message to Office 365 / Microsoft 365 says there are ‘more benefits’. Are there extra benefits in Microsoft 365 or is it more Microsoft hype? This dialog appears after an update to Office 365 …. Office 365 is now Microsoft 365 New Name. More benefits. Same price. Microsoft
Microsoft is adding what it’s calling ‘Private Annotations’ to Word 365 with OneDrive or Sharepoint, We’re not sure what all the fuss is about because anyone with any version of Word can do the same thing now. Microsoft is trying a ‘quick fix’ for a common user request. Private Annotations
Some lighting, positioning and other tips for looking your best and more professional during an online call or meeting. Where to put the camera The camera should be about the same level at the top of your head then tilted down a little to your eyes. In other words, have
Many café, restaurants and other businesses are closed due to the pandemic but still missing an opportunity to keep in touch with customers. Here’s a sign and tips to help recover when restrictions are lifted. There’s a lovely café near us which has closed for the duration. It would be
If you get so sick they send you to hospital, you’ll be too ill to get ready. ‘Prepare for the worst’ by making up a hospital ‘go bag’ with what you’ll need. Visitors to hospitals are being severely restricted so make sure you have communication options. Prepare your computer for
You don’t need a tripod or camera stand, just a few books and other bits can do the job. Don’t believe us? See the example set by His Royal Highness Prince Charles Philip Arthur George, Prince of Wales, KG, KT, GCB, OM, AK, QSO, CC, PC, ADC, Earl of Chester,
There’s a simple and cheap way to expand the view of computer and smartphone cameras. Simple clip-on wide angle lenses can change the narrow view of a iPhone, iPad, smartphone or laptop camera into a wide view. They give you a wider view of a room which is great for
We’re delighted to announce a timely update to Beating Bots, Spies & Cock-ups All about safely and securely sending files and documents. Keeping your personal and business information private on the Internet. suits Windows and Mac, Office 365, Office 2019, Office 2016 and earlier New! April 2020 The April 2020
Microsoft has dumped a lot of news in a single day. As a result there’s a lot of misunderstanding and, sorry to say, misreporting. Journos not accustomed to Microsoft’s PR tricks have fallen for them. We’ll try to ‘unpack’ what’s been announced into what’s happening now, in the known future
The Excel function EOMONTH() returns the date of last day in a month. With a little extra, it’ll tell you the number of days in any month. EOMONTH() is the Excel equivalent of the little rhyme ‘30 Days has September, April, June and November …’ plus it handles leap years with 29th
Some GoPro, camcorder, digital camera or DSLR cameras can be used as a webcam connected to your computer, with a little trickery and the right cables. Many camcorders and digital cameras have a video/audio output option. Look on the camera for a small HDMI socket or other output option. Those
For a different perspective on calling apps, we were delighted to receive this long and detailed message from Michael Joyce who has both the technical experience but regular use of calling apps like WhatsApp, Skype and Viber. Michael is just one reader who has a better experience with WhatsApp than
If someone asks you to Viber with them, here’s how to get ready for Viber and some settings you might like to change from defaults. Viber is a messaging, voice/video calling service similar to WhatsApp and Signal. Screen sharing and file transfers are also possible. Source: Viber We’ve seen Viber
Choose the best online call and conference service to keep in touch with the people in your life. We’ve looked at all the major online voice and video calling/conferencing options and ranked according to ease of use, access to all-comers and reliability across slow Internet connections. Leaving aside privacy considerations,
Be prepared for the possibility that one mailhost/email address might not work. That’s a risk at any time, not just now. Setup an emergency, backup email account. One way to prepare is having TWO email addresses with different mail hosts. If one stops, you can keep sending messages with another,
A few readers have asked if email services are slowing down. Maybe, but not significantly and not to worry about. There are some things to prepare your email for the worst. We’ve noticed that emails aren’t arriving as quickly as they usually do. An order confirmation email that would normally
Microsoft’s Team collaboration service has hit some snags this week in stark contrast to the company’s shameless promotion of Teams over other useful services. We’ll explain what happened and what you can do if the Teams troubles happen again. On both Monday and Tuesday this week, many people had trouble
Microsoft has quietly announced some minor but important slow down in some of their cloud services including the way real-time edits of Office documents are handled. It’s a wise move given the increased demand for cloud services. Microsoft had an outage on their much-hyped Teams services earlier this week. Like
