Category: Cloud

Providing IT support and solution to small and medium businesses. Servicing Edinburgh, Livingston, Fife and surrounding areas. Responsive, Flexible, Professional and friendly local support.

Microsoft’s Move Away From Passwords Towards Biometrics

In a recent interview with CBNC, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President and Chief Information Officer Bret Arsenault signalled the corporation’s move away from passwords on their own as a means of authentication towards (biometrics) and a “passwordless future”. Passwords – Not Enough On Their Own Many of us are now used to two-factor authentication e.g. receiving…
Read more

New AI Feature For Microsoft Word Online To Improve Your Writing

The new ‘Ideas’ feature, an AI-powered editor in the cloud for Microsoft Word is intended to provide intelligent suggestions to make your writing more concise, readable, and inclusive. Ideas The new ‘Ideas’ feature, which is already being used with PowerPoint and Excel, is likely to be a value-adding improvement on traditional grammar and spelling checks…
Read more

GDPR Says HMRC Must Delete Five Million Voice Records

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has concluded that HMRC has breached GDPR in the way that it collected the biometric voice records of users and now must delete five million biometric voice files. What Voice Files? Back in January 2017, HMRC introduced a system whereby customers calling the tax credits and Self-Assessment helpline could enrol…
Read more

Slack Builds Email Bridge

Chat App and collaborative working tool Slack appears to have given up the fight to eliminate email by allowing the introduction of new tools that enable Slack collaboration features inside Gmail and Outlook, thereby building a more inclusive ‘email bridge’. What Is Slack? Slack, launched ‘way back’ in 2013, is a cloud-based set of proprietary…
Read more

Tech Tip – Free, Online AI Business School

If you’d like to get an understanding of what AI is and its implications for business strategy, corporate culture and business ethics, Microsoft, in partnership with global business school INSEAD has established a free, online business school. The AI course offers a series of 10-minute lecture videos as well as academic lectures, case studies, executive…
Read more

Plans To Remove .org Domain Price Cap Prompts Complaints

Many charities and other non-profit organisations that use .org, .biz or .info domains have complained that proposals to lift the price cap on those domains could lead to the price rocketing. What Price Cap? The price cap on .org domains was originally put in place by the US Department of Justice at a time when…
Read more

Microsoft 365 Business Subscription Customers Get Shared Computer Activation (SCA)

SMEs that need to have multiple users (connecting to and using the same remote computer) but only have a (less-expensive) Microsoft 365 Business subscription have been given a boost by Microsoft in the form expanded rights with the imminent roll-out of SCA for Microsoft 365 Business. What Is SCA? Shared Computer Activation (SCA) is a…
Read more

UK Government Services Information Accessible Via Voice-Activated Smart Speakers

After a six-month trial by the Government Digital Service (GDS) with a view to future-proofing the delivery of online services for citizens, 12,000 items of government information can now be accessed via voice-activated smart speakers and virtual assistants, such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home. Wider Plan The GDS trial that has made the information available via voice-activated…
Read more

Windows 10 Breaks Traditional PC Hardware and OS Upgrade Links

With figures (Gartner) showing Windows 10 predicted to represent 75% of the professional PC market by 2021, continued PC sales and improved Windows 10  back-end management, Windows 10 is making (historically) time and resource consuming Windows OS and hardware upgrade projects a thing of the past, and is breaking the link between the two. Mobile…
Read more

School Enlists Chinese Help To Upgrade To Enhanced Wi-Fi

The Lytchett Minster School in Dorset recently made the news among IT commentators after demonstrating how it could overcome the connectivity challenges of its rural location, cut costs and increase efficiency by upgrading its on-site network with Chinese company TP-Link’s enhanced Wi-Fi. Challenges As recently featured by Computer Weekly, the school had to contend with…
Read more