Blue Ridge Technology

Are you ready for Windows 11 to get even better? Have you ever felt like being a PC user meant certain…compromises? You see ads for seemingly magical features from the likes of Apple or Google — things like pulling text straight out of images, or searching for objects in pictures — and feel left out in the cold? We’ve got good news: Microsoft keeps improving Windows 11, and the company’s latest updates to the operating system are worth catching up on. Admittedly, most of these new features are already available on flagship smartphones. But gaining access to them on work PCs and personal laptops is a pretty big deal. Snipping Tool Gets a Whole Lot Smarter First up is the Snipping Tool. With this tool, which has been a part of the last few generations of Windows, you can easily take a screenshot of your entire screen, or just select a smaller portion of the screen and “snip” it into a static image. Microsoft has implemented some AI-powered and machine learning tech to make those static i...

And breathe… the “file too large to send” problem is over It’s 2023. And yet many of us are still running into 1990s-era email problems. And there’s one incredibly frustrating issue that Microsoft hasn’t helped us all that much across Outlook or Microsoft 365 — yet. We’re talking about that obnoxious error you run into some of the time when you try to send an email with an attachment. It’s the dreaded “file too large to send” message. A Problem That’s Been Around a While It’s a little hard to believe how long this has been an unsolved issue. Sure, email providers have gradually raised the attachment file size limit. But it’s still far too low to account for every use case. Somehow we’re living in an age of streaming everything and cloud dominance — even Microsoft is pushing us all to the cloud with Microsoft 365 and OneDrive. But our email systems still can’t even handle a measly PDF if there are too many pictures in it. Frankly, it’s a ridiculous problem. And thankfully, Microsoft ag...

Microsoft and Samsung team up to boost work phone security If the way your team members access work resources from their smartphones keeps you up at night, we’ve got good news: Microsoft and Samsung are teaming up to give a massive security boost to the smartphones people use at work. But of course there’s a catch: you have to use the right phones. Here’s what you need to know about this smarter way to secure your company’s data and digital assets. The Breakthrough: On-Device Attestation We won’t get too technical here, don’t worry— but the technology breakthrough underlying this change is something called on-device attestation. We’ve talked about passkeys and other advanced authentication methods before, and this is sort of like those, only even more intense. Basically, with on-device attestation, companies can see more deeply into the software and firmware on a phone to identify possible compromises, hacks, or other threats. There are other attestation tools out there, but they all r...

Is that Microsoft email actually a phishing attack? Phishing attacks come from all sorts of places. But where they actually come from isn’t something you need to spend time worrying about: they’re all bad, and unless you’re a security expert yourself, the actual source of the threat isn’t going to change what you do about it. What’s even scarier is where phishing attacks appear to come from . And a recent report shows that the #1 “source” for Q2 2023 is one of the most trusted brands in business. We’ll break down what this threat means and what you can do about it — but let’s start with a quick refresher on phishing in general. What Is Phishing, Again? Phishing attacks are digital attacks that dangle some kind of bait out there, hoping to get you to bite. Usually these take the form of an email (or text message or even social message) that appears to be from a trusted brand or trusted source, like your bank or even your boss. That email alerts you to some kind of problem, usually one ...

Google Calendar has a great update for hybrid workers If you’re using Google Calendar for any part of your business, you’ll want to know about some recent productivity enhancements Google has added to Google Workspace (formerly G Suite, Google’s cloud-based office suite). Even if you don’t — maybe you’re a Microsoft 365 and Outlook Calendar kind of organization — it might be worth taking a look at the ways Google is taking leaps forward in terms of productivity. That’s especially true if you have a remote or hybrid workforce. Let’s dive in — here’s what you need to know. Location Sharing Got an Upgrade Back in 2021, in response to the influx of remote workers brought on by the pandemic, Google introduced workplace location sharing in Google Calendar. It was (and still is) a handy way to let your colleagues know some context about where you’re operating. If you’re in a different time zone or working from home while tending to kids, now there’s a subtle way to inform your coworkers that ...

3 ways AI makes almost any business task easier Generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Bard, and others have made huge waves over the past year, and for good reason. These tools can do some really cool stuff. A lot of the viral headline type applications aren’t particularly useful for business. It’s cool that ChatGPT can write a Shakespearean sonnet about microwaves, but it’s probably not going to change your daily routine. But some professionals are finding novel and tremendously helpful ways to use these tools. This week, we’ll show you three ways you might start leveraging these tools in your daily business routines and workflows. One Big Caveat Now all of this comes with one gigantic caveat: ChatGPT isn’t sentient. That means you shouldn’t trust it to make decisions or give advice that would be obvious to humans. Just like you wouldn’t take Siri or Alexa’s responses as gospel truth, you shouldn’t assume everything in generative AI responses is completely accurate or actionable. T...

Is this the ultimate browser for business? Microsoft is out with another new business-friendly tool: Edge for Business . It may not be the most dramatic, awe-inspiring name for a new piece of software, but it’s a pretty significant development — one that could be a big help to your business, in the right circumstances. So what is Microsoft Edge for Business? And what are the reasons a business should — or shouldn’t — switch? What is Microsoft Edge for Business? Microsoft Edge for Business is pretty much what it sounds like: it’s a version of Microsoft’s Edge web browser, but built specifically for business customers rather than at-home consumers. Benefits of Switching to Edge for Business Edge for Business delivers a lot of value in the right circumstances. Here are a few exclusive features or benefits you’ll have access to if you switch. Separation between Work and Personal Browsing One of the big new features is a “wall of separation” between personal and work browsing. With an incre...