Blue Ridge Technology

Here’s what’s in store for the last ever Windows ‘Moments’ update Plus, learn all about what Microsoft packed into their last-ever Moments update In late February, Microsoft is releasing its last-ever “Moment” update to Windows 11, called Moment 5. This news matters for all businesses using Windows, whether you’re still rocking Windows 10 or you’re already up to the latest Windows 11 release: Businesses already using Windows 11 can breathe a sigh of relief with this change. For businesses still using Windows 10, it may finally be time to take the plunge. Here’s what you need to know about this change and how it could affect you. What are “Moments”? When Microsoft first released Windows 11, it promised only one major update per year. That was great news for IT pros because it meant more stability and fewer “big” updates. However, because Windows 11 is a product that has to appeal to businesses and consumers alike, this approach didn’t quite survive. Microsoft still holds off on major sy...

If you’re handling email marketing in-house, then we highly recommend digging into your email analytics over the next few weeks. If you see any significant changes or drops (like a higher bounce rate or markedly lower open, conversion, or click-through rates), then it’s possible something about your marketing approach is getting snagged in or flagged by RETVec. Google recently updated the way Gmail responds to spam and malicious emails. On net this is a good thing: less spam and scam email in your employees’ inboxes means less chances for the bad guys to dupe someone into giving away information or credentials. But there’s a possible downside to this update — and there’s a very real chance it could negatively impact your marketing efforts. Here’s what you need to know. Introducing RETVec Yeah, we know: RETVec doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. But that’s the name of Google’s newest weapon in the war against spam. It’s an acronym for Resilient and Efficient Text Vectorizer . (Speaking...

You’re not imagining it, video calls ARE stressful Lots of folks were talking about “Zoom fatigue” in the early days of the pandemic: for reasons no one could quite pinpoint, Zoom meetings just seemed to drain the life and energy out of participants. (By the way, it’s not Zoom’s fault: this kind of fatigue seems endemic to video calling in general, not because of some specific bug on one platform.) Well, we’ve moved on from the pandemic, but the remote and hybrid work has stuck with us. And for many of us, so has an overabundance of video meetings. New Study Confirms Zoom Fatigue Is Real If you do a lot of video calls, then you probably don’t have a hard time agreeing with the premise. We all kind of feel this to be true — but it’s tough to take action without real evidence. Now we have it. Some Austrian minds put together a scientific study to look at what happens to our brains during videoconferencing. Here’s how they did it. They set up two groups of university students, wiring the...

Is app overload slowing down your team? In today’s business landscape we’re all obsessed with productivity. And that’s a good thing, in theory: getting more done in less time is one of the factors that drives progress at every level, and it can help you get ahead of your competition. But is there such a thing as too much productivity? We say yes. We’ve seen this over the past few years with employee burnout: especially in the digital or knowledge economy, it’s possible to push people too far. Their bodies can keep working, but their brains have hit max capacity. And there’s another way we see this problem showing up: too many “productivity” apps. We’re Using Too Many Apps Go to the website for any business software or app you like, and search for the word “productivity.” With almost no exceptions, you’ll always find it. Every single app on the internet promises to make your team more productive. And there’s a sense in which it’s true: if your team is currently doing business out of pap...

You’ve heard of Copilot… but what is it? Microsoft Copilot is here now, and it’s worth checking out. You might have heard of Microsoft Copilot by now, but we can't blame you if the details are a little fuzzy. New tech developments are coming fast and furious these days, and it's easy to miss some as they come along or to not see how a particular tool will impact your business. So here’s what you need to know about Microsoft’s newest assistant — what it is, why it’s better than previous options, and the limitations you should know about before diving deep. What Is Microsoft Copilot? Microsoft Copilot is Microsoft’s latest AI-driven virtual assistant. It’s built into Microsoft Edge (the company’s newish web browser), and businesses with a Microsoft 365 subscription will eventually see it show up across Microsoft’s office suite — in Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and more. Getting Déjà vu? Take a Closer Look If you’re reading this and thinking “I’ve seen this movie before,” yo...

SHOCK STAT: A third of business owners don’t trust their staff Business success thrives on trust: to some degree, you trust that your customers and suppliers and vendors will all pay what they’ve promised, deliver goods on time, and keep the services running that you rely on to power your business. But trust is a tricky thing. And we’re often unsure exactly how much we can (or should) trust people. It’s one of the reasons some business owners struggled with the idea of remote or hybrid work. Too much trust is also a significant driver in cyberattacks, data theft, and any other sort of digital threat your business faces. One recent survey revealed something shocking: around a third of business owners don’t trust their own staff. Let’s take a look at why this is — both the good and the not-so-good reasons business leaders struggle to trust employees — along with what you can do to improve this crucial area. Why Leaders Struggle to Trust Many leaders struggle to trust because of past expe...

It’s time to say goodbye to traditional passwords We talk a lot about account security and passwords: how to avoid getting caught in a phishing scheme, what good password hygiene looks like, why you should use a password manager, and so on. But this week we’re dropping some new password advice that might surprise you: maybe it’s time to stop using passwords at all! Or at least, maybe that time will be here sooner than later. Here’s what you need to know about big changes coming in the cybersecurity space. Down with the Password? Google, Microsoft, Apple, and several other tech behemoths have joined forces to kill the password, essentially. And that’s a good thing. Passwords are notoriously, well, bad. They’re hard to remember, which leads to lots of password reuse and people using the simplest possible passwords…which makes those passwords really easy to steal, crack, or hack. Phishing schemes and other credential compromise attacks cost businesses trillions each year. And while those ...