My journey to creating a digital document system that works for me. (Part 2)

In this segment I will talk about some of the devices that I have used over the years for creating and accessing documents on the fly. Some of them were only used for access but others had a dual purpose to create as well as access. Every time I acquire a new device data access is one of the primary options that I consider. So, let’s wind back the clock.

I’m not going to go too far back because who really cares about outdated equipment. So, I am not going to talk about the Apple iPads that I had, Lenovo Tabs that I used, Samsung Note phone that I worked through. The real start of the digital collection and use is with my MS Surface book I purchased 8 years ago. The ability to use the touchscreen as a digital writing pad was a real draw to me and sold me on it right away. I was a big user of the OneNote application, and this became the central point of my using my surface book as a digital writing device. The issue over time I found was that it was a real pain for me to disassemble the screen so that I may use it as a writing surface. I stopped using this device as my writing surface because of this and it became a part of my desktop computer equipment.

Another issue I had with the notebook was that it could not be used easily out of doors. It was very hard to view the screen during the summer months when I spent a lot of time outside. I needed a new solution. I started seeing advertisements about the Remarkable II which intrigued me because it was very similar to the technology of the Kindle e-reader that was very suitable for using out-of-doors. I finally made the leap a year ago and purchased it to see how it would work out for me.

Remarkable II’s simplicity is taunted as its most remarkable feature. Because of its limited feature set, you have more time to focus on what you are writing with less distraction in the process. With all the new features that were pouring in and upgrading the capabilities of the device, I was finding more and more ways to use it.

However, simplicity as a feature in this case was not a positive thing for me. I needed more capabilities. After about a year of use I decided after much research, to move on to a product by Boox called the Note Air 2 plus. The difference between them Remarkable II and the Note Air 2 Plus is that the Remarkable II product is based on a Linux operating system and the Boox Note Air 2 Plus is based on Android 11.

What does this mean to the average user? First, every application for the Remarkable II needs to be written by the manufacturer primarily. It is a closed system except for the widening cadre of people that are supporting. However, I am impatient and because Android 11 is available on millions of devices, there is a huge library of applications that are already written for the Android operating system.

While initially having a single focus or use device, on the surface seemed a positive situation, in the long run I found I was extremely handicapped. I was not able to use the same device to access information from the many sources I needed. This has allowed me to increase my productivity and for me, is more important than having a single function device that did not provide access to all my information.

Tomorrow I will talk about the comparisons between the two devices in more detail.

My journey to creating a digital document system that works for me. (Part 1)

For years I have been working towards creating a system in both my work and home environments that is completely digital and accessible from anywhere with any device of my choosing. Because of several technologies, software packages and cloud based services I believe that I have reached that goal very closely.

 In recent years Microsoft has provided a good bit of the technology and services that are helping me achieve this. Office 365 with both its Office Suite Products and Cloud Storage Services are keys in giving me access to and creation of a totally digital environment that help in the creation of digital documents, but also provides the access and ability to search for information as needed. These are important concepts to consider when moving into a complete digital environment.

Software I use to create my documents.

• ·         Microsoft Word – The creation of product sheets, manuals, knowledge base papers is only part of what is important for doing my job. Creating form documents or templates that help to collect data from clients is a big part of what we do and centralizing that data in SharePoint where many people can have access to these tools is important.
• ·         Microsoft Excel – I crunch numbers all the time and Excel is a great tool for doing so. It also provides a great platform to create parts lists, product pricing, or a very good form structure for collecting and using data.
• ·         PDF – While I use several programs to create, manipulate and view PDF files (Nitro Pro, Adobe Reader, Adobe Writer to name a few) most applications now allow you create PDF’s directly from the program with built in utilities or you can use the Microsoft Print to PDF printer option. PDFs provide a fixed format, shareable, low storage space solution to provide a standardized document format.
• ·         OneNote -This Microsoft program has been central in my life for years. This concept of a digital notebook that is freeform for data collection and is easily searchable both in typed characters but also for handwritten notes. This latter will become more important as I discuss more about this journey. OneNote gives you the ability to create multiple notebooks to separate purposes and access them but within each notebook you have many options you can use to group information to make access to it at a later date even easier.

Cloud Storage Services.

Over the years I have used four services for document storage through the internet until I finally settled with Microsoft. A lot of people I know use Google Documents and File Storage but this never really caught on for me. The Google Docs word processing program always came up short for my needs, so I always stayed with Word. One of the first cloud storage services I used was DropBox but with the advent of Microsoft’s OneDrive and SharePoint I was quickly converted to using Microsoft’s Services, especially because they were a part of the O365 product stack and didn’t cost extra.

• ·         OneDrive – Included with several of the Office 365 plans, you have 1TB of storage for personal use that you can increase in 100GB increments as necessary. For me, I use this space to store not only personal documents but also scanned documents to get rid of the paper clutter at home. Invoices, warranties, contracts, tax information, medical and more I have segmented by year so that I can easily access them. The only thing that I haven’t moved over to OneDrive are my pictures. I use SmugMug for that storage.
• ·         SharePoint – Included with several of the Office 365 plans as well, you have 1TB of storage that is shared within your organization.
• ·         SmugMug – this is a paid for service that is specific for storing photographs. The reason I use it is because you don’t lose ownership of the files and they are not converted to another format. Amazon, Google and more all will take ownership of your files and convert them to their own photo standard. With this service I have offsite storage of my photos as well as having them locally. You can also set the photos up in their own galleries to allow easy access to others that you share the site with.

All these services provide access control to the stored data and have IOS and Android apps that allow access to the data stored as well as PC access through browsers and other applications.

These services and software packages provide my current tool kit that I use for my digital document creation, storage and access. In Part 2 of this document series I will be discussing my choices of products that I have used in the past and what I am using now to create the different workflows for collecting new information, creating new documents and accessing them day to day.

Yammer is evolving to Viva Engage

There has been a lot of news this month about the plans that Microsoft has for converting its current Yammer platform over to Viva Engage.

Starting in March 2023, we should start seeing updates to the Communities app for Outlook and Yammer mobile apps for iOS and android. Other than branding changes, there are no changes to the features or capabilities. Microsoft states that they will continue to build new capabilities and realize the power of community, corporate communications at the organizational scale, and knowledge sharing. They are excited about how this change will create a unified Viva Engage experience throughout the web, mobile, and other endpoints and bring consistency for Yammer and Viva users.

New experiences rolling out for Viva engage

Leadership Corner provides a space for leaders to connect with employees, showcase employee resource groups, and foster culture through discussions, storyline posts, events, and more a new selection of intuitive dashboards track metrics and employee sentiment to help leadership teams keep a pulse on conversations and guide the discussion with their employees.

There is a new leadership corner event style in Viva engage called Ask Me Anything (AMA) Events to further drive engagement. AMA events create a town hall experience through up voting, Q&A, and engaging discussion features like GIFs and images. If your organization covers a wide territory than, this will help everyone to get an opportunity to ask questions, upvote others' questions, and get responses from their leaders.

Leaders in your organization can now create campaigns to drive key initiatives that support business goals or objectives. These campaigns are automatically pulled into Leadership Corner and include a dedicated campaign page, a Goal Tracker that will measure progress, and the ability to showcase key sponsors and recognize top contributors.

Hope is to make it easier for employees to be able to understand and see information in the corporate environment of the new Microsoft Viva and help people to see, evaluate and understand information being provided to match employee questions and answers from experts, bringing a collective knowledge to work for everyone.

There has been a lot of news this month about the plans that Microsoft has for converting its current Yammer platform over to Viva Engage.
Starting in March 2023, we should start seeing updates to the Communities app for Outlook and Yammer mobile apps for iOS and android. Other than branding changes, there are no changes to the features or capabilities. Microsoft states that they will continue to build new capabilities and realize the power of community, corporate communications at the organizational scale, and knowledge sharing. They are excited about how this change will create a unified Viva Engage experience throughout the web, mobile, and other endpoints and bring consistency for Yammer and Viva users.
New experiences rolling out for Viva Engage Leadership Corner provides a space for leaders to connect with employees, showcase employee resource groups, and foster culture through discussions, storyline posts, events, and more a new selection of intuitive dashboards track metrics and employee sentiment to help leadership teams keep a pulse on conversations and guide the discussion with their employees.There is a new leadership corner event style in Viva engage called Ask Me Anything (AMA) Events to further drive engagement. AMA events create a town hall experience through up voting, Q&A, and engaging discussion features like GIFs and images. If your organization covers a wide territory than, this will help everyone to get an opportunity to ask questions, upvote others' questions, and get responses from their leaders.Leaders in your organization can now create campaigns to drive key initiatives that support business goals or objectives. These campaigns are automatically pulled into Leadership Corner and include a dedicated campaign page, a Goal Tracker that will measure progress, and the ability to showcase key sponsors and recognize top contributors.Hope is to make it easier for employees to be able to understand and see information in the corporate environment of the new Microsoft Viva and help people to see, evaluate and understand information being provided to match employee questions and answers from experts, bringing a collective knowledge to work for everyone.

What’s New in SFOS v19.5 MR1

Support for New 5G Module for XGS 116(w), 126(w), 136(w)

We’re introducing a 5G cellular module for all XGS 116, 126, and 136 models (including w-models) which have a modular expansion bay.

The new global module enables 5G cellular network connections using the 5G Sub-6 bands, with download speeds of up to 4.5 Gbps and upload speeds of up to 660 Mbps (this may vary by carrier and region). The module also provides automatic fallback to 3G and 4G LTE (Cat-20) networks.

Our optional slot-in module becomes a fully supported, fully integrated part of the appliance, managed from your firewall console. This provides significantly better compatibility and interoperability than competitive external solutions.

We deliver the module with four cable-connected antennas to allow optimal coverage and performance.

Support for New 5G Module for XGS 116(w), 126(w), 136(w)We’re introducing a 5G cellular module for all XGS 116, 126, and 136 models (including w-models) which have a modular expansion bay.
The new global module enables 5G cellular network connections using the 5G Sub-6 bands, with download speeds of up to 4.5 Gbps and upload speeds of up to 660 Mbps (this may vary by carrier and region). The module also provides automatic fallback to 3G and 4G LTE (Cat-20) networks.
Our optional slot-in module becomes a fully supported, fully integrated part of the appliance, managed from your firewall console. This provides significantly better compatibility and interoperability than competitive external solutions.
We deliver the module with four cable-connected antennas to allow optimal coverage and performance.

Sophos Breach Protection Warranty Now Available on Monthly Billings

Breach Protection Warranty now included with all Sophos MDR Complete subscriptions, covering up to $1 million in response expenses.

Sophos announced that the Sophos Breach Protection Warranty is now included with all Sophos MDR Complete subscriptions. It's also applied with the purchase of any of Sophos popular Integration Packs that enable security analysists to leverage signals form third-party security technology to accelerate detection and response.

The Sophos Breach Protection Warranty covers up to $1 million in response expenses for qualifying customers. Reflecting the reality of today’s complex environments, the warranty covers Windows and macOS devices, endpoints and servers, and is available in all countries where we operate. There are no service tiers, minimum contract terms, or additional software requirements. For MSP Flex customers, warranty coverage will start from their next monthly subscription. 

The Sophos Breach Protection Warranty covers up to $1 million in response expenses for qualifying customers. Reflecting the reality of today’s complex environments, the warranty covers Windows and macOS devices, endpoints and servers, and is available in all countries where we operate. There are no service tiers, minimum contract terms, or additional software requirements. For MSP Flex customers, warranty coverage will start from their next monthly subscription.

Third-Party Telemetry Accelerates Threat Detection and Response

We’ve had a tremendous response to our updated MDR service offering that enables us to use telemetry from Sophos and third-party security tools to accelerate threat detection and response. The more we see, the faster we respond. Our growing customer base provides unparalleled threat telemetry, further accelerating incident investigation and response. Plus, it enables us to deliver ‘community immunity’, whereby an experience in one customer environment quickly becomes elevated protection for all.

The World’s Most Trusted MDR Service

With Sophos MDR, our global team of security operations specialists monitor and secure your customers’ environment 24/7/365. Leveraging signals from their existing endpoint, firewall, identity, email, and network security tools as well as Sophos X-Ops threat expertise, we detect, investigate, and remediate advanced human-led attacks before they can impact their business.

Sophos MDR brings together the expertise of over 500 security operations professionals, including malware experts, dedicated threat hunters, and attack neutralization specialists. With an average time from detection to resolution of just 38 minutes, we keep customers ahead of attackers and safe from devastating ransomware incidents and breaches.

Sophos MDR is the world’s most trusted managed detection and response service, securing more than 14,000 organizations worldwide. Demand for our market-leading service is growing rapidly with over one thousand new customers joining us in the last two months alone.

What is E-Ink

E-INK Devices

Amazon really helped to make E-Ink popular with their Kindle Readers but  E-Ink is really taking off with the advent of devices that allow you to use a pen to scribe notes onto the electronic paper screen and store your notes, drawings, etc.

What is E-Ink?

E-Ink is a display technology that simulates the appearance of printed ink on paper. The screens are basically a black and white display that can be used as a straight reading device or can have added attributes to give you more workflow-oriented capabilities.

It wasn’t until 2207 that E-Ink really took off. Amazon presented a device called a Kindle that had an 800 x 600-pixel display capable of showing four grayscale levels. The contrast wasn’t great, but it allowed you to carry an entire library of books wherever you go.

This technology has come a long way and is extremely popular for reading digital documents including books. Many companies came out with their own variation of this device so that they could sell the books (DRM’d of course) to all of us voracious readers.

E-Ink vs. E-Paper

Before I continue, I must tell you the difference between E-Ink and E-Paper. The two may sound the same, but there are some differences you should consider.

E-Paper is any type of display that emulates the appearance of paper. Typically, E-Paper displays are reflective rather than emissive, which means they rely on external light sources rather than emitting their own

A wonderful explanation of how E-Ink works can be found What Is E-Ink? How It Works & Why Every Ebook Fan Needs It

The reason I started this article was to give you a preview of what E-Ink technology so that when I begin comparing some of the digital paper device I have recently worked with that you will have some sense of what technology I am talking about.

Repost:Booking.com reservation data used to scam customers

This is a very well documented article describing a scam that has been going on for years. This is worth your time if you use this service. Read more...

A day after watching the Super Bowl ads I noticed Booking.com paid for a Super Bowl Ad so this all of a sudden becomes a little more important to consider.

Microsoft Teams Free(classic) vs. Microsoft Teams (free)

April 12th Is your deadline for the emergence of the new Microsoft teams (free) Is from Microsoft. If you currently using the previous version you are going to find out  that there is no automatic data transfer path between the two applications. 

If you want to have that free transfer you will have to pay for the $4 per month subscription of Microsoft Teams Essentials.

To see the new changes on this support page about the retirement of Microsoft Teams Free, now called Microsoft Teams Free (classic).

Microsoft's product page positions the new Microsoft Teams (free) tier as a product for home users and families, but the features it offers are pretty similar to the old classic tier overall. Video calls still top out at 100 participants and a one-hour runtime (one-on-one meetings can run for up to 30 hours). Each Teams (free) user gets 5GB of storage, while Teams Free (classic) users received 2GB each and a 10GB pool of shared storage. Both products offer unlimited chatting and access to shared files, task lists, and polls.