The Hack Newsletter - Edition 29 | Think Cloud

Welcome to the Hack Newsletter! This month's newsletter is packed with tips and tricks that will help you succeed through digital technology.

💥📣Edition 29 of The Hack - The Ultimate AI Edge - Your Secret Weapon to Outpace the Competition

Content Quick Links:

Boost Your Team’s Engagement With Better Tech

Phil Ascough-Never Mind the Pitch: It’s All about the Passion

New to Google workspace / New to Microsoft 356

NextGen 101

Tech Facts / Inspirational Quote Of The Month

Helping Us Raise Money

New To The Team

Using ChatGPT or Google Bard

Fun Tech Quiz

Fake Software Ads Used To Distribute Malware

Gadget of the month

Q&A

Welcome to our monthly newsletter,

Boost Your Team’s Engagement With Better Tech

The stresses and pressures of the cost of living crisis are hitting many people hard. That makes employee engagement more of a challenge than ever.

As a business, you might be finding it hard yourself. It may not be possible to offer wage rises that keep pace with inflation.

At the same time, you may be asking more of your people or making changes to the workplace that are hard for some to adjust to.

The last thing you want is to lose good people when you need everyone firing on all cylinders.

That’s why some of the most effective engagement strategies currently involve relieving the stress and tedium of repetitive tasks and removing workplace frustration – with the added benefit that you become more efficient.

Most businesses now offer some form of remote working. But it’s common for people to feel ‘left out in the cold’ if it’s not easy for them to keep communication channels open. Making team interactions seamless can make a big difference to the happiness of your people – and even to your customers.

How do you do this? Start with better collaboration tools. They can improve project management, strengthen relationships, reduce wasted time, and even encourage better feedback.

Technology can also automate dull and repetitive tasks. No one will complain about that, and faster working will boost productivity. When you respond to your people’s frustrations by providing the right tools, they’ll feel listened to and valued. And if they feel they’re getting things done, they’ll become more engaged and motivated.

An overwhelming range of tools are available that often make bold claims about their ability to transform your business.

We can help to cut through the sales pattern and get to the heart of what’s right for you. So if you’re looking at a tech solution to improve employee engagement, let’s talk.

Call Us Today

THE HACK PODCAST

Phil Ascough-Never Mind the Pitch: It’s All about the Passion

In this week's podcast, Leon and Paul talk to Phil Ascough- a multi-talented professional who works as a journalist, author, media, and PR consultant assisting small businesses, charities, and other organisations in obtaining publicity, specialising in the arts, culture, and sports. He has a passion for the city of Hull and has spent eight years on the board of Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce, including acting as President between 2017-18.

The episode kicked off with Phil taking us down memory lane, recalling his early days in journalism, which has stood him in good stead for his other roles. Additionally, he pursues recreational writing and has authored around half a dozen books, including Never Mind the Drop Goal: The Unofficial Rugby World Cup Quiz Book, Never Mind the Penalties: The Ultimate World Cup Quiz Book, and Never Mind the Tigers: The Ultimate Hull City Quiz Book.

Read the full Blog Here!

Listen on Spotify

NEW TO MICROSOFT 365

Bye-Bye Teams backgrounds (sort of)

Microsoft’s improving the experience on Windows to make it look like everyone on the call is in the same room. It’ll use AI to remove everyone’s individual backgrounds and add the same background for every person. Clever.

NEW TO GOOGLE WORKSPACE

Cast your Meeting

Chromecasts are brilliant for casting Netflix, YouTube, etc from your laptop or phone to your TV. Well, now you can cast your meeting too! You can do this by selecting the three dots in the bottom right of your meeting and selecting ‘Cast this meeting’.

Much better viewing for your next webinar.

NextGen 101

We are thrilled to announce that our company has been listed in the prestigious NextGen 101.

We are thrilled to announce that our company has been listed in the prestigious NextGen 101. This annual list recognises the top managed services and technology providers driving growth and innovation for the tech industry through their cutting-edge solutions.

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OF THE MONTH

“Your income is directly related to your

philosophy, not the economy.”

Jim Rohn, Entrepreneur, and Author

TECH FACTS

In the original Pac-Man, the ghosts had unique traits. The red one was programmed to follow behind Pac-Man, the pink one in front, but the cyan ghost was designed to be unpredictable.

The most efficient keyboard layout is called Colemak, which is designed to reduce finger movements by half. It uses the home row 74% of the time, compared to Qwerty’s 34%.

QR codes were invented in 1994. They were first used to track vehicles on the assembly line.

Helping Us Raise Money

Here at Think Cloud, we have an incentive where for every ticket feedback survey we have a response from, we donate £1 to our chosen charity. For this last quarter, we choose Paul for Brain.

The total number of feedbacks was 397, which raised £397

Well Done To All

The Think Cloud Team!

NEW TO THE TEAM

Chloe Smith - Help desk apprentice

What Do You Do At Think Cloud?

I work on the help desk as an apprentice. As one of the first lines of contact for callers, I gather information and dispatch tickets to our engineers. Occasionally, I also handle tickets myself as part of my learning process.

What Is Your Favourite Movie?

I’m a film fanatic, so could not pick just one. I do love a good TV series to watch such as How I met your mother, Friends and Modern Family. My all-time favorite would be The Office US, always makes me laugh and a few of my favorite actors are in it such as Will Ferrel and Steve Carelle.

What Do You Enjoy Doing When Not At Work?

I enjoy spending time with my 3 dogs and family, I love painting and drawing all sorts of things but mostly people and landscapes. Playing games, having movie marathons, and enjoying good food with my partner. I’m also an Aerialist gymnast for 3 years now at AOF Championship now, I specialise in the hoop and the silks. It's great fun, especially if it involves dropping from a height with just two silks wrapped around you to catch you.

What 3 Items Would You Take On A Desert Island?

I’d bring a “How to Escape an Island for Dummies” book to learn how to survive and get off, blue-tinted glasses because I’m dyslexic and can’t read, if not use the glasses to start a fire to make a distress signal. Finally, I would take a Rubix cube just so I'm not bored.

What's Different About Working At Think Cloud?

Working at Think Cloud is different from my previous customer service jobs. The work environment is motivating, the colleagues are great, and I enjoy going to Brewdog for a drink and burger after work. The customers are also friendly, making it a great place to work. I highly recommend working here.

Using ChatGPT or Google Bard

Prompt Tutorial: Using ChatGPT or Google Bard

Act as a Rapper

I want you to act as a rapper. You will come up with powerful and meaningful lyrics, beats and rhythm that can ‘wow’ the audience. Your lyrics should have an intriguing meaning and message which people can relate too. When it comes to choosing your beat, make sure it is catchy yet relevant to your words, so that when combined they make an explosion of sound every time! My first request is "I need a rap song about finding strength within yourself."

Book A Meeting To Learn More Today

FUN TECH QUIZ

ANOTHER MONTH MEANS ANOTHER FUN TECH QUIZ!

The winner gets to leave work 30 minutes early today! (not really)

1) Which search engine almost bought Google in the 90s?

2) What was the world’s first widely-used web browser?

3) In computing history, who was the dirty dozen?

4) What are Android releases named after?

5) In old PCs what was the function of the Turbo button?

Answers at bottom of page.

Fake Software Ads Used To Distribute Malware

Google is most people’s first port of call for help or information online – something cyber criminals are using to their advantage.

Specifically, they are targeting Google ads, impersonating campaigns for

popular software such as Grammarly, Slack, Ring, and many others. This is

nothing to do with those companies, but to the untrained eye, they look like the real deal… which is how they’re tricking people into clicking the ads.

If you’re not using an ad blocker, you’ll see promoted pages at the top of your Google search results. These look almost identical to the non-promoted, down-page organic search results, so you or your people could easily be tempted to click.

It’s a complicated scam. Criminals clone the official software websites, but

instead of distributing the genuine product, when you click download they install ‘trojans’ versions. That geek speaks for malware that disguises itself

as real software.

Google is working to protect us by blocking campaigns it’s able to identify

as malicious. But criminals have tricky ways around that too. Ads first take you to a benign-looking website – which the crooks have created. This then redirects you to a malicious site that convincingly impersonates a genuine page.

That’s where the malware lurks waiting for a click, beyond Google’s reach.

Worse, in many cases, you’ll still get the software you’re trying to download, along with a hidden payload of malware. That makes it harder to tell that your device or network has been infected and may give the malware longer to do its job.

To stay protected, train your team about the dangers and make sure everyone is on the lookout for anything that doesn’t seem quite right.

Encourage people to scroll down the Google results until they find the official domain of the company they’re looking for, and make it a policy that people seek permission before downloading any software – no matter how innocent it may seem.

You could also consider using an ad blocker in your browser. That will filter out any

promoted results from your Google search for some extra peace of mind.

For help and advice with training and software policies, get in touch.

BUSINESS GADGET OF THE MONTH

Timekettle WT2 Plus translator

Real-time, simultaneous AI translation with support for 40

languages. Stick one of these in your ear, give one to the other person, and talk normally to each other in your respective languages, while the Timekettle translates like a

real-life Babelfish. I mean… wow. £289.

Ships worldwide from www.timekettle.com

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

QUESTION

IShould I use the password manager that comes with my browser?

ANSWER

We recommend investing in a standalone password manager instead. Browser-based password managers are not as safe. If someone can access your device, they have instant access to all your accounts. Standalone password managers need a master password and do a lot more than just save your credentials.

QUESTION

How can I make sure remote workers follow our security rules?

ANSWER

As well as setting out the risks of not using your security tools and procedures, create a policy that explains exactly what is expected of your people, and the consequences if they’re found to break the rules.

QUESTION

What’s the best productivity tool to start out with?

ANSWER

That’s a big question! The answer can be unique to each business, but a well-known solution like Microsoft Teams will give you access to lots of different tools to suit different needs.