Google has announced that it will be deleting any accounts not used for two years. Lots of us have accounts we haven’t used or those of dead relatives that we are just leaving their stuff in. If you don’t want to lose it then log in!
Category Archives: Cloud
Google Drive support
Google has announced that Google Drive will stop working on 32-bit windows 10 computers and all running Windows 8 or 8.1.
This will happen in August. To check whether you have 32-bit windows, open ‘settings’ and go to ‘system’. Under Device specifications in the middle is System Type. See whether it says 32-bit or 64-bit. If it says 32-bit does it also say x-64-based processor? If so, you can upgrade to 64-bit windows by doing a clean install. Just make sure everything you want to keep is backed up and you have all the program installation keys (but you don’t need the Windows one).
If you don’t upgrade, you can still use Google drive through your browser.
Google One
Need more space in Google Drive or more editing options in Google Photos? Then Google has Google One to provide both. It does cost money, starting at £1.59 for 100GB (the free Google Drive is 15GB), photo editing and a VPN for privacy and security (to find out more about VPNs go here: https://www.theflyingdoctor.biz/info/index.php/2017/03/20/virtual-private-networks/. The last alone is more than £1.59 pm from VPN vendors, although they are more sophisticated. You can even get as much as 2TB for £7.99pm which is a bargain and is twice as much space as the typical laptop – however, it is useful as a backup destination. So you might settle for 200GB for £2.49 a month.
Even more amazing is that you can share the storage with up to five others (and that might justify 2TB as you each get 400GB) – you each have private space.
Google Photos is enhanced with ‘magic eraser’ and creative tools like HDR to give your photos more sparkle.
And if any of this is confusing then you have access to enhanced support for Google products.
Finding and managing podcasts
We’re all looking for more media to entertain or educate us. A podcast is a bit like a pre-recorded radio programme that you can download and play on your computer, tablet or smartphone when you want to listen to it. You can also subscribe to get new editions.
MusicBee is a great way to locate and manage these podcasts for your windows machine. You can also sync files with Android and iOS devices
Once you have installed and opened MusicBee, click the ‘podcasts’ tab and then right-click the left-hand window to select ‘search podcast directory’.
You can now search iTunes or digital podcasts. The former lets you search, whilst the latter has lists in categories. Find what you want and subscribe to them. Now close the window.
If you click on the title you want, all the episodes will be displayed. Just double-click the one you want and listen.
Watch my video here: https://youtu.be/rQF3hjDHoHY
Staff often take more than their pencil pot when they leave
Just been reading a report from Code42. The Office for National Statistics says that 10% of the workforce is involved in changing jobs. The mileage of any staff you have may vary.
Much more data is cloud based rather than being on-site, which makes it accessible to the world. That’s why we have strong passwords and multi-level authentication. Yet your employees need access so they can do their jobs!
Code42 says that workers leaving employers report that 87% of former bosses didn’t check they weren’t taking data with them when they left whilst 32% of new employers actively encouraged new staff to share data that they had with their new colleagues.
Now staff have information in their heads, but 73% had access to data they hadn’t created, 69% to data that they had no involvement with and 59% to data from other departments (Thanks to Davey Winder for bringing my attention to the report).
That might all seem a bit corporate and nothing to do with small businesses, but take heed. Your CRM system has customer data just waiting to be sucked onto a USB stick. And that is just one example.
You need to take precautions. I’ve sat in the room next door to a meeting involving termination waiting to change passwords to everything the worker has access to. But if they made the move and resign, when do you lock them out? There and then? On their last day? Have they downloaded everything before resigning? In that case maybe you should have a clause in your contract about data access and ownership when they join.
Remember these days your company data is your company.
Sharing a calendar amongst a group
If you are trying to organise a family’s rota, so that you can keep on top of babysitting or want to share use of something between club members, GroupCal on Android is a useful app that allows the group you select to view the shared calendar for that group.
You can have a number of calendars for different groups, letting everyone see who is where with what, when.
See more in the link below
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An electronic scrapbook
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