Oh the Blog

This is a quick overview of the different areas of the Microsoft Teams App. These areas are accessed using the icons down the left side of the application window. 

 Activity:

This is a record of your use history in Teams. You can use this timeline to review your interactions with other team members.

 Chat:

You can use chats to have private text-based discussions or ask questions of one or more team members. To start a chat with a specific team member just type the '@' followed immediately by their name or email address. This will invite them to a new chat. You can switch your chat to a 'Call' by clicking the video or phone icon in the top right corner of the chat if you want to talk or have a face-to-face meeting.

 Teams:

Teams are the collaboration hub of the Teams app. A team is made up of a group of people who are connected by a specific project or division within the organization. This is a place for discussion, sharing of…

Having a backup of your Apple Mac laptop or desktop is essential in today's digital world. You need to be protected from external threats like virus' as well as from any potential hardware failures on your computer. For the Mac user, your first line of defence is Time Machine, Apple's built-in backup system. Let's review how to get started with Time Machine backups.

This is not new to me, I break stuff all the time. Its how I learn...the hard way. Java has taken a beating on the web in recent years because of major secruity issues, but I've been using java on my desktop computer for years without any issues. I need java because I run the Eclipse IDE for coding many of the PHP web projects. Most recently I was doing a major update to a website built on top of the cakePHP framework. If you going to code a web-app and you want to use Java, make sure you know what your doing, I just need it to run my local IDE. 

When I received a desktop notification that there was a new version of Java, I do what I always do, I install it. Knowing that Java has security issues I like to keep it update-to-date in order reduce the level of risk I'm exposed to by having it installed. Usually at the end of every update the installer will ask if I want to remove old versions of Java, this is a good idea since it also…

I've encountered this frustrating behaviour quite a few times when supporting my clients. The most recent scenario was with a Dell laptop and a Brother label printer. Both the laptop and the printer were turned on. The Brother label printer was connected to the laptop directly using a USB cable, but the printer properties still showed that the printer was 'offline'. 

Assumptions:

1. The printer drivers have been installed

2. The printer has been working and printing fine prior to this issue. 

Solution 1 (USB Connection): 

This quickest solution (if it works) is to unplug the USB cable from the printer or the computer, whichever is the easiest to reach. Then after a few seconds, let's say 10 seconds to be safe, plug in the USB cable back in. If the drivers have been installed correctly then the computer should recognize the printer and it will switch from offline to connected! 

Another version of this is to turn the printer off and…

I received an email from a client recently letting me know that one of their desktop computers had been exposed to quite a bit of water when a pipe burst in the wall next to where the computer sat on the floor. Now they were unable to 'control' the computer with the wireless mouse or keyboard. They stated they had tried every USB port on the system without any success. My first thought was that this system was not long for this world and that they were unlikely going to be able to use the computer. Either way, they wanted me to come to the office and have a look. My thought process was to check the bios when the computer boots, but then I remembered that without a working keyboard there was no way to load the bios. I needed to be able to click DEL or F10 in order to load the bios. Then I remembered that I had an old keyboard in my basement and I think it used a PS2 connector. So I headed downstairs and check the part of my basement that…