The uncomfortable valley is the effect one experiences when presented with some kind of image, and there's an uncomfortable gap between normal-looking and absolutely insane. Normal-looking is fine, like the classic typed emoji face (i.e., :), for the elderly and otherwise uninitiated). Insane-looking, like the Pixar Minions, is also fine, because the face is so weird you've accepted there's something purposely ironic, strange, or otherworldly being presented to you.
Theres an inherent convenience to working from home that suits many, but it can also have significant downsides. The social element, for instance, is lost. Still, remote work and the well-known jingle of Microsoft Teams have become part of the daily routine for many. To help them get to know those people they work with, Microsoft has added a new feature to Teams. Or, rather, a familiar feature from Microsoft's 365 system is coming to Teams for the first time: People Skills.
As explains, "if you are late for work, do some work from home, or do anything on Teams and Outlook from any network that is not your organization's, your employer would know about this. This obviously did not sit well with workers who either work in hybrid setups or do not appreciate this type of invasion of privacy."
Starting today, Microsoft is making it more difficult for cyber attackers to infiltrate organizations via Teams. A new update now blocks dangerous file types and malicious URLs, unless companies explicitly change the default settings. The new features were already known, but will activate automatically today for organizations that have not tampered with the default settings. Companies with customized configurations will not notice the change; their settings will remain intact.
These immersive events are available on PC, Mac, and Meta Quest devices. A Teams Premium subscription or "qualifying commercial Teams license" is required to host these immersive events, though co-organizers and attendees require only a standard Teams license.
The plan was that users could select a 3D environment and an avatar for themselves then, rather than perch on a kitchen table or grab the first hot-desking spot, immerse themselves therein. While neat, there was also a clear overlap with Teams, which also had the option to join an immersive space (if enabled) or participate in a custom immersive space in Mesh itself, so was there really a need for a separate standalone service? The answer appears to be no.
Researchers at Check Point this week revealed four flaws in Teams that, if exploited, could have fundamentally broken the trust that underpins communication inside organizations. Together, they made it possible to alter messages without the "Edited" label, spoof alerts to make them appear from trusted colleagues, rename chats to change who they appeared to be with, and even forge caller identities in audio or video calls.
Microsoft has smooshed together three of its most popular productivity tools - the personal task manager To Do, the team-focused Planner, and the robust Project for the web - into a single, intelligent workspace now known simply as Microsoft Planner. Those tools still exist separately, but you can think of Planner as an overlay of them all, a unified view that can handle everything from your personal grocery list to managing a company-wide marketing reboot.
Dependence on American cloud services entails significant risks. Minister Paul of Social Affairs warns of the consequences of a sudden denial of access. "An abrupt denial would affect essential support processes such as email, collaboration via Teams, document exchange, and security monitoring." In such a scenario, the Social Insurance Bank would face disrupted services and an affected communication structure. This vulnerability highlights the profound integration of American technology with government processes.
PUMA has embarked on a programme to deliver in-country public switched telephone network (PSTN) replacement and localised support, replacing legacy systems with a fully integrated Microsoft Teams installation.
Microsoft Teams continues to gain ground as a business collaboration tool, in part because Microsoft has tied the meeting and messaging app ever more tightly to the rest of its Microsoft 365 productivity suite over the years.
