Editing spreadsheets on the go or at work should soon be easier than ever thanks to a significant update to the web version of Microsoft Excel.
Microsoft has revealed a number of spreadsheet softwareupgrades that it says will help close the gap with its desktop-based sibling, including better support for larger files, as well as those with legacy features.
“We are excited to share that you can now open and edit more files on the web and complete your job anywhere, in the browser of your choice,” Microsoft noted in an Excel blog post announcing the news.
Excel for Web upgrade
Going forward, Microsoft Excel for the Web will now allow users to open and edit large files from SharePoint up to 100MB in size. This will expand possible files to thousands of rows of data, and means users will not have to switch to the Desktop version of Excel to finish work.
Users can also now edit files containing what Microsoft calls Legacy Art objects and SmartArt objects – including the likes of Form Controls, ActiveX Controls, Camera Tools, and OLE objects. The company says this will allow users to access and interact with any such workbooks but not with the objects themselves.
Elsewhere, users can now also access password-protected workbooks on Excel for the Web, meaning there's no need to switch back to a desktop in order to open & interact with secured files. Similarly, users can now also edit files which are protected for editing using a password to modify, meaning you'll be able to access and interact with different types of protected workbooks on the browser itself.
That's not all, as Microsoft also noted that more features will also be added soon, including support for Microsoft 365 subscribers to edit large files up to 100 MB from OneDrive, and further support for editing workbooks with legacy shared features and data wizard connections.
The news comes shortly after Microsoft revealed it will be bringing support for smoother scrolling to the Excel Desktop app, hopefully resulting in a much better user experience.
A world in which Kevin from The Office, Jay from the Inbetweeners, and Karl Kennedy from Neighbours rule the roost may sound like the hazy figment of a beautiful imagination, but that's exactly what the Cameo app has made a reality.
Cameo saw its popularity explode during lockdown, as thousands of bored stars of film, TV, music and sport rushed to Cameo to showcase their talents, make a buck or two, and brighten fans' days in the process.
Dunder Mifflin's slickest accountant has lined his accounts to the tune of more than $ 1 million purely from his Cameo appearances and, having seen him in action, it's little wonder why fans of The Office can't get enough.
But what is Cameo, how is it any different to Instagram, Twitter and any other social platform, and what can you use it for? Keep reading for all you need to know about Cameo.
What is the Cameo app?
Have you ever dreamed of getting a pep talk from your team's star player? Fantasized about your favorite movie star reenacting *that* iconic line, just for you? Or wanted to be serenaded by your 90s crush?
Cameo is a website and app that is specifically dedicated to making your most outlandish, niche and even your dullest celebrity-oriented daydreams come true – within reason of course.
The video-first platform literally allows you to pay famous stars (current and former) to either record a personalized video message, or chat one-to-one on a video call.
It's the latest evolution of social media, and what many of us rather over-ambitiously envisaged when Twitter and Instagram first emerged all those years ago; only now camera phones are good enough and data speeds fast and reliable enough to make that vision a reality.
As well as making you feel like you've got a direct and intimate line to your idols, it gives bored and out-of-work celebrities something to do.
How does the Cameo app work?
Performers as they may be, your favorite celebs won't be able to churn out a personalized video on the spot. You instead need to submit a request, which you can do on behalf of yourself, as a gift to somebody else, or for an entire company, by visiting their Cameo page.
They'll then have up to seven days to fulfil it, although many guarantee a 24-hour turnaround. They also have the option to decline requests.
The request process itself includes plenty of guidelines, but the trick is to be clear and concise. For instance, you won't need to set out that your request is for a birthday message, as there are dedicated special occasions toggles, which also include holiday, pep talk, and roast.
However, you may want to explain any potentially tricky name pronunciations, specify the tone of the message, and include precise details to make the video message or call as personal as possible. Or if you'd prefer them to freestyle, or to say or do something specific, say so in your request.
When your request has been fulfilled, you'll receive a link to your personalized video message, which you can download and share online.
(Image credit: Cameo)
What celebrities are on the Cameo app?
Hollywood royalty, sporting idols and global megastar musicians have flocked to the platform in their thousands.
Think you've got what it takes to withstand both barrels from Logan Roy himself? Brian Cox from Succession is a relative newcomer to Cameo, and will happily sling a few f-words your way, whatever the occasion.
Tony Hawk, Magic Johnson and Brett Favre are just some of the legendary sportspeople on the app, plus you could just get Bruce Buffer to shout “Iiiiiiit's TIIIIIIIIIIME!” over and over again, if you wanted to. Unless you'd rather “Get rrrrrrrready to RRRRRUMBLE!” instead, of course, in which case Michael's also available.
Gloria Estefan's rhythm really could get you, while you no longer need wonder how you might live without LeAnn Rimes. And let's not forget about the smooth, sultry tones of Kenny G, who'll pull out all the stops if the price is right.
And who else but Caitlyn Jenner heads up Cameo's superabundance of personalities from reality TV? RuPaul's Drag Race's Divina de Campo and NYC's realest housewife Sonja Morgan are also immensely popular on the app.
But Cameo's biggest draws aren't necessarily who you might expect them to be. Cult TV actors James Buckley (Jay from The Inbetweeners), Alan Fletcher (Karl Kennedy from Neighbours), and the undisputed king of Cameo, Brian Baumgartner (Kevin from the US version of The Office), are amongst the app's star attractions and despite getting perfect reviews pretty much across the board, they're also far cheaper than many others.
Fred Stoller (Handy Manny, Everybody Loves Raymond)
Colin Mochrie (Whose Line Is It Anyway?)
Ray Abruzzo (The Sopranos, The Practice)
Sandra Diaz Twine (Survivor)
Lee Rosbach aka Captain Lee (Below Deck)
What does the Cameo app cost?
The Cameo app is free to download, but the rich and famous don't just give away their time and energy for nothing. They set their own fees, which vary wildly.
Video messages, either for yourself or another individual, are by far the most affordable service available on Cameo, with prices starting at $ 15 per message at the time of publication. The, ahem, celebrities around this price point tend to be niche comedians and lookalikes, although in most cases they have excellent reviews.
The $ 50 mark is where you'll start recognizing household names. As a general rule of thumb, the more you're willing to spend, the more famous the face – though you'll find a few exceptions along the way.
Some celebrities have a higher opinion of themselves than others (more on this below), and charge several hundred dollars, or even thousands per message.
Live video calls tend to be a little pricier than pre-recorded messages, but not outrageously so. However, they do have the potential to be much more awkward.
Commercial bookings are by far the most expensive. Several hundred dollars would be at the cheaper end of the scale, with these types of bookings regularly climbing into the thousands.
Who is the most expensive person on Cameo?
He long ago made the pursuit of money, money and more money the central pillar of his persona, so it's little surprise that Floyd “Money” Mayweather is one of the most expensive people on Cameo, a fact that he's very proud of.
The former champ's prices are set at $ 15,000, though he only accepts commercial bookings.
However, fellow boxing Hall of Famer Mike Tyson has thrown his hat into the ring by charging $ 20,000, also strictly for business requests.
The one-time “Baddest Man on the Planet” has rather mellowed out in his later years, and for that extra $ 5,000, is likely to deliver a few more pearls of wisdom than the abrasive Mayweather, a suspicion backed up by their ratings.
(Image credit: Cameo)
How do I get the Cameo app?
Signing up to Cameo is straightforward, and takes just a couple of minutes.
You can do so via the app, which is available to download for free on both on iOS and Android, or via the Cameo website.
We'd recommend signing up on the website if you can, since some celebrities' Cameo profiles aren't accessible on the app at all due to Apple taking a significant chunk of the money made from bookings through the iOS app.
You just need a few key details to sign up, including your name, email address and a password.
How do 1:1 live video calls work on Cameo?
For some, the chance to speak to their idols one-to-one on a video call is the most exciting thing about Cameo, although a significant number of the celebrities on the platform have opted out of live video calls (and those that do offer them charge a premium for the privilege).
There are no phone numbers involved. Rather, you can join your favorite celebrity's Cameo Fan Club on their profile. You'll then be notified when they plan to go live.
When you join, prepare to wait a short while as you likely won't be first in the queue, and bear in mind that many of the celebrities who do offer live calls on Cameo prefer to keep conversations sharp.
While you can't record live video calls, you will get a photo opportunity at the end.
New data suggests Microsoft Edge is slowly beginning to lure users away from Google Chrome, which has had a stranglehold on the web browser market for years now.
According to the latest figures from Statcounter, the Microsoft Edge market share exceeded 4% for the first time ever in November, cementing the browser’s place as the world’s third most popular service (behind only Safari and Chrome).
The only major browser to lose market share last month, meanwhile, was Google Chrome, which is now responsible for 64.04% of web activity, down from a peak of 65.27% in the summer.
Microsoft Edge vs. Google Chrome
Of course, the gap between Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome remains massive, and the latter won’t fall from the top spot any time soon.
However, Microsoft will nonetheless be encouraged by the performance of its new flagship browser, with which it hopes to regain a foothold in the browser market after the infamous decline of Internet Explorer (which was once used by 95% of netizens).
Since the new Chromium-based Edge went live last year, its growth has been fueled in large part by the retirement of Edge Legacy and Internet Explorer, whose users Microsoft carefully funnelled towards its new service. To maintain this rate of growth, however, the company is tasked with figuring out how to lure people away from the likes of Firefox, Safari and Chrome.
The company has also delivered a consistent stream of new features for the browser, ranging from new Microsoft 365 integrations to tools designed to help users save money in the run-up to Christmas.
After overtaking Mozilla’s browser in the rankings for the first time in July, Edge now appears to be successfully padding out its user base with converts from Chrome. Admittedly, progress is slow, but the signs are positive for Microsoft.
Shield your browsing activity with prying eyes with the best VPN services and best proxy services around
Microsoft is preparing changes to how it charges its cloud-based productivity suite Microsoft 365 (formerly known as Office 365) that could leave many customers facing higher software bills.
CNBC reports that the “New Commerce Experience for Office” offering, set to be introduced in January 2022 will result in prices for the productivity suite spiking 20% for customers who pay on a monthly basis.
Furthermore, Microsoft seems to be eliminating the option to scale the subscription back. If customers decide, halfway through the subscription, to stop using the service, they will still need to pay for the remainder of the term.
Unhappy customers
CNBC claimed the news has been distributed through third parties and via several Microsoft employees who did not want to be named.
Microsoft’s official statement is that the company “provides flexible purchasing options to meet our customers’ diverse needs, and we don’t publicly disclose information around our premium and pricing approach for partners.”
Discussing the matter with the publication, one Microsoft partner said its customers had already raised concerns about the changes. Intivix co-founder Rob Schenk said he’s been notifying clients about the 20% increase for month-to-month arrangements, and the responses have been “mixed”, with some clients saying they “don’t like it at all”.
Some people have also taken to Reddit and to Change.org, to voice their dissatisfaction with the changes and to try and urge Microsoft into abandoning the idea.
Initially, the company planned on implementing the New Commerce Experience in October this year, but pushed it to January. From March 2022, all new orders will have to go through New Commerce Experience, with renewals having until July.
For the first half of the year, Microsoft will charge the same price for both monthly and yearly offers – with those who opt for an annual subscription apparently spared the price hike.
Having multiple payment options, as well as the ability to scale up and down easily, proved to be essential for the survival of many businesses during the pandemic.
While the feature was introduced earlier this year, WhatsApp has now expanded disappearing messages by allowing you to switch it on by default for all chats, alongside more changes.
The company has been introducing many features to the messaging app over the course of the year, with a refined appearance, multi-device support so you don't need to use your phone to manage chats, and more to better rival other apps such as Telegram and iMessage.
However, its new privacy policy has been a source of contention with users, giving WhatsApp the ability to read messages without your consent. While this expanded feature gives you greater control for certain chats, it could encourage abusers to use the app to better hide any conversations that could bring attention to law enforcement.
How to activate the new WhatsApp feature
In a blog post where the company is advocating the feature for better control over your chats, you can change the expiration timer to 24 hours, 7 days or 90 days.
This way, any messages are deleted after a certain time from when they're sent.
While the feature is slowly rolling out to devices, you can find it by going to Settings > Privacy > Disappearing Messages, and you can set the expiration to one of the three timers.
This applies to both iOS and Android, and the setting you choose will also apply to other devices you use WhatsApp on, such as the web, Windows 11, and iPad.
Analysis: A cocktail of blunders to come
Data is an important commodity in today's age, especially when it comes to social media and messaging apps. Users want to feel safe in what they post and what they share, but disappearing messages, especially if it's switched on by the recipient, and the sender doesn't know them, may struggle to quell anxiety in what's being discussed.
While WhatsApp has published a further post in explaining the disappearing messages, it still won't satisfy others who think that this is a feature that could be taken advantage of.
Indeed, the same post explicitly states that users should 'Only use disappearing messages with trusted individuals.'
It's a feature that doesn't bring much advantage to the user – the main reason of messaging apps is to keep in touch with friends and family. If we're now given the ability to remove messages, it brings in certain scenarios that weren't possible before, such as fraud and more incriminating situations.
Disappearing messages is an example of a feature that is useful in theory, but flawed in execution, and perhaps WhatsApp should roll back this feature for now.
Keeping the photos and videos stored on your Android smartphone away from prying eyes is about to get a whole lot easier as the new Locked Folder feature in Google Photos is now rolling out to even more devices.
Google's own Pixel phones were the first devices to get access to this feature and now almost six months later, it's finally becoming available to smartphones from other device manufacturers including Samsung, OPPO and OnePlus.
While Google Photos acts as a cloud storage service for your photos, it's worth noting that pictures moved to a Locked Folder will no longer be backed up to the cloud and will only be available on your smartphone. At the same time, if you uninstall Google Photos or clear its app data, all of the items inside your Locked Folder will also be deleted.
For this reason, you should back up these photos online using one of the best photo cloud storage services for safekeeping before getting started with Google Photos' Locked Folder feature.
Hiding sensitive photos and videos
According to a support document from Google, to configure the Locked Folder feature in Google Photos, you'll first need to open the app and go to Library > Utilities > Locked Folder.
From here, just follow the on-screen instructions to unlock your device though if you don't have a screen lock set up for your smartphone, you'll need to do that first before using Locked Folder. Once the Locked Folder feature is ready, you can select the photos and videos you want to secure, tap on the three dot menu and select Move to Locked Folder to hide these items from the main Google Photos library.
If you own one of Google's Pixel phones, you can save photos directly from Pixel camera to Locked Folder to have them hidden automatically.
Up until now, Android users had to rely on third-party apps to hide photos and videos stored on their devices but with Locked Folder now rolling out to non-Pixel phones, you'll be able to secure all of your photos and videos directly in Google Photos.
TikTok’s powerful algorithm steering the social media activity of millions of daily users is no longer a mystery.
In a new New York Times report that outlines information gleaned from what’s been verified as an official document, TikTok’s algorithm is laid bare. Wait for it: It prioritizes retention and time spent, and is insanely obvious.
Boiled down to its essence, the TikTok algorithm looks for video likes, comments, and how much of the video you watch (a fully watched video is obviously worth more than one you stop or scroll past before it’s complete).
The system understands, based on tags and other details, what each video is about. If you like a certain kind of video and watch it all the way through, or even pause it repeatedly and then still complete playing it, those are positive signals for the algorithm.
Since TikTok’s goal is to bring you back to the platform as often as possible, and retain your attention once you’re there, the algorithm will then feed you more of the kind of videos you’ve indicated that you like/prefer through the TikTok algorithm
It’s an addictive, virtuous circle, right?
Videos that string together a story – and get you to watch all of them – can supercharge the influence of that topic in the algorithm to give you more of that kind of meaty content.
A path to content addiction
When I started watching TikTok videos a few years ago, virtually all of them were 15 seconds or less. My feed was full of magic tricks, DIY, and people doing dances. None of this, even back then, was random. I was interested in learning new magic tricks (I’ve been an amateur magician almost all my life), I love home hacks, and couldn’t get enough of the dances because I appreciated the skill, and wondered how people of all ages (including mine!) had the skill and energy to learn and do them. What I watched fed all the videos I saw. To this day, my youngest child often comments that I see a very different TikTok than they do.
Nowadays, I watch longer, storytelling videos, like those from Elise Meyers, whom I stumbled on a few months ago when she told this lengthy and hilarious tale about a blind date who picked her up, drove them to Taco Bell, and then bought 100 tacos.
She’s a brilliant storyteller. I know this because now I’ve consumed dozens of her videos thanks to the algorithm, which is feeding me more and more of them (along with other long-form story-telling videos).
These three-minute TikToks are obviously a boon for TikTok’s core goal of collecting and retaining more users. Time spent as a metric isn't unique to TikTok. Anyone who runs a content website knows the value of more time (and pages) consumed, which usually translates into more served ads.
Down the rabbit hole
What’s notable, though, is that TikTok’s algorithm still allows for discovery. Yes, there’s a lot of showing you more of what you clearly like or want (to the possible detriment of those who may be in a dark place and are gravitating to depressing/angry/harmful videos).
On the other hand, TikTok retains a bit of serendipity. Every once in a while, I see a video that has nothing to do with my likes or interests (at least as I express them on TikTok), but I get hooked. That’s how Elise Meyers happened. These random videos are usually a product of extreme popularity elsewhere on TikTok, which then drives that content into your feed, for you to feed the algorithm with fresh attention info.
The downside of this fairly simple algorithm is that it can appear to get stuck. Suddenly, I have five or six Elise Meyers in one feed session, and even I can’t slog through that many minutes of her crazy stories. I usually take a break and then come back to them.
I’ve also found that, once you understand the TikTok algorithm, you can untrain and retrain it. If I find too much of one kind of video in my feed. I do some hashtag searches and then rabbit-hole down a few fresh topics.
This usually works until I gravitate back to my old haunts (magic, DIY, FX, Elise Meyers) – and then I’m back to where I started.
Microsoft has rolled out an update for Teams that will change the way many people collaborate with colleagues and perform their daily tasks on the platform.
The update introduces functionality from Microsoft Loop, a new application designed to help workers cooperate on tasks in real-time with portable components that synchronize across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
As per a new blog post, Loop components have now arrived for Microsoft Teams, unlocking a variety of opportunities to streamline workflows, as well as minimizing the number of apps workers are required to juggle.
For example, users can post a data table or list of actions into a Teams channel, where all members are able to edit the content and see any changes live. The content will also remain up-to-date wherever else the components have been deployed (say, in a Word document or PowerPoint presentation).
“Loop components offer teams more flexibility in how they get work done – ensuring everyone always has access to the latest information. Where it is contributing in real-time or at a time that better fits your team’s schedule, Loop components enable you and your team to stay connected without worrying about working with stable information,” explained Microsoft.
Microsoft Loop comes to Teams
First unveiled at Microsoft’s annual Ignite conference last month, Loop is made up of three elements: components, pages and workspaces.
Loop workspaces are shared spaces that contain everything relevant to a specific project. Loop pages, meanwhile, are described as “flexible canvases” where users can organize their various components and draw in files, links or data.
“For years, the established patterns of work were clear. Communication took place via email and content creation was mostly documents, spreadsheets and presentations,” wrote Microsoft in a separate blog post, when Loop was first announced.
“In the last 18 months, the world has changed, and we have adapted to a new working environment where people had to complement traditional communication tools and in-person collaboration with alternative solutions. But we need to go further. That is why we are reimagining Office, adding new apps to respond to new opportunities, and making Office a universal, interactive canvas.”
Deployed in Microsoft Teams, Loop components have the potential to change the way remote and hybrid workers collaborate with colleagues in a significant way. And this is just the start, Microsoft says; additional components are expected to be announced at Microsoft Build next year.
Avoiding embarrassing meeting snafus could soon be a lot easier thanks to a long-awaited new update from Microsoft 365.
The software suite has revealed that users will finally be able to specify where and how they will be attending meetings using its Outlook email service.
Going forward, Outlook users will now be able to specify whether they will attend a meeting in-person or online.
Outlook RSVP
Microsoft says this feature will be useful not just for the workers, but also for those planning meetings, who can best prepare by booking a room with video conferencing resources or bringing an external speaker.
The update was first revealed back in September 2021 as part of a larger hybrid working push by Microsoft, but the company has now said the tool is finally set to begin rolling out soon. It is marked as general availability, meaning all Outlook and Exchange users should be able to access it upon release.
The update comes a number of weeks after Google announced an identical feature for Gmail, as Google Calendar users are now able to specify whether they will be attending a meeting either virtually or in-person in their email RSVP.
The function had initially been added to Google Calendar back in July 2021 during the initial hybrid working peak, with Google noting this would, “help meeting attendees know what to expect when joining a meeting, and prepare accordingly.”
Ironically given today's news, Google's RSVP options are not shared with contacts on other platforms, such as Microsoft Outlook.
Google Calendar also recently launched a “Focus time” feature that allows users to block out periods of time where they can avoid meetings and get their heads down for actual work.
Setting such a marker in your Google Calendar will also allow users to automatically decline meetings, meaning no last-minute rush to finish off work.
It looks like Microsoft is planning a radical overhaul of how you copy and paste in its Edge web browser in Windows 11 – and those changes could also come to Google’s rival Chrome browser as well.
As Windows Latest reports, Microsoft is working with Google on a feature called “Pickling Clipboard” which could drastically improve the clipboard abilities of Edge and Chrome, allowing you to copy and paste a wider variety of file formats. This could prove to be incredibly useful for people who use web apps – which are interactive websites that work a lot like apps you install on your PC – to upload and share files.
By either using your mouse or keyboard shortcuts, you will be able to copy a wide array of files to websites and web apps from within the browser, making the way we interact with websites a lot easier.
Microsoft is also promising that the data you copy and paste will be compatible with security standards, and the company has worked to ensure that no corruption or data loss occurs either.
Analysis: Microsoft’s embrace of Chromium continues to pay off
You may not realise it, but copying and pasting is one of the most common things you can do when working on your PC, as it allows you to quickly and easily add text, photos, files and more from one source to another.
So, the fact that Microsoft is looking to improve this when you use a browser is very welcome. It’ll be particularly handy for using web apps such as online photo editors and word processors, as it’ll be easier for users to quickly add items from their PCs to the internet. Of course, it’s no coincidence that Microsoft has a suite of web apps that would benefit greatly from these improvements.
What’s particularly pleasing about this, however, is that Microsoft’s work on improving copying and pasting isn’t just going to come to its Edge web browser. It looks set to appear in Google’s rival Chrome browser as well.
This is thanks to the fact that both Edge and Chrome now run on the same web engine – Chromium – which is the core part of a web browser that displays websites. Since Microsoft moved Edge to Chromium, we’ve seen an increasing number of features designed by Microsoft come to both browsers, along with increased cooperation between Microsoft and Google.
This is great for consumers, as it gives them more choice over what browser to use, as they won’t miss out on features and improvements if they’d rather stick with Chrome. Google’s offering remains by far the most popular web browser in the world, so it doesn’t hurt Microsoft to come up with features like improved copy and paste to improve the performance of its web apps for Chrome users as well.
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