Microsoft is releasing a new version of Office this week, designed for people that don’t want to subscribe to Microsoft 365. The standalone Microsoft Office 2024 release is now available for both consumers and small businesses, and includes locked-in-time versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook across both Mac and PC.
Technology
iPhone's satellite messaging: A lifeline in Hurricane Helene's aftermath
Hurricane Helene has left a trail of destruction across the Southeastern United States, claiming over 100 lives and leaving many residents isolated due to destroyed infrastructure and lack of power. However, among this chaos, a ray of hope has emerged in the form of Apple’s new satellite messaging features.
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Asheville residents find solace in satellite communication
Matt Van Swol, a photographer in Asheville, North Carolina, shared on X (formerly Twitter) that people have been able to “get messages out and in with the Satellite messaging feature. This is literally saving lives.” While the connection isn’t perfect, Van Swol notes it’s a “50/50 chance, which is better than nothing.”
IS YOUR PHONE READY FOR AN EMERGENCY? TURN ON THESE LIFESAVING SETTINGS
Peace of mind for worried families
Another X user reported using the satellite feature to get location pings from family members when power and internet went out. “At least it gave us some peace of mind,” they shared.
EMERGENCY IPHONE SHORTCUT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE
iOS 18: Expanding satellite capabilities
With the recent release of iOS 18, Apple has introduced several new satellite features that enhance communication during emergencies. You can now send messages via satellite directly from the Messages app, allowing you to stay connected even when you are off the grid and without cellular or Wi-Fi coverage.
Messages via satellite allows you to send and receive texts, emojis and Tapbacks over iMessage and SMS when a cellular or Wi-Fi connection is not available. Additionally, the iPhone 15 Pro shows a text conversation in iMessage with a satellite image and the phrase “Keep Pointing at Satellite… Connected” in the Dynamic Island.
For those who need to connect with friends and family using non-Apple devices, SMS over satellite provides an alternative messaging option. These features build upon the Emergency SOS via Satellite function that was introduced with the iPhone 14, offering even more ways to reach out for help in critical situations.
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To send messages via satellite
- You need an iPhone 14 or later (all models) with iOS 18 or later.
- You need to be in a place with no cellular and Wi-Fi coverage.
- You need to be outside with a clear view of the sky and horizon.
- You need to connect to a satellite with your iPhone.
- You need an active SIM.
- To use iMessage via satellite, you need to turn on iMessage before you’re outside cellular and Wi-Fi coverage.
- To use SMS messaging via satellite, your carrier must support it.
- Messages via satellite is available in the U.S. and Canada.
- It’s free for two years after the activation of an iPhone 14 or later (all models).
Ensure you have iOS 18 installed
Before you can take advantage of the new features in the Magnifier app, make sure your device is running iOS 18. Follow these steps to check and update your iOS.
Check your current iOS Version:
- Open the Settings app on your device
- Tap General
- Tap About. Here, you’ll see the version number next to Software Version.
Update to iOS 18:
- Go to Settings
- Tap General
- Tap Software Update
- If iOS 18 is available, tap Download and Install
- Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the update
How to turn on iMessage
Now, to use iMessage via satellite, you need to turn on iMessage before you’re outside cellular and Wi-Fi coverage. Here’s how to do this.
- Go to the Settings app on your iPhone
- Scroll down and tap on Apps
- Scroll down and tap on Messages
- Make sure the iMessage toggle is turned on (it should be green)
- Tap on Send & Receive to ensure your phone number and email are selected for iMessage
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How to use messages via satellite
Connecting to a satellite is pretty straightforward:
- When your iPhone detects that you’re outside cellular and Wi-Fi coverage, it alerts you; on the Lock Screen, you get a prompt that says you can send and receive messages via satellite.
- When you connect to the satellite, you’ll also see the option to text emergency services using Emergency SOS via satellite, get help with car troubles using Roadside Assistance via satellite, and share your location using “Find My” via satellite (where these services are available).
- To send a message, just open the Messages app, you’ll be prompted to start accepting messages if you haven’t already, and your iPhone provides instructions to connect to a satellite to send a text. If you have an iPhone 14 Pro or later, the Dynamic Island at the top of the screen has indicator dots that show the strength of your connection and, if your connection could be improved, arrows that direct you to turn left or right. You can tap the Dynamic Island to open Connection Assistant for more help.
- When you connect and start accepting messages via satellite, you’ll receive any SMS messages that were sent from your emergency contact or members of your Family Sharing group before you started accepting messages via satellite. You won’t receive iMessages until your emergency contact or family member returns to the conversation and taps Send via Satellite underneath their message bubble.
Limitations of satellite messaging
Messages via satellite might take a little longer to send. In ideal conditions, with a direct view of the sky and horizon, a message might take 30 seconds to send. It might take over a minute to send under trees with light or medium foliage, and you might not be able to connect to a satellite under heavy foliage or if you’re surrounded by other obstructions.
Some iMessage features aren’t supported when using a satellite connection. You can’t send or receive photos or videos, audio messages, stickers or messages in a group message.
If you can’t send an iMessage via satellite – for example, if the person you are trying to text has an iPhone that doesn’t have iOS 18, they have a non-Apple device or if you haven’t sent them an iMessage recently – you can use SMS messaging via satellite.
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Kurt’s key takeaways
While the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene is immense, it’s heartening to see how technology can provide a lifeline in times of crisis. Apple’s satellite messaging features, though not perfect, are proving to be invaluable for those cut off from traditional communication methods. As recovery efforts continue, these innovations may well be the difference between life and death for many in affected areas.
What personal experiences have you had with technology during a natural disaster, and how did it impact your situation? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.
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Technology
Microsoft Office 2024 is now available for Macs and PCs
Office 2024 includes a lot of the updates that Microsoft has been delivering to Microsoft 365 subscribers over the past few years. Microsoft last released a standalone version of Office in 2021, and this new Office 2024 release includes improvements to the core apps, as well as accessibility and UI changes.
Office 2024 has a new default theme, with Microsoft’s latest Fluent Design principles that match the visual changes to Windows 11. Microsoft has also added accessibility-focused improvements to help Office users find potential accessibility issues in documents, slideshows, workbooks, and emails.
The biggest changes in Office 2024 can be found in Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Microsoft has added new functions in Excel to use text and arrays in worksheets, alongside a new IMAGE function that can pull pictures from the web. Excel 2024 can also now reference Dynamic Arrays in charts, which can automatically update rather than being fixed to set data points. Microsoft claims the overall speed and stability of Excel 2024 should also be improved.
In PowerPoint Microsoft has added the cameo feature, allowing you to insert a live camera feed into slides. PowerPoint also has a new recording studio feature that includes recording features for narration, animations, transitions, and inking. You can also add closed captions or subtitles to videos and audio files in slides, making presentations a lot more accessible.
Outlook 2024 includes improvements to search so you get more relevant results for messages, attachments, contacts, and calendar entries. This latest Outlook release also includes more options for meetings, including the ability to automatically shorten them. Mac users can also customize swipe left and right gestures in Outlook.
In Word, Excel, and PowerPoint you can now insert a picture easily from an Android mobile device, and Microsoft is also supporting version 1.4 of the OpenDocument format (ODF) which includes a variety of new improvements. Word and PowerPoint also include the ability to like and react to comments in documents.
Word 2024 users will also be able to recover a session if your PC crashes. Word will automatically open all the documents you had open before your PC crashed, you lost power, or Word simply closed unexpectedly. OneNote 2024 users will also get access to the new inking and drawing experience.
Microsoft says Office 2024 will require a Microsoft account and an internet connection, but if it’s anything like Office 2021 then you’ll only need an internet connection to install the suite, activate it, and get any security updates. Office 2024 will run on Windows 10 and 11 as well as the three most recent releases of macOS.
Office 2024 will be available in two different editions. Office Home 2024, priced at $149.99, includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote for PC or Mac. If you want Outlook, you’ll need to purchase the $249.99 Office Home and Business 2024 version, which also includes the rights to use the apps for commercial purposes.
Technology
Snap employees were well aware of the app’s child safety issues, newly unsealed complaint says
“By November 2022, Snap employees were discussing 10,000 user reports of sextortion each month, while acknowledging that these reports ‘likely represent a small fraction of this abuse’ given the shame and other barriers to reporting,” says a newly unsealed version of the lawsuit filed by New Mexico’s attorney general against Snap. This less-redacted version of the filing we first saw a month ago adds fresh details about what Snap employees allegedly knew about the scope of the sextortion issue it’s accused of facilitating on its platform.
In one alleged instance, employees referenced a case with 75 reports against it “mentioning nudes, minors, and extortion, yet the account was still active.” And in 2022, Snap’s internal research allegedly found that over a third of teen girls and 30 percent of teen boys on its app had been exposed “to unwanted contact on its platform.” the complaint says.
The new details paint a picture of a company aware of its alleged shortcomings when it came to protecting kids on its service, yet not sufficiently focused on fixing them. “Former Snap trust and safety employees complained that ‘they had little contact with upper management, compared to their work at other social media companies, and that there was pushback in trying to add in-app safety mechanisms because [Snap CEO] Evan Spiegel prioritized design,’” the complaint says.
“… there was pushback in trying to add in-app safety mechanisms because [Snap CEO] Evan Spiegel prioritized design”
In a statement posted to its newsroom, Snap said its app is designed “as a place to communicate with a close circle of friends, with built-in safety guardrails, and have made deliberate design choices to make it difficult for strangers to discover minors on our service. We continue to evolve our safety mechanisms and policies, from leveraging advanced technology to detect and block certain activity, to prohibiting friending from suspicious accounts, to working alongside law enforcement and government agencies, among so much more.”
According to the complaint, Snap employees circulated an external report in 2021 that included examples of alleged predators connecting with kids as young as eight through Snapchat and obtaining child sexual abuse material. But they feared measures to catch this kind of behavior would be unduly burdensome on user privacy and “create disproportionate admin costs,” the complaint alleges.
Employees also allegedly identified risks with certain Snapchat features, like Quick Add, which suggests other users to connect with. “We need to come up with new approaches that ringfence our most vulnerable users (minors) and make it harder for predatory users to find them via quick add, search, etc.,” an executive wrote, according to the complaint. “We believe we can achieve this without meaningfully degrading the product experience for these users if we pursue new strategies in inventory generation/constraints and other techniques to more effectively silo minors from people outside their networks.” Snap later made it so the Quick Add feature would only show up for 13 to 17-year-olds’ accounts when they had “a certain number of friends in common with that person.” But internally, the complaint says, employees recognized that the approach would still have significant shortcomings.
The unsealed complaint also includes more details on how Snap allegedly facilitated the illicit sale of guns. In one undated presentation, the company acknowledged that its platform sees “50 posts related to illegal gun sales per day and 9,000 views per day of these marketed weapons.” And even when content is reported, “[r]eported content is usually viewed hundreds of times before report.”
“Streaks make it impossible to unplug for even a day”
It also includes internal communications acknowledging the addictiveness of Snapstreaks, where users are told how many days they’ve continued communicating with another user. “Wow, we should have more addicting features like this,” one employee allegedly wrote, according to a January 2017 email. “Most streakers are our core demographic,” wrote another. An October 2019 presentation allegedly noted that “Streaks make it impossible to unplug for even a day.”
Technology
Sleep Number’s newest smart bed aims to tackle night sweats
Sleep Number’s newest smart bed is designed to keep you cool at night. The ClimateCool Smart Bed, starting at $5,499, is the latest product from the company famous for its adjustable mattress firmness. In a press release, the company says the new mattress can keep your body at the optimal temperature with its “scientifically backed” cooling programs that could be of particular interest to women dealing with symptoms of menopause.
This is Sleep Number’s second smart bed that offers individual temperature control on either side of the bed. The Climate360, which launched in 2020, similarly actively draws heat away from your body to help you stay cool, but unlike the ClimateCool, it can also warm you up if you’re too chilly at night.
But while the 360 starts at a whopping $10,000 for a Queen size, the new ClimateCool starts at $5,499. This pricing includes a base; you can get the adjustable one for $1,500 more. Competitors such as EightSleep, a mattress cover that can heat and cool and also has an adjustable base, start at $2,649, but you need to bring your own mattress.
Sleep Number says the ClimateCool uses the same cooling technology as the Climate360, and both mattresses in the Climate series can use the active cooling feature enabled by its new SmartTemp cooling programs. These were developed with research from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and work in conjunction with ceramic gel layers and a breathable sleep surface in the mattress to keep you cool while adjusting to your body’s temperature throughout the night.
Sleep Number said it conducted studies that found body temperature changes during menopause negatively impact women’s sleep quality. Its survey of more than 10,550 Sleep Number bed users found that “90 percent of female respondents experiencing menopause or perimenopause suffer from night sweats.”
The company claims its active cooling technology could help these women sleep better by sensing their body’s temperature change and drawing the excess heat away from them with its dynamic airflow system. As with its adjustable firmness, each side of the bed can be set to different cooling programs so you can stay cooler while your partner stays cozy.
Users can create their own cooling program or choose from two programs designed to address different needs, including recovery, deep sleep, menopause, illness recovery, and relaxation:
‘All Night Cooling,’ which keeps sleepers cool and can help ease temperature changes and hot flashes.
‘Deep Sleep Cooling,’ designed to help reduce sleep disruptions in the middle of the night.
As with all Sleep Number mattresses, the ClimateCool features adjustable firmness and built-in sleep tracking that measures your biosignals to provide you with a sleep report. These features are accessed through the Sleep Number app.
The Sleep Number ClimateCool smart bed is available now at sleepnumber.com and at Sleep Number stores, starting at $5,499 (Queen size, with integrated base) and $6,999 (Queen size, with FlexFit 2 adjustable base).
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