Bralin Technology Solutions invented a way to stop time! No, not really, but it sure felt like it last month. February held so much to see and do that if we ever sat still, we risked missing something important – and that’s not fair for YOU!
The team at Bralin Technology Solutions fit several fantastic events into the shortest month of the year, really ramping up 2018 in style! We participated in major events in February, and we want to share everything we learned – read on for the details.
February was a busy time for Bralin, and the excitement was palpable. The 2018 Saskatchewan Winter Games were hosted by North Battleford mid-month, and top young athletes from all over the province flocked to Saskatchewan to compete in 17 sports competitions. Since 1972, the Games have promoted community development, cultural understanding, and stewardship, as well as public awareness for amateur sports. Participants of the Games often go on to advance to higher levels of athleticism with progressive skills and athletic motivation. We were excited for the opportunity to support the Games as a sponsor this year. To read more about the Games, the athletes, the sports, or the history of the competition, more details can be found at the Saskatchewan Winter Games website. Be sure to visit the photo galleries and see pictures from past events, and don’t miss this year’s pictures.
Also in February, we were thrilled with the opportunity to participate in the Agri-Visions Conference and Trade Show at the wonderful Lloydminster Agricultural Exhibition Association facilities, a multi-day interactive event that showcases all things related to the agriculture industry, including seminars, demonstrations, special events, a full trade show, and featuring keynote speakers to discuss topics and present agricultural insights and information. This event is a must-attend for those seeking the latest information on both grain and cattle industries, presented in the same location and offering a rare opportunity to encounter seasoned experts discussing topics like Economic Drivers in Agriculture for 2018, Sustainable Trends in Livestock, Combine Innovations, Regulatory Actions and Impact on the Farmer, and much more. We gladly sponsored the opening speaker session at The Lloydminster Agri-Visions 2018, Tim Hammond from Hammond Realty who spoke on Trends in Farm Land Values. If you’re curious about the event, visit the Agri-Visions website and keep an eye out for 2019 information, coming soon.
We were offered the chance to participate in the Lloydminster Chamber of Commerce and Lloydminster Dreamforest Soup’r Lunch and Learn series, and we couldn’t wait! The Lunch and Learn series is a collection of free events at mid-day during the workweek where highly-experienced professionals talk about the sometimes-sensitive topics modern professionals face in the digital age. Jeremy Reynoldson and Paul Melrose-Wyatt talked about a very prevalent topic today, presenting ‘Navigating Through Tech Challenges’ to a group of eager professionals sharing the same concerns:
- Bandwidth issues
- Helping people understand that, at its most basic level, bandwidth is the overall transmission capacity of a network.
- Password management
- How many characters the most secure passwords should have at minimum, and how many uppercase letters, how many numbers, how many special symbols.
- How often passwords should be changed – for the record, at least quarterly!
- Maintaining unique passwords for different accounts – otherwise, you may as well just give the hackers your password!
- Phishing
- When someone is posing as someone you trust, like a bank or financial institution, trying to get you to divulge sensitive information, like credit cards details, usernames, and passwords.
- Phishing scams are getting much more sophisticated in response to training, awareness, and protective software.
- Ransomware
- A newer “spin” on malware – a consolidated way to say “malicious software” – where hackers access a victim’s computer and plants ransomware that not only prevents users from accessing and using their files but demands a fee, a ransom is paid to remove the block.
- Often, when the fee is paid, there is nothing to prevent the hacker from immediately reactivating the ransomware. Victim’s need to be prepared, or better yet, prevent ransomware from accessing a network or machine altogether.
- Trends in software applications
- What’s old?
- What’s new?
- What’s good?
- What’s bad?
- The Hippest, Hottest, Most Rad Trends Today
- Microsoft Office has been the workplace staple, the desktop darling since the early 1990’s. Microsoft jumped on board the subscription service model, along with Adobe and Amazon, with a public launch of Office 365 in 2011. More workforces are migrating toward this subscription trend, as it is accessible from anywhere – desktop, laptop, tablet, you name it, wherever your office is at that moment is where Office 365 is. Part of the Microsoft suite of productivity packages for professionals, Office 365 also integrates seamlessly with other applications like SharePoint and OneDrive, which are fantastic features for file storage – and easy access!
February brought us some amazing opportunities at Bralin, and we can’t wait to share with you what March and the rest of 2018 have in store for us.
Stay tuned! For more information, get in touch with us right away at (306) 445-4881 or (306) 825-3881 or info@bralin.com.