Microsoft New Android & iOS Office App; MS Tries 4 Day Workweek in Japan-40% Productivity Boost, Hacked Facebook Account Bankrolls Scams; Dropbox Launches File Transfer For All; Garmin Autoland Lands Small Planes in Pilot Emergency

Microsoft has rolled out a new Office app for iOS and Android. The app merges Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. Of course, all of those have been available on the mobile systems for years, but this makes them available as a single download. It’s not only convenient, it takes up significantly less space than the free standing apps. Theverge.com says if you want to test drive the combined app, a public preview is available today. Right now, it’s only available on phones, though….no tablet support yet.

A certain amount of common sense tells us that shorter workdays and a 4 day workweek can increase productivity. Now, Microsoft has proved this with regards to a 4 day work week with a test run in Japan. According to businessinsider.com, MS closed down every Friday in August, then compared to August of 2018. The result was a 40% boost in productivity and creativity! This all took place as part of Microsoft’s ‘Work Life Choice Challenge 2019 Summer.’ Its worth noting that full time employees were given paid leave during the Fridays off.

In a scary development, hackers have started hacking Facebook ad accounts and stealing credit card info to fund scam campaigns. Cnet.com reports that this happened to one man, and Facebook approved $10,000 a day to prove a 13 second video. Fortunately, since he hadn’t run any Facebook ads in a couple years, the credit card info wasn’t updated, and Facebook did shut down the campaign hours later. It wasn’t until THEN that he was notified! Now, if you are just a regular user with a page or account, don’t stress too much over this. The point is, Facebook didn’t stop the campaign for being pushed by hackers, but only when they found the credit card had expired, and they weren’t going to be paid! The ads encouraged you to click through to a site for a wagon that was ‘accidentally’ marked down to 13 cents. The scammers had a credit card skimmer embedded in the site, to steal users’ card info. DO be careful! Also…thanks for nothing, Facebook!

After a few months in beta, Dropbox has rolled out its file transfer service to all users. Venturebeat.com says Dropbox has positioned it as an easy way for users to share files with people when collaboration isn’t important. Uses mentioned include shooting a contract over to someone or delivering a video or audio piece. Although this has been available with expiration times and password protection through the shared-links feature, this one will be handy where the file may be changed and sent back and forth. There is a 100 MB limit, and they do expire after 7 days. The feature is available on all pricing tiers.

For years, commercial planes have been able to virtually land themselves using glidescope and other data. Now, Garmin swoops in out of Lenexa, Ks, and has launched Autoland, which brings actual automatic landing to small aircraft. According to techcrunch.com, they have partnered with Piper and Cirrus to make the feature an option on 202 Piper M600 turboprop planes and the Cirrus Vision Jet, pending FAA approval. If a pilot should pass out or become incapacitated, the push of a button will activate the system and land the plane…it also automatically alerts authorities. Right now the system is pricey, so don’t expect it to be retrofitted to any Cessna 150’s at your local airport…most of those don’t even have an autopilot. Like all tech, it will probably come down in price with time, and could one day be reasonable enough to be retrofitted into a lot of the general aviation fleet.