Stuff - UK (2021-03)

QUIET RIOT CARING SHARING

QMute yourself
Get into the habit of muting
your microphone in group
chats with a lot of people, or
you’ll find background noises
take over. ‘Alt+A’ on Windows
or ‘Cmd+Shift+A’ on macOS
or iPadOS will instantly switch
the mute status of your mic.

QMute everyone else
If everything gets too noisy,
you could yell “SHUT UP!”
and stomp out of the room.
If you’re the host, though,
and it’s appropriate to, instead
mute everyone with ‘Alt+M’
(Windows) or ‘Cmd+Ctrl+M’
(Apple). Or, you know, just
count to ten.

MESSENGER

Nobody likes Facebook

but almost everyone’s

on it. Take advantage

of that by kicking off a

group chat in Messenger,

prodding the camera icon

and having a chinwag

with your chums – or

some randoms you

unwisely accepted friend

requests from in 2005.

£free / messenger.com

SKYPE

Not keen on having

all your video chats

under the watchful

eye of Zuckerberg?

(In which case, also

avoid WhatsApp.) Skype

fell out of fashion after

ill-advised attempts to

transform it into a chat

app, but the video bit

works well.

£free / skype.com

FACETIME

If your friends (or at least

the ones you care about)

have Apple kit, FaceTime

is an option. Kick off a

Messages thread, click

Details on Mac or tap the

group name on mobile,

and prod the FaceTime

icon to start throwing

around emoji poos.

£free / apple.com

OR USE ONE

OF THESE...

QShow me, love

So suity types can show their

boring spreadsheets, Zoom

has screen sharing – but

the host must enable it for

everyone. On a PC, you can

share your entire desktop

or a single window; on mobile,

the screen, photos, or files

saved in the cloud.

QWin, lose or draw

Within the screen-sharing

options, you’ll see Whiteboard.

Fire it up and you can share

what you draw. Again, it’s

aimed at business meetings...

but when everyone’s talked

out it can be used for an

impromptu Pictionary game.

QStay on these codes

By default, new Zoom

meetings have a passcode,

required to gain entry. Don’t

omit it, because people do

gatecrash Zoom calls. Also:

don’t paste meeting invites

publicly – unless you want

just anyone to rock up.

QShut that door

Once your meeting’s underway

and every participant is there,

turn on Lock Meeting from the

Security menu (under ‘More’

on mobile). This bars anyone

else from joining the meeting,

even if they have a passcode.

QCarry that wait

For meetings with friends,

disable the waiting room

(which is where people

otherwise sit until the host

rocks up) and let participants

join at any time; when you

arrive, you take over. Be more

formal for business, though.

SAFETY

DANCE

Need

a new

webcam?

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