Today is one of the most dreaded times of the year for some people in the world. Yes, we have come to one of the months when the 13th day happens to fall on a Friday. Many folks consider it to be a day for highly unlucky events to occur. While the number 13 has been regarded as unlucky for hundreds of years, the exact origins of combining that number with Friday to create a whole unlucky day are somewhat clouded in mystery.
The mythology of Friday the 13th really started to become more popularized in the 20th century. Indeed, there"s even a name if you have a phobia surrounding this date: Paraskevidekatriaphobics. There have been a number of events over the years that happened on this particular day that many would consider to be bad. One of them is computer related. On Friday, January 13th, 1989 one of the earliest examples of a computer virus that received wide attention in the media occurred. The "Friday the 13th" virus struck in Great Britain and affected hundreds of IBM compatible PCs in an era where online services were nowhere near as widespread as they are today.
Many people will simply choose to not to go to work today for fear of something bad happening to them. The folks at Microsoft know this and, in the spirit of the day, sent Neowin over some tips for people who use Office 365 at work to avoid any "Friday the 13th" related issues:
1. When work hits the fan and you’re at the gym… Sometimes you need to work around the traditional nine to five. Office 365 gives you the flexibility to get things done anywhere, anytime, on any device. You can also read and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents on Windows Phones, iPhones or Android phones.
2. When someone overrides your edits and steals 12 hours of your life… Version control can be a nightmare when a lot of people are working on a document. To cut through confusion, share documents in the cloud and use SharePoint to control editing permissions.
3. When you lost your million-dollar idea… You don’t have to chase down a cab or retrace your steps with OneNote because it remembers things for you, saves automatically and syncs to SkyDrive. No matter where you are when genius strikes, you can also capture ideas on-the-go with OneNote Mobile.
4. When you can’t drop everything for an install… Office 365 streams in the background, so you don’t have to lift a finger to get the latest tools. Stay focused on what’s right in front of you and let the new Office keep you up to date.
5. When your computer goes AWOL… Office on Demand streams Office to virtually any Windows PC. Even if they don’t have Office installed, you can just hop onto a friend’s or teammate’s PC to finish something and spare yourself the panic attack.
6. When you’ve hit a wall and you’re on a deadline… Yammer taps you into a whole network of brain power you never even knew you had. From the CEO to the intern, you can turn to Yammer for fresh perspective and broad, fluid discussions that break traditional silos.
7. When you almost “reply all” to 10,000 people… With Outlook and Exchange, MailTips protect you from accidentally blasting big groups. By alerting you about the number of people on your emails, MailTips save you from the embarrassment of sharing a personal message with the whole company.
We want to thank Microsoft for sending over these tips. In the meantime, you should also keep in mind that another Friday the 13th is coming up very shortly in December. Ouch.
Friday The 13th image via Shutterstock; Office 365 image via Microsoft