Working from home will seem to be the trend for at least the next few weeks as confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus disease or COVID-19 continue to increase, especially with large corporations like Apple and Google asking their employees to stay home for a while.
In a recent report by ZDNet, Google has officially advised its employees in North America to start working from home amid the outbreak to reduce the density of workers in Google's offices.
Besides Google, Apple CEO Tim Cook has already permitted its employees to work from home due to the "unprecedented event."
Now, Shopify is following suit.
Zoom to the Rescue!
With these situations, video conferencing software like Zoom is incredibly popular as it lets colleagues work together despite their remote locations.
But, have you been in a situation where you're in your messy room and a colleague or your boss suddenly called? Don't panic. Zoom has you covered.
According to The Verge, Zoom has a special feature known as the Virtual Background feature that allows you to use a still image as your background, so no matter how cluttered your room is, you can effectively hide it and save yourself from the embarrassment--or at least from the exhaustion of cleaning it.
However, it's only possible if your computer can take it.
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Zoom has created quite a long list of requirements based on the system you're using, as well as whether you need an image only or a video, and it's available on their support page.
High-end laptops with the latest OS and either a Core i5 or i7 quad-core processor can instantly use the virtual background for images and video conferences. Still, those on the mid-range systems can use the feature but will need a physical green screen for it to work.
How to Set it Up
To set it up, open your Zoom client and click the gear icon on the upper right-hand of the screen. Then, choose the "Virtual Background" on the menu that will pop up on the left.
Zoom has already provided its users with sample images they can use, and you can click the one that you want. However, you can also supply your own background image with the "Add Image" button.
If you're already on a video conference, you can set it up by clicking the up-arrow on the bottom left of the screen, next to the video symbol. Then, click on the "Choose a virtual background..." option.
The software should warn you with a pop-up text if your computer can't handle the feature, and you'll be urged to tick the "I have a green screen" box to continue.
Coors Light Stops Ad
Despite the multitude of remote workers these days, Coors Light has decided to stop its "Official Beer of Working Remotely" ad, which was initially set to be played during March Madness.
The company decided to put it on hold due to the coronavirus outbreak to avoid being deemed "insensitive or be misinterpreted."
