Simon Hudson | MVP

M365 North Christmas SharePint, Mon, Dec 22, 2025, 6:00 PM | Meetup ***It's traditional... the last user group of the year is less of a meet up and more of a p#^\* up (alcohol is optional though).*** This year we would love to invite all ou

M365 North User Group Christmas drinks get together

This year we are frequenting several of the very many wonderful pubs in York.
Join us on Monday 22nd December from 6pm at Pivni

All the details here:

meetu.ps/e/PHRgH/1ncG...

@m365north.bsky.social
#M365 #Yorkshire

Note the logarithmic scale.

Lower is better insulation with U values.

TOG (Thermal Overall Grade) is a measure of thermal resistance used for fabrics, especially duvets and bedding.
Technically TOG is dimensionless, but derived from thermal resistance, R, in (m²·K)/W.

1 TOG =10 R
U=1/R

Bed sheet is almost negligible insulation (U ≈ 33), far higher than anything else. - Blankets and coats cluster around U ≈ 2–6, similar to single glazing. - Ski jacket and down parka drop into the 1–3 range, comparable to double glazing. - Winter duvet is even lower (U ≈ 0.74), close to triple glazing. - Walls and roofs are orders of magnitude better (U ≈ 0.13–0.18).

Out of curiosity I compared common bedding & clothing #insulation values with building components, converting TOG to U values.
Here's a chart for your reference. See the alt text for more detail

Be sure to join us on December 4th at 9am PT / 12pm ET
Copilot Unlocked: Mastering Prompt Patterns, Agents, and AI Extensibility in Microsoft 365
www.linkedin.com/events/copil...

Brilliant

"[China] have built and deployed more renewables than all of the rest of the world put together."

Former US Secretary of State John Kerry on China's massive investment in renewable energy.

Watch the event➡️ bit.ly/48zIWdC

Interesting.
The UK has the 2nd most DCs in the world.

@Microsoft has over 400 data centres worldwide, across 70 regions.

Encouragingly, they stated last week that they are on track for them to be powered by 100% #renewable energy by the end of 2025

Think about where to insert #AI into a process.

Standardise that if it works - move from an experiment to a procedure

#Copilot is not #Autopilot.
It works alongside you, not instead of you

To begin with talk to AI like an intern. As it learns about you (and v.v) it can take on different roles.

Good conversations follow he GCSE model

When people first use chat #AI they start from what they know, which is Search. Instead of asking a question they learned to just use keywords or short phrases, the "Search engine mindset"

When you go to a cafe you don't just say 'Tea'; you explain what you want, then discuss details

The #Copilot journey starts with building out skills at the base, i.e. staff. That's what enables departmental and finally organisational productivity

Copilot is surfaced in many user applications (experiences in MS-speak); however many organisations try to jump straight to the organisational AI

Copilot is grounded in the #MicrosoftGraph, which means all this stuff.
i.e. most of the content and communication that flows through #Microsoft365 within your organisation.
Yes, it's secure. No it doesn't use your data to train the #AI model.

Many people feel like they are cheating using AI to help them. The trick is to take on the mundane stuff so they can learn to do the higher value things.
Productivity gains vary by role. We have to choose where the best fit to apply AI lays. Studies revealed a 11x11 tipping point.

Technology was moving breathlessly fast. Then #AI came along and accelerated it.
But perhaps AI can help us adapt, adopt and accelerate too.

@m365north.bsky.social , now in Claymation.

I'm very flattered that I've become younger than @simondoy.bsky.social

😉

Still running with Kirsty. Blimeyshe know some stuff!
tinyurl.com/M365North

I'm thrilled to have just introduced the marvellous Kirsty Mcgrath to tonight's @m365north.bsky.social session.
You can join is - we'll be here a while: tinyurl.com/M365North

@microsoft #Copilot #M365

Latest analysis by an independent academic institution shows climate warming is faster than the NOAA and NASA analysis that deniers cast aspertions on

#copilot #m365 #msignite #workiq | Simon Hudson Microsoft has just announced 'Agent Mode' for Office Apps, with Word already rolling out. At first glance Agent Mode looks like “Copilot inside Word/Excel/PowerPoint,” which we already had. It's been...

Old Copilot = one‑off helper.

Agent Mode = persistent, context‑aware collaborator who carries out tasks end‑to‑end.
Think: updating reports, building decks, prepping meetings and handing you the completed job to review.

#copilot #m365 #msignite #workiq | Simon Hudson Microsoft has just announced 'Agent Mode' for Office Apps, with Word already rolling out. At first glance Agent Mode looks like “Copilot inside Word/Excel/PowerPoint,” which we already had. It's been...

#M365 Agent Mode for Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc.blooks like the #AI we were promised.
It turns #Copilot from assistant to colleague who tries care of the grunt work making and updating documents.

Read more in my LinkedIn post: www.linkedin.com/posts/simonj...

Scott Guthrie @microsoft.com confirmed today at #MSIgnite that they are on track to meet their goal (commitment?) to have "their #datacenters powered by 100% renewable energy by the end the year"
That's over 70 countries, and with substantial expansion plans.

This is a great relief to me
#NetZero

@microsoft.com just announced that they are the number 1 AI provider in the world.

They also announced a full partnership with @anthropic.com to enable access to #Claude on MS Foundry

Cheaper, better and less toxic?

Cartoon lampooning people who believe unsupported ideas rather than objective evidence

I'm kinda hoping there is a special place in hell reserved for the people like the one on the right.

(See what I did there)

I haven't read that one of his

For once I disagree with him. That's treating the symptoms without addressing the cause.
As climate impacts increase there will be ever increasing numbers of people affected, requiring ever increasing resources.

I don't see mitigating the impacts without minimising the cause as a viable strategy

That's v cool. We didn't have one at EE Farnborough, though the Kia PV5 was very cool and its potato capacity was off the scale.

We were thrilled to see the new #solar array at North Ferriby primary school today, which we had a hand in instigating.
The savings on the electricity bills to run the school will directly benefit current and future pupils.

Even more rewarding is the enthusiasm of the staff.

Well done #ERYC

Good climate news this week
1 UN finds global deforestation is declining
2 UNFCCC forecasts 1st-ever global emissions decline (10% by 2035)
3 South Korea: Closure of coal plants begins in earnest from 1 December, 61 coal plants to be phased out by 2040
4 China: Dirty power generation down 5.4%

1/4

Wind power delivers £104 billion net benefit to UK consumers UK investment in wind energy generated a net financial benefit of more than £100bn for energy consumers between 2010 and 2023, challenging misconceptions about the cost of the green energy transition,...

#Wind-generated energy lowered Uk electricity bills by £14.2bn & avoided £133.3bn of natural gas in 2010 - 2023. After offsetting the £43.2bn green subsidy, the net result was a reduction of £104.3bn in UK energy bills over the 13 years, ~£250 per household per year

www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/oc...