Show Notes: Episode 158 of "I Need Coffee" - Weekly BC Review
1. Technical Challenges and Solutions:
- Struggles with audio issues due to faulty studio monitors and Microsoft Teams updates causing security alerts.
- Encountered and resolved a glitch in Business Central (BC) admin center and issues with incorrect MICR fonts in check formats.
- Highlighted the complexities of BC Web API (e.g., PATCH operations, bound actions) and the need for thorough testing due to inconsistent functionality.
2. Professional Development and Learning:
- Emphasis on continuous learning at the ERP Center of Excellence, focusing on billable hours, utilization, and intensive training (e.g., Joselyn reducing check format time from 8 hours to 1.5 hours).
- Team in El Salvador expanding skills, including website creation with Namecheap and Power Automate for automation.
- Exploration of BC admin API for Sentinel rules and telemetry sessions for DynamicsCon.
3. Business Central Updates and Processes:
- Business Central version 25.5 dedicated to 58 hot fixes with no new features, prioritizing bug fixes and refactoring.
- Deep dive into ACH and Positive Pay configurations, noting non-standard bank file formats as a challenge.
- Development of standardized processes, like a check request form to streamline customer interactions.
4. Community and Social Impact:
- Building an English Academy in El Salvador to support students transitioning to call center jobs, including sponsorship of English scholarships.
- Creating a community-focused website to promote the program, teaching team members new technical skills (e.g., domain registration, website building).
5. Consumer Technology and Cybersecurity:
- Painful experience setting up a new iPhone from scratch, losing app data (e.g., WhatsApp, Authenticator), contrasted with the seamless eSIM transfer process.
- Discussion of cybersecurity trends, including Google’s $12M bug bounties, X’s DDoS attack, and phishing scams with suspicious SMS job offers.
- Highlighted Microsoft Threat Intelligence Podcast insights on malware persistence and malvertising campaigns.
6. Evolution of Information Access:
- Questioned the relevance of traditional web search due to ad-heavy, noisy results, advocating for LLMs like Grok for quick, ad-free answers.
- Referenced Techno Tim’s shift away from Google to LLMs, aligning with personal experiences of using Grok for practical queries (e.g., recipes).
7. Cost-Saving Strategies and Consumer Behavior:
- Introduced “color arbitrage” as a strategy to exploit pricing differences based on product color (e.g., buying blue Bose headphones to save $80).
- Critiqued luxury pricing at stores like Hermès (e.g., $10,000 pouch) and reflected on being out of place in affluent settings.
8. Logistics and Systemic Inefficiencies:
- Shared a frustrating experience with a package (iPhone) transiting the US multiple times due to shipping errors, highlighting logistics inefficiencies.
- Discussed US check usage persisting due to financial incentives like float, drawing parallels to slow adoption of digital payments.
9. Conference and Networking Preparations:
- Detailed involvement in upcoming conferences (Directions NA, DynamicsCon), including session planning (telemetry, AI tools) and logistical challenges (e.g., expensive Las Vegas hotel rates).
- Encouraged attendance at local events like Summit NA Roadshows for professional growth.
