Tech News #23: ChatGPT can now write you an essay, Microsoft Teams sign language feature and more

Welcome to our Christmas Special Tech News! For the last Tech News of 2022: ChatGPT can write you an essay, new security features on GitHub, the .NET MAUI community toolkit just got even better, and updates to Visual studio and VS Code. …all this and more in this month’s Tech News.

Listen to Santa Claus (Adam Cogan) and Matt Goldman dive into all of this. Ho Ho Ho…Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

01:10 | .NET MAUI Community toolkit updates

03:42 | Visual Studio Productivity improvements

05:10 | VS Code updates

06:05 | New GitHub secret scanning partner

07:53 | GitHub Copilot for Business

08:20 | New features for GitHub app in Teams and Slack

09:11 | MS Teams Sign Language

10:34 | ChatGPT: Optimziing Language Models for Dialogue

15:16 | Check out our YouTube Channel

15:26 | Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

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Adam Cogan – https://www.ssw.com.au/people/adam-cogan

Adam Cogan blogs at adamcogan.com and interviews for SSW TV frequently. He is the Chief Architect at SSW, a Microsoft Certified Gold Partner specializing in custom enterprise .NET and Azure solutions mostly using Angular and React. His solutions also involve Office365, SharePoint, Dynamics 365, and Power BI.

Matt Goldman – https://www.ssw.com.au/people/matt-wicks

Matt is a Solution Architect, Scrum Master, public speaker, author and trainer. Since joining SSW, Matt has worked on a number of projects for a range of clients, including government agencies and multinational organisations. Matt loves making things, and at SSW uses that passion to fuel his work with .NET, EF / EF Core, Xamarin and .NET MAUI, Azure and Blazor. Matt also works with security and authentication/authorisation.

Additionally, Matt (author of .NET MAUI in Action) regularly presents at the .NET User Group in 3 states, has hosted SSW’s Xamarin Hack Day, has presented at the .NET Superpowers Tour, and regular co-hosts SSW’s Clean Architecture Superpowers and Clean Architecture Workshop. Matt has also presented at NDC Sydney.

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About the speakers

Adam Cogan

In addition to being a Microsoft MVP in Azure DevOps, Adam is one of only a few Microsoft Regional Directors in Australia. In this role, he regularly presents in conferences such as TechEd (USA, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and Malaysia).

A couple of times a year, he visits Microsoft headquarters in Seattle to learn the latest on Microsoft strategic directions and to undertake training in development technologies. His favourite Microsoft teams that he loves to work with are Nat Friedman’s GitHub and Azure DevOps team, James Phillips’ Power BI team, and Jeff Teper’s SharePoint team.

Microsoft Teams Etiquette: Simple Habits That Make Meetings Better | Adam Cogan

Whether you’re working remotely or in the office, small habits can make a huge difference in Microsoft Teams meetings. In this video, Adam Cogan shares practical etiquette tips to help meetings run more smoothly—from introducing people who join the room, to announcing yourself when joining a call, using screen sharing respectfully, and ending meetings with a recorded summary that can automatically create a Product Backlog Item (PBI).

These simple communication habits improve collaboration, reduce confusion, and make hybrid meetings more inclusive and productive.

Treat Your Code Like Uranium | Adam Cogan

Adam Cogan shares a striking story comparing two World War II factories—one ordinary, one handling uranium—and the surprising lesson that the uranium workers lived longer because they followed disciplined, risk-aware practices. He connects that idea to software teams: the best outcomes come from careful habits like automated tests, telemetry, pull requests, retrospectives, shared rules, and good tools. The message is simple: treat software delivery with the same respect as dangerous work, and you’ll reduce stress, avoid chaos, and get better results.

3 Tips for Better Video Recordings | Adam Cogan

Great coaching can dramatically improve how you present, communicate, and learn. In this video, Adam Cogan shares 3 practical coaching tips that SSW uses every day—from onboarding and role plays to improving video delivery. He explains why having a coach matters, why immediate interruption beats delayed feedback, and how repeating corrections helps lock in better habits.

TinaCMS + Fumadocs: Bring Visual Editing to Your Docs | Hark Singh

Discover how to connect Playwright with AI agents and unlock powerful workflows.

Stop Using 👍 Wrong in Teams | Adam Cogan

A quick communication tip from Adam Cogan: don’t use 👍 as a catch-all response when someone assigns you a task in Teams, Slack, or Google Chat. In the example Adam gives, if a task will take about five minutes, a thumbs up is too ambiguous because it does not clearly say whether you’ve read it, agree with it, are doing it now, or will do it later. Instead, use 👍 for agreement, 👀 to show you’ve seen the task and are actively working on it, and then replace 👀 with ✅ once the task is done. It is a small change, but it removes ambiguity and cuts down unnecessary follow-up messages.

How to record a done video in SSW | Sylvia Huang | SSW Rules

Sylvia Huang from SSW shares her SSW Cultural Exchange experience from Hangzhou, China to Australia

4 Essential Sales Tips for Engineers | Adam Cogan

Not a salesman? No problem. Adam Cogan shares 4 practical tips to help engineers navigate sales meetings with confidence. Learn how to stop “selling” and start solving, how to talk numbers without the awkwardness, and why being transparent about your process wins more clients.

Do you explain why you’ve deleted or updated an appointment? | Adam Cogan | SSW Rules

Ever wonder why a meeting was moved or cancelled? Adam Cogan explains the “Secret Ingredient” to professional scheduling: always include a version history and reason for change at the top of your appointments. Improve clarity, keep a record of changes, and hold participants accountable with this simple SSW Rule.

Chat first before changing others’ code | Adam Cogan

Changing someone else’s code? Don’t just dive in! Adam explains why it’s important to check the source history and talk to the original developer before making changes. A quick chat can save headaches and keep everyone on the same page. Perfect advice for devs working in teams!