Quorum Cyber, a global cybersecurity specialist with offices in the UK, Canada and the US, has been awarded the Information Protection and Governance specialization from Microsoft. As a Microsoft Solutions Partner for Security, the specialization validates the company as a leading partner for data security and Microsoft Purview related services.
Organizations must meet rigorous service delivery and support standards to achieve the specialization. This includes providing customer references, showcasing advanced technical expertise, and ensuring their teams possess the necessary qualifications. The specialization highlights Quorum Cyber’s experience in helping organizations ensure their data is protected, compliant, and efficiently managed, thereby reducing risks and supporting business continuity.
Quorum Cyber now holds three Microsoft Security specializations of Threat Protection, Cloud Security, and Information Protection and Governance.
Quorum Cyber has a close and longstanding relationship with Microsoft, having been founded as a Microsoft-only security services provider and being a member of the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA). At the Microsoft Security Excellence Awards it was named as a Security MSSP of the Year and Security Customer Champion finalist in 2024. The company also reached the final of the Security Services Innovator award in 2023, while CEO Federico Charosky was nominated as a Security Changemaker finalist in the same year.
The company continues to invest heavily in recruiting and training talented team members and gaining Microsoft specializations and industry-recognized certifications to safeguard its customers against the ever-evolving digital landscape.
Review: Creative Pebble Pro Minimalist 2.0 Speakers
Posted in Commentary with tags Creative on November 23, 2024 by itnerdI’m currently putting on the final touches in terms of my desk setup. And one of the last major pieces that was missing from my desk as audio was coming from my MacBook Pro which is going to be closed in this setup. That of course limits the quality of the audio. But at the same time, I didn’t want speakers that took up a lot of real estate. Thus after some research I went with these:
Meet the Creative Pebble Pro Minimalist 2.0 Speakers. The Pebble Pro comes in one colorway. Which is a dark green which Creative calls “Audio Green” with dark grey faceplates and gold accents. Why Creative couldn’t stick with black for these speakers, I have no idea. And I have to admit that I almost didn’t buy them because there wasn’t a black option that would fit in with the dark theme of my desk setup. But the fact that you’re reading this review means that I clearly did buy them. On the upside, they don’t take up a lot of space on my desk. Both the left and right channels feature elevated drivers that are tilted upward at a 45-degree angle on the front and passive radiators on the back. All the controls and the light indicating how it’s connected is on the right speaker along with inputs for a headphone and microphone. That way you can use them to facilitate a Zoom or Teams call. There’s also software for Windows (but oddly not for Mac for reasons that I do not understand) that allows you to tweak the settings related to Teams and Zoom calls.
And I will get this right out of the way as well. The RGB lighting on these speakers is totally unnecessary. And one of the first things that I did after figuring out the best way to plug them in was to turn this lighting off as it adds zero value to my setup. Why Creative decided to include this I have no idea. But I guess it’s for some gamer who wants more RGB on their desk.
Speaking of connecting them to the setup, you might notice the cable on the left side that goes up into my monitor. I went with the 3.5mm cable method rather than the other options that were available to me:
The reason for that is that while these speakers work with Mac via USB very well, I was completely unable to get this working via my new BenQ monitor. The plan was to plug the speakers via USB-A into a free USB-A in the back of the monitor. That would have not only given me a cleaner setup, but it would have also powered the speakers to output to the tune of 10W RMS (20W peak). But what happened is that the audio would cut out pretty consistently. Doing some research on this, I found a note on the Creative support website that says that you should plug these directly into a computer without a hub. And since my monitor acts as a USB hub, I am assuming that is the issue. . So I went with the 3.5mm jack option. But to do that, I needed to grab a charger from my stash of chargers that was at least 30W because I had to use it to power the speakers. Connecting a 47W charger to USB-C gave the speakers the ability to output to 30W RMS (60W peak). That turned out to be the correct decision because frankly they sounded much better in that configuration. I ended up with great-sounding audio, clear vocals, and good bass. If I were to compare it to something, these speakers sound almost exactly like a pair of HomePod mini in a stereo pair. That’s likely down to the 2.25-inch drivers, and Creative’s “BassFlex” technology along with their “Clear Dialog” audio processing. Considering that one HomePod mini costs more than this pair of speakers, that’s pretty good company to be in.
Creative Pebble Pro Minimalist 2.0 Speakers are $79 CDN. Other than the single colour choice and the RGB lighting that you likely don’t need, these speakers sound great and a have a variety of connection options to fit your use case. I highly recommend them.
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