SouthEastern Michigan Computer Organization, Inc.
A Community Organization Helping People for the 21st Century
Jeff Marraccini 
We are learning Python using the book “Learning Python” by Mark Lutz. It is an O’Reilly book O’Reilly: _Learning Python_, but can also be purchased at Amazon: _Learning Python_.
We are to read Chapter 11, “Assignments, Expressions, and Prints” for the next meeting. If you have any questions contact Richard Jackson (see below). All are welcome to come.
Where: Richard Jackson’s home. Call Richard Jackson at 248-546-3694 for directions.
When: Saturday, August 15, 2015 at 2:00 P.M.
SIG-Computing Chairman Jeff Marraccini will discuss Microsoft’s Windows 10 and demonstrate the Windows 10 release as of our meeting date. Windows 10 will be available for download on or shortly after July 29, 2015. SEMCO Members and guests will have an opportunity to see Windows 10 in action and to discuss the pre-upgrade backup process, when, and how to upgrade. We will also discuss when it is best to just backup files and start over, particularly if you would like to jump from a hard drive to a solid state disk (SSD) at the time of the upgrade.
Microsoft is providing the Windows 10 upgrade for free for most users for the first year, as long as you have a valid Windows 7 or higher license!
Jeff has been with Altair Engineering for 18 years in various IT roles. He currently manages a world-wide team taking care of computing, network, and related services for 2,300 staff across more than 40 sites. His team manages many computing clusters based on Linux distributions and Windows Server along with several storage back-ends. Jeff resides in Troy, Michigan and his LinkedIn site is http://jeffmarraccini.com/.
Also: Questions and Answers.
When: Sunday, August 9, 2015 at 1:30 P.M.
Where: Map to meetings at Altair Engineering
SIG-Linux Chairman Brian Brodsky will lead a presentation on Bombono DVD. Bombono DVD is a free open-source DVD authoring program. It is easy to use and has a nice clean GUI (Gtk). All are welcome.
When: Sunday, August 9, 2015 at 4:00 P.M.
Where: Map to meetings at Altair Engineering
Free Wi-Fi available.
We are learning Python using the book “Learning Python” by Mark Lutz. It is an O’Reilly book _Learning Python_, but can also be purchased at Amazon Amazon: _Learning Python_.
We are to read Chapter 10, “Introducing Python Statements” for the next meeting. If you have any questions contact Richard Jackson (see below). All are welcome to come.
Where: Richard Jackson’s home. Call Richard Jackson at 248-546-3694 for directions.
When: Saturday, July 18, 2015 at 2:00 P.M.
Harry C. Arnold will speak on drones and the technology surrounding them, how much do they cost, what you can do with them, are they legal, and more.
Harry Arnold is the Detroit Drone User Group MeetUp group Organizer. He is the owner of Detroit Drone a company that offers affordable aerial photography. The company web site is http://www.detroitdrone.com.
Also: Questions and Answers.
When: Sunday, July 12, 2015 at 1:30 P.M.
Where: Map to meetings at Altair Engineering
SIG-Linux Chairman Brian Brodsky will lead a presentation on Kdenlive. Kdenlive is a free and open-source video editor for GNU/Linux and FreeBSD. All are welcome.
When: Sunday, July 12, 2015 at 4:00 P.M.
Where: Map to meetings at Altair Engineering
Free Wi-Fi available.
Earlier this year, I wrote about some of the potential features that were being considered to be included in the upcoming release of Windows 10. The release version of Windows 10 is now complete, with Microsoft already producing packaged software for the retail channels, while PC manufacturers are already producing machines with Windows 10 factory installed, to go on sale on July 29. Some of the big box stores and online sellers are already taking “presale” orders for Windows 10 software ($119 retail), and computers to be delivered or otherwise made available on the official release date. In the coming few weeks, watch for the inevitable media blitz promoting Windows 10.
You have likely noticed that the banner ads and other forms of advertisements on many of the web pages visited appear to “coincidently” be for many of the same items that you have recently searched for online. You may even notice that many of these ads are also from many of the same online sellers whose web pages you have recently visited. In some cases, you may also see online ads for direct competitors of previously visited websites, offering many of the same or similar products that you have looked at on other websites. It should not be surprising that the owners of many websites, as well as many third party advertisers, use a variety of tracking technologies to gather information on you, as an individual, the types of websites that you visit, and the products and services viewed. While many users find this targeted advertising interesting and useful, and even possibly necessary in order to support “free” web sites and online services, many others consider the gathering of such personal information as a gross violation of personal privacy.
We are learning Python using the book “Learning Python” by Mark Lutz. It is an O’Reilly book http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920028154.do, but can also be purchased at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Python-5th-Mark-Lutz/dp/1449355730/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416007152&sr=1-1&pebp=11416007164251.
We are to read Chapter 9., “Tuples, Files, and Everything Else” for the next meeting. If you have any questions contact Richard Jackson (see below). All are welcome to come.
Where: Richard Jackson’s home. Call Richard Jackson at 248-546-3694 for directions.
When: Saturday, June 20, 2015 at 2:00 P.M.
SEMCO Member Leo Madejczyk will demonstrate and compare two vector graphic programs, Inkscape and Xara Designer Pro X10. The web site for Designer Pro X10 says “In one completely integrated and consistent interface it provides all the tools for a range of graphic design tasks that would normally require three or more separate ‘suite’ programs: illustration, photo editing, advanced page layout, web graphics, websites and more.” Inkscape on the other hand is a free, open-source vector graphics editor similar to Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, Freehand, or Xara X.
Also: Questions and Answers.
When: Sunday, June 14, 2015 at 1:30 P.M.
Where: Map to meetings at Altair Engineering
SIG-Linux Chairman Brian Brodsky will demonstrate some of the new features in Kubuntu 15.04. The most notable change is that it now uses the Plasma 5 desktop. All are welcome.
When: Sunday, June 14, 2015 at 4:00 P.M.
Where: Map to meetings at Altair Engineering
Free Wi-Fi available.
Almost every Android device came with a version of Google Maps installed. One of the most popular apps in the world, Google Maps has between 1 and 5 billion copies downloaded from the Google Play Store, with millions of other copies downloaded from the Apple iTunes Store.
Most people know that the mobile version of Google Maps can recommend driving routes between points, but it can really do a great deal more, now becoming so powerful and feature rich that it could conceivably threaten the market for the dedicated dashboard GPS devices.
The much ballyhooed release of Windows 10 is nearing, as Microsoft polishes its features and adds devices to the list of compatible hardware that can run the new operating system. While Microsoft has not yet publically announced an official release date for its newest operating system, several media sources, including the respected PC Magazine (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2483522,00.asp), are reporting that the initial release for personal computers will be this summer, with other versions of Windows 10 being released for other devices shortly after the original PC release.