January 19, 2019 – SIG-Programming: Python

snake-312561_1280

Topic: Python:

At the last meeting, Rick Fink discussed the rewrite of his game program that he is
working on. This month he will discuss more enhancements to his program.

All are welcome to attend.

Where: Richard Jackson’s home. Call Richard Jackson at 248-546-3694 for directions.

When: Saturday, January 19, 2019 at 2:00 P.M.

Jan 13, 2019 – SIG-Computing: Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality; SIG-Linux: History of the Linux Kernel

General Announcements

Sharan Kalwani, president of SEMCO, will start the meeting and make general announcements.

Note 1: Election for Officers and Members-at-Large of the Board of Directors will take place at the General Meeting. All members will receive official ballots in the mail.

Note 2: Volunteers needed: SEMCO will be participating at the Volunteer and Resource Fairs at Oakland Community College from Jan 29 to Jan 31. All members are invited to attend. If you can give two hours between 11 AM to 1 PM on any of the dates, please contact Richard Jackson, or send an email to info@semco.org.

When: Sunday, Jan 13, 2019 at 1:15 P.M.
Where: Lawrence Technological University (Southfield Campus) 21000 West 10 Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48075.

The university is essentially at the northwest corner of 10 Mile Road and Northwestern Highway https://goo.gl/maps/5Et615QaRCP2The meeting is in room M213 of the Wayne H. Buell Management Building. For details on entry to the campus, where to park and how to get to the meeting room go to https://www.wordpress.semco.org/?page_id=1638

SIG-Computing Topic: Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality

Presented by  Richard Tapaninen

Richard Tapaninen is Knowledge Expert at the Micro Center computer store. He is CompTIA A+ Certified, CompTIA Network+ Certified and also a Microsoft Certified Professional.
He will review one of the hottest current technology offerings. Virtual Reality is a broad term which covers Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR). He will cover the differences between these and the devices used to implement them. He will also cover the advantages and disadvantages for the devices including cost.

Also: Questions and Answers following the presentation.

When: Sunday, Jan 13, 2019 at 1:30 P.M.

Where: Lawrence Technological University (Southfield Campus) 21000 West 10 Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48075 (click on links above)

SIG-Linux Topic: History of the Linux Kenrel

Presented by Sharan Kalwani

 This month Sharan will do a super rapid tour/review of the history of the Linux Kernel. This is part inspired by the impending release of version 5 of the kernel among other things.

He also will be bringing a few DVDs of Ubuntu Budgie both for 32 bit and 64 bit as a giveaway to all attendees. So they can boot and install this for playing around with Linux on old and new hardware.

When: Sunday, Jan 13, 2019 at 3:00 P.M.

Where: Lawrence Technological University (Southfield Campus) 21000 West 10 Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48075 (click on links above)

Free Wi-Fi available. Our thanks to Lawrence Technological University, for providing our meeting space!

Dec 9, 2018 – SIG-Computing: The Michigan eLibrary; SIG-Linux: Which Distro? and LibreOffice

General Announcements

Sharan Kalwani, president of SEMCO, will start the meeting and make general announcements.

Note: Nominations for officers and directors will take place at the General Meeting.

When: Sunday, Dec 9, 2018 at 1:15 P.M.
Where: Lawrence Technological University (Southfield Campus) 21000 West 10 Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48075.

The university is essentially at the northwest corner of 10 Mile Road and Northwestern Highway https://goo.gl/maps/5Et615QaRCP2The meeting is in room M213 of the Wayne H. Buell Management Building. For details on entry to the campus, where to park and how to get to the meeting room go to https://www.wordpress.semco.org/?page_id=1638

SIG-Computing Topic: The Michigan eLibrary – Meet MeL!

Presented by Maria Williams

Maria is the Head of Adult Services at Baldwin Public Library in Birmingham, MI. She holds a Master of Library and Information Science degree from Wayne State University and a Bachelor of English Literature degree from the University of Michigan.
From academic research to car repair manuals to test preparation tools, the Michigan eLibrary has something for every Michigander. Learn about some of the most popular e-resources MeL has to offer in this presentation by a public librarian.

Also: Questions and Answers following the presentation.

When: Sunday, Dec 9, 2018 at 1:30 P.M.

Where: Lawrence Technological University (Southfield Campus) 21000 West 10 Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48075 (click on links above)

SIG-Linux Topic: Which Distro? and LibreOffice

Presented by Sharan Kalwani

Sharan’s presentation will be in two parts:

  1. Which Linux Distro should I choose? There is now a nice tool to help you select one. A quick demo of the tool and some additional background on it.
  2. A brief introduction to LibreOffice:
    LibreOffice is a powerful and free office suite, used by millions of people around the world. Its clean interface and feature-rich tools help you unleash your creativity and enhance your productivity.

When: Sunday, Dec 9, 2018 at 3:00 P.M.

Where: Lawrence Technological University (Southfield Campus) 21000 West 10 Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48075 (click on links above)

Free Wi-Fi available. Our thanks to Lawrence Technological University, for providing our meeting space!

Nov 11, 2018 ** Meeting Location** Lawrence Technological University (Southfield)

Note: New meeting location starting in July. Starting with our July meeting, we will be meeting at Lawrence Technological University (Southfield Campus) 21000 West 10 Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48075

The university is essentially at the northwest corner of 10 Mile Road and Northwestern Highway https://goo.gl/maps/5Et615QaRCP2The meeting is in room M213 of the Wayne H. Buell Management Building. For details on entry to the campus, where to park and how to get to the meeting room go to https://www.wordpress.semco.org/?page_id=1638

When: second Sunday of the month, at 1:15 P.M

December 15, 2018 – SIG-Programming: Python

snake-312561_1280

Topic: Python:

At the last meeting, we learned a little bit about PyQt a tool that assists you to create windows, buttons, text boxes, etc. in Python programs. This is an alternative to Tkinter which we have also learned a little bit about. Tkinter does similar things to PyQt but does not give you the fancy user interface.

All are welcome to attend.

Where: Richard Jackson’s home. Call Richard Jackson at 248-546-3694 for directions.

When: Saturday, December 15, 2018 at 2:00 P.M.

Nov 11, 2018 – SIG-Computing: Picking the Best Backup Approach; SIG-Linux: cancelled for Nov

General Announcements

Richard Jackson, vice president of SEMCO, will start the meeting and make general announcements.

Note: New location starting in July. Starting with our July meeting, we will be meeting at Lawrence Technological University (Southfield Campus) 21000 West 10 Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48075

The university is essentially at the northwest corner of 10 Mile Road and Northwestern Highway https://goo.gl/maps/5Et615QaRCP2The meeting is in room M213 of the Wayne H. Buell Management Building. For details on entry to the campus, where to park and how to get to the meeting room go to https://www.wordpress.semco.org/?page_id=1638

When: Sunday, Nov 11, 2018 at 1:15 P.M.
Where: Lawrence Technological University (Southfield Campus) 21000 West 10 Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48075 (click on links above)

Christmas Tree

SIG-Computing
Topic: Picking the Best Backup Approach

Presented by Gene Barlow

Gene Barlow of User Group Relations will conduct a webinar about backing up our computers using Acronis True Image Backup and Partitioning software.

(Richard Tapaninen of the Micro Center was originally scheduled to talk about the hottest current technology available for the holidays. Unfortunately, he fell sick. We thank Gene Barlow for agreeing to step in at the last minute.)

Also: Questions and Answers following the presentation.

When: Sunday, Nov 11, 2018 at 1:30 P.M.

Where: Lawrence Technological University (Southfield Campus) 21000 West 10 Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48075 (click on links above)

SIG-Linux Topic: cancelled for Nov

Presented by Sharan Kalwani

Sharan will not be available this month. His talk will continue in December.

This time will be available for open discussion and additional Q & A.

When: Sunday, Nov 11, 2018 at 3:00 P.M.

Where: Lawrence Technological University (Southfield Campus) 21000 West 10 Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48075 (click on links above)

Free Wi-Fi available. Our thanks to Lawrence Technological University, for providing our meeting space!

October 27, 2018 – SIG-Programming: Python

snake-312561_1280

Topic: Python:

At the last meeting, we learned a little bit about PyQt a tool that assists you to create windows, buttons, text boxes, etc. in Python programs. This is an alturnitive to Tkinter which we have also learned a little bit about. Tkinter does similar things to PyQt but does not give you the fancy user interface.

All are welcome to attend.

Where: Richard Jackson’s home. Call Richard Jackson at 248-546-3694 for directions.

When: Saturday, October 27, 2018 at 2:00 P.M.

Oct 14, 2018 – SIG-Computing: WordPress; SIG-Linux: Systems performance part 2

General Announcements

Sharan Kalwani, president of SEMCO, will start the meeting and make general announcements.

Note: New location starting in July. Starting with our July meeting, we will be meeting at Lawrence Technological University (Southfield Campus) 21000 West 10 Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48075

The university is essentially at the northwest corner of 10 Mile Road and Northwestern Highway https://goo.gl/maps/5Et615QaRCP2The meeting is in room M213 of the Wayne H. Buell Management Building. For details on entry to the campus, where to park and how to get to the meeting room go to https://www.wordpress.semco.org/?page_id=1638

When: Sunday, Oct 14, 2018 at 1:15 P.M.
Where: Lawrence Technological University (Southfield Campus) 21000 West 10 Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48075 (click on links above)

SIG-Computing Topic: WordPress

Presented by Eric Malcolm

Eric is a Front-End Accessibility Developer for Regions Bank (based in Birmingham, Alabama), as well as a UX, A11y, SEO and WordPress enthusiast, with 8+ years experience in web development.
His company is Malcolm Digital, in Sterling Heights, MI. He will discuss how you can use WordPress (an open source software) to create a beautiful website, blog, or app.

Also: Questions and Answers following the presentation.

When: Sunday, Oct 14, 2018 at 1:30 P.M.

Where: Lawrence Technological University (Southfield Campus) 21000 West 10 Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48075 (click on links above)

SIG-Linux Topic: Systems performance part 2

Presented by Sharan Kalwani

Sharan will present part 2 of his talk on system performance. This talk covers the six important areas of Linux systems performance i.e. observability tools, methodologies, benchmarking, profiling, tracing, and tuning.

Sharan will  include simple recipes for Linux performance analysis areas such as: tuning (using vmstat, mpstat, iostat, etc), overviews of complex areas including profiling (perf_events, flame graphs), static tracing (tracepoints), and dynamic tracing (kprobes, uprobes), and much advice about what is and isn’t important to learn.

This talk is aimed at everyone: DBAs, developers, operations, etc, and can be applied in just about any environment running Linux, bare-metal or the cloud.

When: Sunday, Oct 14, 2018 at 3:00 P.M.

Where: Lawrence Technological University (Southfield Campus) 21000 West 10 Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48075 (click on links above)

Free Wi-Fi available. Our thanks to Lawrence Technological University, for providing our meeting space!

Sept 9, 2018 – SIG-Computing: Raspberry Pi Solves Some Problems; SIG-Linux: Systems performance part 2

General Announcements

Sharan Kalwani, president of SEMCO, will start the meeting and make general announcements.

Note: New location starting in July. Starting with our July meeting, we will be meeting at Lawrence Technological University (Southfield Campus) 21000 West 10 Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48075

The university is essentially at the northwest corner of 10 Mile Road and Northwestern Highway https://goo.gl/maps/5Et615QaRCP2The meeting is in room M213 of the Wayne H. Buell Management Building. For details on entry to the campus, where to park and how to get to the meeting room go to https://www.wordpress.semco.org/?page_id=1638

When: Sunday, Sept 9, 2018 at 1:15 P.M.
Where: Lawrence Technological University (Southfield Campus) 21000 West 10 Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48075 (click on links above)

SIG-Computing Topic: Raspberry Pi Solves Some Problems

Presented by  Gibson Nichols

Gibson Nichols from Metro Detroit Linux User’s™ Group (MDLUG) will lead a discussion about the Raspberry Pi. This is a single board computer that costs less than $40. Come to the SEMCO meeting to talk about what it can do.

Also: Questions and Answers following the presentation.

When: Sunday, Sept 9, 2018 at 1:30 P.M.

Where: Lawrence Technological University (Southfield Campus) 21000 West 10 Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48075 (click on links above)

SIG-Linux Topic: Systems performance part 2

Presented by Sharan Kalwani

Sharan will present part 2 of his talk on system performance. This talk covers the six important areas of Linux systems performance i.e. observability tools, methodologies, benchmarking, profiling, tracing, and tuning.

Sharan will  include simple recipes for Linux performance analysis areas such as: tuning (using vmstat, mpstat, iostat, etc), overviews of complex areas including profiling (perf_events, flame graphs), static tracing (tracepoints), and dynamic tracing (kprobes, uprobes), and much advice about what is and isn’t important to learn.

This talk is aimed at everyone: DBAs, developers, operations, etc, and can be applied in just about any environment running Linux, bare-metal or the cloud.

When: Sunday, Sept 9, 2018 at 3:00 P.M.

Where: Lawrence Technological University (Southfield Campus) 21000 West 10 Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48075 (click on links above)

Free Wi-Fi available. Our thanks to Lawrence Technological University, for providing our meeting space!

September 15, 2018 – SIG-Programming: Python

snake-312561_1280

Topic: Python:

At the last meeting, we learned a little bit about PyQt a tool that assists you to create windows, buttons, text boxes, etc. in Python programs. This is an alturnitive to Tkinter which we have also learned a little bit about. Tkinter does similar things to PyQt but does not give you the fancy user interface.

All are welcome to attend.

Where: Richard Jackson’s home. Call Richard Jackson at 248-546-3694 for directions.

When: Saturday, September 15, 2018 at 2:00 P.M.