Meetings

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

We will be using zoom for this meeting. This link will be active on day of meeting.

Click here to be connected to the meeting. Please join the meeting about 1:00 PM or later.

Members will also receive an e mail on the day of the meeting, with the link and any further details and instructions about how to log on to the meeting.

When: Sunday, Mary 14, 2023, at 1:15 P.M.
Where: Meetings will be on line until further notice.

SIG Computing Topic: The Origins of Silicon Valley: Why and How It Happened

Documentary Movie Presented by Sharan Kalwani

Why did Silicon Valley come into being? In this talk, Paul Wesling brings you back to early Stanford engineers, campus faculty kids around 1915, local Hams (amateur radio operators) trying to break RCA’s tube patents, the sinking of the Titanic, angel investments, Fred Terman and Stanford University, local invention of high-power tubes (gammatron, klystron), WWII and radar, new approaches to running companies, and the San Francisco Bay Area infrastructure. These factors led to the semiconductor and integrated circuit industries being located here, and earned it the designation as “Silicon Valley.” In this exciting history of device technology development and innovation from 1909 through 1960, you will “meet” some of the colorful characters—Cyril Elwell, Leonard Fuller, Lee DeForest, Bill Eitel, Charles Litton, Russell Varian, Fred Terman, David Packard, Bill Hewlett and others—who set leadership patterns for the worldwide electronics industries through their collaboration, inventions, process development, and allied management techniques.  Here is where geeks now gather to start new companies that invent the future. This edited lecture was given in Cubberley Auditorium, Stanford University, on April 19, 2017.

Also: Questions and Answers following the presentation.

When: Sunday, May 14, 2023 at 1:30 P.M.

Where: Meetings will be on line until further notice. Click on link shown above.

SIG-Linux Topic: Handbrake

Presented by Sharan Kalwani

Handbrake is an open-source video media converter. In the past we have done video editors (such as OpenShot/ShotCut etc.) but did not touch upon the topic of media conversion.

There are currently two very popular media players and converters – the other being VLC. We will focus on handbrake, Basics will be covered such installing handbrake, selecting video source, destination target formats, etc.

Also: Questions and Answers following the presentation.

Where: Meetings will be on line until further notice. Click on link shown above.

When: Sunday, May 14, 2023, at 3:00 P.M.

When: Saturday, Apr 15, 2023, at 2 PM.

Rick Fink plans on showing programs that generate rows of Pascal’s triangles. One program using loops and another using recursion.

If time permits, Rick may also show a prime number generator.

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

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

We will be using zoom for this meeting. This link will be active on day of meeting.

Click here to be connected to the meeting. Please join the meeting about 1:00 PM or later.

Members will also receive an e mail on the day of the meeting, with the link and any further details and instructions about how to log on to the meeting.

Please remember that Daylight Savings Time starts today. 

When: Sunday, Mar 12, 2023, at 1:15 P.M.
Where: Meetings will be on line until further notice.

SIG Computing Topic: Ever Lost Your Smartphone?

Presented by John Krout

Learn how you can find your phone when it is misplaced nearby. Learn how to prepare your phone to be found by a good Samaritan (help the finder contact you) and by a bad apple (prevent the finder from using your phone and accessing its contents), as well as how to convince the police that a phone in their custody is yours.

John is a retired software engineer. During his career, he worked on contract for federal government agencies around Washington DC. He began writing about creative uses of personal computers in the early 1980s. As a retiree since 2020, he has more time to write and deliver presentations, and has added topics on smart phones, tablets and digital cameras and camcorders. He lives in Arlington VA, and hopes to relocate to the US West in the next year or two.
Also: Questions and Answers following the presentation.

When: Sunday, Mar 12, 2023 at 1:30 P.M.

Where: Meetings will be on line until further notice. Click on link shown above.

SIG-Linux Topic: How to Remove Android Bloatware

Presented by John Krout

Bloatware is any unwanted app installed by Google, the publisher of the Android operating system, or by a phone maker such as Samsung or a carrier company such as Verizon Wireless. Bloatware takes up finite space in flash memory on Android devices, so getting rid of it opens up storage space for alternative apps or user data. Unfortunately, some bloatware apps cannot be removed by the typical user method, and some even resist removal by an uninstaller app. This presentation includes why and how to remove stored app data before removing an app and three ways to remove apps. The final method will remove any bloatware app.

Also: Questions and Answers following the presentation.

Where: Meetings will be on line until further notice. Click on link shown above.

When: Sunday, Mar 12, 2023, at 3:00 P.M.

When: Saturday, Feb 18, 2023, at 2 PM.

Rick Fink will demonstrate a data science exercise he saw on YouTube. He will also demonstrate some new features he is adding to his program.

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

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

We will be using zoom for this meeting. This link will be active on day of meeting.

Click here to be connected to the meeting. Please join the meeting about 1:00 PM or later.

Members will also receive an e mail on the day of the meeting, with the link and any further details and instructions about how to log on to the meeting.

Election of Officers and Board Members-at-Large. Based on the receipt of completed ballots is Jan 15, 2023, the results of the election will be announced for the open positions of President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, and two Board Members‑at‑Large.

When: Sunday, Feb 12, 2023, at 1:15 P.M.
Where: Meetings will be on line until further notice.

SIG Computing Topic: Digital Video Editing Fundamentals Plus

Presented by John Krout

Learn the fundamental concepts of digital video editing applications on a personal computer. This includes a demo of the MAGIX Vegas video editor application and some short sample videos produced by John, including the monthly pre-meeting slide show for the Potomac Area Technology and Computer Society (PATACS). Note: future presentations will also include the NCH’s free VideoPad video editor application.

John is a retired software engineer. During his career, he worked on contract for federal government agencies around Washington DC. He began writing about creative uses of personal computers in the early 1980s. As a retiree since 2020, he has more time to write and deliver presentations, and has added topics on smart phones, tablets and digital cameras and camcorders. He lives in Arlington VA, and hopes to relocate to the US West in the next year or two.
Also: Questions and Answers following the presentation.

When: Sunday, Feb 12, 2023 at 1:30 P.M.

Where: Meetings will be on line until further notice. Click on link shown above.

SIG-Linux Topic: Time given over to SIG Computing

Presented by John Krout

SIG-Computing will be an extended meeting this month covering both the SIG-Computing and SIG-Linux time periods

Also: Questions and Answers following the presentation.

Where: Meetings will be on line until further notice. Click on link shown above.

When: Sunday, Feb 12, 2023, at 3:00 P.M.

When: Saturday, Jan 21, 2023, at 2 PM.

Rick Fink will demonstrate a data science exercise he saw on YouTube. He will demonstrate some new features he is adding to his program.

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

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

We will be using zoom for this meeting. This link will be active on day of meeting.

Click here to be connected to the meeting. Please join the meeting about 1:00 PM or later.

Members will also receive an e mail on the day of the meeting, with the link and any further details and instructions about how to log on to the meeting.

Election of Officers and Board Members-at-Large. Based on the nominations in the Dec 2022 meeting, ballots were mailed to all members. All ballots must be mailed in. The closing date for receipt of completed ballots is Jan 15, 2023.

The open positions are President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, and two Board Members‑at‑Large. You can also write in any member, including yourself for any of the positions.

When: Sunday, Jan 8, 2023, at 1:15 P.M.
Where: Meetings will be on line until further notice.

SIG Computing Topic: Backups in a Busy World

Presented by Mark Schulman

Given enough time, every hard drive eventually fails, and most often this means that all your photos, all your documents, all your video — everything! — is lost.  And recent evidence suggests that even under the best circumstances hard drives don’t last as long as previously thought.  Backups are the only defense against serious data loss, and yet most people don’t bother. Discover important strategies to make sure your data is safe with the least amount of trouble.

Mark has spent his career as a computer instructor, software designer, and small business owner.  He has taught a wide-range of programming courses for major corporations and worked on large software development projects.  He currently works as the IT manager for a group of family practice physicians as well as a small company that runs clinical drug trials.  His major geek interest these days is the computer technology that made the moon landings possible in the 1960s.  He lives near Orlando, Florida.
Also: Questions and Answers following the presentation.

When: Sunday, Jan 8, 2023 at 1:30 P.M.

Where: Meetings will be on line until further notice. Click on link shown above.

SIG-Linux Topic: Rocky Linux

Presented by Sharan Kalwani

Rocky Linux is a Linux distribution intended to be a downstream, complete binary-compatible release using the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) operating system source code. The project’s aim is to provide a community-supported, production-grade enterprise operating system (The original goal of CentOS). Thus, like RHEL & SUSE Linux Enterprise, it is now becoming a popular choice for enterprise OS use.

Also: Questions and Answers following the presentation.

Where: Meetings will be on line until further notice. Click on link shown above.

When: Sunday, Jan 8, 2023, at 3:00 P.M.

When: Saturday, Dec 17, 2022, at 2 PM.

The Programming SiG for December ic cancelled. Meetings will resume in Jan 2023.

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

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

We will be using zoom for this meeting. This link will be active on day of meeting.

Click here to be connected to the meeting. Please join the meeting about 1:00 PM or later.

Members will also receive an e mail on the day of the meeting, with the link and any further details and instructions about how to log on to the meeting.

Nominations for Officers and Board Members-at-Large. We will be taking nominations for candidates to run for our 2023 Officers and Board of Directors at the beginning of our meeting.

The open positions are President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, and two Board Members‑at‑Large. You can nominate any member including yourself for any of the positions. Please consider running for these positions.

When: Sunday, Dec 11, 2022, at 1:15 P.M.
Where: Meetings will be on line until further notice.

SIG Computing Topic: Add NAS to your Router

Presented by John Krout

Modern home routers do more than give your computers and other digital devices access to the Internet. With a key feature now commonly found on modern home routers, you can attach a storage device called Network-Attached Storage (NAS) for shared access by your computers and other digital devices. That becomes a very fast backup device compared to cloud-based backups. Learn how to find out if your router has what it takes, how to set up and connect to an inexpensive test NAS, and how to find out if your router allows you to access your NAS on the go, via the Internet.

John is a retired software engineer. During his career, he worked on contract for federal government agencies around Washington DC. He began writing about creative uses of personal computers in the early 1980s. As a retiree since 2020, he has more time to write and deliver presentations, and has added topics on smart phones, tablets and digital cameras and camcorders. He lives in Arlington VA, and hopes to relocate to the US West in the next year or two.
Also: Questions and Answers following the presentation.

When: Sunday, Dec 11, 2022 at 1:30 P.M.

Where: Meetings will be on line until further notice. Click on link shown above.

SIG-Linux Topic: No presentation this month

Presented by Sharan Kalwani

For the month of December, SIG-Linux will be skipping the session as not much has been happening in the Linux world. We will resume from January onwards.

Also: Questions and Answers following the presentation.

Where: Meetings will be on line until further notice. Click on link shown above.

When: Sunday, Dec 11, 2022, at 3:00 P.M.