FOSS Meeting Dates:
Unless otherwise noted, meetings run 3PM to about 5PM
(following a 2:45-3PM help session) on the first
Thursday of most months (second Thursday in January,
July and September), usually in Room 125 at the Natick Community-Senior Center, 117
East Central Street (Rte.135), Natick MA
DURING THE PANDEMIC,
WE'LL BE ON-LINE.
To get announcements, send "Please subscribe
me to your FOSS/Linux e-mail list." to:
algot.runeman@verizon.net
|
Major Agenda Topics:
Future agendas are subject to change because, with
FOSS, good news arrives on a daily basis.
|
June 1, 2023 (3-5PM*) ONLINE.
*- 2:45PM: One-on-One Help ONLINE.
VIEW us (live
or later) on
YouTube (thanks to Dennis Payne). |
FOSS User Group
FOSS
Introductory Slide Talk: Newcomers: Welcome!
For help, be online about 2:45PM (NY/Boston time).
- The FOSS News:
- FOSS History:
- Hot Software:
- Why is Ubuntu so difficult to install?
(Ed Piecewicz);
- weewx
weather software (Algot Runeman)
- Resurrecting
Software:
- Hot Hardware:
- Hot Internet:
- Computer
Security, Privacy and Freedom:
- FOSS Fun:
Game of the Month: Free
Siege (Dennis Payne).
- QUESTIONS
& ANSWERS:
- There was some added NatickFOSS
organizational housekeeping about steps we
might take going forward to continue
improving our meeting flow, agenda
development and meeting archives.
|
May 4, 2023 (3-5PM*) ONLINE.
*- 2:45PM: One-on-One Help ONLINE.
VIEW us (live or
later) on
YouTube (thanks to Dennis Payne).
|
FOSS User Group
- NatickFOSS News:
Dick and Jill Miller resign as co-chairs; Algot Runeman is new
Chair. Members
are invited to volunteer for Board and/or other
committees.
- FOSS
Introductory Slide Talk: Newcomers: Welcome!
For help, be online about 2:45PM (NY/Boston
time).
- The FOSS News: Will
Artificial Intelligence Destroy Us, Or Set
Us Free?; In
Sudden Alarm, Tech Doyens Call for a
Pause on ChatGPT; Bard
AI's wrong answer cost
Alphabet/Google roughly $120-Billion in stock value;
FTC
Reacts to Automated Systems (AI) Legal Issues;
How to Detect ChatGPT
Text Yourself?;
Run
a ChatGPT-like
AI on Your Laptop Using LLaMA
and Alpaca
(entire set by Dick Miller).
- FOSS History: 9 Seminal Linux
Projects video covering 30 years of
GNU/Linux (Algot Runeman).
- Hot Software: Ubuntu 23.04;
Ubuntu-Unity
23.04; What's a "Mantic Minotaur"?;
new blendOS v2
by U-U
author Rudra Saraswat; Vanilla OS 22.10
Kinetic; Vanilla OS 2.0
Orchid will move its base from Ubuntu to Debian;
Pop!_OS 22.04;
Betterbird vs. Thunderbird;
Fotoxx 23.4;
Firefox
extension: TinEye Reverse
Image Search (set to here
by Dick Miller); Guix Full
Source Bootstrap (Algot Runeman); Fedora 38
released (demo by Jerry Feldman); Trace Bitmap using Inkscape
(demo by Dennis Payne).
- Hot Hardware: Transparent
128GB USB 3.1 Micro Center thumb drive for
$9, BUT..; Add
Bluetooth 5.0 to your TV, etc. with this or THIS
(both to be continued; by Dick Miller).
- Hot Internet: Making a Web page,
Part 1; Free Course: Learn vanilla JavaScript;
WGBH is in the fediverse (Mastodon,
etc.) and NPR may be considering it
(set to here by Algot Runeman); Web Development
Resources (Laura Michaels).
- Computer
Security, Privacy and Freedom: Parenting Tech
Opens the Door to State Surveillance;
Firefox
Browsers (and Firefox Focus
?); Twitter
claims NPR
is "state-affiliated" (set to here
by Dick Miller); Unified Payment System in
India (Algot Runeman).
- FOSS
Fun: Review "Science
On State Street" at Framingham State
University (See our demos of appropriate
Linux
tools for environmental projects, etc.); Game of
the Month: Online word game Wordiply from The
Guardian, and programmer's
article about how it got made (Algot Runeman); Benefits of adding
a trailer for a game
(Dennis Payne).
|
April 22, 2023 (2-6PM)
Christa McAuliffe Center
Framingham State University
100 State Street, Framingham MA 01702
|
NatickFOSS.org will run a
FOSS/Linux demo table at Science On State
Street - Come see us, and the rest
of a good show! |
April 6, 2023 (3-5PM*) ONLINE.
*- 2:45PM: One-on-One Help ONLINE.
VIEW us (live or
later) on
YouTube (thanks to Dennis Payne).
|
FOSS User Group
- FOSS
Introductory Slide Talk: Newcomers: Welcome!
For help, be online about 2:45PM (NY/Boston
time).
- The FOSS News: Ubuntu 23.04 to install only Deb and Snap
packaging (users can add Appimage, Flatpak); Ubuntu flavors
"Agree" to Stop Using Flatpak;
Fotoxx
23.31 (April 3rd) moved
from Appimage
packaging to complete
Binary Packages (this set, through here, by
Dick Miller); .avif File Format
for Images is supported by Converter,
XnView,
Fotoxx 23.3,
Firefox
and Chrome(Algot
Runeman); Libre Planet 2023
(videos from March 18-19); Mozilla Festival
2023 (videos from March 20-24).
- FOSS History: Linux Is
Not Windows(from
2006; many Linux distros now ARE user-friendly).
- Hot Software: Creating a Flatpak
(Dennis Payne); Ubuntu 23.04
beta; Ubuntu-Unity
23.04 beta release; new BlendOS
by U-U
author Rudra Saraswat; after hiatus, new BackInTime 1.3.3;
Ubuntu
Screenshot defaults to .png, can change
it to .jpg using dconf-Editor (Jill Miller);
The Linux
Command Line (555 pp.) and Adventures With
The Linux Command Line (250+
pp.), both by William Shotts as is Linux
Command.org (free downloads).
- Hot Hardware: $50
list/$33 after $2 coupon/2 for $65 OontZ Angle 3 ULTRA
4th-Gen. Bluetooth Stereo Speakers w/mic
(update from our January meeting, Dick Miller); PCIe
5.0 SSDs arrive with high prices
and ridiculous heatsinks.
- Hot Internet: NordVPN
open-sources apps and offers FREE Meshnet
(Bob Primak); Wallpaper
from the Public
Domain Review (Dick
Miller); DistroWatch;
Ubuntu
Weekly Newsletter; Resources
for Newcomers (from Ubuntu
Weekly Newsletter).
- Computer Security, Privacy and
Freedom: Can
you fully
delete your browser Search history?;
Be Aware Of Wipe
and Hack Tools;
BlackArch Linux
re UNetBootIn:
"Do
not use UNetBootIn
to write .iso files to flashdrives."
(ANY .iso files?); Ventoy
for thumb drives (see July 2022,
below); The risks,
rewards,
rush
and rebuttals
of AI chatbot LLMs:
Open AI's ChatGPT
and GPT-4,
Google's Bard,
Microsoft's new Bing w/ChatGTP
and its more-advanced Sydney,
Stanford University's LLaMA, Alpaca
and Vicuna ;
Hugging Face's gigantic BLOOM
(Dick Miller and others).
- FOSS Fun: Science
On State Street at Framingham State
University on Earth Day, 2-6PM Saturday, Apr. 22
(See our demos of appropriate Linux tools
for environmental projects, etc.); Phinger
cursor theme (in Synaptic Package
Manager); Games of the Month: Changes to
last month's Fight
or Perish, and Shippy 1984
reskinned - with a dev log video. (Dennis Payne).
|
March 2, 2023 (3-5PM*) ONLINE.
*- 2:45PM: One-on-One Help ONLINE.
VIEW us (live or
later) on
YouTube (thanks to Dennis Payne).
|
FOSS User Group
- FOSS
Introductory Slide Talk:
Newcomers: Welcome! For help, be online about
2:45PM (NY/Boston time).
- The FOSS News: Libre Planet 2023
(Boston and virtual, March 18-19); Mozilla Festival
2023 (virtual, March 20-24); after
hiatus, new BackInTime 1.3.3;
.avif File Format
for Images is supported by Converter,
XnView,
Firefox and Chrome (Algot Runeman).
- FOSS History: Linux Is
Not Windows
(from 2006; many Linux distros now ARE
user-friendly).
- Hot Software: Ubuntu 23.04
beta; Ubuntu-Unity
23.04 beta; new BlendOS
by U-U author Rudra Saraswat; Ubuntu Screenshot
defaults to .png, can change
it to .jpg using dconf-Editor.
- Hot Hardware: $50 list/$33
after $2 coupon/2 for $65 OontZ Angle 3 ULTRA
4th-Gen. Bluetooth Stereo Speakers w/mic (featured
in our January meeting, below); $10
LinkStyle USB dual-antenna booster
?; PCIe 5.0 SSDs
arrive with high prices, ridiculous
heatsinks, and low performance
gains for typical tasks.
- Hot Internet: Mastodon
philosophy; Wallpaper from the Public Domain
Review (Dick Miller); DistroWatch;
Ubuntu
Weekly Newsletter; Resources
for Newcomers (from Ubuntu
Weekly Newsletter); The Linux
Command Line (555 pp.) and Adventures With
The Linux Command Line (250+
pp.), both by William Shotts as is Linux Command.org
(free downloads).
- Computer Security, Privacy and
Freedom: Be
Aware Of Wipe and Hack
Tools; BlackArch Linux
re UNetBootIn,
"Do
not use UNetBootIn
to write .iso files to flashdrives."
ANY .iso files?; Ventoy
for thumbdrives (also see July
2022, below); Firefox
Browsers (and Firefox Focus
?).
- FOSS Fun: "Science
On State Street" at Framingham
State University on Earth Day, 2-6PM Saturday,
Apr. 22 (Who will volunteer to demo appropriate Linux tools
for environmental projects?); Kuboble
logic game (demo by Algot Runeman);
Games of the
Month - Fight
or Perish and Lady Beetle
(upgrade of last month's Lady Bug;
demos by Dennis Payne).
|
February 2, 2023 (3-5PM*) ONLINE.
*- 2:45PM: One-on-One Help ONLINE.
VIEW us (live or later) on
YouTube (thanks to Dennis Payne).
|
FOSS User Group
|
January 12, 2023 (3-5PM*) ONLINE.
*- 2:45PM: One-on-One Help ONLINE.
VIEW us (live or later) on
YouTube (thanks to Dennis Payne).
|
FOSS User Group
|
December 1, 2022 (3-5PM*) ONLINE.
*- 2:45PM: One-on-One Help ONLINE.
VIEW us (live or later) on YouTube
(thanks to Dennis Payne). |
FOSS User Group
|
November 3, 2022 (3-5PM*) ONLINE.
*- 2:45PM: One-on-One Help ONLINE.
VIEW us (live or
later) on
YouTube (thanks to Dennis Payne).
|
FOSS User Group
-
FOSS Introductory Slide Talk:
Newcomers: Welcome! For help, be online about
2:45PM (NY/Boston time).
- The FOSS News: Passkeys finally
arrive; Self-Taught
AI Shows Similarities to How the Brain Works.
- FOSS History: Microsoft's
"Halloween Documents" (1998).
- Hot Software: Various Debian/Ubuntu
22.10 (Kinetic Kudu) Linux OS
flavors released on Oct. 20th, now
including Ubuntu-Unity
(demo by Dick); New
Fotoxx 22.40
(up from 22.35); Anything
but Gooble (recommended FOSS on AlternativeTo.net);
Modren, a
modern Linux store (by Rudra
Saraswat); Pitivi
(demo by Dennis Payne).
- Hot Hardware: GPT vs. MBR Drive
Partitioning; Sun
Outages; MMS is selling computer cases, various
computers loaded w/Ubuntu-Unity software, and
more;
$15 MMS "Install Ubuntu-Unity" thumb drives
doubled to 32GB, now use Ventoy
(see Jerry Feldman's video in our July archive).
- Hot Internet: Fediverse,
Mastodon
and other Alternatives to Twitter (presentation
by Bill Ricker); 'Cookie
Preferences' Pop-Ups; Your Internet life
needs a Feeds Reboot.
- Computer Security, Privacy and
Freedom: Update Chrome, Windows,
and Zoom
right now; OpenSSL
Patches Two High Severity Vulnerabilities;
Geek
Squad phishing scam and removal; Mobile
Phones a privacy battleground.
- FOSS Fun: New
Character.AI website interviews "The Linux OS";
AI
Designs Virtual Architecture; CPU Wars comic
book (1980, Bill Ricker).
- How to ID Junk mail:
Samples from
Dick's Junk Mailbox (Jill Miller)
- QUESTIONS & ANSWERS:
|
October 6, 2022 (3-5PM*) ONLINE.
*- 2:45PM: One-on-One Help ONLINE.
VIEW us (live or
later) on
YouTube (thanks to Dennis Payne). |
FOSS User Group
- FOSS
Introductory Slide Talk:
Newcomers: Welcome! For help, be online about
2:45PM (NY/Boston time).
- The FOSS News:
Various Debian/Ubuntu 22.10
Linux OS releases due on Oct.
20th.
- FOSS History: First Linux Kernel
released (Oct. 5, 1991!); Networking
(Computer History Museum, 2011), including (as
page 7) The Protocol Wars
of a young
Internet (2-min. video); NASA's
2009 publication, Cosmos &
Culture; Cultural Evolution in a Cosmic
Context (Why for FOSS? See
its Chapter 7 [307 of 612], which is a
rebuttal to Chapter 5 [155
of 612] - And if you like that, you'll like Neil
deGrasse Tyson's new article).
- Hot Software: Ubuntu 22.10
(Kinetic Kudu) Final Beta released;
11.5 Best Ubuntu
Flavors; Ubuntu-Unity
22.10 Beta released (demo
by Dick); Canonical
releases its
Ubuntu auto-upgrade-testing
package; Hunting
for a good
Customer Relations Management (CRM) app
for Ubuntu.
- Hot Hardware: $36/$10.50 F9-5
Wireless Earbuds w/Mic and Powerbank
("4/90 hours" w/%-charge read-outs, can recharge phones
et al, looks good, sounds good, has 3
sizes of earplugs); Millers still like their $34/$19 C17
Smartwatches, but today would try
this $17.50 Q13
Smartwatch instead (or, quantity
four in black, gold, etc. at $14 each!); MMS is selling
computer cases, various computers loaded
w/Ubuntu-Unity software, and more.
- Computer Security, Privacy and
Freedom: Check version of
your Linux Kernel ($ uname -r
); if 5.19.12,
UPDATE NOW!; Geek
Squad phishing scam; "Unprecedented"
Hospital-System Hack; Deepfake improves
(from 2020);
Free Ubuntu
Pro (up to 5 computers).
- FOSS Fun: Neverball game
(Dennis Payne).
|
September 8, 2022 (3-5:30PM*) ONLINE.
*- 2:45PM: One-on-One Help ONLINE.
VIEW us (live or
later) on
YouTube (thanks to Dennis Payne).
|
FOSS User Group
- FOSS
Introductory Slide Talk:
Newcomers: Welcome! For help, be online about
2:45PM (NY/Boston time).
- The FOSS News: Ubuntu-Unity
becomes an official Ubuntu flavor; Revised
Jitsi Meet Help Sheet (Algot
Runeman); If you have a
Comcast e-mail address, check your Spam folder
for e-mails, because late on Sept.
6th Comcast accidentally sent a lot of incoming
email to go into Spam, where it gets auto-deleted
7 days later!
- Hot Software:
Using XnConvert
to convert .webp
image files (Bob Primak); Firefox 105 beta;
New Fotoxx 22.31
(demo new "Flip-Tiles"
Slideshow transition); New tricks w/Variety slideshow;
Kazam
for screenshots and
screenplays (disable Gnome Screenshot).
- Hot Hardware: $20 Boltune
BT-BH024 Wireless Earbuds w/Mic
("7/42 hours", looks good and Dick likes his BT-BH023),
$8 (at
MMS) Wired
Earbuds w/Mic, $12 Onikuma
K5 Pro Wired Headset,
and more; We like the $34/$19 C17
Smartwatch, and this $26 T10 Pro
Smartwatch may be even
better; AVOID
Low-Cost Fake
"Terabyte-plus" USB Drives (Bill
Ricker) and this lovely 2021 Fake "2TB"/128GB
Thumbdrive (MMS).
- Hot Internet: Search for "Earthrise image";
Dark Sky photo
contest; Electric Sheep,
with a sample.
- FOSS Fun: HyperRogue
(Dennis Payne); Gnome Crosswords;
Aquarium, Dynamic CubeMap, Virtual
Watercooling (in Firefox,
Tools>Add-ons>Themes) and other Animated Wallpaper.
|
August 4, 2022 (3-5PM*) ONLINE.
*- 2:30PM: One-on-One Help ONLINE.
Big thanks, this month, to the Ad Hoc Committee
that stepped in while Dick and Jill stumbled about
with COVID.
VIEW us (live or
later) on
YouTube (thanks to Dennis Payne).
|
FOSS User Group
|
July 14, 2022 (3-5PM*)
ONLINE.
*- 2:30PM: One-on-One Help ONLINE.
VIEW us (live or
later) on
YouTube (thanks to Dennis Payne).
|
FOSS User Group
|
June 2, 2022 (3-5PM*)
ONLINE.
*- 2:30PM: One-on-One Help ONLINE.
VIEW us (live or
later) on
YouTube (thanks to Dennis Payne).
|
FOSS User Group
|
May 5, 2022 (3-5PM*)
ONLINE.
*- 2:30PM: One-on-One Help ONLINE.
VIEW us (live or later) on YouTube
(thanks to Dennis Payne).
|
FOSS User Group
|
April 30, 2022 (Noon-3PM)
Christa McAuliffe Center, Framingham State
University
100 State Street | Framingham, MA 01702
|
NatickFOSS.org will run a
FOSS/Linux demo table at
Science on
State Street 2022
|
April 7, 2022 (3-5PM*)
ONLINE.
*- 2:30PM: One-on-One Help ONLINE.
VIEW us (live or
later) on
YouTube (thanks to Dennis Payne). |
FOSS User Group
- The FOSS News: Ukraine crisis
tests cyber warfare’s red lines; Volunteers Rally to
Archive Ukrainian Web Sites; Court
erred in Neo4j ruling, could harm Open Source.
- FOSS History: Orbiting the Moon,
December 24, 1968, "Earthrise 1"
remastered.
- Hot Software:
Ubuntu 22.04
beta (Jammy Jellyfish); Ubuntu Unity
22.04 LTS; or, Ubuntu's
own new Unity?;
Is Gnome Linux
a complete disaster?; Gnome 40 is expired,
so update Flatpak Runtimes (Bob Primak);
Mask
or Unpin Flatpak
Runtimes; (Bob Primak); Remove unused
Flatpak Runtimes to free up disk
space (Bob Primak); Fotoxx 22.15
released; Gnome Circle
and Drawing 1.0;
Is Betterbird
better than Mozilla
Thunderbird 99?; New LibreOffice
7.3.2 Office Suite has 74
bug fixes; Linux Kernel
5.18 RC1; FIXED: uBlock Origin
crashes Chromium
(Ed Piecewicz).
- Hot Hardware:
Cruise Origin,
GM's (and Honda's) first fully-driverless car (5-min.
YouTube video); 3X capacity, 1/3
cost, eco-friendly rechargeable sulfur
batteries for phones, laptops, EVs;
RISC-V Open-Source
Hardware (Bill Ricker); $35
Kospet Magic 3/C17
smartwatch; Flea
at MIT, 9AM-2PM April 17th and
every 3rd Sunday through October (Bill Ricker).
- Hot Internet:
FastSpeedTest.com Internet Speed
Test; NASA's Astronomical
Picture Of the Day (APOD).
- Computer Security, Privacy and Freedom:
Techlore's
privacy/security videos; Leaked
crypto dreams of Russia-linked, $180M ransomware gang
Conti; The response to a deepfake video
impersonating Ukrainian President Zelensky
prepares us for more sophisticated attempts; Scam bombards
victims with spam to hide fraudulent credit
card purchases; Kill the password
for good?
- FOSS Fun:
Science on State
Street 2022 (Noon-3PM Saturday,
April 30th at the Christa McAuliffe Center,
Framingham State University) - who will help demo
FOSS?; Shallow Stone
Solar, my entry for the Seven Day Roguelike
Challenge (Dennis Payne).
|
March 3, 2022 (3-5PM*)
ONLINE.
*- 2:30PM: One-on-One Help ONLINE.
VIEW us (live or
later) on
YouTube (thanks to Dennis Payne).
|
FOSS User Group
- The FOSS News: Computer issues
as Russia invades Ukraine; Major
technology companies suspend Russian business
operations; Fotoxx 22.14
demo (head-swap and bokeh)
of two types of
disinformation (transposition and bias;
by Andy Thomas, Mike Cornelison, Dick Miller); California
now permits autonomous-taxi use of Chevy
Bolt EVs (with a "safety driver" during
test period), and GM
filed with US NHTSA for production and
deployment of Cruise
Origin robotaxis by 2025 (Jill
Miller).
- FOSS History: 11 years of our
monthly meetings!
- Hot Software:
Fedora 36
beta (Jerry Feldman); Jammy Jellyfish
(Ubuntu
22.04 LTS - moving
deb packages to snaps?)
in feature freeze (Bob Primak); Ubuntu Unity
22.04 LTS (Dick Miller); DahliaOS
and LiquorixOS.
- Hot Hardware: Volunteer,
to help set up Ubuntu Server on Raspberry
Pi?; Do-it-yourself autonomous-vehicle hardware
(and books
and videos, Webos
and ROS
software); Optimize
laptop battery life with TLP;
Intel blasts bitcoin mining
and introduces
hardware for same; MIT
Magnetic Memory breakthrough; 30,000-year-old
religious idol mystery solved with
30-year-old
Microcomputed Tomography (microCT) and 3-year-old
FOSS VNA.
- Hot Internet: Download 80,000
movies per second?;
Ukraine
asks ICANN to revoke Russian domains and shut
down DNS root servers.
- Computer Security, Privacy and Freedom:
WhisperGate
(January) and current cyber-attacks
in Ukraine; Ukraine’s
Volunteer "IT Army"; Prepare
for Russian Cyber-attacks; NotPetya,
the worst cyber-attack; MacIntosh Update Agent
malware gets worse; Don't Track Me
Google extension for Firefox.
- FOSS Fun: OpenGGS,
Great Giana
Sisters improved and in FOSS (Dennis
Payne).
- How to ID Junk mail:
(samples from Dick's Junk Mailbox)
- QUESTIONS & ANSWERS:
Discussion about
dark themes vs. light themes; How to have a Snap
address a different partition?
|
February 3, 2022
(3-4:45PM) ONLINE.
VIEW us on YouTube
(thanks to Dennis Payne). |
FOSS User Group
|
January 13, 2022 (3-5PM)
ONLINE.
VIEW us on YouTube
(thanks to Dennis Payne). |
FOSS User Group
|
December 2, 2021 (3-5PM)
ONLINE.
VIEW us on YouTube
(thanks to Dennis Payne). |
FOSS User Group
- The FOSS News: France, a German
state and the European Union' Open Policy
Summit support FOSS.
- FOSS History: The United Nations'
Open Source Initiative of 2019.
- Hot Software:
BIG, free app guides from LibreOffice
(Algot Runeman); Use FOSS for Holiday Greetings;
FOSS alternatives
to: Microsoft To Do;
Odoo
(formerly OpenERP),
an all-in-one FOSS business
application; Waydroid
runs Android apps on Linux; 5-min. video
and on-line
demo of Ubuntu Linux
21.10 (Impish Indri); How
to preview Ubuntu
22.04 Alpha; Using Virt-Manager
to test Linux distros (demo by
Jerry Feldman); Ubuntu's Rescue Mode
or Emergency
Mode.
- Hot Hardware: Thumb
Drives AND SMR
(shingled) Hard Drives that lie!
(updated); Linux on
inexpensive smartwatches (feedback on any
apps?); Apple forced to let
you repair your Mac and iPhone.
- Hot Internet: Mozilla
updates RegretsReporter
add-on (for Firefox and Chrome) to tame YouTube recs;
Web3
(Gavin Wood, 2014); Oopsie, or How ext4magic
Saved Thanksgiving (demo by Bill
Ricker); Wild Me
(Conservation meets machine learning); 7
best Wayback Machine
alternatives.
- Computer Security, Privacy and
Freedom: Flatpak
[or Snap,
Appimage,
Docker,
Steam]
Is Not the Future (Nicholas Fraser,
Mike Cornelson); Microsoft
Windows 11 forces links to open in
its data-sharing Edge browser; 'Tardigrade'
Malware targets
biomanufacturing; Feb.
31st? Meet CronRAT;
Hacking spree
against Iran gets physical; U.S.
House Oversight Committee review of
successful malware hackers
emphasizes law enforcement actions, security
improvements, issues "playbook"
for companies; Most
secure & private Web
Browsers?; Dystopia Is Upon
Us. Are You Ready?; Facebook
is shutting down its facial recognition system,
affecting over a billion people (but who WILL have that
data?); Even
if the Webcam
Light is Off, someone could be
listening; Twitter
algorithms amplify Right Wing; NRA
in a ransomware bind; Microsoft's
.NET Foundation
admits it 'violated the trust of project
maintainers'.
- FOSS Fun: Today is 12022021;
Anagramarama
game (demo by Dennis Payne); Linux cowsay
command by Dennis Payne); Set YOUR Ubuntu
Desktop background wallpapers (demo by
Jill Miller); Microsoft touts "new" Mica
background effect for Office 365
(only on Windows
11; Ubuntu
options include VisualEffects=High, and tint2,
etc.).
- How to ID Junk mail:
(samples from Dick's Junk Mailbox)
- QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
|
November 4, 2021 (3-5PM)
ONLINE.
VIEW us on YouTube
(thanks to Dennis Payne). |
FOSS User Group
- The FOSS News: Ubuntu Linux
21.10 (Impish Indri) released Oct.
14th; Ubuntu Linux
22.04 (Jammy Jellyfish) preview;
Fedora 35
with Gnome 41
released Nov. 2nd (demo
by Jerry Feldman); Test any Linux
distro online (DistroTest.net); Fry's
Electronics is
closing; Bitcoin's
heavy power demand increases cost,
pollution, global warming; Squid
Game Cryptocurrency Scam Steals $Millions.
- FOSS History:
Still celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Linux!
- Hot Software: Major new Linux Kernel
5.15; New
Ubuntu
Desktop Installer; TestDisk
Data Recovery Tool in Linux.
- Hot Hardware: Thumb Drives that
lie! ("1TB
4-in-1 Drive" stores 64GB; "2TB
USB Drive" stores 32GB); Linux on
inexpensive smartwatches (Dick's $13
ID205L, his new $12
A6, or what?).
- Hot Internet: OpenStreetMap
(demo by Bill Ricker, with tutorials,
his own embedded
example and more); Internet Archive
and related (Bill Ricker takes us
beyond The
Wayback Machine: Books,
Books
To Borrow, Genealogy,
Video,
Audio,
Software,
Images,
Project
Gutenberg US/Australia);
Dennis Payne recommends LibreVox for
volunteer-read AudioBooks.
- FOSS Fun: Dennis
Payne demos his own newly-released Learning Basic
on Mars game.
|
October 7, 2021 (3-5PM)
ONLINE.
VIEW us on YouTube
(thanks to Jerry Feldman and Dennis Payne). |
FOSS User Group
- FOSS
Introductory Slide Talk: Newcomers, be online
by 3PM (Boston time); Linux for Starters:
Your Guide to Linux.
- The FOSS News: No-Facebook/Instagram/Oculus/Twitter
Monday (with World
map); Chrome
broke Web features, but Google didn't tell;
Ubuntu Linux
21.10 due Oct. 14th; Fedora Linux
declared a 'digital public good'; How AI finished
Beethoven’s unfinished 10th Symphony
(hear
some, as 4-min. video).
- FOSS History: 30th Anniversary of
Linux kernel (Linus Torvalds; Oct.
5, 1991; then
and now);
30th Anniversary
of the World-Wide Web (Tim
Berners-Lee, 1989);
25th Anniversary
of Internet Archive/"The Wayback Machine"
(1996;
then
and 2046);
The (scandalous) First
DIGITAL Cipher Machine
(2020 BLU.org talk by Bill Ricker; 2020 video; annual
series; 2021 surprise sequel to the
scandal, The
Last Rotor Machine. ).
- Hot Software: PDF2GO;
FOSS
alternatives to Microsoft OneNote;
Get
printer-ready black text on white background
from scanned pdf files.
- Hot Hardware: Inexpensive
TP-Link Archer A6 (AC1200) wi-fi router;
Ubuntu on
your phone?;
Linux
on inexpensive smartwatches (Dick's
$13 ID205L,
his new $12 A26,
or what?); An
open-source smartwatch.
- Hot Internet: Original Web Code
(Tim Berners-Lee, 1991) Now a $5 Million
Non-Fungible Token; How
does The Internet work?; Let's
update OpenStreetMap
(demo by Bill Ricker).
- Computer Security, Privacy and
Freedom: How
to protect the digital economy; A
bad solar storm could cause an 'Internet
Apocalypse'; Unattended
Linux
Upgrades; Lynis Linux
security
audit tool; Linux
Malware Detect (LMD), also known
as Maldet;
“Worst
cloud vulnerability” discovered in Microsoft Azure;
Misconfigured
Microsoft Power
Apps exposed 38M records online;
15
years of instable Google messaging apps;
Apple's
plan to "Think Different" about encryption
opens a backdoor to your private life;
T-Mobile
data breach, claims of 100m stolen customer
records; Realtek
remote code execution flaws in many routers,
IoT gear, cameras.
- FOSS Fun: Desktop
wallpaper for 30th Anniversary of Linux
(with a challenge);
Pigeon Ascent
(demo by Dennis Payne); Virtual
train set with OpenTTD
(demo1,
more).
|
September 9, 2021 (3-5PM)
ONLINE.
VIEW us on YouTube
(thanks to Dennis Payne). |
FOSS User Group
|
August 5, 2021 (3-5PM)
ONLINE.
VIEW us on YouTube
(thanks to Dennis Payne). |
FOSS User Group
|
July 8, 2021 (3-5PM)
ONLINE.
VIEW us on YouTube
(thanks to Dennis Payne). |
FOSS User Group
|
June 3, 2021 (3-4:45PM)
ONLINE.
VIEW us (live or
later) on
YouTube (thanks to Dennis Payne).
|
FOSS User Group
- The FOSS News: Alibaba's
UC browser
(iPhone, Android) harvests
user data even in incognito mode; Firefox v.89;
Broadband companies
funded 'fake' net neutrality comments;
What
Google v. Oracle
means for open source; Machine
Learning: Living in the Age of AI
(41-min. video);
Ubuntu
21.10 (Impish Indri)
due Oct. 14th.
- FOSS History: 30 years later: 17
true stories about switching to Linux;
10
best and most popular Linux
Desktop Environments of all time (good address for
5.Unity).
- Hot Software: Linux for
Starters: Your Guide to Linux;
GrUB2
and ISO
burners: Startup Disk
Creator, Balena Etcher,
Ventoy
vs. UNetBootIn?;
Use WoeUSB bootable
USB drive on Linux to rescue Windows
users; https://packages.ubuntu.com/hirsute/fotoxx.
- Hot Hardware: The Big Iron Hippo;
The
best wi-fi
range extenders in 2021; These
tools can help you find your lost devices ($25?
$3?);
How
to optimize
laptop battery life with TLP
in Linux.
- Hot Internet: EFF30
Fireside Chat: "Free
the Internet!" (8PM today, June
3rd); Understanding
URLs; Amazon and Apple
built vast wireless networks using your
devices. Here’s how they work.
- Computer Security, Privacy and
Freedom: More US Agencies
Hacked; Copyright cannot be
used to harm the public interest; Your router's
security stinks. Here's how to fix it;
Four ways
governments disrupt internet access;
The full story of
the stunning "RSA Hack" can finally be
told; Censorship,
surveillance and profits: A hard bargain for
Apple in China; AI consumes a lot
of energy. Hackers could make it consume more;
Here’s how much
your personal information is worth to
cybercriminals – and what they do with it;
Am I FLoCed?
A new site to test Google's Chrome
browser invasive experiment; How to stop iOS and
Android phone spam, scams, and robocalls;
Surveillance
self-defense playlist: Getting to know your
phone; "Frag Attack":
decades-old flaws affect almost every wi-fi
device.
- FOSS Fun: River Runner
(demo by Jill Miller; try Lake Cochituate, south
side of Akron OH, etc.); Ship
That Changed The World
(53-min. PBS/NOVA video).
|
May 6, 2021 (3-5PM)
ONLINE.
VIEW
us (live or later) on YouTube
(thanks to Jerry Feldman). |
FOSS User Group
- The FOSS News: Dell
Technologies World (May 5-6, online
and free); Ingenuity
drone's Mars
images; Ubuntu 21.10
(Impish Indri) due Oct. 14th.
- FOSS History: "The
Birth Of BASIC"
at Dartmouth College on May 1, 1964
(w/two videos).
- Hot Software: Ubuntu 21.04
(Hirsute Hippo);
Ubuntu-Unity
21.04; TinyTools
Directory (a brief tour by Algot
Runeman: Unicode,
Typephase,
Random Name
Generator, Pixelator); Fedora 34
and Gnome 40
(demo by Jerry Feldman); Jitsi, a
further look (by Bill Ricker).
- Hot Hardware: Lenovo
IdeaPad 5 Laptop (Core i7 CPU, 16GB
RAM, 500GB SSD, $650 new).
- Hot Internet: Our FOSS
User Group is trying out Mastodon
(Algot Runeman); RSS Feeds/Liferea
(LInux FEed REAder; Bill Ricker).
- FOSS Fun: KPatience
solitaire games (beats AisleRiot); Trains
(MIT), Trains
(Hamburg), Musical
Trains (Guinness Book of Records)
and Linux.
|
April 1, 3-5PM) ONLINE.
VIEW us on
YouTube (thanks to Dennis Payne). |
FOSS User Group
|
March 4, 2021 (3-5PM)
ONLINE.
VIEW us on
YouTube (thanks to Dennis Payne).
|
FOSS
User Group
|
February 4, 2021
(3-4:40PM) ONLINE.
VIEW us on
YouTube (thanks to Dennis Payne). |
FOSS User Group
|
January 14, 2021 (3-5PM)
ONLINE.
VIEW us on
YouTube (thanks to Dennis Payne).
|
FOSS User Group
|
December 3, 2020 (3-6PM)
ONLINE.
VIEW us on
YouTube (thanks to Dennis Payne). |
FOSS User Group
|
November 5, 2020 (3-5PM)
ONLINE.
VIEW us on
YouTube (thanks to Dennis
Payne).
|
FOSS User Group Agenda
|
October 1, 2020 (3-5PM)
ONLINE.
VIEW us on YouTube
(thanks to Dennis Payne). |
FOSS User Group Agenda
- The FOSS News: A
million students learn Linux (you,
too?); Lenovo
offers Ubuntu or Fedora on nearly 30 models of
ThinkPads and ThinkStations; Microsoft
Wants To Create A Complete Virtualization
Stack With Linux; eBay
scandal hits Natick, Natick
Police hit back!; AI escalates
disinformation,
enables fake videos, disables
valid web sites, and arrests
the innocent.
- FOSS History: Alphabetum
Unicode Font; The
First Alphabet and How
Writing Changed the World.
- Hot Software: MacColor Picker,
meet
Gpick
(demo by Jill Miller); MozillaFirefox
add-ons;
Mozilla
Thunderbird 78.2.1 released.
- Hot Hardware: $18/$35
ID205L Smartwatch vs. $400
Apple Watch Series 5 and last
month's
$11 DZ09;
GGIR
lets those tiny 3-D accelerometers sense sleep.
- Hot Internet: Palette-Gallery;
WhatRepairs
Void Warranties?; The1975 Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act;
ExtendedWarranties
(Citicard,
Mastercards, eBay); LaptopRepairability;
Cheatingto
stay on top (Amazon, Apple, Facebook,Google).
- Security and Privacy:
Webcam Sliding
Shutter (black or white, $2 at MMS);
Nov. 3rd
Election security; Blacklight
exposes Web snooping -
but you may have to look twice (demo by Jill
Miller).
- FOSS Fun
Stop licking
your Duracells; Damn
Interesting; Open Surge
is a Sonic-like
2-D game AND a Game-Creation System (demo by
Dennis Payne).
|
September 10, 2020
(3-5PM)
Natick
Community-Senior Center, Room 125 (again,
someday); for now, ONLINE.
VIEW us on YouTube
(thanks to Dennis Payne). |
FOSS User Group Agenda
- "Still on
Windows 7? Don't want Windows 10? Consider
switching to Linux (and specifically,
Ubuntu) - A Guide."
- Make a REALLY BIG Mouse/Touchpad Cursor
(I'll use the Unity Tweak Tool,
installed from the Ubuntu Software repository); Move this Agenda to a
separate Workspace.
- The FOSS News: Thunderbird
project moved to Mozilla
Foundation's new MZLA Technologies Corporation;
Google &
Canonical Bring Flutter to Ubuntu.
- FOSS History
: A Guide Through The
History of Unix & Linux.
- Hot Software: Install Unity Desktop
on Ubuntu
(5-min. video);
Mozilla
Thunderbird 78.2 released with
full OpenPGP
support, Search-in-Preferences tab (but wait for
78.2.1 with Enigmail?);
OpenCamera
for advanced smartphone cameras.
- Hot Hardware
: Should
Desktops Run 24/7?; Open-Source,
Smartphone-Powered $50 Robot; Smartphone/cameras,
and an $11 DZ09 Smartwatch
(or $7
if you can wait!); 32GB
Class 10 microSD Flash Memory Card for $3.29!
- Hot Internet: Track
the wildfires; Alternativeto.net
(see Buoh,
below); HTTrack
to import Web sites; User-AgentSwitcher
to simulate various interfaces; Heavy
Jitsi
sessions still slowed
down by Firefox
and Safari
browsers.
- In
Firefox, create folders for
favorite links using [Ctrl-d], or right-click
right end of Bookmarks line, or
this; Using Firefox
to read paywalled web sites.
(demo by Dick Miller).
- Security and Privacy:
Your
car is spying on you, How
to stop it;, and Mass. "Right To
Repair Law" (Question
1 on November 3rd ballot); What Does Google
Know About You (and how can you
delete it)?; Android
smartphones can substitute Replicant
for Google
Android OS, F-Droid
for Google
Play store; Remote content and
cookie settings in Thunderbird; Securing Linux-based
systems in 4 steps; GitHub's Arctic
Vault preserves open-source code; Facebook's
software kit crashes popular apps.
- FOSS Fun: Artificial Dumbness;
Buoh
offers comic strips online; Relaxing video;
Deep-sea videos;
DIY
Underwater OpenROV w/Linux;
- AnBox
plays Android games on Linux
(demo by Dennis Payne).
- WindowSwap
- a trip around the World by window cams (demo by
Jill Miller).
- QUESTIONS
& ANSWERS.
|
August 6, 2020 (3-5PM)
ONLINE.
VIEW us on
YouTube (thanks to Dennis Payne). |
FOSS User Group Agenda
|
July 9, 2020 (3-5PM)
ONLINE.
VIEW us on
YouTube (thanks to Dennis Payne). |
FOSS User Group Agenda
|
June 4, 2020 (3-5PM
ONLINE)
VIEW us
on YouTube
(thanks to Dennis Payne).
|
FOSS User Group Agenda
|
May 7, 2020 (3-5PM
ONLINE)
VIEW this meeting on YouTube
(thanks to Dennis Payne).
|
FOSS User Group
|
*CANCELED*
April 18, 2020
(11AM-3PM)
Framingham
State University, 100 State St., Framingham MA
|
Science on State Street - WAS CANCELED TO REDUCE
THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS
Planet Earth Edition: Celebrate the 50th anniversary
of Earth Day!
Help staff or visit our FOSS User Group exhibit
there. (See us at 1:22 in this SOSS
2019 video.) |
April 2, 2020 (3-4:30PM
ETZ)
OUR FIRST ONLINE MEETING, thanks to COVID-19,
our FOSS UG Online Meetings team, and the Jitsi Meet
service. Keep
yourself and others safe: Clean your hands and
touched surfaces, stay home if you can, and thank
those who can't (from 6 feet away)!
VIEW this meeting on YouTube:
Big thanks to the new NatickFOSS Online Meetings team:
Algot, Bob, Dennis and Jerry!
|
FOSS User Group
|
*CANCELED*
March 14, 2020 (9AM-5PM)
MIT
Building E-51, Room 061, Cambridge MA
|
Boston
Linux & Unix InstallFest - WAS CANCELED TO
REDUCE THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS
Volunteers from BLU.org help people with Linux
installation and other hands-on issues. |
March 5, 2020 (3-6PM*)
Natick Community-Senior Center, Room 125.
* 2-3PM: One-on-One Help in same room.
|
FOSS User Group
- FOSS Q&A:
- Members'Introductions
(your name, town and computer proficiency, in
less than 20 seconds).
- Raffle item(s):
2200
mAH Case Logic Universal Power Bank (new,
MMS to John Thompson); Tripod Grip for
Smartphone (new to Charlie Blaney, $5 at MMS);
NEC Black Leather Laptop Shoulder Bag (like new,
MMS to Bob Primak); Power Flashlight (Algot
Runeman to Tom Swan); PortaPower USB Data Blocker (new,
Jerry Feldman to Dick Miller); Green
Krazilla Bluetooth Mini-Speaker (Algot Runeman
to Dick Miller). Do YOU have good items to pass on?
- NatickFOSS
buttons,labels, and business cards.
Help publicize our meetings!
- The FOSS News:
Upcoming Ubuntu20.04/Unity7.5/Unity8.0=Lomiri;
Volunteers for FOSS User Group table at "Science On
State Street" (April 18th at Framingham
State University; J.Feldman, Millers,
D.Payne, A. Runeman, J.Thompson; others?)
- FOSS History: In 1956, local
boy makes good (An Wang).
- Hot Software: Howto
Clear Cookies in Mozilla Firefox; Palapelijigsaw-puzzle
app for your
pictures and theirs;
InstallDVD
support (libdvdcss)
on Debian orUbuntu; InstallUNetBootIn
from the Ubuntu PPA;
Atomtext
editor (demo by Jerry Feldman);
Python programming for beginners (demo by Marc
Taylor).
- Hot Hardware:
Raspberry
Shakes monitor quakes; Listening for inexpensive
Hearing Aids.
- Hot Internet:
Daily
Coronavirus Briefing.
- Security and
Privacy: Voting
Problems, Proprietary
Voting Machines, and better;
Sue
Robocallers for Up to $3,000 with Robo Revenge;
Twitter
can leak your phone number.
- FOSS Fun: The
Munker-White Illusion (color-completion
effect); How
many drones does it take to screw in a
lightbulb?
|
February 25, 2020
(7:30-10PM)
Alumnae Hall, Wellesley
College, 106 Central Street, Wellesley MA
(Free
tickets required; free parking in Wellesley
College Garage, first right at main entrance on
Route 135.)
|
"The Rise of Surveillance
Capitalism"
Shoshana Zuboff, professor emerita at Harvard Business
School, discusses her latest book, "The Age of
Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future
at the New Frontier of Power". In this critically
acclaimed work, Zuboff shows how our economy,
politics, and society are increasingly being shaped by
digital technologies. In her view, surveillance
capitalism—a concept she coined—defines the current
age in which we've all opted into the commodification
of our personal information. Throughout the book, she
outlines the cost of putting a price on private data,
and she urges all of us to pay attention, resist
habituation, and come up with novel responses to a new
era. |
February 6, 2020
(3-6PM*)
Natick Community-Senior Center, Room 125.
* 2-3PM: One-on-One Help, there or in Lobby or
Computer Room. |
FOSS User Group
- Help Session Report:
Room was empty at 2PM, but we were told we
couldn't use it until 2:45. Dick asked why not,
upon which Lorraine and one other staffer met
there - just talking with notes - instead of in
her office!
- FOSS Q&A: Can Fotoxx convert
photo negatives to positives? Yes, in
color or in B&W.
- Members' Introductions
(your name, town and computer proficiency, in less
than 20 seconds).
- Raffle item(s): Marware 14" Laptop
Shoulder Bag (like new, MMS to Charlie
Blaney); 2 9-V.
Blocklite flashlights (new, Algot
Runeman to Dick Miller and Gloria Bloom); 3 Canned Air
(Algot Runeman to Dick Miller, Bob Primak, and
Samir Parikh). Do
YOU have good items to pass on?
- The FOSS News: Why
NSA rushed to expose a dangerous Microsoft
computer bug; Free
Software: Why Does it Exist?; Too-early testing of
Ubuntu20.04
LTS/Unity; F.E.C.
Allows Security Company to Help 2020
Candidates Defend Campaigns (John
Thompson); Microsoft
Putting Patent Traps Inside Linux While
Blackmailing Companies Using Patents
Associated With These Traps; Ubuntu:
10 Years, 10 Defining Moments; 2019
Special Edition Yearbook: Best of a
decade on Opensource.com; Open-source
Software Alternatives Cheat Sheet
(also, see AlternativeTo.net).
- Guest demo by Walter
Bender, Founder of
Sugar Labs:
MusicBlocks,
a musical microworld for exploring fundamental
concepts in an integrative and fun way.
- Hot Software: Updating
the NatickFOSS Ubuntu Guide (Algot
Runeman); Demo
of Fotoxx
image edits (9-min.
video); FSF on
Proprietary Software.
- Hot Hardware: UbuntuTouch
promises convergence with smart phones.
- Security and Privacy: You
Are Now Remotely Controlled by Surveillance
Capitalism (Shoshana Zuboff; note her Wellesley
talk on February 25th!); Ubuntu
Security Notices for Ubuntu 19.10; Hacked
iPhone charging cable can hijack computers
(Jerry Feldman recommends PortaPow
data blockers); Philips
Hue lightbulb vulnerability could escalate to
network (16-min.
video says ALL remotes are vulnerable);
Major
Ubuntu 18.04
LTS Kernel Security Update for Cloud
Users; Office365
forces switch to Bing on Chrome
browser; New
'Off-Facebook Activity' tool shows
exactly how much the social network tracks your
life.
- FOSS Fun: The
Pizza Formula; Move-One-Matchstick
Equation Puzzle (Jill Miller).
- How to ID random junk mail
(more trouble from Dick's Junk Mailbox):
"Undeilvered Mail", "Intuit".
|
January 9, 2020 (3-6PM*)
Natick Community-Senior Center, Room 125.
* 2-3PM: One-on-One Help, there or in Lobby or
Computer Room. |
FOSS User Group
- Raffle item(s):
Pastries for ALL
(Charlie Blaney); A black genuine-imitation
leather CD/DVD
Case (like new; MMS to John Thompson); a
3-in-1 (USB, micro-USB, USB-C) OTG Cardreader
(new, MMS to Pat Collins); a Rosewill
RNA-3010 Travel Kit (new, MMS to
Bob Primak). Do YOU have good items to pass
on?
- The FOSS News: Windows7
support ends on January 14th; Linux
and open-source rules! 2019's five biggest
stories show why;
Ubuntu
turns 15; a look back (and forward);
U.S.
military loves Linux; ICE
Contract With GitHub Sparks Developer Protests;
Warning: NEON
creates "real" people (5-min.
video).
- Hot Software: Suggested
Fotoxx
improvement, get new version, install from
appimage, showits User
Guide, new partial support forMacintosh.heic
image format (demo by Dick
Miller); How
to Make the Switch From Windows
to Linux;
Your
Full Guide on Migrating from Windows 7
to Linux;
The
difference between Linux and Unix
(Algot Runeman); Updateon
ZFS (Zetabyte File System) and itslicensing
in Ubuntu
19.10; Extend
your laptop battery lifespan with TLP;
A massive Search/Replace with
the Geanytext
editor (demo by Jill Miller); BasicLinux
Commands (demo by Jill Miller); ClamAV
anti-spam utility; Junk-mail
filtering in Thunderbird
which comes with Ubuntu (demo by Jill Miller).
- Hot Hardware: The
new $200 PinebookPro laptop is
NOT recommended
(Algot Runeman).
- Hot Internet: The Free Software
Foundation presents "ShoeTool"
(2-min. video); Most-read
LinuxLinks stories of 2019.
- Security and Privacy:
Botnet
and the Laws, Wannacry malware
was based upon NSA's "Eternal #006600"
(Bob Primak); The
new California
Consumer Privacy Law may help us, too;
Colleges are turning students' phones into
surveillance machines; Stop
your phone from eavesdropping
(3-min. video); Ubuntu Security
Notices for Ubuntu
19.10
- How to ID random junk mail
(more trouble from Dick's Junk Mailbox).
|
December 5, 2019 (3-6PM*)
Natick Community-Senior Center, Room 218.
* 2-3PM: One-on-One Help in Computer Room.
|
FOSS User Group
- Raffle item(s):
Pastries for ALL
(Charlie Blaney); Case Logic Computer Sleeve for
14"-display notebook computer (like new; MMS to
Sharif); Digital
Projector (Algot Runeman to Shag Graetz).
- Members' Introductions.
- FOSS Q&A: E-mail changes at
alum.mit.edu (Charlie Blaney & Gloria
Bloom); How to convert
.prc files from an old Palm Pilot? (Jerry
Feldman can help Gloria Bloom); What happens when
installing Ubuntu
from a flash drive? (Gerry Patrick); Can
we use
Chromecast, etc., to also show projected display
on attendees' computers? (Jerry Feldman).
- The FOSS News: BLU.org
Installfest this Saturday, Dec. 7th;
Windows7
support ends on January 14th; ICANN
proposes to sell Public Interest Registry
(which manages all .org domain names);
U.S.
Presidential Candidates weak on e-mail
security; Open
Source fights election fraud; United
Nations' new Open-Source Initiative;
MIT's
new Robot Scientist; AMD
now offers the MOST powerful CPUs;
Mozilla
Firefox
now has DNS-over-HTTPS security.
- Hot Software: Honey
and CamelCamelCamel
comparison-shopping add-ons for Mozilla Firefox;
Variety
replaces discontinued WallCh, and how to add Custom
Keyboard Shortcuts for Variety (System
Settings > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Custom
Shortcuts; in terminal window, “man variety”; demo
by Dick Miller). SGT Puzzles
Collection (Simon G.
Tatham's Portable
Puzzle Collection); Use
scrcpy
to display and remote control your Android
smartphone from your desktop; Ubuntu 16.04
and up can run KDEConnect
for Android
integration; Geany's
Column-mode editing (rectangular selections)
using [Ctrl+Shift] ([Alt+Shift] in Windows) to
quickly adjust indenting of a code (.html) file
(demo by Jill Miller); Fotoxx's
Vertical Panorama tool (demo by Dick
Miller); CalculatorN+
scientific calculator for your smartphone;
Chiaki
plays games on a remote PlayStation 4
(demo by Dennis Payne).
- Hot Hardware: $30
iFixit 64-Bit Driver Kit (humor); $55 Raspberry Pi 4 Model B
with 4GB of RAM (demo by Jim Gerow; to be cont.);
$1,850
$260 refurbished
HP
EliteBook 840 G2 Touch (Intel Core
i7-5600 CPU, etc.).
- Hot Internet: Sir
Tim Berners-Lee- "50 years ago, I helped
invent the internet. How did it go so wrong?";
AlternativeTo.net.
- Security and Privacy:
What
Russian trolls are tweeting, and why;
What Russia's
2020 disinformation operations look like;
Examining
AI’s effect on media and truth; Stealing
Ur Feelings (6-min.
Mozilla-sponsored video); Security
gadgets are making people more vulnerable
(2-min. BBC video); Russian
company sells zero-day exploits for hospital
software; How
to fight deepfakes and ransomware;
Blockchain
is how to re-own your data; When
I Visited 47 Sites, Hundreds of Trackers
Followed Me; Blokada
for your Android
phone; Microsoft
secretly includes telemetry software;
Deep
Web, Dark Web: What's Out There?; How
to stop Facebook tracking your web browsing
activity; Best
Browsers for Privacy; Mozilla
Firefox 70
to have Extended Dark Mode Support.
|
November 7, 2019 (3-6PM*)
Natick Community-Senior Center, Room 125.
* 2-3PM: One-on-One Help, there. |
FOSS User Group
- Raffle item(s):
30 and 60x LED Mini Pocket Magnifying
Glass/Hand Magnifier/Portable Jewelers Loupe
with Currency UV Detector (new; MMS
to Gary Patrick).
Schylling Light-Up Mini Marquee
(new; Algot Runeman to Bob Primak). NatickFOSS buttons,
decals and business cards. Do YOU have good
items to pass on?
- Members'
Introductions (name, town and
computer proficiency).
- FOSS Q&A:
Can I fit Ubuntu 19.10
within a 15GB storage partition? (Yes: Use GParted to
shrink an oversized partition, then to create a
new partition.)
- Help Session Report:
Room 125 was available at 2PM.
- The FOSS News:
Open Source fights election fraud;
United Nations' new Open-Source Initiative.
- Hot Software:
New Ubuntu 19.10
is ready for general use (use Stacer's
System Cleaner - download and install its
.deb file - instead of Ubuntu Cleaner, and stay with
EXT4;
Unity
works well, but
may lose "tap-to-Click" (if so, regain it
with sudo
apt install xserver-xorg-input-synaptics,
and reboot); Aptik-gtk
works but now $25, so seeking a FOSS
alternative); Ubuntu 19.10
introduces ZFS alternative to EXT4
file system (Algot Runeman);
More
Add-Ons for Ubuntu
19.10; Scratux,
a Linux
version of
MIT's Scratch
programming language for kids;
Project Libre
instead of Microsoft
Project (10-min. video);
Citadel
groupware.
- Hot Hardware:
Notable 14"
notebook computers (cheapest,
lightest,
$200,
$250); Evaluate
computers with Ubuntu on a stick ($12
from MMS) or Ultimate Boot
CD;
$45 Sphero R2-D2 App-Enabled Droid
(BB-9E),
with MIT's Scratch
to teach programming to kids. (This is the Droid
you're looking for!).
- Hot Internet:
Pingdom
live map of Internet downtime.
|
October 3, 2019 (3-6PM*)
Natick Community-Senior Center, Room 125.
* 2-3PM: One-on-One Help, there or in Computer Room.
|
FOSS User Group
- Raffle:
L&H Voice Xpress 4 with Telex Headset
(unused, MMS to Tom Mohan) and
Travel Select Amsterdam 16″ Lightweight
Carry-on Boarding Tote Bag with Top Carry
Handle and Shoulder Strap (red,
unused, MMS to Tom Swan). 3D-Printed Luggage
Tags (by Algot Runemanto Jerry Feldman Do YOU have good
items to pass on?
- Help Session Report:
Room was available at 2PM.
- When Lightning
Strikes (continued) Repair, Recycling.
- The FOSS News:
Make a NatickFOSS.org Button (we'll
have some at our meeting, thanks to Library Of Things
in the Bacon Free Library, South Natick;
Open Source fights election fraud;
Patent
troll suing Gnome Foundation is
linked to Microsoft;
Microsoft's "Embrace, Extend, Extinguish" is
now extending Linux;
Windows 11
to run on Linux?;
Richard
Stallman spoke at private Microsoft meeting;
DOD and IBM helped force RMS to resign
from MIT CSAIL and from the Free Software
Foundation.
- Hot Software:
Benefits of puzzle-solving for adults;
FOSS puzzle
game Alike
(Dennis Payne, Algot Runeman); AisleriotSolitaire/Klondike;
AisleriotSolitaire/Freecell
(Jill Miller);
Linux
Survival Guide;
Early look at Ubuntu19.10
(EoanErmine)
beta (awaiting UNetbootin,
Ubuntu Cleaner,
Aptik-GTK);
Intel cuts Linux
kernel boot time; History
of the Linux
Desktop;
Linux
File System for Windows Users;
Fotoxx
editing examples.
- Hot Hardware:
Making videos w/LG V30 smartphone's camera
(5-min. video) vs. RED Weapon;
(9-min. video);
11.6" Acer Spin 2-in-1 netbook for $200.
- Hot Internet:
Encyclopedic
Knowledge (Encarta,
World Brain,
and
1737 Freemasonry origin of the Internet!);
Curiousity.com.
|
September
21, 2019 (9AM-5PM)
MIT
Building E-51, Room 061, Cambridge MA |
Boston
Linux & Unix InstallFest
Volunteers from BLU.org help people with Linux
installation and other hands-on issues. |
September 12, 2019
(3-6PM*)
Natick Community-Senior Center, Room 218.
* 2-3PM: One-on-One Help, there or in Computer Room. |
FOSS User Group
- Raffle item(s):
Philips SBA1610 Mobile Speaker (new,
MMS, to John Thompson); Wind River Computer Backpack (MMS
to Pat Collins). Also baked goods (Charlie Blaney to
all); old Linux
CDs (Bruce Borland to Sharif ??).
- Members' Introductions
(name, town and computer proficiency).
- Help Session Report:
In lobby until 3PM.
- FOSS Q&A: Apache Office/Open
Office vs. LibreOffice; Changing User Names
in Ubuntu (Jerry Feldman).
- When Lightning Strikes:
Prediction,
Prevention.
- FOSS News: NatickFOSS.org
now on GetTogether
(Algot Runeman and Dennis Payne)
- Hot Software: COBOL
turns 60! (Jill Miller); Operating
Systems Venn Diagram; Demaking
a game (OpenAlchemist)
for
older systems (Dennis Payne); Wallch
and other desktop wallpaper changers.
- Pre-release puzzles with Ubuntu 19.10:
Choose
next 10 Ubuntu
Wallpapers; Seamonkey Composer says it's
already running; Ubuntu Cleaner
not yet compatible; newer Firefox
than in Ubuntu
19.04 prevents shared .mozilla profile.
- Hot Hardware: Natick
Libraries add Library Of Things (GoPro
Hero 7 Black, Pocket-sized LED Mini
Projector); MMS moves up from
11.6" Pentium
Dell Inspiron 3157 to 14"
HD Core i7 HP EliteBook 840 G2 - at the
same price!; Dick's new LG
V30 pocket camera ($150, with smartphone
:-) - Bluetooth works, but can
transfer data faster using a cable or KDE
Connect for KDE, GS
Connect for Gnome (included in Ubuntu
18.10+) and Android phones; also, LG
Mobile Switch (included in V30) to
transfer one's data from old phone to new LG
phone.
- Hot Internet: Real-Time
Lightning Map; Fall
Foliage Prediction Map;
WebGL Water
Demo.
- Security andPrivacy:
DigitalRights
Management (DRM) Broke Its Promise
(Algot Runeman); InternationalDay
Against DRM will be
October 12th, 2019; The unworkable EuropeanCopyright
Directive - indetail
(Bob Primak).
|
September 12, 2019
(2:30-3:30PM)
Natick Community-Senior Center, Room 125. |
Online Safety
(free talk)
With Internet hacks and cyber security in the news
daily, it can be challenging to feel secure online.
Lauren Pfendner, Director of the Bacon Free Library,
will give an overview of some of the steps you can
take to lead a more secure life online. We'll look at
staying safe on social media, strong password
creation, security programs and apps, safe Internet
browsing, and best practices for your daily use.
|
August 1, 2019 (3-6PM*)
Natick Community-Senior Center, Room 125.
* 2-3PM: One-on-One Help, there or in Computer Room.
|
FOSS User Group
|
July 20-21, 2019
Boston University, Boston MA |
WordCamp
Boston
By and for WordPress enthusiasts, hobbyists, and
tinkerers, with lecture-style sessions, panels, and
workshops about WordPress and the tech industry by
speakers near and far. |
Tuesday,
July 16, 2019 (6:30-8:45PM)
MassBay Community College in Wellesley, 50 Oakland
St., Wellesley Hills; Rm. 314
|
Greater
Boston Network Users Group
Dick Miller, Guest
Speaker: "Linux
for the Unconvinced"
Please bring
some potluck food to share if you can. BNUG
will provide the plates, glasses, utensils, and some
food. Please aim for healthy food.
You will need to print
a free parking permit. Download that and
directions here. |
July 11, 2019
Natick
Community-Senior Center, Room 218.
* 2-3PM: One-on-One
Help, there, lobby, or in Computer Room.
|
FOSS User Group
|
June 6, 2019 (3-6PM*)
Natick Community-Senior Center, Room 125.
* 2-3PM: One-on-One Help, there or in Computer Room.
|
FOSS User Group
- Raffle item(s):
Ripper Ruler
(new from MMS; won by Charlie Blaney).
- Why I Hesitate To
Try (5-10 min.): Solicit suggestions re your
FOSS stumbling block. Anyone?
- Help Session Report
: Room 125 became
available about 2:45PM.
- The FOSS News:
With Microsoft
support for Windows
7, the Linux desktop may finally get
its day in the sun;
The $34B Merger
of Red Hat
Linux with IBM;
US-Chinese
Export Restrictions, Huawei, and FOSS;
Russian
military moves closer to replacing Windows
with Astra
Linux;
Microsoft Adds
Linux Kernel to Windows;
South Korea’s
Government Will Show If Microsoft Loves Linux
or Just Attacks It Very Viciously Like It Did
in Munich;
Apparent
Staffing Problems at the (Microsoft-dominated)
Linux Foundation;
The Linux
Foundation Fires All Staff and Editors at
Linux.com. Future Uncertain; Donating funds to
overseas FOSS organizations (via Software in the
Public Interest).
- Hot Software:
Free Microsoft
Office Alternatives;
Latest Firefox
release is faster,
blocks
third-party cookies by default; Dick's final
Separator Icons for Ubuntu/Unity's Launcher (put
into /home/.local/share/icons and
/home/.local/share/applications); manipulating
Fotoxx gallery views, tabs and other image
Metadata (demo by Dick);
How to Install
Fonts in Ubuntu (demo by Jill)
- Hot Internet:
NASA's "Spot
The Station" Live Space Station Tracking Map;
"We believe the
internet can be better," Mozilla to the
International Grand Committee;
Mozilla’s 2019
Internet Health Report (It’s
complicated);
Millions Of
Comments About The FCC's Net Neutrality Rules
Were Fake (over a year old, but
timely);
Forest fires,
sewers, and Net Neutrality.
- Security and
Privacy:
The Privacy
Project (New York Times);
A Brief History
of How Your Privacy Was Stolen;
Your Car Knows
When You Gain Weight;
GNU/Linux in
2019 and GNU/Linux in 2009 Face Entirely
Different Worlds (and Challenges);
Microsoft
issues second warning about patching #006600Keep;
Windows 10 Apps
Serving Malicious Ads Warning of Virus
Infections;
Microsoft Office
365 is #1 - for phishing and scamming;
WannaCry?
Hundreds of US schools still haven’t patched
servers;
Facebook, Not
Microsoft, Is the Main Threat to Open Source;
Facebook's AI
removed 1.5 3-BILLION bogus
accounts (and
Trump
complained);
Eternal#006600,
a stolen NSA tool, wreaks havoc;
Intel Discloses
Four New Microarchitectural Data Sampling
(MDS) Vulnerabilities;
Facebook asked
some users for their email passwords, and two
third-party developers left the data from
millions of Facebook users exposed;
Fake
Tech-Support Scams.
|
May 2, 2019 (3-6PM*)
Natick Community-Senior Center, Room 125.
* 2-3PM: One-on-One Help, there or in Computer Room.
|
FOSS User Group
- Raffle item(s):
Insignia
NS-CSPBTHOL-R Red Bluetooth Speaker
(near-new, MMS to Pat Collins).
- Help Session Status
Report: The room was available
at 2PM; excellent!
- The FOSS News:
Review our April
27th demo at FSU's "Science On State
Street";
Fedora Linux
v.30 arrives; Red Hat Linux's
new logo (a red hat :-).
- Hot Software:
The Linux
Foundation Does Not Care About Desktop Linux;
Early look at
Ubuntu 19.04
(Disco Dingo); Dick's Separator Icons for Ubuntu/Unity's
Launcher; How to
Submit a Bug
Report with Bugzilla;
Slow progress fixing
Thunderbird's
"Empty Inbox" warning for "Empty Trash"
(Mozilla > Ubuntu/Canonical > Bugzilla...).
- Patching Early Ubuntu19.04
Shortfalls:
Adding Unity
loses
"tap-to-Click" (reinstall it with sudo apt
install xserver-xorg-input-synaptics, and
reboot);
Aptik GTK;
Ubuntu Cleaner
("Install via .DEB");
Seamonkey
Composer; Shootin' for UNetbootin
fix (or an alternative USB-burner app that
preserves second USB partitions).
- New Fotoxx
Demo: Combine>Image Difference (not
last month's Combine>Stack/Split or /Slider)
- Hot Hardware:
Pico Projectors:
This one
didn't deliver (a $44
TouMei C800S),
but
they are coming.
- Hot Internet:
Find similar apps
at AlternativeTo.net.
- Security and
Privacy:
Hacker can turn
off car engines, anywhere in the world.
- FOSS Q&A: Continuing e-mail
issues (MIT, Comcast); Command-line installs
in Ubuntu Terminal Window ([Alt-Ctrl-t],
[Ctrl-Shft-c] and [Ctrl-Shft-v],
sudo, man, apropos, exit).
|
Saturday, April 27, 2019
(11AM-3PM)
Framingham State University
|
Science On State Street
Our FOSS User Group in Natick joins 60 other exhibit
tables. Help us introduce FOSS and Linux, or visit and
learn. It's free.
|
April 4, 2019 (3-6PM*)
Natick Community-Senior Center, Room 125
* 2-3PM: One-on-One Help, there or in Computer Room.
|
FOSS User Group
|
April 1, 2019
(8:30AM-12:30PM, plus lunch)
The Conference Center at Waltham MA
|
Getting Started with
RISC-V
Free half-day event will showcase innovative RISC-V
implementations with engaging presentations, demos and
networking opportunities.
|
March 7, 2019 (3-6PM*)
Natick Community-Senior Center, Room 125
* 2-3PM: One-on-One Help, there or in Computer Room.
|
FOSS User Group
|
February 7, 2019 (3-6PM*)
Natick Community-Senior Center, Room 125)
* 2-3PM: One-on-One Help, "there or in Computer
Room".
|
FOSS User Group
|
January 19, 2019
(9AM-5PM)
MIT Bldg. E-51, Rm. 315, Cambridge |
Linux InstallFest and
M.I.T. IoTFest
A periodic get-together where volunteers from our
group help people with Linux installation and other
hands-on issues.
|
January 16, 2019
(6:30-9PM)
MIT
Bldg. E-51, Rm. 315, Cambridge
|
The Boston Linux & Unix User Group
presents:
"Linux Game
Development", by our Dennis Payne
|
January 10, 2019
(Room 125) |
FOSS User Group
- With sorrow, we report the passing of long-time
member
Andy Lashenske.
- Raffle item(s):
Cen-Tech
7-Function Multi-Tester (MMS, new, to Bob
Primak); Ballpoint
Pen Toolset (MMS, new, to Tom Swan); Any
desire for a nice 10.1" Gateway LT2022u netbook
(2009, 1GB RAM, 160GB HD, WinXP Home)?
- Help Session Status
Report: Room 125 available (and
used) from 2:10PM.
- The FOSS News:
Fotoxx
19.0 released (brief demo of install);
Five
trends influencing Linux's growth;
Making
private GitHub repos free is the final straw,
evil Microsoft!
- Hot Software:
Add Unity to
Ubuntu Linux (corrected URL); Linux Game
Development (our Dennis Payne at
BLU.org, Jan. 16 at MIT).
- Hot Hardware:
Pinebook $99
netbook (Algot Runeman); Asus
Eee-PC, the little Linux netbook that
could (and almost did!); Mars Cube One (MarCO)
satellites take Linux
to Mars; 3D-printed, Ubuntu CIMON
(and IBM's Watson) joins astronauts on ISS.
- Hot Internet:
Lenny, the telemarketing
troll.
- Security and
Privacy: TRACED
Act filed against robocallers; 60M US Chip Credit
Cards compromised in 2018; Virtual Payment
Cards.
|
December 6, 2018
(Room 125)
|
FOSS User Group
- Raffle item(s):
Micro Drone
Helicopter (MMS to Jerry Feldman); Vernier Caliper
(MMS to Jonathan Eddy).
- Extra Feature:
Apple Munchie
Pastries (Roche Bros., courtesy of
Charlie Blaney).
- Help Session Status
Report: Room was unavailable
until 2:45PM.
- The FOSS News:
Microsoft
became most valuable company in World,
paid $7.5B for
GitHub (and partnered w/Canonical,
and IBM bought RedHat); "Linux sucks!"
by Bryan Lunduke (50-min. video).
- Hot Software:
A
brief history of text-based games and open
source (Dennis Payne); Show early Adventure
print-out (Jill Miller); NixNote2,
Evernote
for Linux.
- Fotoxx
Demo: 2, 3, Wallpaper, and
Plug-Ins (Dick); Installing from
Source Tar-ball (Bill Ricker).
- Hot Hardware:
Refurbished Lenovo
M92P Mini-Tower (Core i5 CPU, 8GB
RAM, 500GB HD) for $145,. delivered.
- Security and
Privacy: "Deceived
By Design", EU vs. Facebook, Google and
Windows 10.
|
November 1, 2018
(Room 218)
|
FOSS User Group
|
October 6, 2018
(10AM-4:30PM)
Morse Institute
Library
(Innovation Studio, on second floor)
14 E. Central Street,
Natick MA
(Plenty of free parking in the town parking lot on
South Ave., behind the library.)
|
BLU.org/NatickFOSS.org's FIRST Linux InstallFest in
Natick
Come help, or bring your computer for free hands-on
help with Linux installation and use. Also, lunch!
(It's FREE, with a free pizza lunch; a
$25-per-computer donation is suggested.)
Click on the above link for details.
|
October 4, 2018
(Room 125)
|
FOSS User Group
- Raffle item(s):
Microsoft Natural
MultiMedia Keyboard 1.0A (ergonomic,
PS/2, used, with a PS/2-to-USB adapter; MMS to
Jonathan Eddy). Computer
Dolly (like new, similar
to this one; MMS to John Thompson).
- Help Session Status
Report: GOOD. Not Room 218, but
cloudy so not overly bright for projector. It was
set up promptly after a prior meeting ended at
2PM.
- First Linux
InstallFest in Natick, THIS SATURDAY!
(See October 6th, above).
- The FOSS News:
Solid
goes public (see "Hot Internet", below); Chinese Chip Hack
(see "Security and Privacy"); Microsoft
open-sources early MS-DOS code.
- Hot Software:
Cosmic
Cuttlefish is due Oct.
18th; Aptik
remembers what a backup won't; UbuntuCleaner
(replacement for Janitor in Ubuntu Tweak);
Classic text game, ColossalCave
Adventure (A brief history
of text-based games and open source; open-adventure
in Ubuntu Software Center); Master the Linux
Command Line.
- Game Demo:
Developing
Color Monster
on the new PocketArcade
(Dennis
Payne).
- Hot Hardware:
Chinese Chip Hack
(see "Security and Privacy", below); Computer prices;
TV Interference
through 10/13 from Sun
Blockage.
- Hot Internet:
Inventor of World-Wide Web
plans to decentralize it (Solid
- like LibreWeb,
not the LibreOffice
extension); California
vs. White House re Net Neutrality; 6 RFCs for
understanding
how the
internet works.
- Security and
Privacy:
Chinese Chip
Hack;
Mutagen
Astronomy vulnerability; Facebook
was hacked - 3 things you should do after the
breach.
- FOSS Q&A
|
September 13, 2018
(Room 218)
|
FOSS User Group
(Guest Leader: Algot Runeman;
recorded by Bob Primak)
- Help Session Status
Report: GOOD. We were in the
preferred Room 218, and it was set up promptly
after a prior meeting ended at 2PM.
- Linux News:
September 18 is "InternationalDay
Against DRM";
Microsoft is playing dirty again, notification
warns users not to install Firefox or Chrome
browsers, insisting
that its Edge
is more secure; More FOSS news at tuxmachines.org.
- Hot Software
(Algot)
- (Writing):
Using a basic text editor and Markdown format
in combination with the powerful format conversion
tool, Pandoc,
write a daily journal entry which can be read as a
single annual web page online. (Folks like LibreOffice,
say it's easy to use.)
- (Games):
Demo FreeCell
solitaire, part of AisleRiot
(in Ubuntu
Software). Attendees avoid "twitch-style"
games, and Algot recommended Pingus
(in Synaptic
Package Manager) as a nice challenge
without the rush of games like Asteroids.
Several people fondly recalled Adventure,
the classic text game in Colossal Cave (colossal-cave-adventure
in Synaptic
Package Manager). Algot demoed EverythingAttacks,
Dennis Payne's new online game in which the player
tries to identify the western states of the US
which are under attack by monsters (developed for
his son's geography learning).
- (Internet and
social media): NextCloud
is an alternative to Google Services on a hosted
server or your own. The Mastodon
platform is a FOSS and "federated" alternative to
Twitter
and Facebook.
It can be self-hosted for a group and connects to
other similar servers as desired. Attendees like
using our NatickFOSS mailing
list to share news and keep
connected.
- (General Tips):
Although the PDF format is open, Adobe Acrobat
is proprietary and makes it hard to edit PDF files
on Linux. Inkscape,
LibreOffice Draw
and GIMP
offer limited PDF editing, and the free version of
MasterPDF
is obsolete; use PDF-Shuffler
(in Ubuntu
Software). The preferred alternative to Google Search
is DuckDuckGo.
For language translation, try DeepL.
|
August 2, 2018
(Room 125)
|
FOSS User Group
|
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
(6:30-9PM)
MIT
Building E-51, Room 335,
2 Amherst Street, Cambridge MA
(New
Parking Rule: MIT parking requires an MIT
permit. Can use adjacent parking garage.)
Driving there: Wadsworth
St is open from Memorial Drive to Amherst St,
but is closed from Amherst St to Main St.
|
BLU.org's
Monthly Meeting at MIT
Guest speaker A.
Richard Miller (Miller
Microcomputer Services; FOSS
User Group of Natick): "Fotoxx Update: A Demo
of the Newest Additions to Fotoxx,
the Linux Editor and Collection Manager for Enormous
Collections of Photos"
Also, Jerry
Feldman: "Container Packages: Deploying Applications
such as Fotoxx as Docker Containers or
Appimage/Flatpack/Snap
Packages" |
July 12, 2018
(Room 218) |
FOSS User Group
|
Saturday, June 30, 2018
(9AM-5PM)
MIT
Building E-51, Room 061,
2 Amherst Street, Cambridge MA
(New
Parking Rule: MIT parking requires an MIT
permit. Can use adjacent parking garage.)
|
BLU.org's
Linux InstallFest at MIT
Come help, or bring your computer for free hands-on
help with Linux installation and use. Also, lunch! (A
$25-per-computer donation is suggested.) |
June 7, 2018
(Room 125)
|
FOSS User Group
- Bring a friend to
our monthly FOSS meeting!
- Raffle item(s)
MMS will raffle a Cognex SpyCam Avenger (new) and a
Car Visor File
(perfect for CDs, your Linux DVDs, and traffic
tickets). From Jonathan Eddy, new book on emerging
technology, The Truth About
Your Future, by Ric Edelman.
Do YOU have good items to pass on?
- Help Session Status
Report: The room was available
and set up at 2PM. Bravo!
- The FOSS News:
Siempo
attacks smartphone syndrome (and Dilbert cartoon);
Microsoft patent
trolls sue Linux companies - and buys GitHub;
Developers moving
to GitLab,
SourceForge, etc.
- Hot Software:
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
(Jerry Feldman; play video from 1:04:15); Why is Dick Miller
running Ubuntu
16.04 LTS/Unity?; An Introduction to GnomeMaps.
- Hot Hardware:
2.5
types of computer security slot (Kensington/K-Slot
vs. Noble Slot vs. Mac);
Microsoft's Project Natick
for undersea data centers (why
Natick?); Brazilian
physicists discover MUCH faster data storage
(using Europium Selenide and a light bulb!).
- Hot Internet:
Drone Sunset
Panorama of Natick (Charlie
Blaney/Russell Smith on NextdoorSherborn/Fotoxx);
Live Maps of Bird
Migration (Jill Miller); OLIVER
makes maps using MassGIS data (demo by
Jill Miller);
Human
Population Through Time
(6.5-min.video);
Watch Humans
Destroy the Earth in 30 Years With Google
Earth Time Lapse;
Watch the Earth
Quake (Weston Observatory); Quantum computing
explained with a deck of cards
(YouTube, 17-min. video).
- Security and
Privacy: Facebook,
Facebook,
Facebook
(Dick Miller's Fortune Cookies)!
- Fotoxx
demo: Brightness vs.
Flatten Brightness Distribution, or "stretching
8-bit color depth to 10-bit" (DroneSunsetPanorama
- 180530, Dick Miller).
- How to ID random
junk mail (more trouble from
Dick's Junk Mailbox).
|
May 3, 2018
(Room 125)
|
FOSS User Group
|
Saturday, April 21, 2018
(10AM-3PM)
Framingham State University
100 State Street, Framingham MA
|
"Science
On State Street"
An extravaganza of FSU student, faculty, and
industry-led exhibits and hands-on experiences for the
whole family! Plus, our
own NatickFOSS.org demo table, a keynote
speaker from the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum,
exhibits from Southwick’s Zoo and Earth Ltd., several
engaging presentations from the STEM Stage, and of
course, lots of free shows in the University’s amazing
HD Planetarium.
Free Parking. Food available for purchase.
|
April 5, 2018
(Room 125)
|
FOSS User Group
|
March 1, 2018
(Room 125)
|
FOSS User Group
- Raffle item(s):
Book, "Learning
Unix for OS X" (MMS). Two more "Paperback
Pals" (ThumbThings,
3D-printed by Algot Runeman). Do YOU have good
items to pass on?
- Help Session:
Was in same room, but no room set-up until 2:45PM.
- LinuxInstallFest
in Natick:
Review: was a success. Repeat? Yes, after next one
at MIT in May. (Jerry Feldman).
- FOSS at SOSS:
Plan for FOSS
table at "Science
On State Street" (Saturday April 21st at
Framingham State University).
- The FOSS News:
NEW TODAY,
NatickFOSSDiscuss
(Algot Runeman and Jerry Feldman).
- Hot Software:
Linux
needs to target the average user;
Ubuntu
reverting to Xorg in BionicBeaver
("Wayland
doesn't share nicely, and its crashes are
catastrophic");
Ubuntu 17.04
is obsolete (so, to 17.10? Or,
16.04 LTS or
Bionic Beaver
LTS?);
Post Unity 8 Ubuntu
shock? Relax;
Canonical's Unity 8 Desktop
Revived by UBports with Support for
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
and 16.04 LTS;
8 Methods To
Find/Check Your Linux Distribution Name And
Version (lsb_release
-a); MMS reports Impress 6.0 bug
(Fails to Save in text-edit mode!); Demo of message-filtering
options in Mozilla Thunderbird.
- Hot Hardware:
480GB SSD for
$100 at Newegg.com (w/Promo Code EMCPSPE82);
5 Reasons to
Switch to Flash Storage;
5 Ways to Make
Your Laptop Battery Last Longer; Knitting Printers
(with links to others) and Tinker
(Jill Miller).
- Hot Internet: Best Web Browsers;
Mozilla Re-files
Suit Against FCC to Protect Net Neutrality;
Dumb down your
smartphone (and
your Web browser).
- Security and Privacy:
Unexpected
Consequences of Alexa (Bizarro
cartoon); Malware
articles ignore ClamAV;
Bogus Linux
vulnerability gets publicity;
Canonical Wants
to Collect Some Data from Ubuntu
Users to Improve New Releases ("Wants
to slurp",
says The
Register);
Facebook Messenger
Malware;
Pirates Crack
Microsoft’s UWP
Protection, Five Layers of DRM
Defeated;
Top FBI, CIA, and
NSA officials all agree: Stay away from Huawei
phones;
Intel didn't tell
government agencies about Meltdown
and Spectre
flaws;
LinuxBoot
can replace proprietary firmware.
- How to ID random junk mail
(more trouble from Dick's Junk Mailbox): Self-abuse
blackmail "from Korea" (Jill Miller).
|
Saturday, February 10,
2018 (10AM-4:30PM)
Innovation Studio, on 2nd Floor of
Natick Morse Institute Library
14 E. Central Street, Natick MA |
First-ever
Linux InstallFest
in Natick!
It's FREE; learn
about FREE, OPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE and add some to
your computer.
Co-sponsored by the Natick
Morse Institute Library, FOSS User Group of Natick
(NatickFOSS.org),
and Boston Linux
& Unix User Group (BLU.org).
Free pizza lunch,
too, if you bring your computer for a Linux
installation (which can be alongside of your
current Windows or Mac OS).
If you bring an empty USB thumb drive (4GB or larger),
we'll also write you a Linux Live USB to use
memory-only and to install later.
- See, print and post this
event poster!
- Sign
up online; space is limited!
|
February 1, 2018
(Room 125)
|
FOSS User Group
- Raffle item(s)
"vi and Vim
Editors" book; computer and electronics cables
(MMS); Two more
"Paperback Pals" (
ThumbThings,
3D-printed by Algot Runeman); NatickFOSS business
cards, labels and 3-D-printed key fobs
donated by Algot Runeman).
- Why I Hesitate To
Try (5-10 min.): Reverse
example: Wife
moved TO Linux when a non-fallback Windows 10
update killed her USB (dead Mouse and
more). (Jerry Feldman)
- Help
Session: Were not given Room 218, DID get
2PM setup in Room 125.
- Linux
InstallFest in Natick on Sat., Feb. 10th:
To help or to get help, register now! (Jerry Feldman).
- FOSS at SOSS!
Framingham State
University has invited us to run a FOSS table at "Science
On State Street" on Saturday April 21st.
We have volunteers and will do it.
- The FOSS
News: Natick FOSS Forum (Algot
Runeman);
Open Education vs. Standardization;
Microsoft bullies LG;
historic Stallman newsclips.
- Hot
Software: Want to run GalliumOSLinux
on a Chromebook? (Bob Primak);
Patches for Meltdown
and Sceptre
improve,
BUT...Intel promises new CPUs;
Relieving a bad bind,
Canonical DOES keep Unity/Xorg
option for Ubuntu 17.10
and 18.04
(sudo apt install
unity-session", re-boot,
and log in)! (Dick Miller)
- Demo:
Meet
Fotoxx18.01,
see its new Gradient, Flatten and Retinex tools
using 2017Mar21 photo of bridge (Dick Miller).
- Hot Hardware:
Refreshing
old computers with Linux; HDMI
Cable Adapters Ring Kit; low-cost 35-mm
Slide Scanners (Algot just got a $100
one, Blooms and Millers evaluated Lexington
Library's $220 one, and MMS has a $48 one
w/stack-feeder on order. Stay tuned!).
- Hot Internet:
OxfordAdvanced
Learner's Dictionary (We
discuss English vs.
Esperanto, etc.).
- Security and Privacy:
Keylogger
attacking WordPresssites;
govt.-sponsoredBlack
Caracal group targets mobile phones,
also
infectsWin/Mac/Linux
with undetectable CrossRATmalware;
"Jackpotting"
empties ATMs; Oracle POS Flaw
affects 300,000 paymentsystems;
"Murder
By Car"
(multiple Dilbert installments); How
much can NSA spy on Americans?
|
January 11, 2018
(Room 218, our new preference)
|
FOSS User Group
|
December 7, 2017
(This month, we meet in Room 218.)
|
FOSS User Group
|
| November 2, 2017 |
FOSS User Group
|
Saturday, October 7, 2017
(9AM-5PM)
MIT Building E-51, Room 061,
2 Amherst Street, Cambridge MA
(Parking
and entrance are on Amherst Street, up the
ramp nearest Wadsworth Street.) |
BLU.org's
Linux InstallFest at MIT
Come help, or bring your computer for free hands-on
help with Linux installation and use. Also, free car
parking and lunch! (A $25-per-computer donation is
suggested.) |
| October 5, 2017 |
FOSS User Group
|
Monday, September 18,
2017 (7-9PM)
Sanctuary of St. Paul's Church, 39 East Central
Street, Natick
(Use the main entrance stairway, or the side ramp.)
|
Dick Miller presents: The Future Of Labor"
A free Occupy
Natick event, with light refreshments and an
open discussion to follow.
- Automation has greatly reduced the amount people
need to work.
- Why do we translate that good news into unemployment
problems?
- How might we do better? ("The Miller Three-Day Work
Week", and more.)
- How did America accomplish past labor adjustments?
- How to get there from here?
|
| September 14, 2017 |
FOSS User Group
- 2-3PM
Help Session: While two women watched a
video in Room 125, we met awkwardly in the
Computer Room. Thankfully, we were able to use
Room 125 beginning 2:30PM.
- Raffle
item(s): Small "Polaroid" carrying bag, "Don't
Spy On Me" bumper sticker, Linux magazines.
- Why
I Hesitate To Try (5-10 min.).
- Upcoming
Talk: "The Future Of
Labor", by Dick Miller (7PM Monday, Sept. 18
at St. Paul's Church, Natick).
- The
FOSS News: 5 myths about Linux;
5 Myths
Busted: Using open source in higher education;
U.S. Supreme Court Curtails Patent Case "Forum
Shopping";
Microsoft-Connected
Patent Troll Finjan is Now Threatening and
Also Suing Firms From Europe.
- Hot
Hardware: Programming and playing with the
TinyScreen Video Game Kit. (Dennis
Payne);
50" Hisense 4K HDR TV for
$350 at Best Buy.
- Hot
Software: Demo using UNetBootIn
to create a bootable Ubuntu Linux
Live USB flash drive. (Dick)
- Hot
Internet:
World-Wide
Weather Images ( Ventusky!).
Also, Windy.com.
- Security
and Privacy:
Equifax credit
records spilled, affecting half of
all U.S. adults -
who to blame,
what to do?
BlackBerry no
longer the most secure Android;
Windows 10's
Built-In Linux
Shell Could Be Abused to Hide Malware.
|
Wednesday, August 16,
2017 (6:30-8:30PM)
Natick Morse Institute Library
14 E. Central Street, Natick MA
|
Maker Fest (Dave Bartos, Supervisor of Reference
Services)
6:30-8:30PM: Our FOSS
User Group is in the 1st-floor Morse Room!
FOSS volunteers can set up 6PM; CU there! We will demo
Linux (and
FOSS downloads), Fotoxx,
game design, spreadsheet for knitting design. Other?
|
| August 3, 2017 |
FOSS User Group
- 3PM:
FOSS Introductory Slide Talk.
- Raffle
item(s): New book on emerging technology,
The Truth About Your Future, by
Ric Edelman
-
Maker Fest, Aug. 16th at Natick's Morse
Institute Library: From 6-8PM, the FOSS
User Group will demo in the 1st-floor Morse
Room. We get ideas and volunteers.
- Help
Session: Status Report.
- Demo:
How to ID random junk mail. (Dick and
hisJunk Mailbox)
- Demo:
Download 67,000
Historic Maps in high resolution.
- The
FOSS News:
Facebook AI
chatbots start speaking their own language;
The Dream Life
of Driverless Cars;
Microsoft
Edge can't print numbers
(.pdf prints '1,2,3,4' as '1,1,4,4');
Windows 10
update disrupts printer and more;
Microsoft Windows 10 Store offers
(abbreviated) Ubuntu Linux;
One Step Closer to a Closed Internet;
Sharing America's code; In
Ghostscript lawsuit, Federal
court rules that an open-source license is an
enforceable contract; Revisionism
About Microsoft Software Patent Deals
Implicates GNU/Linux;
Patents Microsoft may be infringing.
- Hot
Hardware:
Nice Dell 11.6" netbook on sale, $300 at Office
Depot;
Can you live without the new Amazon Echo Show?
-
Hot Software: Thunderbird add-on,
Provider for
Google Calendar (and
more);
Wire, a secure
open-source Chat
Application for Linux. (The prior items are
not reviews; they are invitations for members to review them.)
Mozilla
sponsors Rust
programming language;
Why Microsoft will add (some) Linux
to (some) Windows
10;
Ubuntu
18.04 will switch from Unity
to Gnome
Desktop and
solicits your input re
Default Apps;
Ubuntu 17.04
review by Ars Technica;
15 Things To Do After Installing Ubuntu 17.04
"Zesty Zapus";
Intro to
Linux free, self-paced course and
The Ultimate
Linux Newbie Guide.
- Security
and Privacy:
Def Con hackers
showed how easily voting machines can be hacked;
Microsoft's Windows warning:
Hackers hijacked software updater with in-memory malware;
Invisible dots
from the printer reveal whistleblowers;
Hijacking flaw
in Intel chips is worse than anyone
thought;
Keylogger
found in Audio
Driver of HP Laptops;
Clever new
scam misuses OAuth; ClamAV
antivirus for Linux (20x
speed-up by skipping PUA and files over
20MB).
|
| July 13, 2017 |
FOSS User Group
- 2-3PM:
(During our 2-3PM
Help Session, our usual room had another group
in it - despite my unanswered clarification
message! We did what we could in the noisy
cafeteria, then in the awkward lobby. Try again
next month.)
- 3PM:
FOSS Introductory Slide Talk.
- Raffle
item(s): New book on emerging technology,
The Truth About Your Future, by
Ric Edelman; older but mint >Linux
Today magazine.
- Demo:
Ken Arnold's classic
BSD/Unix Fortune
app - in Linux
(fortune-mod)
and xcowsay.
- Demo:
Track
the night sky with Stellarium(in Ubuntu, can
install from Ubuntu Software).
- Demo:
Fotoxx
Clone Image
tool using 2014Jul24 photo of Lake
Cochituate sunset. (Dick)
|
Saturday, June 3, 2017
(9AM-5PM)
MIT Building E-51, Room 061,
2 Amherst Street, Cambridge MA
(Parking
and entrance are on Amherst Street, up the
ramp nearest Wadsworth Street.) |
BLU.org's
Linux InstallFest at MIT
Come help, or bring your computer for free hands-on
help with Linux installation and use. Also, free car
parking and lunch! (A $25-per-computer donation is
suggested.) |
| June 1, 2017 |
FOSS User Group
|
Wednesday, May 17th, 2017
(6:30-9PM)
MIT Building E-51, Room 325,
2 Amherst Street, Cambridge MA
(Parking
and entrance are on Amherst Street, up the
ramp nearest Wadsworth Street.) |
BLU.org: FOTOXX
Update, by Dick Miller of Miller
Microcomputer Services
The Boston Linux & Unix
User Group invites Dick back to learn what
Fotoxx, his favorite photo editor and manager, has
added since January 2015.
Fotoxx Overview:
Fotoxx is a free, open-source Linux application for
editing photos and managing a large image collection.
The goal of Fotoxx is to meet the needs of serious
photographers while remaining fast and easy to use.
Fotoxx is standards compliant and does nothing to
compromise use of other photo apps. Fotoxx has a rich
set of editing, repair, and special effects functions.
Image adjustments are displayed instantly in a
full-size image, allowing interactive optimization.
Fotoxx has a rich set of functions to organize and
index a large image collection so that finding desired
images is easy and fast.
Advanced Reading
(optional):
http://www.kornelix.net/fotoxx.html
Coming Soon: 1.5-hour video of Dick's
Fotoxx presentation.
|
| May 4, 2017 |
FOSS User Group
|
| April 6, 2017 |
FOSS User Group
|
Saturday, March 18, 2017
(9AM-5PM)
MIT Building E-51, Room 061,
2 Amherst Street, Cambridge MA
(Parking
and entrance are on Amherst Street, up the
ramp nearest Wadsworth Street.) |
BLU.org's
Linux InstallFest at MIT
Come help, or bring your computer for free hands-on
help with Linux installation and use. Also, free car
parking and lunch! (A $25-per-computer donation is
suggested.) |
| March 2, 2017 |
FOSS User Group
|
| February 2, 2017 |
FOSS User Group
- Raffle
Items: 3 O'Reilly "Maker Press" books, 2017
International Space Station wall calendar
(MMS). Ubuntu hats
& mouse pads, Linux books and magazines
(Algot Runeman).
- Why
I Hesitate To Try (5-10 min.; solicit
suggestions re your FOSS stumbling block):
TurboTax
in Linux?
- FOSS
InstallFest day in Natick: We need a volunteer project
leader.
- A
Visit to The
Computer History Museum in Mountain View,
California (Dick and Fotoxx)
- The
FOSS News:
Oracle lays off more than 1,000 employees;
SPARC, and its Unix-based
Solaris
operating system, appear to be done in by Linux.
Microsoft claims Windows 7 "is no longer able
to keep up", then recants.
Trump names net neutrality critic for next FCC
chairman.
- Hot
Software: Bigger, better
LibreOffice 5.3 adds
"MUFFIN" and the cloud. "Top
FOSS Software" (article by OSS
Blog). Smart cars? Or,
software for smart cars?
Both with Linux.
Zsync
makes large Linux-development downloads
instantaneous (but takes longer to process).
- Hot
Hardware:
Build-your-own $242
Olimex Linux
netbook kit.
- Cold
Hardware: Why the dead Dell Linux
computer in the Computer Room?
-
Security/Privacy:
"
If you want privacy you need to run Linux"
(Computerworld). "Internet
Health Report" (Mozilla, 2017). "Can
You Hear Me?" Scam?; Don't
answer unknown numbers!
-
Demo
Geany's
Column-mode editing (rectangular selections)
using [Ctrl+Shift] (or [Alt+Shift] in Windows) to
instantly update an obsoleted
Fotoxx
.Album file. (Dick)
- Demo
Artha,
the off-line thesaurus (follow-up): [Alt-Ctrl+W];
it uses
WordNet. (Jill)
- Demo
Internet Archive:
The Wayback
Machine and more. (Dick)
|
| January 12,
2017 |
FOSS User Group
- Raffle
Items: bags, books, blank CDs/labels, a
wireless router and more! (Algot Runeman)
- Why
I Hesitate To Try (5-10 min.; solicit
suggestions re your FOSS stumbling block): Anyone?
- Hot
Hardware: Apple MacBook Pro models
get a Touch Bar,
lose parts
replaceability. Some DVD writers
can write
"permanent"
M-Discs. Dick's netbook got sat
upon; see the inside view of what happened next.
$20
Cheerson CX-10
nanodrone (buy,
fly).
Don't fly drones at weddings!
- Hot
Software:
Artha,
the off-line thesaurus
([Alt-Ctrl+W]; it uses
WordNet).
Greenhouse Chrome, Firefox or Safari, using
data from OpenSecrets.org)
tells which groups donated to which politicians.
- Proposed:
Our group would like an occasional
FOSS
InstallFest day in Natick (not just
at MIT), and several Linux-savvy members are
interested in making it happen.
- Demo
Fotoxx
(follow-up): Overlay images (DSC04036.v01.JPG and
"Alaska*"). Blur the background (Jill Miller demos
Areas and Repair>Blur).
- Demo
Fractal Art:
Xaos and
Mandelbulber. Both are in
Ubuntu Software.
- The
FOSS News: Internet
Archive ( The
Wayback Machine) turns 20, gifts us
with new tools.
- Security/Privacy:
Don't Believe the Lies; Microsoft Hates Linux
and Merely Uses E.E.E. Tactics Against It,
Including .NET
Promotion.
Want to Know if the Election was Hacked? Look at
the Ballots.
San Francisco's
MUNI hacked on Black Friday. FBI
Hacked into 8,000 Computers in 120 Countries
Using A Single Warrant.
Security Researchers Turn Headphones Into Microphones.
Adobe Voco
mimics anyone in 20 minutes.
|
November 29th through
December 14th, 2016
201 Mulberry Street (Manhattan), New York City NY
|
The Glass Room
Looking Into Your Online Life
A special exhibit with many free 1-hour presentations.
Co-hosted by Mozilla.org.
|
Saturday, December 3rd,
2016 (9AM-5PM)
MIT Building E-51, Room 061,
2 Amherst Street, Cambridge MA
(Parking
and entrance are on Amherst Street, up the
ramp nearest Wadsworth Street.) |
BLU.org's
Linux InstallFest at MIT
Come help, or bring your computer for free hands-on
help with Linux installation and use. Also, free car
parking and lunch! (A $25-per-computer donation is
suggested.) |
| December
1st, 2016 |
FOSS User Group
- Raffle Items:
book "Fix Your
Own LAN"; old/mint Linux Pro Magazine.
- Why
I Hesitate To Try (5-10 min.; solicit
suggestions re your FOSS stumbling block):
- How
to clean out extra Linux kernels? For
Ubuntu, Janitor and Ubuntu
Tweak are no longer supported; can use
uCareSystem
Core 3, instead. Or, can
delete all but newest 3 using Synaptic
Package Manager: Reload, search on
"kernel", click on "S"; forward to "linux..." in
green (installed) sequence and right-click and
Mark For Removal each installed
"linux-xx-(numbers) file which does NOT end with
one of the highest three numbers; click Apply.
(You backed up first, right?)
- Can't
Get There From Here Dept.: RCN.com blocks
millermicro.com's email "spam" from all
*@rcn.com, tells MMS that Powweb.com (our
MMS mail provider) must discuss. Powweb says
that's weird, RCN
must contact THEM. Digital dyslexia!
- How-to:
Get Started with
Ubuntu's
Unity Desktop.
- Demo:
New
Google Street
View feature lets you travel back in time.
- Hot
Hardware: Video drones (DJI
Phantom 3 Standard, and more).
Tiny robots
explore historic shipwrecks.
- See
the guts of a Hard Drive (Algot Runeman)
- Black
Friday/Cyber Monday wins: $5 LED Pocket
Flashlights.
- The
FOSS News: The Glass Room
(to Dec. 14th in NYC, and online).
Office Depot
"found" malware on new Windows
computers.
Microsoft
"Loves Linux",
joins The Linux Foundation.
The Linux
Hardware Guide.
25 years of
Linux in 5 minutes.
- Demo
Geany
(text editing
with an IDE):
Column mode editing (rectangular selections)
using [Ctrl+Shift] ([Alt+Shift] in Windows).
Easily install Geany
using Ubuntu
Software (Jill Miller).
- Demo
Fotoxx:
Help
documentation of three Fotoxx sections (Photo
Editing, Image Management/Metadata, and Slide
Show). New Fotoxx
demo video. New first-time/one-time
speed-up options. Demo new Unwarp Close-up
("big-nose") tool.
- Demo
of the new Wayland display server on Fedora 25
Linux (Dennis
Payne)
- FOSS
Q&A:
-
Q: Can LibreOffice
record operations, as does Microsoft Office?
-
A: Of course; in its Help, see "Record Macros".
|
| November
3rd, 2016 |
FOSS User Group
- Raffle
Items (Done with something others can
use?): 3 Linux
magazines (1 with old Ubuntu Live CD),
and classic "Special
Edition: Using Star Office" textbook.
- Demo:
We revisit last month's burn an Ubuntu Live
USB drive.
- Demo:
Re-partition a computer, and install the new Ubuntu Linux 16.10
(Yakkety Yak) from a bootable Linux
thumb drive.
- Demo:
Artha,
the Off-line Thesaurus ([Alt-Ctrl+W]; it uses WordNet
and is in Ubuntu
Software).
- Hot
Hardware: New MMS/Ubuntu Live USB thumb drive.
- Security/Privacy:
Massive
Oct. 21 IoT
DDoS attacks (using
Mirai botnet)
commandeered old security webcams and more. (Need
to
reset default
passwords!) Windows security hole
"to be patched next week."
Linux Plumbers
Conference attacked yesterday. What
about the Nov. 8th
U.S. Presidential election? Also see the
DVD, "Hacking Democracy".
|
Monday,
October 17, 2016 (7-9PM)
Sherrill Hall, St. Paul's Church, 39 East Central
Street (parking-lot entrance), Natick
|
Occupy Natick
Free Movie Night:
Hacking Democracy,
the truth about America's digital voting systems.
|
| October
6th, 2016 |
FOSS User Group
|
September
8th, 2016
(Natick FOSS celebrates the 25th Anniversary of
Linux - AND of the Internet!)
|
FOSS User Group
- Raffle
item: New book,
Repetitive Strain Injury; A Computer User's
Guide.
- Personal
anecdote (5-10 min.): Charlie Blaney,
"You start with the kids." (Grantham, New
Hampshire offers kids free Linux notebook
computers with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.)
- Hot
Hardware: Hard drives speed up and shrink
(1980-11MB-CorvusHD,
5.25"HD, 3.5"HD, 2.5"HD, 2.5"SSD, M.3SSD,
M.2SSD).
- The
FOSS News:
Ubuntu 16.10
due on Oct. 20th; On
25th Anniv. of
Linux
(Aug. 25th), Linus
Torvalds credits Free Software Foundation's GPL
(Richard Stallman, 1989) for (GNU/) Linux
's success;
Torvalds at LinuxCon Part II: Fragmentation and
the GPL;
Linux
took over the Web, now, it's taking over the
World;
Linux's
world domination is coming along nicely;
The largest
collaborative development project in the history
of computing (3-min.
video);
Starting with Linux in
the early days; Why
do Hackers love Beards? (the start of Unix);
Taking open
source beyond the data center (Jim
Whitehurst, Red Hat CEO);
5th Anniv. of Microsoft
embracing Linux
"cancer"
to sell
Windows
servers;
Microsoft
open-sources PowerShell, brings it
to Linux
and OS X;
Microsoft's new business model for Windows 10:
Pay to play;
Firefox ends
Hello beta Sept. 13th, still
supports WebRTC (try
Talky?).
- Security/Privacy:
EFF: With Windows
10, Microsoft Blatantly Disregards User
Choice and Privacy;
Windows 10
Anniversary Update Knocks Out Webcams;
NSA Hacking Tools Leaked;
100 million Volkswagen vehicles can be unlocked
wirelessly by hacker thieves; Computer
program replicates your handwriting.
- Demo:
Lightbeam
for Firefox:
See who's tracking you on-line, and take
precautions!
|
Saturday,
August 20th, 2016 (9AM-5PM)
MIT Building E-51, Room 061,
2 Amherst Street, Cambridge MA
(Parking
and entrance are on Amherst Street, up the
ramp nearest Wadsworth Street.) |
BLU.org's
Linux InstallFest
at MIT
Come help, or bring your computer for free hands-on
help with Linux installation and use. Also, free car
parking and lunch! (A $25-per-computer donation is
suggested.) |
| August 4th,
2016 |
FOSS User Group
|
| July 14th,
2016 |
FOSS User Group
|
Saturday,
June 4th, 2016 (9AM-5PM)
MIT Building E-51, Room 061,
2 Amherst Street, Cambridge MA
(Parking
and entrance are on Amherst Street, up the
ramp nearest Wadsworth Street.) |
BLU.org's
Linux InstallFest
at MIT
Come help, or bring your computer for free hands-on
help with Linux installation and use. Also, free car
parking and lunch! (A $25-per-computer donation is
suggested.) |
| June 2nd,
2016 |
FOSS User Group
- Raffle
Items: "Red Hat Linux Unleashed" book; "Ubuntu User"
magazine.
- Hot
Hardware:
Favorite
netbook is $450
$300 at Staples;
Insignia
"Brick" Bluetooth Speaker is $50
$20 at BestBuy, includes phone charger and manages
cell phone;
Phonak ComPilot II manages cell
phone and links it to hearing aid; LUCI, the
inflatable LED
light.
- The
FOSS News: Microsoft Won't Talk To Us; Win10 Takes Flak
(1,2,3,4,5),
Google
Android/Chrome Linux becomes THE MAJOR OS,
market adjusts!;
Oracle sues
Google (and FOSS?) over Java APIs and loses;
Microsoft
Extortion against Android OEMs (even Chinese
companies) continues.
- Talk:
"Giving Back to FOSS"
(Algot Runeman)
- Request
for Help: Algot is adding a chapter to
his Intro to Computers with Unity/Ubuntu,
and
invites your
corrections and suggestions.
- Demo:
New in Ubuntu
16.04 LTS - Ubuntu Software,
movable Launcher bar (Unity Tweak Tool),
old-kernel management.
- Demo:
Creating a separate /home partition becomes
trickier (MMS defines
/userdata).
- Demo:
Optimize your wireless set-up with
LinSSID.
(MMS replaces Wifi Radar.)
- Demo:
RedShift
reduces eyestrain and improves sleep;
Workrave
reduces Repetitive Strain Injury/RSI
(Jill Miller).
- Demo:
AlternativeTo.net;
Linux
Equivalents to Windows Programs.
|
| May 5th,
2016 |
FOSS User Group
|
May 3rd,
2016 (6:30-8:30PM)
Mass Bay Community College (Room 134),
50 Oakland St., Wellesley
|
Greater
Boston Network Users Group: "Meet the new
FOSS, Linux, and Ubuntu!" (Dick Miller, Miller
Microcomputer Services)
You can
view the 1.25-hour video of Dick's talk on-line.
|
| April 7th,
2016 |
FOSS User Group
|
Saturday,
March 12th, 2016 (10:30AM-Noon)
Morse Institute Library, 14 East Central Street,
Natick
|
Making
Things in 3D
Design
simple 3D objects using free computer-aided design
software and then print them.
Free workshop for age 18 and up.
Register at the Reference Desk, at 508/647-6521 or
reference@morseinstitute.org .
|
| March 3rd,
2016 |
FOSS User Group
|
Saturday,
February 27th, 2016 (9AM-5PM)
MIT Building E-51, Room 061,
2 Amherst Street, Cambridge MA
(Parking
and entrance are on Amherst Street, up the
ramp nearest Wadsworth Street.) |
BLU.org's
Linux InstallFest
at MIT
Come help, or bring your computer for free hands-on
help with Linux installation and use. Also, free car
parking and lunch! (A $25-per-computer donation is
suggested.) |
| February
4th, 2016 |
FOSS User Group
- Raffle
Items: new HDX 23-Piece Precision Screwdriver
Set (Algot Runeman), new Centech 7-Function
Digital Multimeter (MMS).
- Hot
Hardware:
A Dutch cure
for illegal drones? (with
video).
- Personal
anecdote: Nystagmus
("dancing eyes") from
Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo
(BPPV) strobes
curiously with LCD display (Dick).
- Security/Privacy:
A bug in the Webkit
browser engine (Dennis Payne).
-
Fotoxx: Overview of
its three sections (Photo Editing, Image Management/Metadata,
and Slide Show).
|
Wednesday,
January 20th, 2016 (7-9PM)
The Campion Center, 319 Concord Road, Weston
|
"Ham Radio
and the Raspberry Pi (or Arduino or Si5351)"
Bob Evans (N1BE) will explain these versatile devices
and their applications for Ham Radio, at the free
monthly meeting of the Minuteman
Repeater Association.
|
| January
14th, 2016 |
FOSS User Group
|
Saturday,
December 5th, 2015 (9AM-5PM)
MIT Building E-51, Room 061,
2 Amherst Street, Cambridge MA
(Parking
and entrance are on Amherst Street, up the
ramp nearest Wadsworth Street.) |
BLU.org's
Linux InstallFest
at MIT
Come help, or bring your computer for free hands-on
help with Linux installation and use. Also, free car
parking and lunch! (A $25-per-computer donation is
suggested.) |
| December
3rd, 2015 |
FOSS User Group
|
Wednesday,
November 18th, 2015 (6:30-9PM)
MIT Building E-51,
Room 325, Cambridge MA |
Boston Linux & Unix
User Group
"Digital Photo
Management and Post-Processing with digiKam and
The GIMP" |
| November
5th, 2015 |
FOSS User Group
- Raffle
Item: Babbage belly pack.
- Hot
Hardware show-and-tell: a
$15 case for fifty USB thumb drives
(Charlie Blaney, You-Do-It
Electronics Center; cut 50 drive slots in
the foam padding); new Dell
i3147-1000 11.6" 2-in-1 netbook
(like i3147-3750 but w/Win10; $300 at Staples, two
weeks ago!);
Oct. 2016 Win7 cut-off to computer
manufacturers.
- The
FOSS News: Ubuntu Linux 15.10
has arrived, is nice;
Ubuntu 11 years
old on Oct.20th; Techrights says Microsoft is
Embracing, Extending, Extinguishing GNU/Linux,
Hopes to Do the Same to Android;
1,000,000 stunning, copyright-free antique
illustrations from the British Library;
170,000 incredible photos of
Depression-Era America.
-
Linux demo: Use a new Ubuntu 15.10
Bootable Linux Live USB to install and modify a
Linux system.
- Fotoxx
new features: Spherical
Projection; true colors for Effects>Pattern.
|
Wednesday,
October 7th, 2015 (10-11:30AM)
The new Lexington
Community Center, 39 Marrett Road, Lexington
(Use the museum entrance; then pass the museum, and up
hill to left.)
|
Lexington Computer
and Technology Group free guest presentation:
Dick Miller describes FOSS photography
software, including The
GIMP and
Fotoxx.
|
| October
1st, 2015 |
FOSS User Group
|
Wednesday,
September 16th, 2015 (10-11:30AM)
The new Lexington
Community Center, 39 Marrett Road, Lexington
(Use the museum entrance; then pass the museum, and up
hill to left.)
|
Lexington Computer and Technology Group free
guest presentation:
Dick Miller
(optical physicist), Prof.
Ferren MacIntyre (oceanographer and physical
chemist, MIT and much more) and Dr. Bert Raphael
(artificial intelligence at MIT and Stanford Research
Institute) describe some interesting projects and
problems around the world and on the Moon.
|
| September
10th, 2015 |
FOSS User Group
|
Saturday,
August 29th, 2015 (9AM-5PM)
MIT Building E-51, Room 061
2 Amherst Street, Cambridge MA
(Parking
and entrance are on Amherst Street, up the
ramp nearest Wadsworth Street.)
|
BLU.org's
Linux InstallFest
at MIT
Come help, or bring your computer for free hands-on
help with Linux installation and use. Also, free car
parking and lunch! (A $25-per-computer donation is
suggested.) |
| August 6th,
2015 |
FOSS User Group
|
July 9th,
2015
|
FOSS User Group
-
Raffle Item demo: Belkin Wireless Router.
-
Hot Hardware show-and-tell (5-min. each;
others?): When
warranties fail (talk to Best Buy before
Sony!); Recycle vs. Re-use: We have
various types of free cables and a few other
cyber-doodads for you and your friends, so come
and get'em!
-
The FOSS News: Windows
10 out July 29.
- Demo:
Kvm
(or Virtualbox)
runs Windows or ReactOS
or Linux within Linux (Dennis Payne).
-
Fotoxx:
Moon Shot tutorial.
|
Saturday,
June 13th, 2015 (9AM-5PM)
MIT Building E-51, Room 061
2 Amherst Street, Cambridge MA
(Parking
and entrance are on Amherst Street, up the
ramp nearest Wadsworth Street.)
|
BLU.org's
Linux InstallFest at MIT
Come help, or bring your computer for free hands-on
help with Linux installation and use. Also, free car
parking and lunch! (A $25-per-computer donation is
suggested.) |
| June 4th,
2015 |
FOSS User Group
|
| May 7th,
2015 |
FOSS User Group
(with a focus on Ubuntu
Convergence)
|
Wednesday,
May 6th, 2015
|
International Day
Against DRM
|
Wednesday,
April 15th, 2015 (10:00-11:30AM)
Muzzey Room,
Lexington Senior Center, 1475 Mass. Ave.,
Lexington MA
|
Lexington Computer and Technology Group free
guest presentation:
"Free, Open-Source
Software; GNU/Linux and much more"
by A. Richard Miller, Partner, Miller Microcomputer
Services and Co-Chair, Natick FOSS User Group
(NatickFOSS.org)
Now that free, open-source software (FOSS) is reliable
and often best-of-class (and free), why aren't US
computer users embracing it as quickly as in other
countries? And if FOSS is free, why is it that good?
Dick Miller shares the facts, perceptions, benefits
and and obstacles, while demonstrating some of the
best-of-breed FOSS for normal users - both
applications for your existing Windows or OS X, and
the pre-release Ubuntu
15.04 version of GNU/Linux, the OS that now runs more
of the world's computers than any other.
|
| April 2nd,
2015 |
FOSS User Group
|
Saturday
and Sunday, March 21st-22nd, 2015
MIT
Stata Center
32 Vassar St.
Cambridge, MA
|
LibrePlanet 2015
Preregister; it's free for FSF members, students, and
volunteers. This year's theme is, "Free Software
Everywhere".
|
| March 5th,
2015 |
FOSS User Group
|
| February
5th, 2015 |
FOSS User Group
|
Wednesday,
January 21st, 2015 (6:30-9PM)
MIT Building E-51,
Room 325, Cambridge MA
|
FOTOXX
Update by Dick and Jill Miller
The Boston
Linux & Unix User Group invites us back.
Will our favorite photo editor and manager have
anything new to show? Bank on that!
You can view this
1.5-hour video of Dick's talk.
|
Thursday,
January 15th, 2015 (6:30-9PM)
MIT Building E51, Room 315, Cambridge MA
(Parking
and entrance are on Amherst Street, up the ramp
nearest Wadsworth Street.)
|
Mini Internet of Things
Fest
This meeting is held in collaboration with BLU.org.
The meeting is open to the public.
Thanks to the generosity of Canonical, pizza will be
served beginning at 6:30 PM.
|
Wednesday,
January 14th, 2015 (1-2:30PM)
Natick Morse Institute Library
14 East Central Street, Natick |
Robots
Visit, from iRobot
For teens ages 11-18,
preregistration required; use one of the
Library's laptops, or bring your own. Contact:
Robin Fosdick (RFosdick@minlib.net; 1-508/647-6400
x1546) |
January
8th, 2015
|
FOSS User Group
|
Thursday,
January 8th, 2015 (2:30-4:30PM)
Natick Morse Institute Library
14 East Central Street, Natick
|
Advanced
Scratch II, with Maker Kevin
Osborn
For teens ages 11-18,
preregistration required; use one of the
Library's laptops, or bring your own. Contact:
Robin Fosdick (RFosdick@minlib.net; 1-508/647-6400
x1546)
|
Register
through January 5th, 2015
(on-line)
|
Introduction
to Linux on-line course at edX.
Study at home, at your speed, when you like. Take this
course for free, or get a verified certificate for
$99!
|
November-December
2014
Natick Community-Senior Center
117 East Central Street (Rte.135).
|
Photography
Exhibit by New England Light Painters
The exhibit theme is, "Motion".
Can you find Dick Miller's three photographs, all
edited with Fotoxx?
|
Saturday,
December 6th, 2014 (9AM-5PM)
MIT Building E-51, Room 061
Amherst Street, Cambridge MA
(Parking
and entrance are on Amherst Street, up the
ramp nearest Wadsworth Street.)
|
BLU.org's
Linux InstallFest at MIT
Come help, or bring your computer for free hands-on
help with Linux installation and use. Also, free car
parking and lunch! (A $25-per-computer donation is
suggested.) |
Friday,
December 5th, 2014 (2:30-4:30PM)
Natick Morse Institute Library
14 East Central Street, Natick
|
Making Things in 3D: Design to Print, with
Maker
Kevin Osborn
For teens ages 11-18,
preregistration required; use one of the
Library's laptops, or bring your own. Contact:
Robin Fosdick (RFosdick@minlib.net; 1-508/647-6400
x1546) |
| December
4th, 2014 |
FOSS User Group
- Hot
Hardware show-and-tell (5-min. each):
240GB Intel 730
SSD (Solid-State Drive) upgrades
Dick's netbook for $110 (other 240GB SSDs from
$70); Ubuntu-ready
Dell Inspiron
i3646 Desktop PC for $230 and
Lenovo H500s
Desktop PC for $200;
Cobra JumPack
CPP 7500 is a pocket-size $100
flashlight (with strobe and SOS) that charges your
computer and starts cars, too!
- The
FOSS News:
10th
anniversary of Firefox (remember
Netscape and SeaMonkey?);
Enterprise
Linux growing at Windows' expense;
Bruce Byfield:
Debian and
Ubuntu present a united front;
Gates
Foundation mandates open access for all
research it funds;
Hack Keurig
2.0's DRM and save 90% of its
coffee cost (or buy a Keurig 1.0 machine, or
don't); Fotoxx has 2,365
monthly hits vs. GetDeb's 2nd-most-popular
6,685!
- Book
raffle (courtesy O'Reilly Media).
- Guest
presentation: The OLPC, Sugar OS, TurtleBlocks
and FOSS, by
Walter Bender,
Executive Director of Sugar Labs.
Designing computers for education, instead of vice
versa! TurtleArt has expanded into
even-more-wonderful
TurtleBlocks.
(It needs no manual, but
TurtleArt Activities and Turtle
Confusion are good ones.) Or, try
the entire
Sugar on a
Stick.
|
Friday,
November 14th, 2014 (2:30-4:30PM)
Natick Morse Institute Library
14 East Central Street, Natick
|
Advanced
Scratch, with Maker Kevin
Osborn
For teens ages 11-18,
preregistration required; use one of the
Library's laptops, or bring your own. Contact:
Robin Fosdick (RFosdick@minlib.net; 1-508/647-6400
x1546)
|
| November
6th, 2014 |
FOSS User Group
Hot Hardware show-and-tell (5-min. each): Screen-input devices
(mouse, air mouse, trackball, stylus, graphics tablet,
touchscreen, glasses); Lego dump-truck designed in FOSS
(Dennis Payne).
The FOSS News:
4th Anniversaries of
Ubuntu Unity and of LibreOffice;
4 out of 5 developers now use Open
Source;
Test for Verizon's
Privacy-Killing Perma-Cookie; Photo Exhibit in hall
("Motion", Nov.-Dec.) includes 3 Fotoxx
images by Dick.
Guest
presentation: Meet Ubuntu 14.10 and
Ubuntu Touch, by Michael Terry of
Canonical Ltd., and
14.10 Release Notes.
LibreOffice vs.
OpenOffice.
Software 3-speed
tools! (See June.)
Fotoxx demos:
Popup Images.
|
| October
2nd, 2014 |
FOSS User Group
Hot Hardware show-and-tell
(5-min. each): 30GB
mSATA SSD for $17 (sad follow-up); A-V Cables (and cable
adapters & splitters & converters).
The FOSS News:
Re-usables giveaway at FOSS meetings (old desktop
computer, printer); new
Samsung smartwatches run Tizen OS Linux
(not Android Linux);
Ubuntu Touch OS
released to manufacturing. Other?
Guest
presentation: LibreOffice Tools and Tricks to
Make Your Work Easier, by Robinson Tryon,
LibreOffice Community Outreach Herald for The
Document Foundation.
FOSS Slide Show
app:
S5
(AlgotRuneman).
Creating App icons on
the Ubuntu Desktop (A. Runeman).
|
Saturday,
Sept. 20th, 2014 (9AM-5PM)
Industry Lab,
288 Norfolk Street, Cambridge, MA
|
Software Freedom Day
Join the
Boston Desktop
GNU/Linux Users Group annual
celebration of free software. This year's schedule
includes talks on: free software for smart phones,
protecting your privacy, how to contribute to free
software (you don't need to be a techie), and how to
make money with free software.
Beginners, experts and everyone in between are welcome
to this free event!
Interested in giving a lightning talk? We'd love
to hear from you.
Light breakfast and lunch provided by our sponsors.
|
Saturday,
Sept. 13th, 2014 (10AM-3PM)
Natick Common and vicinity
|
Natick Days
Visit this year; staff a FOSS User Group
exhibit table next year? Invite the Natick High School
Robotics Club table (and NHS Programming Club) to our
meetings!
|
Saturday,
Sept. 13th, 2014 (9AM-5PM)
MIT Building E-51, Room 061
Amherst Street, Cambridge MA
(Parking
and entrance are on Amherst Street, up the
ramp nearest Wadsworth Street.) |
BLU.org's Linux InstallFest
at MIT
Come help, or bring your computer for free hands-on
help with Linux installation and use. Also, free car
parking and lunch! (A $25-per-computer donation is
suggested.) |
September
11th, 2014 (2nd
Thursday)
|
FOSS User Group
Hot Hardware show-and-tell
(5-min. each):
30GB mSATA SSD
for $17!
The FOSS News:
Ubuntu is 23
(Aug. 25th);
Spotting Linux in
the wild; InstallFest at MIT, this Sat.; Natick Days, also
this Sat. (next year, with FOSS?). Other?
FOSSUG's Linux Loaner Laptop: $10
for 10 days! (Algot Runeman, Bob Monheimer)
Challenge:
Who will evaluate Dasher? ("A
fast, non-keyboard text entry system", in the Ubuntu
Software Center.)
Clicking is a Public Act!
(Sally Kohn, on BrainPickings
& TED).
Look inside
with sysinfo
(in Windows), lshw
(in Linux), SysInfo
(for Linux) or HardInfo
(for Linux).
Fotoxx
demos: new 16:10
image ratio, Collections, and Ad |
