Hello All,
This is a re-post of an e-mail that I received from Judy Taylour of SLO Bytes' parent organization, APCUG
Ralph Sutter

AUGUST 9, 2023
WEDNESDAY WORKSHOP
9 am PT, 10 am MT, 11 am CT, 12 pm ET

Surge Protection and AC Wiring Problems
John Krout, Potomac Area Computer Society
 
What You Need to Know about SD Cards
Hewie Poplock, Central Florida Computer Society and
Sarasota Technology Users Group
 
Register here – https://forms.gle/QizVGJSmptRr8eaV6

APCUG values your privacy. We only collect and store the personal data needed to give you the best service and will not share that information. Please read the registration form questions carefully before answering them.
After you click Submit, you will receive a pop-up acknowledgment (see below) of your registration; you will receive the encrypted Zoom link on August 8 after registration closes at 6 pm Pacific Time.
 
What You Need to Know about SD Cards. SD cards are small portable memory storage devices used in digital devices such as cameras, smartphones, and tablets. They come in various sizes and capacities and use flash memory technology to store data. SD cards are compatible with a wide range of devices and can be easily removed and replaced. There are different types of SD cards, each with a different capacity limit, and they can be protected by a password or encrypted for increased security. This presentation explains the various symbols on SD cards, what they mean, and which ones to use in your device.
 
Surge Protection and AC wiring problems. A surge protector works by detecting a voltage spike, aka surge, and sending that spike to Ground. A very common wiring mistake is failure to attach the Ground wire to the proper prong in a 3-prong socket, which disables any surge protector connected to an ungrounded socket. Doing so also voids any warranty for surge damage to your computer and other gear attached to the surge protector.
 
This presentation will show you the proper wiring on a 3-prong socket and discuss examples of two homes where the majority of those sockets were miswired. Those homes were built 30 years apart. The presenter's son diagnosed and fixed the miswired sockets in both homes.
 
You will learn how an inexpensive device can report whether or not any 3-prong socket is properly wired or not. If your 3-prong socket is properly wired, then your surge protector will work well. If not properly wired, then it is time to hire an electrician to fix the socket.

Hello All,
This is a re-post of an e-mail received from Bill James of SLO Bytes' parent group, APCUG.
Ralph Sutter

2023 Digital Photo Contest
**The contest is only open to members of an APCUG group**
 
APCUG is pleased to announce its 2023 Photo Contest showcasing the talents of its member group photographers!

Contest Rules
The contest begins on August 1 and ends on September 16. Entries not received via email on or before September 16 will be disqualified.
•   One personally taken photo per member may be entered in each of the four categories
•   Submit one photo, not to exceed 4MB, via email in .jpg format
•   Entry emails must only include this information: Category and name of the photo, Your name and email address, Name of your group, and Name of the group’s president and email address (see below instructions)
•   Each entry will receive an acknowledgment email
•   Cropped photos are allowed
•   Minor adjustments, including sharpening, contrast, and slight color adjustment, are allowed
•   Please do not submit AI-created or modified photos
•   Borders, frames, text, and signatures are not allowed.
•   1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in each category will receive the appropriate certificate and prize.
Categories
Holidays
Photos that make you smile
Spring Flowers (Outdoors)
Still Life Food photos

Judging Criteria
•   Composition
•   Technical Skill
•   Visual Impact
Email your .jpg entries to digitalphotocontest AT apcug.org. Please send one email per photo.

Subject: Category Name – Your name
**Please put only the following information in the body of each email (one photo per email) = 4 lines of text:
•   Category and name of the photo
•   Your name and email address
•   Name of your group
•   Name of the group’s president and email address
**Please save your photos using the following format:
category_lastnamefirstname_ picture name

For example:
Spring_Flowers_smithbob_Lancaster_Poppies.jpg

**Entries received without the complete information as noted above will be returned.

You retain ownership and all rights to your photograph; however, by entering the contest, entrants grant APCUG royalty-free permission to publish submitted photos on the organization’s website and Reports newsletter. Any photograph reproduced will include a photographer credit as feasible.
 
Question: digitalphotocontest@apcug.org
 
Bill James, Chair

Hello All,
I created a short video showing how I used the freeware program, Irfanview, to create a script for batch processing of images.
With batch processing, I was able to quickly select multiple large format color images and change them automatically to black and white. 
Using additional settings, I also automatically resized them to 1800 pixels on the long side, reduced the dots per inch to 72 and added a border around each image.
View the video on YouTube at https://youtu.be/ZQEFnJhFKF4
Download Irfanview from https://www.irfanview.com
Ralph Sutter

Hello All,
What follows is my re-post of an announcement from Judy Taylour, APCUG Representative for SLO Bytes parent organization.
Ralph Sutter

JULY 12, 2023
WEDNESDAY WORKSHOP
9 am PT, 10 am MT, 11 am CT, 12 pm ET
 
Technology Always Seems To Be Changing The Way We Listen to Music at Home and In The Car
Ray Baxter, President & Treasurer, APCUG
 
AirTags and Tiles
John Krout, Member, Presenter, Writer
Potomac Area Technology And Computer Society
 
Register here – https://forms.gle/m3CmGtc4MVYbdgjb9

APCUG values your privacy. We only collect and store the personal data needed to give you the best service and will not share that information. Please read the registration form questions carefully before answering them. After you click Submit, you will receive a pop-up acknowledgment (see below) of your registration; you will receive the encrypted Zoom link on July 11, after registration closes at 6 pm Pacific Time.
 
Technology Always Seems To Be Changing The Way We Listen to Music at Home and In The Car.  In my opinion, the way we listen to our favorite tunes at home and in our cars has probably seen the most changes. I'll review how we've listened to the music we choose in our homes, starting with the 78-rpm record and all the devices in between, bringing us up to date with today's various streaming options. Then the focus will move to how we consume music on the road, starting with when it was so "cool" to have a push-button AM radio in the car. I'll also focus on utilizing your existing Compact Disc collection now that new cars no longer have a CD player and streaming from an online service, using Bluetooth, flash drives, smartphones, and more.
This is a presentation I'm constantly updating, so there is always something new to present.
 
AirTags and Tiles
Don’t leave home on vacation without AirTags or Tiles. They are indispensable for luggage tracking; countless people have already recovered lost luggage using these inexpensive tracking devices. This presentation also includes free apps to detect all nearby Bluetooth devices. This is a good defense for finding any Tile or AirTag hidden in a purse, backpack, or car without the owner's knowledge.
 
Amazon Prime Days s - July 11 & 12
Apple AirTags @ Amazon -$10 - https://tinyurl.com/3pan5us6
Tiles - https://tinyurl.com/5yt3ysu6
 

Hello All,
I received this link today from Judy Taylour of APCUG.  It is a link to the California State Digital Equity Plan:  Public Survey.
Ralph Sutter

https://broadbandforall.civilspace.io/en/projects/california-department-of-technology-broadband-digital-equity-survey/engagements/california-state-digital-equity-plan-public-survey-10-15-minutes/sections/1

Hello All.
This is a re-post of an e-mail received today from SLO Bytes' APCUG Representative, Judy Taylour
Ralph Sutter
 
JUNE 21, 2023
WEDNESDAY WORKSHOP
9 am PT, 10 am MT, 11 am CT, 12 pm ET
 
LEARNING LINUX
Cal Esneault – Question of the Month
Drew King – Software of the Month
John Kennedy – Desktop Environment Spotlight
Taming the Terminal – Orv Beach

Register here – https://forms.gle/DLantr76ECNZXJaz5
APCUG values your privacy. We only collect and store personal data needed to give you the best service and will not share that information. Please read the registration form questions carefully before answering them.
After you click Submit, you will receive a pop-up acknowledgment (see below) of your registration; you will receive the encrypted Zoom link on June 20, after registration closes at 6 pm Pacific Time.

 
Join us this month as we continue to explore the Linux operating system. Cal Esneault will answer this question: "What's the difference between the Mint Cinnamon desktop environment and the new Ubuntu Cinnamon desktop environment?"
 
For the Software of the Month: Drew King will be sharing the KDEConnect program, where you can connect your smartphone to your computer, interact with it, and practically do what you would do on it while still on the Linux computer.
 
Our Desktop Environment Spotlight for June will be John Kennedy, sharing features of the Xfce desktop environment. We won't have a Distro Dive as we haven't had any volunteers to share something other than a Deb-based distro. So, we'll skip that feature again this month.
 
And before we open things up for general questions and discussions, Orv Beach will be back with another lesson in "Taming the Terminal."
 

 

Hello All,
From time to time, SLO Bytes' parent organization, APCUG, offers short technology-related articles for insertion in club newsletters.  I never use these articles as filler for HardCopy.  Instead, I upload all of them to the SLO Bytes website.
View them from the links below
https://www.slobytes.org/push/push-condensed.html
https://www.slobytes.org/push/index.html
https://www.slobytes.org/push/0623/index.html
https://www.slobytes.org/push/0623/0623-b/index.html
Ralph Sutter