Hello All,
What follows is a re-post of a message from APCUG
Ralph Sutter

May 14, 2025
WEDNESDAY WORKSHOP
9 am PT, 10 am MT, 11 am CT, 12 pm ET
 
Big Money Saver ? HP Instant Ink
John Krout, Member, Presenter, and Author
Potomac Area Technology And Computer Society
 
AND
 
Apple's iCloud.com for Windows
Gabe Goldberg, APCUG Advisor for Region 2
 and APCUG Representative for Washington Apple Pi
 
Register once here:  https://forms.gle/Gvb1h7M68qvaiPsg8

After you click Submit, you will receive the pop-up acknowledgment of your registration below. On May 13, after registration closes at 6 p.m. Pacific Time, you will receive the encrypted Zoom link.

 
Big Money Saver ? HP Instant Ink. HP Instant Ink is a subscription ink service. It uses an Instant Ink-compatible HP printer to deliver replacement ink before the printer runs low. Your presenter has created a custom 12-month calendar featuring his photos each year since 2010. In November and December, he prints and binds the calendar at home. When the pandemic raised retail ink prices, his ink expense for the calendar grew alarmingly. When he first tried the HP Instant Ink service in 2023, his ink expenses were reduced by 80%. In 2024, the service did indeed deliver ink before his printer ran low, and he saved even more money.
 
Learn how the subscription service works and your options for managing the subscription. Learn how to determine if your HP printer is compatible with Instant Ink. Low-end HP printers compatible with Instant Ink sell for between $50 and $60.
 
Apple's iCloud.com for Windows. Apple's devices -- iPad/iPhone/Watch/Mac share a widely used set of apps (Contacts, Notes, Photos, Reminders, Find My, Mail, Numbers, Keynote, Pages), which automatically sync data across devices. Most people only use them on Apple devices; Windows users may not realize that these apps' data is available on their computers, too. This talk describes iCloud.com for Windows and shows how it elegantly/seamlessly syncs data with other Apple account devices.

Hello All,
Here are my Notes for the SLO Bytes Photo Group Meeting of 04/13/2025

TOPIC: Images of Spring
Stanford Brown presented in absentia while on a cruise.  Before he set sail, Stanford left images of a stream fording, a kid with his head in the mouth of a camel, a comic sign and a field of wildflowers.

Ralph Sutter followed by showing fruit tree blossoms, wildflowers and freeze dried espresso.

Alan Raul, using his Leica and Sony cameras, displayed Spring flowers and Spring sunsets. He used Adobe Photoshop, Camera Raw and ON1 Photo Raw 2025 to manipulate and enhance his images.

Kaye Raul featured poppies, birds of paradise and grape vines before cleverly moving to the garden section of Home Depot for guaranteed flower shots.  Kaye used Photoshop to remove distracting elements from her pictures.

John Waller opened his Spring portfolio with several closeups of metal tension springs, signs of Avila Hot Springs and Sycamore Mineral Springs.  He then illustrated how farmers disk their fields in the Spring prior to planting

Our next meeting will take place on May 18th beginning at 2:00 pm, moved back one week by Mothers' Day, May 11th. 

The topic will be Learn or Improve a Skill and Demonstrate Its Use for Better Photos.
Here are the meeting dates for the rest of 2025
  June 8
  July 13
  August 10
  September 14
  October 12
  November 9
  December 14

See the Links page for tutorials and other resources at https://www.slobytes.org/digital/links.html

Ralph Sutter

Hello All,
This is a re-post of an APCUG announcement
Ralph Sutter

March 26, 2025
WEDNESDAY WORKSHOP
9 am PT, 10 am MT, 11 am CT, 12 pm ET
 
FreeFileSync
John Kennedy, Webmaster
East Central Ohio Technology Users Club

Macrium Reflect and Clonezilla
Mike Ungerman, Chairperson
Central Florida Computer Society
 
Register once here ? https://tinyurl.com/375xs62t
 
After you click Submit, you will receive the pop-up acknowledgment of your registration below. On March 25, after registration closes at 6 p.m. Pacific Time, you will receive the encrypted Zoom link.
 
FreeFileSync: The question of whether or not you should back up is no longer open for discussion. The bottom line is that you have to back up. But the method you choose and what you use is up to you. You want something easy to use, gets what you want backed up in a way that makes sense, and it won't hurt if it turns out to be free. One part of the recommended "3 step back up plan" is to have your important files backed up to an external drive. Join John as he shares his program of choice, FreeFileSync, and shows you how easy it is to use. He can back up whatever he wants in whatever way he wants. The process is straightforward: decide what you want backed up, where you want the backup, and what kind of backup you want. John will take you through these steps to set up your plan and then show you how to keep your files up to date using FreeFileSync.
 
Macrium Reflect and Clonezilla: Looking to safeguard your valuable data? Join us for an engaging and informative presentation on image backup solutions featuring Macrium Reflect and Clonezilla. Discover how these free, powerful tools stand out by running directly from a USB flash drive and booting into their self-contained operating systems. Learn how they enable seamless backups for Windows and Linux computers, offering a reliable, versatile solution for all your backup needs. Whether you're a tech enthusiast or looking to protect your system, this session will provide practical insights and hands-on tips to bulletproof your backup strategy. Don't miss this opportunity to level up your data protection skills!
 

Hello All,
This is a re-post of an article that I received from APCUG
Ralph Sutter

LEARNING LINUX WEDNESDAY WORKSHOP
March 19, 2025
9 am PT, 10 am MT, 11 am CT, 12 pm ET
 
Backing Up Personal Files on Your Home Network
Les Larkin, Program Chair
Lake Area Computer Enthusiasts

Foxclone and Back In Time
Alan German, Meeting Coordinator
Ottawa PCUG
 
Timeshift and Gnome Disk Utility (or Disks)
John Kennedy, Linux Help Desk
East Central Ohio Technology Users Club
 
Register here ? https://tinyurl.com/2tv6uvch
 
After you click Submit, you will receive a pop-up acknowledgment of your registration (see below). You only need to register once. On March 18, after registration closes at 6 pm Pacific Time, you will receive the encrypted Zoom link. You only need to register once.
 
 Backing Up Personal Files on Your Home Network. Linux makes it very easy to back up your files to other devices on your home network. Les? presentation shows WHY and HOW to back up files on your home network using Rsync and OpenSSH.

Foxclone and Back In Time. One backup strategy for Linux systems is to make full disk image backups of the entire hard drive at regular intervals to facilitate rapid system recovery should this become necessary. However, this needs to be combined with frequent backups of data files, the contents of which typically change over short time frames. This presentation will focus on two software products that provide the capabilities for the specified tasks and which, while being simple to use, have proven to be robust in their application.

Timeshift and Gnome Disk Utility (or Disks) ? Timeshift for Linux is an application that provides functionality similar to the System Restore feature on Windows and the Time Machine tool on macOS. Timeshift protects your system by taking incremental file system snapshots at regular intervals. These snapshots can be restored later to undo all system changes. You can easily create an image backup of your hard drive using the Gnome Disk Utility, or Disks as it?s called on many distros.
 

Hello All,
I chanced upon another way to extract Audio (.mp3) from video files (.mp4)
Using the freeware program, Audacity, open the .mp4 file.
Audacity won't show the video but it will display the audio track.
In Audacity, select File/Export/to Computer and navigate to where you wish to save the .mp3 file.

Audacity is available for Windows, MAC and Linux.  Download this free program at
https://www.audacityteam.org/download/

Ralph Sutter

Hello All,
This is a re-post that I received today from APCUG
Ralph Sutter

February 12, 2025
WEDNESDAY WORKSHOP
9 am PT, 10 am MT, 11 am CT, 12 pm ET
 
NATIONAL CYBERSECURITY ALLIANCE/STAY SAFE ONLINE
FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION
with
 Shivani Cowper, Operations Manager; Jen Cook, Sr. Director of Marketing; Creative Director Arturo "Efe" Morales; and Content Director Barry Eitel
 
SMARTWATCH HARD FALL DETECTION
with
John Krout, Presenter & Newsletter Contributor
Potomac Area Technology And Computer Society
 
Register once here ? https://tinyurl.com/3d2zw7x2 
 
After you click Submit, you will receive a pop-up acknowledgment of your registration. On February 11, after registration closes at 6 pm Pacific Time, you will receive the encrypted Zoom link.
 
Stay Safe Online Focus Group Discussion. Our first Workshop is a special open discussion with representatives from Stay Safe Online (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency ? CISA ? a part of DHS). They highly value your unique insights about your peers and seek your input during a focus group sharing of ideas on several key questions. This feedback will help shape a presentation designed for seniors and contribute to developing a new website, printed workbook, and direct mail piece. Additionally, volunteer-led sessions to help attendees do things like check for operating system updates, enable MFA on essential accounts, etc.
 
We made a big impression on Lisa* at her presentation on Cyber Security. "It's a big investment, so that's why we're hoping for input from your group. Your participation is invaluable, and we look forward to your contributions!"
*Lisa Plaggemiera, Executive Director, National Cybersecurity Alliance (A Whole Lot of BS (Behavioral Science) about Cybersecurity)

Smartwatch Hard Fall Detection. Smartwatches are micro marvels. The hard fall detection feature,  though, is not yet perfected.
 
You will learn the basics of how a hard fall is detected, what the watch does to nudge its users, and find help when a hard fall is detected.
 
Your presenter bought a refurbished smartwatch and did not know Hard Fall Detection was enabled. He was awakened more than once when the smartwatch falsely detected a hard fall. After the first time, he researched ways to control that feature.
 
Learn the options to control Hard Fall Detection, your presenter's chosen option, and why it works well for him. No more sleep interruption!
 ##########
?   What are your biggest challenges with technology in general? For peers that you help with their tech (who are not as tech-savvy), what do you think their biggest struggles are?
?   How do you keep other seniors abreast of the latest scams targeting them? Who do people listen to? Where do they usually seek out or learn about this type of information?
?   Do you think configuring MFA on most apps is easy? (Gmail, Amazon, Meta, your bank, etc.) What would make it easier?
?   Do you use a password manager ? why or why not? What do you think would increase password manager use among seniors?
?   Who do you look to for information about staying safe online?
?   Would you use or recommend a "how to" guide (online or printed workbook) for basic cyber hygiene best practices to a friend?
?   When trying to implement security best practices (MFA, reporting a scam or phishing, using long, unique passwords, running updates, etc), what are your biggest challenges or barriers to those actions? What do you think they are to your less tech-savvy peers?

 Hello All,
Hello All
This is a re-post of an announcement that I received from APCUG
Ralph Sutter
 
January 22, 2025
WEDNESDAY WORKSHOP
9 am PT, 10 am MT, 11 am CT, 12 pm ET
 
FRAUD PREVENTION
Deputy Tara Hardin, Oklahoma County Sheriff?s Office
TRIAD Coordinator for Oklahoma County
 
ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION
Member Group Ideas for 2025
 
Register once here - https://tinyurl.com/mr3yexs4
 
After you click Submit, you will receive a pop-up acknowledgment of your registration. On January 21, after registration closes at 6 pm Pacific Time, you will receive the encrypted Zoom link.
 

Fraud Prevention
Deputy Tara Hardin?s presentation is on Fraud, an exponentially growing issue over the past 3-5 years. Some experts even say it has surpassed oil as the largest revenue source in the world. So how are they getting all these billions of dollars from us, and how do you protect yourself from the con artists? We cannot prosecute our way out of this problem; prevention is the key. Join us to hear some easy-to-follow tips you can implement to help protect your hard-earned money and prevent you or someone you love from these predators. Bring your questions for Tara.
 
Roundtable Discussion
Since 1986, APCUG has been dedicated to helping its member groups succeed by providing them with resources and support for their members. Let?s begin 2025 by discussing meeting ideas, recruiting new members, and more and how APCUG can help.
 




 



   



   

Hello All,
This is a re-post of an announcement received from APCUG today.
Ralph Sutter

LEARNING LINUX WEDNESDAY WORKSHOP
January 15, 2025
9 am PT, 10 am MT, 11 am CT, 12 pm ET
 
DESKTOP ENVIRONMENT SHOWCASE
John Kennedy, APCUG Speakers Bureau
 
Register once here - https://forms.gle/4sDciGbyhgPDrXTK9
 
After you click Submit, you will receive the pop-up acknowledgment of your registration below. On January 14, after registration closes at 6 pm Pacific Time, you will receive the encrypted Zoom link.

Desktop Environment Showcase. At a previous workshop, when something about different desktop environments was mentioned, an attendee asked, "Why so many, and what's the difference?" The comment was made that the question would make a good presentation, so here we have it.

The auto industry has its "makes" of cars, and the Linux system has its different "distributions/distros." Each make has different "models," and Linux distros have different "desktop environments." The reason that both cars and Linux have so many is that people like different things. So, both produce basically the same things, yet they provide differences.
 
Join John as he takes us through the showroom to showcase the major and minor differences between several popular desktop environments on many different distros. This might help you decide which one you like the best or what parts you want for building your desktop environment.