This page last changed 2021.01.19 20:16
BNUG Executive Board Communications
Meeting ideas
General Discussion page
BNUG Getting To Meetings Without a Car
Recent BNUG meeting videos
For information, send your request to: info@bnug.org and we will get back to you shortly. Be sure to identify yourself in the message.
Leadership 2020-2021
From election held May 5, 2020
Officers
Office | Officer | |
---|---|---|
President | Adam Frost | president@bnug.org |
Vice President | open | vicepresident@bnug.org |
Secretary | Sharif Shaikh | secretary@bnug.org email not set up |
Treasurer | Steve Isenberg | treasurer@bnug.org |
Supporting Positions
Position | Lead & members | Duties | |
---|---|---|---|
Communication Coordinator | Sharif Shaikh | Helps coordinate the different communication tools used by BNUG—the website, email, Meetup, and other tools—and help us talk well and regularly with each other. | commo@bnug.org email not set up |
Outreach Coordinator | Steve Provost, lead Mike Austin | Increase group membership | outreach@bnug.org also includes Adam |
NOTE some of these emails won't be operative before 3pm ET 9/30/2020.
Upcoming Meetings
[last update 22sept2020 update Oct & Nov meeting topics]
Date | Where | Topic | Presenter | Abstract | Speaker Bio | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
January 19, 2021 | online | board meeting | ||||
February 2, 2021 | probably ONLINE | Website security and marketing | Carol Scalzo, Hit The Web Marketing, carol@hitthewebmarketing.com | Carol formed Hit-the-Web Marketing in 2009 to create a website design & digital marketing agency. Drawing on over 25 years of technology, sales, marketing, and business ownership experience she had a vision of providing services to help other businesses build, maintain, and grow their business online. Carol is passionate about education and lectures on website strategy ie, converting visitors to customers. Website Security to guard our online assets. And helping companies build their online presence through Blogging. HTWM is launching a new online course in 2021 called “Get Your Blog Done” | ||
February 16, 2021 ? | online | board meeting | ||||
March 2, 2021 | probably ONLINE | Probably Big Data | Jacob Farmer, unconfirmed; Adam to follow-up) | |||
March 23, 2021 ? | online | board meeting | ||||
April 6, 2021 | ONLINE | Using DaVinci Resolve - demo and discussion | Steve Isenberg | |||
April 22, 2021 ? | online | board meeting | ||||
May 4, 2021 ? | probably ONLINE | topic TBD | ||||
May 18, 2021 ? | online | board meeting | ||||
June 1, 2021 ? | probably ONLINE | topic TBD | ||||
June 15, 2021 ? | online | board meeting |
Possible topics for meetings
Considerations for the AX wireless protocol – how I get 225Mbps wireless | Drew |
VPNs – the good, the bad, the ugly Ways to use and benefits whole home VPN, put it on your router | Drew |
How Covid-19 has changed our industry | |
Super-small handheld computers | Charisse (?) |
Possible to have ham operator talk about packet radio | (steveP) |
Decisions/Group Policy
Recording decisions made on group operation, policy, and activities.
25aug2020
Meetup and email to the members will only be sent regarding BNUG meetings. SIGs will not send meeting reminder message to the meetup or email list. (SIG messages should only go to those who have expressed interest in the SIG.)
16jun2020
- There will be no recording of any BNUG Board meeting, SIG meeting etc. except for monthly general meeting presentations with permission of presenter.
- BNUG website will be reworked by a subcommittee under direction of Communication Coordinator, currently Sharif Shaikh
- Outreach status
- Put up flyers to advertise BNUG. E.g., Microcenter.
- To do: Schools, colleges, computer training: tell about BNUG as professional group they could get involved with.
Past Meetings
Date | Where | Topic | Presenter | Video recording | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jan 7, 2020 | MassBay [ok] | Office tools discussion, comparing LogMeIn and RemotePC, and comparing Password Management offerings | Adam to coordinate | True Images | ||
Jan 21, 2020 | online | 7:30pm Board meeting | ||||
Feb 4, 2020 | Burlington [ok] | A business website primer (see above) plan for May election, ask people if interested in running for office and for supporting positions | True Images | |||
Feb 11, 2020 | online | 8pm Board meeting | (Adam to coordinate and run; smi cannot attend) | |||
March 3, 2020 | MassBay [ok] | Topic Uncertain. Exploring the power of YouTube: blogging, advertising, and downloading music, etc.? The history of YouTube. Ask again for volunteers for group officers and supporting positions NAS? | SteveP & Adam | need a volunteer | ||
March 17, 2020 | online | 8pm Board meeting | ||||
April 7, 2020 | ONLINE | Discussion of HIPPA and 201 CMR 17 nominations of officers | ||||
April 21, 2020 | online | 7:30pm Board meeting | ||||
May 5, 2020 | ONLINE | Synology (Jeff Katz) election of officers | ||||
May 19, 2020 | online | 7:30pm Board meeting | ||||
May 22, 2020 | online | Special Interest Group - WordPress | Steve Provost | |||
June 2, 2020 | ONLINE | Mainframes and history | Norm Stembridge | |||
June 16, 2020 | online | 7:30pm Board meeting | ||||
July 14, 2020 | ONLINE | Tools for Your Business | Adam Frost | Whatsitallabout: Join us as we discuss vital and useful tools for running a business such as a computer support business. We'll discuss the use and new features in KeePass for managing your and your customer passwords; creating and using batch files for backup; the Organizers Database; using an Alphasmart for keeping your notes organized, and using Excel (or LibreOffice Spreadsheet) for tracking and organizing customer task lists and billing. Participants will be encouraged to contribute the methods they use for running their practices. We expect you to have a lot of questions as you seek the best ways to improve your processes! Also – unless you're living on a remote island in the Pacific (lucky you), you have been affected by Covid-19. Let's discuss how this has affected you and your business, and how you handle Covid-19 issues, concerns, and the isolation. | Adam Frost is president of BNUG and works as the coordinator of Computer Care and Learning, an educationally-oriented computer-helping company. While some of our colleagues and competitors encourage the “outsourcing” of all computer care to them, we encourage our customers to get to know their computers and train their staff in computer care. We find this helps our customers develop deep skills in computer use as a key part of business strategy and action. Computer Care and Learning has a longstanding internship program, where we train people to be skilled computer helpers, and we also help run the “Get Connected!” clinic, which provides refurbished computers to customers with low and moderate incomes. To learn more, come to the meeting, call Adam's company at 617-522-1049, or email adamfrost@computerCareandLearning.com | |
July 21, 2020 | online | board meeting | ||||
August 4, 2020 | ONLINE | The Basics of Business Bookkeeping | Martin Kadansky | Join the meeting to get a brief overview of business bookkeeping, including: - Why you would hire a bookkeeper (separate from an accountant) for your business, - What to expect, and - Some of the nuts and bolts (plus some tips and techniques) of using bookkeeping software. | Martin has over 20 years of experience as a computer consultant, helping clients learn to use their Macintosh and Windows computers better. He also provides bookkeeping services to a number of self-employed clients who run service-oriented businesses. Prior to starting Kadansky Consulting in 1998, Martin had a successful 20-year career as a software engineer. | |
August 25, 2020 | online | board meeting | ||||
September 8, 2020 | ONLINE | VPN for your whole house; Transitioning from Windows to Chromebook; and… | Drew King | |||
September 22, 2020 | online | board meeting | ||||
October 6, 2020 | Zoom | Ballot Question 1 | Adam & group discussion | We will be discussing the technical, social and political issues surrounding Ballot Question 1, The Right to Repair Law. We will particularly be focusing on the privacy issues—-will the law allow domestic abusers to get access to the GPS records of their victim’s car? Are there other privacy issues? What are the computer issues? Our goal is to promote public education and discussion about this important question that we will be voting on come November 3rd. | ||
October 20, 2020 | 7:30pm online | board meeting | ||||
November 10, 2020 | ONLINE | Live Streaming and YouTube | Steve Provost, Mike Austin | Details to come. | Steven Provost (stevenprovost570@gmail.com) is the co-founder of TouringNewEngland.org, a site featuring videos of New England places and adventures. He is also a the Co-Founding member of Boston Project Rebound ReEntry Services, Inc., “a program to help ex-offenders re-enter the community”. Steven has also been involved in the computer industry that dates back to the Commodore Vic-20 computer system. Steven is also a computer helper and leader at the “Get Connected!” computer clinic in Harvard Square. | |
November 24, 2020 | 7:30pm online | board meeting | ||||
December 8, 2020 | probably ONLINE | secure texting system at a hospital Security tools | David Weinstein | Personal Health Information (PHI) sharing between Medical Professionals and Patients, and the Interoperability between systems which are the custodians of this information, must be rigorously managed and validated. These processes fall under the purview of several international Regulatory Authorities e.g., HIPAA and GDPR. Building systems that meet these regulations can be challenging and exciting. In this session, we'll have a lightning review of the regulations, where they differ, and examine a real life use case used in the hospital market. | David Weinstein is the CTO of OAExperts, Inc., delivering global solutions to the biotech, pharmaceutical, and medical industries for over 30 years, most recently as the Director of Data Analytics for a Clinical Research organization. David is also a principal with Vector Wellness, Inc., a health and wellness solutions company which delivers patient-centered heath and coaching solutions to the hospital and corporate wellness markets. He is skilled at management and delivery of customer service, developing and implementing enterprise-scale technologies, and providing project management of various data management, clinical, and financial systems. David is skilled in: MS Office, MS Project (Enterprise/Client), MS Visio, MS Access, Sharepoint, Oracle database, MS SQL Server database, SQL, ASP.NET, VB/VBA, C#, IIS, Cognos, Windows O/S, and third-party API integrations. David graduated from the City University of New York in 1979 with a BA in Philosophy. | |
December 15, 2020 | online | |||||
January 5, 2021 | probably ONLINE | Being a Technology Journalist | Lauren Goode, technology journalist for Wired Magazine | Emmy-winning technology journalist Lauren Goode discusses writing articles on technology and some of her experiences, plus answers questions from the group. Presented January 5, 2021 to the Boston Network Users Group virtual meeting. Copyright ©2021 True Images Productions | Lauren Goode, technology journalist for Wired Magazine (she won an emmy) Lauren Goode is a senior writer at WIRED covering products, apps, services, and consumer tech issues and trends. Prior to WIRED she was a senior editor at The Verge and worked at Recode, AllThingsD, and The Wall Street Journal digital network before that. Goode is a graduate of Clark University and Stanford University. She lives in the Bay Area and can be found outdoors when not testing gadgets. |
May words
people need to be able to send stuff safely to each other, so there are different ways people cope with this, let's discuss ways to deal with this safely and securely.
People aren't complying with since it's difficult to do.
Using key encryption, encryption using acrobat and winzip
Raise consciousness about “wishful encryption”
June words
[Evie]Contact Rho about meeting contents - following is tentative
TENTATIVE: How teaching robots to function, then demo this (“I'm a Microsoft proponent” for example). Technical details on design and program robots.
We'd like to see the code and learn how it does this and that to the robot.
Past Meeting plans
month | location | topic | speaker | status |
---|---|---|---|---|
May 7, 2019 | MassBay W314 | Secure Messaging - how to send docs and files to others safely [✓ smismi7, 2019-08-20] [✓ smismi7, 2019-08-20] [Adam][✓ smismi7, 2019-08-20] | (discussion) | steve, evie, glenn unavailable |
June 4, 2019 | Burlington | [Evie][✓ smismi7, 2019-08-20] [Evie][✓ smismi7, 2019-08-20] 2 Bits and a Byte Robotic Team Presents | Kevin Rho [kevinrho51@gmail.com], Kriti Moogala [20moogala@lexingtonma.org] | |
July 16, 2019 | MassBay | Linux for the Unconvinced | Dick Miller | |
July 30 8:30pm | online | board meeting | ||
Aug 6, 2019 | Burlington | Net Neutrality discussion led by Adam | ||
Aug 20, 2019 | online board meeting 7:30pm | |||
Sep 10, 2019 | MassBay [ok] | Nutanix Community Edition demo | Jeff Katz | True Images |
Sep 24, 2019 | 7:30pm Board meeting | |||
Oct 1, 2019 | Burlington [ok] | Remote Access discussion | Adam | none |
Oct 22, 2019 | 8:30pm Board meeting | note change in time | ||
Nov 5, 2019 | MassBay [ok] | Nutanix part 2 | Jeff Katz | True Images |
Nov 26, 2019 | 8:30pm Board meeting | |||
Dec 10, 2019 ok | Burlington [ok] | Showcasing technical success stories in helping customers or yourself; details of the problem and steps you took to solve it. False starts and wrong turns, how you stumbled and regained your balance. | Adam will lead | True Images |
Dec 17, 2019 | 7:30pm Board meeting |
month | location | topic | speaker | status |
---|---|---|---|---|
Apr 2, 2019 | MassBay | Wordpress by an expert | Kim Redington | |
Mar 5, 2019 | MassBay | “The Challenging Job of Computer Consulting” those difficult moments we've encountered as computer helpers, and how we've dealt with them. | Panel led by Adam | |
Feb 5, 2019 | Microsoft Burlington | Office software | Dan Stoltz is MS contact | |
Jan 8, 2019 | MassBay | Creating a website step-by-step GoDaddy website create, and getting infrastructure | Adam Frost & Steve Provost | |
Dec 4, 2018 | Microsoft Burlington | * Internet of Things, etc * Lex Robotics Girls Club | Bob Primak Lex Robot Club | |
Nov 13, 2018 | MassBay | Exploring Switch Technology using Cisco and Dell Switches | Glenn | |
Oct 2, 2018 | MassBay | Office Tools part 2 | ||
Sept 11, 2018 | MassBay | Office Tools | Adam | |
August 2018 | no meeting |
For discussion, avoiding issues with Meetup
However, the web site shows an ethical issue: it asks people to confirm attendance using an online dis-service, meetup.com. It requires visitors to run nonfree Javascript code, and it collects personal data, thus contributing to massive surveillance. These are two of the things I would denounce in my talk, See stallman.org/eventbrite.html, which also covers meetup.com. I would feel hypcritical asking people to use meetup to come to my talk. Dr Richard Stallman Chief GNUisance of the GNU Project (https://gnu.org) Founder, Free Software Foundation (https://fsf.org) Internet Hall-of-Famer (https://internethalloffame.org)
Adam to contact him and suggest we collect attendees not using meetup, instead have attendees send email to sign up. Or else not require anyone to RSVP.
Person speaking has serious ethical questions about meetup and thus we are not using meetup for signups. Instead send your RSVP to president@bnug.org; and come to the meeting to learn more about his concern and reasons for avoiding meetup.
Pending topics to discuss
- Lab training proposed by Glenn
- Is there enough interest in BNUG membership to run one of these?
- Where could we run this?
- [steve-glenn]Should we see if MassBay can host this? (would need a classroom we can use & secure for two+ whole days); if acceptable I(steve) can check w/Tony.
- (Could use Lexington Community Center but would need to give them % of profits and might have difficulty scheduling the event as they are a busy center!)
- [glenn]Could Microsoft Burlington host this?
- Other places?
Note
If you are an exec board member and you would like a login to make changes here, let me (Steve) know.
Words to use when trying to get a company to speak at our meetings
Meeting intent | Not sales. Technology. Show yourself (company) as an expert in a given space by describing it to our attendees; give your software/equipment as an example. |
Who goes to our meetings? | a combination of end-users, company IT support engineers, students at MassBay, and more |
Benefits of presenting | Meet face-to-face potential users/promoters of your product/software. Promotion by way of video taken and posted for others to see and for you to use. |
Where can I find more info? | See BNUG website http://bnug.org/speaker-info.html |
wordings workspace
5/5/2020
NAS – Network Attached Storage – by Synology, Inc. Overview, demonstration. Presented by Jeff Katz of Whaling City Software (jkatz@whalingcity.com) and Joshua Douglas of Synology, Inc. Presented online to the Boston Network Users Group's May 5, 2020 meeting. For information on the group or to join, visit http://bnug.org.
6/2/2020
Mainframes - Then and Now, presented by Norm Stembridge. See the history of mainframes and how they're used today. Presented online to the Boston Network User Group's June 2, 2020 meeting. For information on the group or to join, visit http://bnug.org.
6/2/2020
The latest Intel chip technologies, presented by Jeff Katz of Whaling City Software (jkatz@whalingcity.com), to the June 2, 2020 online meeting of the Boston Network Users Group. For information on the group or to join, visit http://bnug.org.
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