Presenting to the group with Zoom
not ready for prime time: Tips for using MS Powerpoint and LibreOffice Impress in your presentation
This schedule last modified 2020.11.26 09:35
| Date | Planned Topic | Confirmed? | Followups |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2, 2020 | Potpourri Possibilities: Building a bird feeder impervious to squirrels https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFZFjoX2cGg (from John Rudy/20 minsmi warehouse) The skill of humor, a TED talk; really https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdZAMSyn_As (19:30 smi warehouse) Sand on the Table video [3min, smi warehouse] Ted Talk: Is Translation Easy? (humorous) (17 min) interesting TED talk (found by CharlieH) (18 min) the following possibilities lack speakers – can YOU contribute on these in a future Potpourri: ? home theater, camera monitor, media player ? Linux or other O/S ? Headsets and cameras for Zoom; auxiliary microphones? ? Your experience with Raspberry or other tiny computer Overview of LCTG Wiki Page(if time permits; Steve Isenberg; not sure this makes sense) ? Troubleshoot your Internet connectivity (Finish earlier topics not completed) | ||
| Dec 9, 2020 | CERN and the Hadron Collider. History, Why It Was Built, Hoped Outcomes, Discovery of Bison, What is Next (Harvey Newman, professor Cal Tech) Harvey will introduce the status and outlook for the LHC, its past and present and near term outlook, and provide a panorama of the future including some of the leading programs. read more | yes | |
| Dec 16, 2020 | Acoustic Sniper Detection & Localization Tony Galaitsis.: (new summary coming soon)(12/18/2019) John Rudy talked to James Barger (retired as Chief Scientist from BBN Technologies/Raytheon, PhD) and asked him whether he would bring his “Acoustical Detection of Kennedy Assassins” (my paraphrased title of his talk) to the Lexington Computer and Technology Group. (12/20/2019) Jim Barger retired as Chief Scientist from BBN Technologies/Raytheon a few years ago. He has been involved in numerous DoD programs, a great many for the navy, a great many he cannot talk about, most involving sound propagation and associated signal processing. One of his better known works includes the analysis and interpretation of the gun shot acoustic signals recorded during the Kennedy assassination, and a similar project associated with the Kent State shootings. I think the LCTG group would find the Kennedy assassination talk very interesting. Jim responded with a tentative “Yes” to my initial inquiry about the talk, but he will make a final decision after he has more information about LCTG and after he has a better idea of the requirements and timing of the presentation. | yes | Tony, updated abstract |
| Dec 23, 2020 | Vacation - Enjoy the holidays! | ||
| Dec 30, 2020 | Career stories (update). People with careers during which interesting (and now unclassified) things have happened. Mistakes made, lessons learned. Many of the members of our club have technical and scientific backgrounds. Some may be interested in presenting to the group important experiments or other developments in their field. For example, in my field of pulmonary disease, the development of the Pneumatic Trough by the Rev. Stephen Hales (1677 – 1761) enabled Joseph Priestley (1733 – 1804) to discover oxygen. The struggle of scientists at that time to understand the fundamentals of matter makes an interesting story. John Rudy coordinating – WOULD YOU LIKE TO PARTICIPATE? – let John know, email us at info@LCTG.toku.usso far, have: Bill Haley, Dan Kleppner, Dick Wagner, George Burnell, Mike Alexander, Smita Desai, hopefully Carl Lazarus There is room for one or two others – are you interested? | yes |
2021
| Date | Topic | confirmed | Followups |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 6, 2021 | Peter Braun talk on Covid (we have his OK to show to LCTG; we should invite him to this meeting)(1h smi warehouse but consider playing on zoom as it has transcript) | yes | |
| Jan 13, 2021 | Priestly and the Discovery of Oxygen (Jerry) Joseph Priestly (1733 - 1804) is credited with the discovery of oxygen. His discovery was a part of a long term scientific effort to understand the nature of matter. His work as an untrained scientist showed analytical skill which illustrated the relevance of his finding. His discovery of oxygen represents the beginning of the understanding of the composition of the atmosphere and its role in respiration. | yes | |
| Jan 20, 2021 | Quantum Biology (GeorgeG) (video and intro) with discussion (This is a new discipline where quantum effects are “visible” on/in biological systems. More coming…) | yes | GeorgeG will supply abstract |
| Jan 27, 2021 | Potpourri Freakonomics? Election security, allegations, concerns, why is it so hard to have a closed and secure system? Securing mail-in voting; how states got it to happen. Involve Town clerk or rep to participate? (GeorgeB to follow-up) | NOT YET | need coordinator or GeorgeB |
| Feb 3, 2021 | https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/the-plastic-problem (1hr video) Plastics having a recycle number on them leads people to think they will be recycled and are perhaps more accepting of then using them. However, many thin plastic containers such as salad boxes or clear takeout containers are not in practice recycled. (John Rudy, Bob Primak, George Burnell) This might be more than one session. Plastic bags biodegradability, manufacture, disposal, recycling. Bob Beaudoin/Superintendent Environmental Services at Lexington DPW | yes | GeorgeB to confirm date with Beaudoin |
| Feb 10, 2021 | Polaroid: Recently I learned about a Google talk on the history of Polaroid (Instant:The Story of Polaroid Christopher Bonanos Talks at Google, 2012). It might make an interesting meeting. The talk is about an hour and we could augment it with “actual folks” who worked for Polaroid? With 3-4 people worked there (Peter Albin) I worked in photographic film product development at Polaroid for 23 years (1976 to 1998). It was there that out of necessity I became in involved in N-dimensional non-linear systems optimization computer tools. I could discuss the approaches that we used and the evolution of the software tools that were internally developed. Many of these tools and graphical visualization aids are now available in the commercial pack Design Expert by StatEase which I used in a final consulting gig at Polaroid in 2003. [Bob Eckert] | yes | John: need names to include |
| Feb 17, 2021 | History relating to Rubber, what used for, how manufactured, WWI, WWII, rubber shortages (George Burnell with Peter, John Rudy) WWI WWII Japan taking over, fire hoses & rain gear | NOT YET | GeorgeB prepare abstract and presentation |
| Feb 24, 2021 | (GeorgeG) Mars landing, Perseverance, talk and visuals (if landing goes well, else related space info) | yes | |
| Mar 3, 2021 | Potpourri (Harry) Getting Streaming Programming Into Your TV (what to do when your TV just isn't smart enough) Fix-It Shops, Dan Kleppner et al and more? | yes | |
| Mar 10, 2021 | Chris Barnett, theory of recycling (GeorgeB to followup) Chris Barnett, VP waste mgmt | NOT YET | GeorgeB to confirm date with Barnett |
| Mar 17, 2021 | Why is Venus so bloody hot? The greenhouse effect. (Charlie Holbrow) | yes | |
| Mar 24, 2021 | I. I. Robi, a story of scientific rags-to-riches (Dan Kleppner) | yes | Dan K to supply summary |
| Mar 31, 2021 | (GeorgeG to fup) Flying Cars, technology and practical considerations. Woburn company? | NOT YET | GeorgeG find person to speak and confirm date(date is flexible) |
| Apr 7, 2021 | Telephone Switching Before Computers (Ken Pogran) | yes | |
| Apr 14, 2021 | An update on the rebuilding of Notre-Dame: what was destroyed or damaged, what will be rebuilt, how to balance historical accuracy with modern safety and architectural requirements, in order to result in a modern but historically faithful reconstruction of Notre Dame Cathedral. (Bob Primak) | yes | |
| Apr 21, 2021 | Andrea Ghez; won Nobel Physics for black holes, Brian Green video has interview with her. JohnR has videos with Ghez (and will investigate applicability for LCTG) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcPPGVigvZk This is an excellent description by Andrea Ghez (2020 Nobel Prize winner in Physics). It is 50 minutes long and is an excellent example of women in science. I think it is better than her interview with Brian Greene. It was given at the World Science Festival which is run by Greene | ||
| Apr 28, 2021 | Potpourri | ||
| May 5, 2021 | Women in Science - Sara Seager/Distinguished MIT Professor in Physics, Astronomy, Earth Science (CharlieH) (video in smi warehouse) | ||
| May 12, 2021 | Ivor Morgan is willing to talk about his career in Antarctica, he has photos. It started with him being assigned to a radar station in UK after WWII, then to Antarctica for 2 years. [George Gamota] | ||
| May 19, 2021 | Potpourri | ||
| May 26, 2021 | Lex Liby presentation on security by Bruce Schneier https://youtu.be/eVCYX3N-nFQ | ||
| June 2, 2021 | Eli Brookner would like to present to the group “Fun Family Talk on Contributions of Radar to Winning WWII”. Abstract from Eli: Radar was in its infancy at the start of World War II. The British were using radar effectively along their coastline with a network of antennas on very tall towers to warn of approaching German aircraft, but they needed an invention that would allow radars to be small enough to fit on ships and aircraft. They came up with the cavity magnetron. However they looked to American manufacturing know-how and resources to mass produce this device in a hurry. After turndowns by all the major US firms, a small Boston newcomer, Raytheon Company, came up with a solution and ended up making 85% of all magnetrons used by the allies in the war, and changed the course of the war. | ||
| June 9, 2021 | |||
| June 16, 2021 | |||
| June 23, 2021 | |||
| June 30, 2021 |
- Orphaned (moved from 12/9/2020)
Computational Photography - changing what's used as a camera. link e.g., replacing DSLR with cellphones; more (Jonathan Goode?, Harry Forsdick?) (needs a lead) - Orphaned (moved from 11/11/2020)
How one builds a web application (e.g., using spreadsheets) (Harry Forsdick) - Orphaned Best of Freakonomics an interview with Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, moderated by Faith Salie. Recorded at the 92nd Street Y on May 2015. (Peter Albin has link to 70min video)
- Last modified: 2020.11.26 09:35
- by smismi7