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This is an old revision of the document!

This page https://LCTG.toku.us last changed 2022.06.29 12:17 Visits: [56 times today, 47 times yesterday, and 58811 total times]
Speaker schedule page . Potential Topics (for later scheduling)

We have a YouTube channel where you can easily see all of our recorded presentations. Click to see LCTG's Videos.

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Info for Speakers

Lexington Computer and Technology Group

The Lexington Computer and Technology Group (LCTG) is a volunteer, no-cost, not-for-profit, just-for-fun-and-education organization that meets most Wednesdays from 10am to 11:30am to discuss a wide variety of technical issues. (Sometimes we meet at a different time, see this in the schedule below.) Meetings are open to anyone interested in the topic(s). The group has an email list (see how to join below) for announcements and discussions.

Click to learn about the group

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The LCTG grew out of “The Computer Group” which existed prior to the opening of the Lexington Community Center, which is where we meet now.

Members of the group come from all walks of life, education, and previous experiences. Talks are presented by members of the group as well as outside experts on a variety topics of interest to the group. There is a schedule for future talks as well as a record of previous talks, below.

Many of the meetings feature an outside expert; others are led by group members. Time is set aside, approximately once a month, for short talks and for members to bring questions or problems to the membership. If you could present a topic of interest to the group, please contact us.

Members can be active, attending most of the meetings, or contributing to the discussion list, or can merely take advantage of the material being posted regarding our talks. There is no requirement for living in Lexington, and although the group started in the Lexington Senior Center there is no requirement to be a senior. The technical level of the talks varies considerably, making much of the material of interest to those with more modest technical abilities.

As of October 2022, we are back in the Lexington Community Center (LCC) as part of a Hybrid Meeting strategy. Most meetings are hybrid, meaning they are available to watch in-person in the LCC and also via Zoom. Most are recorded and posted on YouTube, check below for listings (upcoming and past meeting recordings).
For remote participants, the Zoom connection information is provided in Meeting Announcements.

Speakers may request not to be recorded. Copyrighted materials and other unrelated portions of the presentation may be omitted from videos. URLs may be substituted and/or added.

If you would like to join a meeting via Zoom, you will need to join the group (see above) to get emails with the meeting connection information. For security reasons and the possibility the information may change, we do not post this here on this site so write us, or join the group so you'll get meeting notices – it's free and painless.

For further information contact the group coordinators by email at LCTG@toku.us. We look forward to have you join us!

Click to see how to join the email lists to get meeting info

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Joining the main LCTG Email List
To receive notices of upcoming meetings and join discussions, send an email to LCTG-subscribe@toku.us and include in the body of your email:

  • Your full name
  • Town of Residence
  • Brief self-introduction and your interest in the group
  • Optionally, topic(s) of interest you might present or share at a group meeting

This email list is closely monitored to keep discussions on topic and prevent spam. For off-topic and lengthy discussions, see the Extended Discussions list, below.

To send a message to the list, address your email to: LCTG@lists.toku.us and for other info:

Joining the Extended Discussions List
Sometimes members want to have extended or lengthy discussions on a topic or express their opinions. There is a separate, more open discussion list that you can use, the LCTG-Extended list.
To subscribe to the LCTG-Extended list, send an email to LCTG-Extended-subscribe@toku.us
And then to send a message to the list, send it to: LCTG-Extended@toku.us

2019.07.25 00:09 · Steve Isenberg

Jump to view presentations by year

2022 . 2021 . 2020 . 2019 . 2018



Future Meetings Schedule

jump to past meetings

Return to main LCTG page
Presenting to the group with Zoomnot ready for prime time: [using ppt impress etc to present|Tips for using MS Powerpoint and LibreOffice Impress in your presentation]
This schedule last modified 2024.09.18 13:48

Recently produced meeting videos you can watch now:

::UPCOMING MEETINGS::

DateTopicconfirmedFollowups
September 18, 2024Claude Shannon - Father of Information Theory and Father of the Information Age (George Gamota)
30 minute overview 60 minute MIT lecture by Bob Gallagher
Claude Shannon Tricks for Creative Problem Solving		 LCC Room 246
September 25, 2024GASP Planning session (Gigantic Allhands Scheduling and Planning) Online only
October 2, 2024NAS (Network Attached Storage) and Docker Apps. Plex server. (Drew)
October 9, 2024Inspiring the next generation: Women’s Technology Program in Mechanical Engineering at M.I.T. (Barbara Hughey) DanK, PeterA
October 16, 2024Tech for Senior(s) Topic(s) Peter & Drew (finders), SteveI(editor)
October 23, 2024Potpourri
October 30, 2024Talks at Google (Peter lead)
November 6, 2024
November 13, 2024
November 20, 2024
November 27, 2024day before Thanksgiving
December 4, 2024Potpourri
December 11, 2024GASP Planning session (Gigantic Allhands Scheduling and Planning)
December 18, 2024
December 25, 2024Christmas day
January 1, 2025New Year's Day
January 8, 2025
January 15, 2025
January 22, 2025
January 29, 2025


click to show recent meetings

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::RECENT MEETINGS::

DateTopic
Jan 3, 2024 We Will Have a Syncing Feeling: Using applications and files across platforms - a forum (Drew King, lead) chat messages
Jan 10, 2024LIDAR mapping with Dale Fried of 3DEO, hosted by Dan Kleppner chat messages . watch the presentation
For more information on the company and its technology, visit the 3DEO website at https://3deolidar.com/ and their YouTube Channel
Jan 17, 2024Unifying Nature’s Laws: The State of String Theory.
Jan 24, 2024Videos played:
How does Starlink Satellite Internet Work?
Bill Gates talking with Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy, about AI transforming education
Jan 31, 2024potpourri: Feynman: Fun to Imagine (67min) followed by luncheon at Bamboo in Bedford
Feb 7, 2024 Space Update (George Gamota) chat messages
Feb 14, 2024Nifty Smartphone apps. Like Seek; Shazam; Pedometer; etc. chat messages
Feb 21, 2024Nifty Smartphone Apps Part 2 chat messages
Feb 28, 2024More neat apps for phones and computers – and more (Adam Broun)
* several interesting apps from the useful to the idiotic: Authy (2-factor authentication); Arc Search (Browser with summarization); Windy (weather in depth); Rise (Sourdough baking); Can of Soup (silly pictures)
* Self-hosting, moving services away from Google and Apple to resources you can control yourself: Proxmox (virtual machines); OPNSense (router); Home Assistant (Home automation); Photoprism (photo management); NextCloud (file sharing and collaboration)
List of self-hosted apps: https://github.com/awesome-selfhosted/awesome-selfhosted, Self hosted forum: https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted
slides chat messages
Mar 6, 2024 potpourri
* "Watchroom", a short film by Noah Wagner on AI and Robotics. It'll make you think. (Dick Wagner)
* Android Apps (Drew) – continuing our topic of Interesting Apps from previous weeks. watch the presentation chat messages
Mar 13, 2024Sleep Deprivation (John Rudy) watch the presentation slides
What is Passkey and how does it work as compared to Passwords (Steve Isenberg) watch the presentation [ notes on passkey used during presentation ]
chat messages
Mar 20, 20242023 Nobel Prize in Medicine: mRNA (Harry Forsdick & Dick Wagner) watch the presentation
slides chat messages
The link to videos in the slides may not work; here are the links to videos included in the presentation:
How mRNA Vaccines Work
mRNA Vaccines Questions and Misconceptions
Announcement of the prize
TED talk, how mRNA medicine will change the world, Melissa J. Moore
Mar 27, 2024How the MIT museum has restructured itself to a Technology gateway to MIT
Moving and rediscovering the MIT Museum collection (4m) and Tour of the MIT Museum (49m) chat messages
Apr 3, 2024“The Science & Lore of Eclipses – Shadows in Space” a Road Scholar lecture chat messages
Apr 10, 20242023 Nobel Prize in Medicine - mRNA - Part 2
Apr 17, 2024Richard Feynman Lecture: "Los Alamos From Below" (1h18m)
Apr 24, 2024GASP Planning session (Gigantic Allhands Scheduling and Planning) chat messages
May 1, 2024Five Levels of Difficulty Day. Five levels of difficulty on:
Time: Brian Greene explains Time in 5 levels of difficulty
Wormholes: Wormholes Explained - Breaking Spacetime
CRISPR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sweN8d4_MUgBiologist Explains CRISPR in 5 Levels of Difficulty
PickPocketing: 9 levels of pick-pocketing, easy to complex, from Wired mag
chat messages
May 8, 2024Inflammation Unmasked: Insights into its Physiology, Detection, and Treatment. (Jerry Harris, Rheumatologist)
slides . chat messages . watch the presentation
May 15, 2024Spacecraft Technology, the Design of the International Space Station, and Comparison of Technology in Spacecraft Over Time. Presented by Dr. Gary H Kitmacher from NASA Johnson Space Center. chat messages . watch the presentation
May 22, 2024Potpourri: Check Washing 101
Your favorite apps and websites. Follow-up to meeting 2/14 slides
Eclipse photos (TedK) 15m [link to Ted's pictures - coming soon]
May 29, 2024Oppenheimer and the Institute for Advanced Study, presented by Dan Kleppner watch the presentation chat messages
June 5, 2024Selected talk(s) from Google
June 12, 2024Materials and Medicine - talk by Robert Langer, a replay of his presentation at Cary Library on May 28th.
Retro Technology: examples, how it/they work, how to use. Sliderule, rotary telephone, abacus, etc.
June 19, 20245G and 6G: 10-fold increase in top internet speeds. (TedK & BobP) 5G slides . chat messages
June 26, 2024YouTube topics on Quantum Mechanics: Sabina and others. (BarryK) Videos shown:
Don't fall for quantum hype
The Quantum Hype Bubble Is About To Burst
Quantum Computing with Light: The Breakthrough?
Quantum Computers cross 1000 Qubits Threshold! What does this mean?
It looks like AI will kill Quantum Computing
Bad News for Quantum Computing: Another Advantage Gone
Quantum Internet: No One Needs This
How to Detect Quantum Bullshit
July 3, 2024Potpourri
Considerations and specifications for your next computer slides . chat messages
July 10, 2024GASP Planning session (Gigantic Allhands Scheduling and Planning)
July 17, 2024Development of the Abiocor total artificial heart (Alan Millner)
The Abiocor total artificial heart developed by Abiomed, is an electro-hydraulic device implanted in a patient with the original damaged heart removed. It is self-contained with no tether to hospital equipment. chat messages . slides . watch the presentation
July 24, 2024Fusion Update (TedK) watch the presentation
July 31, 2024Old Technology 1968-1994 (JohnRudy) watch the presentation . chat messages . slides
August 7, 2024Bob Metcalfe talk: Connectivity is the Thing chat messages
August 14, 2024WinGet - Windows Package Manager (Drew)
August 21, 2024Several Tech-for-Seniors episodes. Will be useful/interesting even if you're not old enough to be a “senior”. Ep 170A 6/17/2024 Hackers, Duck Duck Go, and more Ep 176A 7/29/2024 Screenshot on Chromebook, Snopes, Trackers
August 28, 2024Euclid Telescope (JerryS) chat messages watch the presentation
September 4, 2024Potpourri
* Bringing back the dead (info JohnR found)
* JerryS Covid vaccination update chat messages Watch the Covid presentation
September 11, 2024Quantum Computing (Vladan Vuletic, Dept. of Physics, MIT)
Are quantum computers possible? And if yes, what will we be able to do with them (and when can I buy one)? Vladan will discuss the state of the art in quantum computing, with particular focus on neutral-atom quantum computing based on atoms in Rydberg states. watch the presentation

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2023.08.16 11:39

Past Meetings

2022

click to show Jan-June 2022 past meetings

Click to hide Jan-June 2022 meetings

DateTopic and linksAttaches#
Jan 5, 2022Best of Freakonomics, an interview with Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, moderated by Faith Salie. Recorded at the 92nd Street Y on May 2015. 26
Jan 12, 2022Downdraft Radar Technology (Dr. Jim Evans) video shown as part of presentation Slides Downdraft Radar Presentation 35
Jan 19, 2022Quantum Mechanics Part 1 (Charlie Holbrow) Quantum Mechanics presentation39
Jan 26, 2022Potpourri
* Meandering Rivers (John Rudy) Concord River is a good example. e.g., https://www.ausableriver.org/blog/why-do-streams-meander Mark Twain and Fenimore Cooper
* Sweet Summations in Short (Charlie Holbrow)
* Single Slit Interference Explained (Bob Melanson)		Meandering Rivers presentation
Sweet Summations presentation
Slit Interference presentation 		36
Feb 2, 2022Manufacturing Chips (Dan Gamota, son of our George, works for a chip manufacturer)Chip Manufacturer presentation 40
Feb 9, 2022Virus package update; both real-time (e.g., Defender) and off-line (e.g., Malware Bytes). Consider Windows 10 & Windows 11(TPM), but also Mac/OSX.
presentation notes SE Labs tests
How a guy hacked a crypto wallet (32m) 		Virus Update Presentation 31
Feb 16, 2022Potpourri
Charlie Holbrow explains Lagrangian points, especially L2.
Followup to Virus topic: Browser Guards (Drew King) slides 		Lagrangian Points presentation
Browser Guards presentation 		34
Feb 23, 2022planning meeting no presentation 16
Mar 2, 2022 10amGeorge Gamota Space Update Space Update presentation30
Mar 2, 2022 7pmManaging File Size - for Photos, email, PDF documents, etc. (Allan Sherman)
Allan was the lead of this group in the past and is well respected by those who know, or meet, him. He also discusses his life in New Zealand for the past two years.		Managing File Size presentation27
Mar 9, 2022 The secret of Tuxedo Park (PBS American Experience) [53m]
Where did "Tuxedo" come from?[5m]		 25
Mar 16, 2022 Potpourri
Upgrading to Windows 11 and getting around the Windows 11 machine requirements (Drew)
Feynman: Fun to Imagine (Jiggling Atoms, Fire, and Rubber Bands)
How to build a tin can (12m)
The Physics of Curling (11m)
How Curling Stones are Made (6m)		slides from Windows 11 presentation
Windows 11 presentation 		30
Mar 23, 2022 Women in Science: David Kahan presenting an overview of the history and accomplishments of women in science over the years. Women in Science presentation25
Mar 30, 2022Quantum Physics Part 2 (Charlie Holbrow)
Related presentations by Charlie: Quantum Mechanics I and Quantum Physics		Quantum Physics presentation33
Apr 6, 2022 John Snow and the Cholera Epidemic of 1854 (Jerry Slate)
John Snow (1813 – 1858) was a British physician who became interested in the transmission of cholera. At the time, airborne transmission of disease, miasma, was the accepted model for cholera. When Snow showed his data on the cholera epidemic of 1854 (in a manner not previously seen), there was much resistance in the scientific community to a paradigm shift. 		John Snow/Cholera presentation27
Apr 13, 2022Craig Fields on DARPA (not recorded at speaker's request) Honest remarks and a lively conversation with the person who ran DARPA from 1974-1990.
DARPA=Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency		not recorded37
Apr 20, 2022Potpourri
GPS Jamming (Bob Primak) slides
Bowling Balls, Lanes, and Science		GPS Jamming presentation34
Apr 27, 2022How Air Traffic Control has been impacted by STARS (Mel Weinzimer)
STARS=Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System, developed by Raytheon and the FAA as part of the Terminal Automation Modernization and Replacement (TAMR) Program.		ATC/STARS presentation42
May 4, 2022Michael Faraday: Student of the Natural World (Franklin Segall, M.D.) not recorded34
May 11, 2022James Clerk Maxwell: Scientist as Magician (Franklin Segall, M.D.) not recorded38
May 18, 2022Rumford – From Woburn Farmboy to Count of the Holy Roman Empire. (Howard Cohen)
From Wikipedia:
Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, was an American-born British physicist and inventor whose challenges to established physical theory were part of the 19th-century revolution in thermodynamics. slides 		Rumford presentation32
May 25, 2022Scheduling meeting 29
June 1, 2022Bitcoin and Web3 - Their Technology and Impact on the World; and NFT - Non Fungible Tokens (Jerry Harris [Lex])
Suggested video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ_xWvX1n9g
presentation slides		Bitcoin Web3 presentation44
June 8, 2022The Prodigy of High Precision Measurements (Daniel Kleppner) High Precision presentation27
June 15, 2022Solar Panels and Energy Storage Devices (Mark Sandeen) – why or why not, and savings, pluses and minuses Solar Panel presentation44
June 22, 2022Internet fast lanes, stock trading, net neutrality. (Bob Primak)Internet Trading presentation27
June 29, 2022

Information & Communication Technologies| |21| |Sept 15, 2021|Potpourri
* Adventures in Tiling the Plane (Ken Cutter) slides
* The Simplest Math Problem No one Can Solve – Collatz Conjecture video (22m)
* Rough Fractals video (17m)| |26| |Sept 22, 2021|Margaret Geller: Caught in the Cosmic Web. Margaret made the first and several recent maps of the distribution of galaxies in the universe, showing that they are not distributed randomly in space but form interesting patterns that repeat on the largest scales.|(not recorded at speaker's request) |30| |Sept 29, 2021|What are Blockchains & How They work link (6m)(Larry Wittig)
What is a cryptographic hash function? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptographic_hash_function
CryptoCurrency video (55m)| |30| |Oct 6, 2021|Is There Intelligent Life Anywhere? (Howard Winkler)| Watch the presentation
Slides|28| |Oct 13, 2021|Potpourri
tech gifts (by: cost, category, knowledge level)|Slides with links
Watch the presentation |22| |Oct 20, 2021|CRISPR by Dick Wagner
The acronym “CRISPR” (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) has often been invoked when considering recent revolutionary genetic engineering advances. This presentation will be devoted to the origin of the term, its biological significance, and how further knowledge led to the expansion of the meaning of this term as well as its underlying processes in genetic engineering. Finally, Dick will discuss the potential of CRISPR for deriving further molecular biological information and uses from experimentation and analysis.|Watch the presentation
Slides |35| |Oct 27, 2021|CRISPR part 2. Dick Wagner gives a brief review and then more detail.|Watch the presentation
Slides |24| |Nov 3, 2021|The linked fates of Haber and Weitzmann by Bretislav Friedrich Two scientists who had a significant impact on technology and history
 In the early 1930s, as Nazism was gaining strength in Germany, two renowned German-speaking Jewish scientists found themselves on converging paths: Fritz Haber (1868–1934), one of the most influential – and controversial – of 20th century chemists, and Chaim Weizmann (1874–1952), a successful biochemist, leader of the world Zionist movement, and future founder of the State of Israel. In their meetings and correspondence, they reflect on the history, current events, and fate of science and scientists, and strive to create a place where learning and humanism would rise above racism and hatred.
Followup: a pretty amazing summary of the history of physical and theoretical chemistry: NIH link|Watch the presentation|34| |Nov 10, 2021|Potpourri
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/decoding-da-vinci/ A NOVA on DaVinci
Bizarre Behavior of Nuts [15m]| |23| |Nov 17, 2021|Covid (and Variants) Update. Jerry Slate.
Note: Should children be vaccinated? Video 32:40. What went wrong? Video 48:00 |Watch the presentation
slides|32| |Nov 24, 2021|No meeting (Day before Thanksgiving)| | | |Dec 1, 2021|The history of knee replacement and the technology behind it. Presented by Dr. Richard Scott| watch the presentation |39| |Dec 8, 2021| The first LASER of 2021 explores the relationship between humans, DNA, and data, featuring media artist and TED speaker Refik Anadol in conversation with Dr. Robert Grass from ETH Zurich, and Christine Choirat from Harvard and the Swiss Data Science Center. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCMaMEyYpdw (First 41 mins of 90 min) TED Talk
The Skill of Humor [19m] | | 25| |Dec 15, 2021|The Glide “no-code” Application Development Environment (Harry Forsdick)
Nearly codeless programming (AKA “No Code Programming”); the concepts that are done for you by the system. This is an illustrated talk about and demonstration of the Glide “no-code” application development environment. Glide is representative of the possible future for (some) software development activities presented by a survivor from the early days of computer programming. read abstract | Watch the presentation |33| |Dec 22, 2021| Windows 11 (Drew King); useful sites:
How to create Windows 11/10/8/7 To Go by using WinToUSB
Download Windows 11 ISO file for use with WinToUSB
Windows Speech commands
File sharing over a network in Windows | Watch the presentation |39| |Dec 29, 2021|The Useful Information Meeting (Bob Primak):
» What do you do with an older PC? (paperweight alternatives)
» Windows 11 Upgrade Notification
» Installing Linux Mint on an old laptop (it's easy)
Notes from the presentation:
video of Linux installation notes for video
Mint Linux install
Win 11 upgrade icon
What to do with an old PC|Watch the presentation|31| </hidden> <hidden initialState=“hidden” onVisible=“Click to hide past 2020 meetings” onHidden=“click to show 2020 past meetings”> |< 100% 8% >| ^Date^Topic and links| | | |Jan 8, 2020|Ig Nobel 2019 Awards awards for dubious inventions (Peter Albin) link to Improbable Research page|watch the presentation| | |Jan 15, 2020|[1] How we accomplished the change from Yahoo Groups and using the new system (30min, Steve Isenberg) Slides
[2] Windows Security Settings and Windows 7 Anti-Malware (30min, Gary Patrick) Slides
[3] Alternatives to TV servers: new ways of getting programming (30min, Steve Isenberg) Slides . 2010 NY Times article . Spreadsheet shows service vs content |[1] Watch the presentation
[2] Watch the presentation
[3] Watch the presentation| | |Jan 22, 2020|Tesla-Marconi conflict their radio-related patent war from 1900-1943 (Bob Primak) Presentation notes |Watch the presentation| | |Jan 29, 2020|Potpourri Ken Cutter spoke on UFO's slideset and the history behind speed of light measurements slideset.
John Rudy showed a video from Broad Institute (pronounced, bro-awd): Overall view of Broad Institute and the presentation we watched, human genome revolution past, present, and future.
John Rudy mentioned that there are some MOOC classes on introduction to biology, see info at this edx link (MOOC=Massive Open Online Course)| | | |Feb 5, 2020|Career Day Attendees discuss interesting things from their career.|Watch the discussion| | |Feb 12, 2020|Space Update (George Gamota)| | | |Feb 19, 2020|Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad AI This is a later presentation, and therefore improved over an earlier presentation.
(John Rudy will coordinate.)|watch the video| | |Feb 26, 2020|Patents – What they are, a brief history of patents, how to read them, and how to obtain them|watch the presentation| | |Mar 4, 2020|Patent Licensing from Universities (Lita Nelson)|watch the presentation| | |Mar 11, 2020|Geodesy, its properties and tools, presented by Mike Pearlman of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Program on Geodesy
Geodesy is the science of accurately measuring and understanding three fundamental properties of the Earth: its geometric shape, its orientation in space, and its gravity field— as well as the changes of these properties with time.
Space Geodesy uses sources external to the Earth: artificial satellites (in satellite geodesy), quasars (in very-long-baseline interferometry, VLBI), and the retroreflectors on the Moon (in lunar laser ranging) to measure these static and time varying properties.
Of current interest are measurements to monitor geodetic parameters and their temporal variations in a global reference frame with a target relative accuracy of 10E-9 – 10E-10, for both scientific understanding of the Earth system and understanding their potential impact on society
Fundamental to these measurements is a reference frame that provides stability over space, time, and evolving technology. |watch the presentation| | |Mar 18, 2020|Tracking New Diseases: Medical issues incl Vaping (Jerry Slate)|watch the presentation|45| |Mar 25, 2020|Patents for high technology (and when not to have them) (Dick Wagner)|watch the presentation|44| |Apr 1, 2020|3D Printing and Robotics in Industry: An Update (George Burnell) 3D Printers fighting Coronavirus (link from PeterA)|watch the presentation
chat messages|45| |Apr 8, 2020|Christine Muir, Community Librarian at Cary Library, will demonstrate how to access all the online resources offered by the library. There is no fee for any of these resources, which include ebooks, digital audiobooks, movies, music, TV shows, newspapers, and more.|watch the presentation|41| |Apr 15, 2020|Futurism We started with something different (Cute Brother and Sister); and then
a couple of videos by/with Amy Webb (a quantitative futurist, professor of strategic foresight at the NYU Stern School of Business and founder of the Future Today Institute)
Ted Talk on hacking online dating (17 mins)
presenting the 2019 Emerging Tech Trends Report (60 minutes) at SXSW in March 2019
relevant links for your offline reference include https://amywebb.io/
There were several links shown during the videos: http://bit.ly/FTI2019TechTrends (this links to the 2020 report), http://bit.ly/SXSW2019TechTrends, and the “TWiT” program we watched at the end http://twit.tv/subscribe (and there's lots to subscribe to!!) and http://twit.tv/live| |41| |Apr 22, 2020|Potpourri Gary Patrick with information on Encryption and some Utilities.
Charly Sestokas with computer buying tips, etc; HD vs SSD; SD Longevity; MS Surface;
plus Potential House Fires from Phone, Tablet, Laptop, other Electronic Charging setups|watch the presentation
the presentation with captions
slides
chat messages|42| |Apr 29, 2020|The Science behind Columbus (Bob Melanson)
Bob finishes this up on July 15|watch the presentation
slides |36| |May 6, 2020|The Manhattan Project first part (Charles Holbrow)|watch the presentation|58| |May 13, 2020|Nuclear Power Generation (David Kahan)|slides
watch the presentation|47| |May 20, 2020|Boost-Phase Defense against ICBMs presented by Dan Kleppner.
Because little was known publicly about the Bush proposal, the American Physical Society initiated a study. Our presenter was co-chair of the study group. Although the study is fifteen years old, little has changed. |slides
watch the presentation|46| |May 27, 2020|George Burnell Part II
Continuation/conclusion of George Burnell's earlier presentation on 3D printing|watch the presentation|26| |June 3, 2020|The Manhattan Project - part 2 (Charles Holbrow)slides |watch the presentation|46| |June 10, 2020|Potpourii NY Times article dealing with privacy (Peter Albin)
Phone tracking of people (Charlie Holbrow)
The Immortal (BBC program)|(not recorded)|42| |June 17, 2020|Sabermetrics The Statistical Analysis of Baseball (Andy Andres)
Andy Andres is a senior lecturer of natural science at the Boston University College of General Studies who is an expert in exercise physiology, nutritional biochemistry and baseball. In addition to the work listed above, Andres writes, lectures, and speaks to the media about the effects of steroids on baseball players, and he teaches a course at Tufts University in sabermetrics, the data-driven analysis of baseball performance. These pursuits allow the lifelong Red Sox fan and athlete to synthesize his twin loves: baseball and scientific inquiry. Andres is also an MLB datacaster at Fenway Park, a Data Analyst for BaseballHQ.com and Head Coach/Lead instructor for the MIT Science of Baseball Program. In the spring of 2014, Andres will teach a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) titled “Sabermetrics 101: Introduction to Baseball Analytics” on the edX platform.
SABR: Society of American Baseball Research|watch the presentation|33| |June 24, 2020|MOOC Massive Open Online Courses – What's there, what's new. (John Rudy, Charlie Holbrow)
Broken into three presentations: John's talk on available MOOCs, Charlie's talk on MOOCs, and Q&A discussion.
Slidesets to the right.|slides/rudy
slides/holbrow
watch the presentation|40| |July 1, 2020|Variety Special with Bob Primak and John Rudy on SUMo updater, other topics presented by Steve Isenberg including: Getting loads of music files legally for free after inexpensive application purchase; Video on Deepfakes (how it's done), and a video on Virus Mobility (a haha). Here are links to what we presented and displayed:
Updater apps: SUMo Application Updater (Win) [SUMo Details] Ninite Windows Application Updater
Download/convert apps: Any Video Converter - Downloads YouTube vids and converts formats (Win, Mac) 4K Video Downloader
Listen/Watch/Record apps: RadioTracker - download music from Internet (Win) Audials, extension of RadioTracker, music and video download and more (Win)
Videos played: How Deepfakes Work A Virus Walks into a Bar|SUMo slides
watch the presentation|38| |July 8, 2020|5G and Internet of Things in the Age of Coronavirus (Bob Primak)
Slides References 5G Networks 5G Spectrum Bands |watch the presentation|41| |July 15, 2020|Potpourri
last part of Bob Melanson's Columbus presentation started on 4/29
The Physics of Sailing
Q&A from Bob Primak's 5G talk last week, 7/8
Onboard automotive diagnostics (Bill Quinn) slides |watch the presentation|42| |July 22, 2020|Video on Secrets of the lost Antikythera; A 2000 year old computer. (Jonathan Goode) link.
Brief intro to using Davinci Resolve to produce a slideshow video (Steve Isenberg)| |42| |July 29, 2020|Frontline AI part 1 (AI for the Masses) Frontline: In the Age of AI
Related articles (thanks Peter) T-Shirt makes you invisible NIST looks into face mask effects on face recognition| |34| |August 5, 2020|Back to the Basics – Office Tools
Interesting Excel Spreadsheet uses (Jonathan)
neat applications of functions (SteveI) Sample spreadsheet (Excel version) and LibreOffice (.ods) version |watch the Presentation|44| |August 12, 2020|More on AI. The Rise of Artificial Intelligence| |27| |August 19, 2020|How to Build a Time Machine
What Happens When You Respond to Spam (Peter Albin presented)| |26| |August 26, 2020|Myths and Facts on Climate Change - a non-alarmist perspective Presented by Shelly Lowenthal who says: “I developed a class on climate change that I give to life long learning organizations. It’s part of my History Course that I present. … There is science involved.”
Shelly recommends that you watch Michael Moore's movie on YouTube, “Planet of the Humans” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk11vI-7czE (1hr 40min) before the meeting. It is a documentary on wind and solar green energy.
Here's a 37 second teaser for the movie:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pXCftKF4uI|watch the presentation|42| |Sept 2, 2020|Count Rumford and his 18th Century Technology Innovationns Dan Kleppner: Quite a few years ago I became interested in Benjamin Thompson (1752-1814) , aka Count Rumford. He was a great applied scientist and we owe much of our modern domestic technology to him: the kitchen range, double boiler, layered clothing and thermal underwear, steam heating,…. He was the first person to clearly understand all the modes of heat transfer. He was a public benefactor, initiated poor houses in many European cities, and he founded the Royal Institution in London which supported the research of Michael Faraday His career was a series of rags to riches. He would be better remembered if it were not for a character flaw: he antagonized everyone he dealt with to such a degree that he had to flee the country time and again.|watch the presentation|41| |Sept 9, 2020|Blind Bombing by Norman Fine
“I found this book spellbinding and with insight into the development of a new and advanced secret radar system that permitted the allies to penetrate through inclement weather and enable the allies to reverse the dominance of the Nazis at the onset of WWII. Blind Bombing has a warm sensitive side, in that Norman Fine’s uncle (Stanley) brought the first production model of the new airborne radar system to Europe permitting allied bombers to destroy factories supplying the German forces that were usually obscured by overcast weather”.|watch the presentation slides |30| |Sept 16, 2020|Potpourri
What to do with your family during a pandemic? (George Gamota)
Update of Elon Musk's Starlink Satellite Internet Project (Bob Primak)
There were videos we could not include in this presentation. Here are links to them:
Video of the launch, fairing recovery, and booster return, and landing on a ship: https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-11-satellites-launch-september-2020.html
Launch and first stage separation and landing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ei_Z_Xv3BM
Deployment of satellites: https://videos.space.com/m/N9qB26JP/watch-spacex-deploy-60-starlink-satellites-in-amazing-view-from-space?list=9wzCTV4g
Fairing recovery (previous launch in July): https://www.space.com/spacex-falcon-9-rocket-payload-fairing-catch-success.html
Another “filler” video we showed: harvesting spaghetti|Presentation videos:
Pandemic What To Do
StarLink Update|34| |Sept 23, 2020|The future of music – production and delivery by Charles J Holbrow (CJH). What can we learn about the future or music and music technology by looking at the past? I will present examples that illustrate the evolution of musical ideas and technologies from their conception to how they have influenced and continue to influence popular music today. I will describe how popular music is created today and review some research-stage music production technologies that aim to influence the current music production paradigms. As part of my PhD studies at the MIT Media Lab, I am developing software to enable a new kind of online musical collaboration and distribution. I will conclude by showing you an early example of this software
Who is CJH? His early education was in Germany. His high school was the Sudbury Valley School, an alternative school in Sudbury, MA. After a year at Middlesex Community College, he transferred to UMass Lowell where he majored in sound recording technology and performance (piano). Following jobs developing software for games, he took up an internship at MIT's Opera of the Future program with noted composer Prof. Tod Machover. Subsequently, CJH was admitted into MIT's Media Arts and Sciences program from which he expects soon to receive a Ph.D. He is Charlie Holbrow's grandson.
The Media Timeline: Use mouse to zoom in/out; on Apple trackpad, two-finger up/down gesture to zoom; click and drag to pan the view.|watch the presentation slides |40| |Sept 30, 2020|Covid-19 Update (Jerry Slate)|watch the presentation|50| |Oct 7, 2020|Producing a TV Show using DaVinci Resolve (Steve Isenberg)|watch the presentation|33| |Oct 14, 2020|The CAC Ken Pogran tells about the Lexington Communications Advisory Committee. How did it start, what are its responsibilities, what are today's issues.|watch the presentation|27| |Oct 21, 2020|Harry Forsdick: ARPAnet & Internet Conferencing|watch the presentation|39| |Oct 28, 2020|Potpourri Slide Rules (remember them?) (Ken Schwarz)
The Saga of John Rudy's New TV
A bit on Zoom Webinars (John Rudy)\\Recycling electronics (John Rudy)
Nuclear R&D Progress Update (David Kahan)|(unable to create video)|41| |Nov 4, 2020|Atomic Clocks and, a brief history of Time (Dan Kleppner)|watch the presentation|37| |Nov 11, 2020|Atomic Clocks (part 2) by Dan Kleppner
followed by (and not in recorded presentation) mRNA: Transforming Medicine|watch the presentation|27| |Nov 18, 2020|Speech Input and Translation. George Gamota on Google Translate. Peter Albin on history of translation and voice recognition. Jerry Slate discusses and demonstrates Naturally Speaking. Video on Amazon Transcribe Amazon Transcribe is Now Generally Available|watch the presentation|44| |Nov 25, 2020|Vacation/no meeting | | | |Dec 2, 2020|Potpourri
One man's attempt to build a squirrel-impervious bird feeder (from John Rudy/20 min)
Sand on the Table - Harmonics
Ted Talk: Is Translation Easy? (17 min)
How Trees Talk to Each Other (Suzanne Simard) (found by CharlieH) (18 min)|(not recorded)|26| |Dec 9, 2020|Sara Seager/Distinguished MIT Professor in Physics, Astronomy, Earth Science on Venus (the planet) 1hr
Scientific approach to, yes, defogging your car's windows (by the Squirrel guy)|(not recorded)|34| |Dec 16, 2020|Acoustic Detection & Localization of an Active Shooter or Sniper presented by Tony Galaitsis
Deranged shooters and terrorist or enemy snipers have been a concern for a long time. Technological advances over the past few decades have used gunfire acoustic information to detect and localize active shooters and snipers in order to prevent or minimize their deadly impact. This presentation reviews the general state of acoustic shooter/sniper detection and localization, based on publicly available information found on the internet (YouTube videos, Wikipedia, manufacturer brochures, and published papers/patents) and some basic geometry.|watch the presentation|29| |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.
Learn from: Carl Laxarus, Bill Haley, Mike Alexander, Dick Wagner, George Burnell, David Kahan, and Dan Kleppner|watch the presentation|37| </hidden> <hidden initialState=“hidden” onVisible=“Click to hide past 2019 meetings” onHidden=“click to show 2019 past meetings”> ^Date^Link to Video(s)^Slides/notes| |Dec 25, 2019|Christmas - no meeting
Your homework is to celebrate the good things in life.| | |Dec 18, 2019|Potpourri John Rudy continues AI in Medicine; Steve Isenberg on Cloud File Storage Options| | |Dec 11, 2019|AI in Medicine MIT Alum Newsletter AI in Medical Care| | |Dec 4, 2019|Tech trends and holiday gift ideas (Peter Albin and Bob Primak) Watch the presentation Slides | | |Nov 27, 2019|Happy Thanksgiving! No meeting. | | |Nov 20, 2019|Dark Web. “The legitimate uses of TOR, which is the software on which the so-called Dark Web runs.
Or, if more interesting, a tour of the Dark Web“ https://darkwebtours.weebly.com/ Watch the presentation| | |Nov 13, 2019|Steering committee| | |Nov 6, 2019|Backup Strategies (Peter Albin) Watch the presentation|Slides | |Oct 30, 2019|Space colonies in Solar Orbit
The book describing our design study is available at:
http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2016/ph240/martelaro2/docs/nasa-sp-413.pdf
Watch the Presentation|Charlie's handout | |Oct 23, 2019 |Tesla vs Edison (Bob Primak) Watch the presentation |Bob's paper | |Oct 16, 2019 |Potpourri:
Flying Saucers – from material written by George Adamski;
Deep Fakes video;
Windows 10 tips (askwoody.com, you may need to become a member with voluntary paid membership; Backing up your device drivers; Getting those old games back into Win10, like FreeCell, Hearts, Solitaire, Chess, Minesweeper; discussion on when to and not to update to “the latest” Win10 release (consider: consult askwoody.com which today advises NOT to patch MS patches.) Gary's slides | | |Oct 9, 2019 |Yom Kippur, no meeting | | |Oct 2, 2019 |Science/Technology Rivalries: Newton vs. Liebnitz vs. Hooke (Charlie Holbrow) Watch the presentation (note: video is missing for part of the presentation)|handout | |Sept 25, 2019 |Application of physics techniques to biology. Gene Surfing and Survival of the Luckiest, David Nelson, Professor of Physics, Harvard (friend of Harry Forsdick). Population waves have played a crucial role in evolutionary history, as in the “out of Africa” hypothesis for human ancestry. Population geneticists and physicists are now developing methods for understanding how mutations, number fluctuations and selective advantages play out in such situations watch the presentation| | |Sept 18, 2019 |Cogito. A few weeks ago Mitch Wolfe sent out two very thought provoking links regarding the new science of voice technology, including what can be gathered by voice analysis using AI. We are fortunate to have Ali Azarbayejani, Cogito's CTO, visit and speak with us about the technology used by this local company which makes software that analyzes phone conversations and provides real-time guidance to help service employees better engage and connect with customers. Watch the presentation | | |Sept 11, 2019 |Jonathan Goode discusses many interesting (and amazing) computer details including fonts
Bob Primak on the Laser Scanning of St Pauls Cathedral and an update on the cleanup of Notre Dame Cathedral|Notes on Bob's talk
High lead levels found in Notre Dame WSJ Article, Reconstruction work is on hold due to lead| |Sept 4, 2019 |AI for People in a Hurry (short) and Setting Rules for the AI Race, plus a pre and post view discussion. Meeting led by Larry Wittig. | | |Aug 28, 2019 |Dava Sobel’s Google talk on “The Glass Universe”, women in Science (a Google Talk video)
JohnR will introduce the subject and speaker, we'll watch the video, and discuss it and related topics afterwards
see also Constructing the Glass Universe by Dava Sobel. Additional info on and about this topic, by Gary Patrick–includes comments on the video and more. | | |Aug 21, 2019|”UNIX, Linux - Origins, History, Ongoing Futures“, a talk presented by Charly Sestokas (note, talk will not be recorded)
plus a 30-minute video about SpaceX, presented by George Gamota| | |Aug 14, 2019 |Potpourri.
Eli Brookner finishes his talk on Radar and Einstein
CharlyS on Storage (not recorded).
How to use LexMedia to view videos on demand | | |Aug 7, 2019 |Eli Brookner "Snoopy on Radar & Phased Arrays & Einstein's Duality Theory – An Update." part 1 (90 min)| | |July 31, 2019|Eight Days to the Moon and Back - focus on Apollo 11 [George Gamota]| | |July 24, 2019|Breaking the WWII Enigma Machine (Material from the April 2019 Lexington Veteran’s meeting, search LexMedia On Demand for “Enigma”) [Rudy]| | |July 17, 2019|Potpourri including Steve Isenberg on virtual credit cards, space elevators, and more (planningpage) recording of presentation| | |July 10, 2019|Apple Computer, History and Devices, by Josh Turiel see the presentation| | |July 3, 2019|No Meeting due to Holiday | | |June 26, 2019|Update on 5G (Bob Primak) see the presentation| | |June 19, 2019|Black Hole 60-minute video (Gamota) plus| | |June 12, 2019|From talks at Google Frank Abagnale: "Catch Me If You Can"
and A new way to remove CO2 from the atmosphere (Jennifer Wilcox)| | |June 5, 2019|3D Reconstruction. Used for churches and other buildings. (Bob Primak)| | |May 29, 2019|Potpourri including Y2K. What was it, why did it happen, was it real? (John Rudy) and Gary Patrick on Windows Issues| | |May 22, 2019|Potpourri. Showed several movies. Vaccines calling shots
The Ingenious Design of the Aluminum Beverage Can
The strange tale of the Norden bombsight| | |May 15, 2019|Career stories. Come prepared to tell us about your technical experiences.
(We have done this 2-3 times before; but not recently).|https://www.pbs.org/video/nova-vaccinescalling-shots/| |May 8, 2019|Ray Kurzweil + Disruptive Technologies and Dangerous Ideas Singularity University co-founder, Google AI Director and noted futurist Ray Kurzweil joined Peter H. Diamandis for a 90-minute Ask Me Anything, all aimed at providing you an unfair advantage for your business.|https://youtu.be/SaOfLtoaKqw| |May 1, 2019|Potpourri and Steering Committee| | |April 24, 2019|Documentary on Neil Armstrong|Gamota| |April 17, 2019|History of the World in 100 Objects (continued). We listened to The mechanical galleon, Mexican codex map, Ship's chronometer from HMS Beagle, and Solar powered lamp and charger|British Museum site
BBC site| |April 10, 2019|Madame Curie video about Madame Curie and the Curie family, presented by Charlie Holbrow. Madame Curie and the Curie family will focus on her and her daughter and their characters and discoveries and how they fit into the sequence of dramatic developments in physics between the discovery of radioactivity in 1897 and the discovery of nuclear fission in 1938. This will include some description of Lise Meitner's role in these developments and a brief mention of why she didn't get a Nobel for the discovery of nuclear fission.
For those interested, Amazon has the movie Radioactive about Marie Curie's work (free to Amazon Prime members)|handout that wasn't handed out How the Curies' piezo device worked and measured small electric current| |April 3, 2019|Showing the 2014 AI movie Ex Machina: A young programmer is selected to participate
in a ground-breaking experiment in synthetic (artificial) intelligence (AI) by evaluating
the human qualities of a highly advanced humanoid. Very intriguing movie.|FYI, the movie is available on NetFlix.| |March 27, 2019|Computer History Museum (Mountain View, CA) interview with Frank Heart (who in 1969 led the team of BBN engineers that created the ARPANET).
slightly shortened version|slides | |March 20, 2019|George Gamota shows video "Journey through the Milky Way"
And relating to the end of the program, info on Detecting Dark Matter
New: Milky Way Bulge| | |March 13, 2019|Password Managers
Slides (with links) for the presentation
Will your password stand up to a cracker?
Is your password or account info out on the web?
Newsletter 4/15/2019 discussing password managers|Related info
About Keeper Password Manager
Keeper website screenshots | |March 6, 2019|History of the World in 100 items. Presenting a representative sample of the 100-part series of 15 podcasts by Neil MacGregor during his time as Director of the British Museum that explores world history from 2 million years ago to the present. We listened to The Flood Tablet, Hebrew Astrolabe, and Ming Bank Note.|British Museum site
BBC site| |February 27, 2019|George Gamota presents "2018 Space Events/Discoveries" plus 10 minute update on "Trump's Science Appointees"|Space Update slides
Trump Science Appointees slides | |February 20, 2019|Charlie presents the first of 3 talks on quantum physics, today's subject is "why wave-particle duality makes such a disturbing theory necessary"|Powerpoint slides
Wave Particle outline -- Why we need quantum mechanics | |February 13, 2019|Windows System Maintenance and Updating (Bob Primak) part 1|PDF of Bob's slides | |February 6, 2019|The Power Grid (presented by Jackie Zajac)|PDF of Jackie's slides | |January 30, 2019|2019 lg Nobel awards ceremony (presenter Peter Albin)
Awards Ceremony Improbable Research home|”Research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK“| |January 23, 2019|Shown:
TED Talk String theory - Brian Greene
The greatest dance sequence ever
The best stats you've ever seen
The tyranny of the rocket equation
Not shown but of possible interest
TED Talk Why is our universe fine-tuned for life? - Brian Greene
10 Fascinating Examples of Unintended Consequences| | |January 16, 2019|Mathematics of Weight Loss
10 Times Michio Kaku Arguments Blew Our Minds
TED Talk The freakonomics of McDonalds vs Drugs by Steve Levitt| | |January 9, 2019|Michael Rosenblatt, MD on "Ways That Wartime Injuries Have Influenced Civilian Medical Practice"|link to slides on Yahoo| </hidden> <hidden initialState=“hidden” onVisible=“Click to hide past 2018 meetings” onHidden=“click to show 2018 past meetings”> |December 19, 2018|Yumio Saneyoshi on "The State of Computer Programming Education for Youth"| | |December 12, 2018|Dr. Reinier Beeuwkes on "Fusion at MIT"| | |December 5, 2018|Endocrine system (no video)|Stress, Portrait of a Killer
slides are on the group Yahoo page| |November 28, 2018|Gary Patrick on "Current Windows Security Software"|PDF of Gary's slides | |November 7, 2018|Kathryn Flanagan on "The James Webb Space Telescope"| | |October 31, 2018|Harry Forsdick on "The Economics of Bitcoin"|Slides| |October 17, 2018|Steve Isenberg on "Blockchain Technology"|PowerPoint Slides | |October 10, 2018|Larry Wittig on "Encryption"|PDF of Larry's slides | |October 3, 2018|Bruce Cohen on "The Science of Psychiatric Disorders and Their Treatment"| | |August 1, 2018|Isabel Greenstein and Charles Wang on "What Is Social Media?"| | |July 18, 2018|George Gamota on "Is China the New Science Superpower?"|info on current changes in China:
https://youtu.be/SLmLPcUMci0
in BBC News| |July 11, 2018|Alan Levine on "Exoplanets" part 1| | </hidden>
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In the Works – Potential Topics


Topic Possibilities

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We'd like your thoughts on these and other topics you are interested in seeing or maybe presenting. Send your thoughts via email to info@LCTG.toku.us or contact John Rudy, Peter Albin, Bob Primak, or Steve Isenberg directly – Thank you.
This list last changed 2024.09.10 12:35
Note – numbering is for reference only and it has no other meaning. Numbers were assigned generally in the order topics were added to the list.
“fup” is short for “follow-up”

#DescriptionFollow-ups
#1Past Predictions on future technology. How did these play out? 1970s or thereabout. David Kaiser to give such a talk? Historian of science.

Director of the Harvard Museum, John Duran		 DanK to fup (Steve Quantro fup)


StephenQ fup
#2Anti-drone technology: Drones, missiles and guidance systems, electronic warfare, etc JohnR
#3The Rubin Observatory (a remarkable ground-based optical observatory, scheduled to see first-light in two years (~2025) (Marc Gorenstein)Ted K
#4Further consideration: Can we do anything more about climate change? Do we want to get into data collection and looking at whether the data we use now are applicable to the long-range questions about climate change? Are data sets really applicable to the problem we are studying? Ted Kochanski and Jerry Harris have proposed doing more about this topic. Still following up with the group about the nature of our interests on this topic. Keep on list? Push to future.
#5Further consideration: COVID update ca. Feb. 2023? Universal vaccine for all COVID variants? Common antigen for the virus. Not new science. But there are new developments. Likely not much to present, per JerryS. JerryS to fup.
#6Cosmic Background (Rainer Weiss) (PeterA & DanK to attempt contact)
#7Larry Sass on 3-D house printing, https://spectrum.mit.edu/fall-2022/larry-sass-wants-a-tech-upgrade-for-housing/ JohnR
#8The art of Space-Time (Anna Barnackna/CEO Mind Mix) Gravitational Lens Effect. (Since the discovery of the first lensed quasars in 1979, this quirky phenomenon has become central to cosmology, as light rays from distant galaxies are deflected (a bit) by gravitational effects of both dark matter and dark energy. DM and DE are the two big mysteries of cosmology – and in physics for that matter.)TedK to contact Barnackna
#9History and Technology of Deep Sea Exploration (SpeakerTBD)
newsletter from Woods Hole
Mythbusters video on implosion
Ballard talk (18m)		 TedK
#10Development of car navigation devices starting in ~1910 and evolving to the present day using digital computers, map database, and GPX. (Donald Cooke)[4/27/24] Cooke not sure when he can present
#11The development of photogrammetry from ~1930 to the current state of the art using a $500 “toy” drone and free software to produce orthophotography 50 or more times as detailed as the imagery in Google Maps and Google Earth. (Donald Cooke)[4/27/24] Cooke not sure when he can present
#12History and Practice of Heart Surgery and Medication (Geltman)JohnR
#13Future Predictions from the Past.
Predictions for 2035 (Quantum Supremacy, or others)		JohnR
#14More talks at Google linkPeter
#15Altruism and Science (DanK)Peter
#16Current state of animal transplants into humans.Ted
#17Current state of autonomous driving.
Justin Tse can talk about automatic driving capabilities in Tesla cars.(smi)		TedK
#18AI and Medicine (Quackenbush maybe, or Conor)Jerry, JohnR
#19Discuss: https://www.wired.com/story/antitrust-case-against-apple-weaponizes-the-cult-of-cupertino/



Video Possibilities

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  1. Why Craters are Round (Neil deGrasse Tyson explains; need to turn out the “comedian”) [~14min]
  2. Physicist Explains Dimensions in 5 Levels of Difficulty [28m]
  3. Physicist Explains Lasers in 5 Levels of Difficulty [24m]
  4. Other Mark Rober youtube videos (he did Squirrel vid) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY1kMZp36IQSyNx_9h4mpCg
  5. The Most Beautiful Equation in Math [4m] e to the pi [16m]
  6. Faster Than a Calculator [15m]
  7. Beyond Earth: 50 Years since Apollo 11 [1h] from October 2019
  8. How James Webb Telescope Orbits Nothing [15m] (LarryW recommended)
  9. 5 Fun Physics Phenomena Explained (6m) (John Rudy)
    .
  10. Solving Wordle using information theory (31m) (John Rudy)
  11. Diary for a Pandemic Year (8m) (Dick Wagner)
    A composition prepared for the MIT commencement of 2021 using layering of tracks. The visuals may bring back memories.
  12. Secret Windows Features, Wifi passwords, HDMI Cables & Ports, and more, part of Tech for Seniors (from 3/21/2022, episode 104) (1h11m)
  13. Astrophysicist Explains Gravity in 5 Levels of Difficulty [36m]
  14. new results from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), from the team that brought us the first-ever image of a black hole, from 5/16/2022 1h38m but last 30m is Q&A (Ted Kochanski)
  15. Black Holes: Seeing the Unseeable (60min; World Science Festival) (John Rudy)
    Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is observing black holes; latest achievement is first image of supermassive black hole in the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Video explores the breakthroughs.(this video dated around June 2022)
  16. Physics of the Future (39m) Dr. Michio Kaku (John Rudy)
    John R. to f/u. Technical topics brought down to a layman's perspective. Sabine Hassenfelder – Dan K. could give refs. Would need someone to look into these videos and choose some examples. MIT Frank Milchuk(sp?). More advanced topics. See next item.
  17. Can we tell if there's a wormhole in the Milky Way? (5m) by the scientific skeptic, Sabine Hossenfelder
  18. Interview with someone who has made a billion with crypto currency (24m)
  19. 2020 Fusion progress at Tokamak Energy (5m) (1/4/2021) (Larry Wittig)
    .
  20. Celebration when MIT achieved 20 Tesla in large bore magnet (4m) (Larry Wittig)
  21. Breakthrough in nuclear fusion? (1h39m) (2/24/2016 by Prof. Dennis Whyte of MIT) (Larry Wittig)
  22. Strange Items (18.5m) (John Rudy)
  23. Is the Universe really a hologram? (11m) by the scientific skeptic, Sabine Hossenfelder
  24. Why can't anything go faster than the speed of light? History of the speed of light part II (12m) Dr. Becky speaks (Barry Kort)
    mostly about relativity with maybe 5 seconds on why you can't go faster than speed of light [smi] GeorgeG additional material and fup
  25. Quantum Entanglement and Action at a Distance on Video. Suggested by Ted. K. Dick W. could give his follow-up impressions after the videos.
  26. Lisa Randall at Harvard – particle physics. (Dan Kleppner)
  27. A Hackers Mind: How the Powerful Bend Society's Rules and How to Bend Them Back (Bruce Schneier) a Harvard Science Book Talk Series Lecture (59m)
  28. uniform circular motion 18.5m suggested by our own Charles Holbrow.
  29. large and small views in (3m)
    .
  30. perfect husband (1m) a bit off-topic
  31. What it really means, science comedian brian malow, TED talk (12m)
  32. 7 into 28 (LouC) (3.5m) a bit off-topic
  33. New Office Math (1m) a bit off-topic
  34. Quantum Fields the Real Building Blocks of the Universe TedK
  35. Brian Greene “World Science Festival”
  36. Egg Drop from Space (Mark Rober) (27m)
  37. How does a computer mouse work? (12m)
  38. Testing can you blow your own sail? Mark Rober (17m)
    .
  39. Nicest car horn ever DIY. Mark Rober (5m)
  40. Escape Rooms, approach to solving them. Mark Rober (11m)
  41. MIT classes 67&68 Bob Metcalfe on "Connectivity" (63m)
  42. Best and worst ways to board a plane (8.5m)
  43. Solving the Three Body Problem (16m)
    .
  44. CEO Boston Dynamics and the Future of Robotics (1h44m) (video of a podcast?)
  45. Boston Dynamics new humanoid robot (40s)
  46. How does Boston Dynamics' new Atlas robot work? (8.5m)
  47. Boston Dynamics new humanoid robot shocks the entire industry (sic) (13m)
  48. Something Strange Happens When You Follow Einstein's Math - Veritasium posted 4/30/2024 (37m) – Warning - one comment reads “Now I know what my dog feels like when I talk to him”
  49. Dr Robert Langer talk at Cary Liby on smi's M
  50. Tech for Seniors Ep 177A 8/5/2024, last 20 minutes on speeds
  51. Talks on Quantum Computing (Vladan Vuletic, Dept. of Physics, MIT) The Quantum Age: From Bell Pairs to Quantum Computers 57m Towards Error-Corrected Quantum Computing with Neutral Atoms 20m. These had been scheduled to replace Vuletic just in case. (Both downloaded to smi's M)



Rich Ralston suggested topics

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Website for MIT Lincoln Lab: http://www.ll.mit.edu Surf this yourselves to see if areas of R&D or system development would be of interest to you and the LCTG. LL develops technology which, as it matures, is incorporated into a prototype subsystem or system to demonstrate new capabilities for transfer to industry for government use. Intellectual property can be licensed by MIT for commercial applications

Some topics I (Rich Ralston) propose within the next year, including the August 21 meeting.

  1. (Low noise moved to 6/29/2022)
  2. Flash LIDAR (LADAR) with single-photon sensitivity for rapid 3-D imaging with applications from look-through-foliage military surveillance to self-driving vehicles. (~90 minutes) – not to be recorded for later viewing
    Dr. Simon Verghese, head of Waymo’s (Google) sensor development for self-driving cars. In their 5th generation, the sensors are designed to meet the challenging requirements of moving people and goods safely and efficiently in dense cities and on highways. The goal is to make them affordable while meeting the performance needed for driverless operation in various applications and weather conditions. The talk will review some history of the project and describe a few use-cases for sensors and machine learning on Waymo vehicles.
  3. High-sensitivity passive IR focal planes for wide-area surveillance. (Copious Imaging, a spin off in Lexington from LL). (~45 minutes)
  4. Bio-agent warning sensor with single aerosol particle sensitivity. (~45 minutes)
  5. Nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond for quantum sensing. (~45 minutes)



Topic ideas needing speakers

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  1. home theater, camera monitor, media player
  2. Headsets and cameras for Zoom; auxiliary microphones?
  3. Your experience with Raspberry or other tiny computer
  4. Troubleshoot your Internet connectivity
  5. Utilities, for a utilities meeting
  6. Construction of the new Suez Canal
  7. Railway Car identification (George Burnell; Greg Sheehan)
  8. “Book Review” of Walter Isaacson’s book Code Breaker about the competing CRISPR teams. Maybe we can bring back Allan Kleinman
  9. Backup Strategies, ranging from the kinds of backup we use (Data, System Image, Cloud, other) to how to make and maintain (and test) our backups, and what the various hardware and software options are for making and maintaining a reliable backup.
  10. https://www.fastcompany.com/91140068/how-the-internet-went-mainstream-in-1994



Orphaned (scheduled, but couldn't be presented then)

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  1. Computational Photography - changing what's used as a camera. link e.g., replacing DSLR with cellphones; more (Jonathan Goode?, Harry Forsdick?) (needs a lead)
  2. How one builds a web application (e.g., using spreadsheets) (Harry Forsdick)
  3. (Harry) Getting Streaming Programming Into Your TV (what to do when your TV just isn't smart enough)
  4. [orig sched 7/28/2021] 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. (John Rudy)
  5. [orig sched 8/25/2021] Archeology presented by Jeffrey Rose (archeologist) in Israel (Stan Rose)
    Stan R to fup
2022.12.07 17:36

==== Links to Interesting Stuff ==== * John Rudy Toll House Chocolate Chip Pie Recipe * Artificially mimicking people's voices and selfies. Fortune magazine has been publishing recent articles about “deepfakes” and combating them. Artificial intelligence algorithms put convincing speech into video and audio clips. For example, “revenge porn” has been constructed by pasting women's heads onto porn actress bodies. There is also potential for fraud by impostors. See: https://fortune.com/2019/07/24/fighting-deepfakes-gets-real/ and https://fortune.com/tag/deepfakes/ * Leap day. Leap year. Meridian. And more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJhgZBn-LHg * [humor] Buddy Hacket and the 3-legged chicken. Cows and horns. The duck. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aww4HT5g7ig ==== Software Maybe of Interest ==== Neither the Lexington Computer and Technology Group nor the author of this Wiki page guarantee the application(s) listed here. While we have investigated and tried them ourselves, they come with no guarantee. * Downloading Videos from the Internet ==== Other items and discussions ==== New Email List
LCTG Management Team
LCTG announcement sending process The group meets weekly on Wednesdays, 10am online. (It has previously met at the Lexington Community Center, 39 Marrett Road, Lexington but has suspended these in-person meetings during the Covid-19 situation.)
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lexingtoncomputergroup.1656530235.txt.gz · Last modified: 2022.06.29 15:17 by Steve Isenberg