PC MONITOR Durham Personal Computer Users’ Club Newsletter
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Durham Personal Computer Users’ Club Newsletter Page 1 May 2020 PC MONITOR Durham Personal Computer Users’ Club Newsletter April Prize List Our Prize list is of course missing this month due to our inability to have a general meeting at the church. Hope all are doing well and staying safe in this Covid infection scare! Please visit the Club Web Page for all the latest links and information http://www.durhampc-usersclub.on.ca/ INSIDE THIS ISSUE F Y I 2 Next Meeting Linux in the News 7 Make YouTube Work For You Sudoku Puzzles 8 By Anne Delong Linux Clementine 9 President’s Notes 11 NOTE: ZOOM Meeting in May NOT Faith United Church until further notice Free Wallpaper 11 Thursday, May 14, 2020 7:00PM Special Interest Groups 12 Durham Personal Computer Users’ Club Newsletter Page 2 FYI - By Dan Delong Patient Real-time Monitor from Home A clever Jamaican university student, inspired by the Covid-19 lock- down, has prototyped a set of sensors, along with a display and a WiFi sender, capable of monitoring and transmitting the most essential physical measurements (i.e.; vital signs) to doctors and family. [So far, this device looks a lot like a Raspberry Pi, or Arduino, bread-boarded set-up.] Javier Bryan, the developer, hopes to miniaturize his medical device such that it becomes a compact arm band… both small and cheap. Jamaican doctors are few and far between, so cutting down travel time (for both patients and doctors) with remote monitoring and diagnostics, is a godsend. [It is also safer for both parties, by allowing for ‘social distancing’.] Javier also mentioned how difficult it has been for him to purchase parts in Jamaica, a country not well served by supply chains for electronics. http://jamaica-star.com/article/news/20200429/uwi-student-develops-healthcare-gadget Modern Automobile Vulnerabilities You’d think, by now, car manufacturers would have hardened their systems to prevent all attempts at modern exploitation. No so, according to a new book aimed at professionals who deal in such matters. [However, as a non-professional, and an owner of older vehicles, I will not be investing in “Hacking Connected Cars”.] Alissa Knight, the author, describes how to protect against such hacking, while still allowing the car to connect safely. “Areas the book covers include: penetration testing of infotainment systems and telematics control units, analysing risk levels surrounding various vulnerabilities (affecting confidentiality, integrity, and availability) and a look at the tactics, techniques, and procedures used by hackers.” https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/general/gadget- book-hacking-connected-cars-tactics-techniques-procedures-2020-04/ Amazon Smart Oven If you combined an oven, a micro-wave, and Alexa into a capacious, heavy, appliance, you should own the ‘best-of-the-best’ in home cooking. The reviewer of this article found his experience, with the ‘Amazon smart oven’, to be less than satisfactory. He talked to (pleaded with) Alexa, explaining his needs for baking, re-heating, and asking for recipe suggestions… to no avail. Even attempts to us his phone to scan the package’s UPC (so that Alexa could identify and decide on the best cooking method) did not work properly (without obtaining special products made by Amazon). Ignoring Alexa, and operating the oven’s buttons manually, required a lot of menu jumping… again, unsatisfactory. The Internet of Things still has a ways to go. https://www.wired.com/review/amazon-smart-oven/ Durham Personal Computer Users’ Club Newsletter Page 3 Windows 10 May 2020 Update (The two left side screens show older Start screens, while the two right-most show May 2020 updates.) Those who have registered for Windows insider releases may have already seen some of the changes coming to Windows 10. Among them, Cortana will be less pushy, as it will be a separate feature, for spoken queries only. The Start menu icons will be revised, by spacing them out vertically. Tiles may lack embedded titles after this update. Should your smallish SSD be over filled with built-in Windows apps, many apps that could not be uninstalled in the past, will now be un-installable. And, should you wish to try out some new software, safely; this new update will allow such testing, in a Sandbox... essentially a separate desktop. The reason for occasional computer sluggishness might be due to periodic indexing, which can be heavy on CPU resources, and on disk usage. If your computer seems a little faster after the May 2020 update, it may be due to better timing of any major indexing activity; - that is, not when you desperately need to use your computer at its best performance. You can also delay updates. https://www.techradar.com/news/windows-10-may-2020-update-could-make-your-pc-faster-thanks-to-a-clever-new- trick Telegram – a Zoom alternative Figure 1 Whereby runs entirely in a browser... no downloads or installs. By the time you read this, the Telegram messaging service will have added video conferencing to its list of features, similar to Zoom. One can only assume price competition as well. After watching a Steve Dotto podcast, I also learned about other, little known, Zoom alternatives [those not hosted by Google, Microsoft, Apple, or Facebook]. Whereby offers free video chats for up to four people, and two economical choices to include twelve ($10) and fifty ($60) people. (Telegram pricing is currently unknown.) [I noticed that the Telegram service runs on just about every device with a screen and camera, including my Windows phone.] In addition, the local Toronto Star Newspaper website recently posted a “How to Make Video Calls” article. [And, Google has now made “Meet” free. Also, Zoom’s 5.0 version now has better privacy and security.] https://techviral.net/telegram-to-launch-video-calling-service-to-take-on-zoom/ https://telegram.org/ Durham Personal Computer Users’ Club Newsletter Page 4 Raspberry Pi 12.3 Megapixel camera [Now, why did I get rid of all of my film cameras and lenses?] Since this camera mounting board for the Pi comes with a C lens mount and a CS lens mount adapter, many other lenses can be affixed to it. However, the supplier does include a $25 USD lens (6mm CS) or a $50 USD lens (16mm C) with this kit. This is an impressive deal, compatible with Pi computers from 1 Model B to present. The April 2020 edition of “Camera Guide” has a free pdf document related to Pi cameras, including this new camera. https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/30/21242454/raspberry-pi-high-quality-camera-announced-specs-price Raspberry Pi for Video Conferencing Element 14 is the place to go for Raspberry Pi projects, both for projects still in the works, and for builds with a successful conclusion. Following our April presentation, by Ken, perhaps more club members are now interested in practical uses for Pi computers. It appears that the Linux community has a few alternative video conferencing services to try. This project worked… initially. https://www.element14.com/community/community/design-challenges/sci-fi-your-pi/blog/2015/04/27/video- conferencing-with-the-raspberry-pi Are We Living in a Computer Simulation? Without answering the questions - because our minds might be too tiny to even contemplate how this is done - scientists and philosophers have wondered if our ‘reality’ is one of many virtual ‘lives’, happening in computer simulated ‘worlds’. Could there be minds of such superiority, creating our world inside a computer-like game environment, maybe just for fun, or maybe to learn how an experimental scenario might play out? Hollywood has covered this topic in the plot of the Matrix movie. Let’s hope there is not a ‘bug’ in the programming, else all could come to a crashing end. Oh, well. Just reboot into another parallel universe. https://getpocket.com/explore/item/are-we-living-in-a-computer-simulation Wyze Cameras These indoor webcams are less expensive (about $20 USD), and include 1080p, night vision, 2-way audio, and optional, free, 12 second episodic motion clips (accessible for 14 days). Although frame rate is only 15 fps, that should be fine for monitoring rooms. The magnetic mount and articulating base allow for easy placement. Should you wish to view happenings outdoors, pointing out a window should work. The panning camera (on the right) is about $40 USD. Wyze also sells smart plug outlets/bulbs, door locks, and motion sensors. https://wyze.com/wyze-cam.html Durham Personal Computer Users’ Club Newsletter Page 5 Jigsaw Planet If you have lots of Covid-19 time to kill (I do), and you like Jigsaws (I don’t), then this is the site for you. In the search box, I typed, “Oshawa”. These results (above, right) are just eight of the twenty-three hits for “Oshawa”. The Oshawa Museum has been placing some of their historical photos here, to be made into puzzles. The numbers accompanying each thumbnail indicate the number of jigsaw pieces in each set. I started a 60-piece CN vintage railway puzzle, and then realized I was being timed against other players, who had already completed it. There is a certain sense of satisfaction hearing each piece snap into place. Have fun! https://www.jigsawplanet.com Unscreen I would find Unscreen amazing if it performed the same function on still images alone. But, it can remove background from videos of any length, allowing you to replace it with “whatever”, I believe. The only hitch; you must upload your clip for Unscreen processing, and you may need to assign a colour group as the background (almost like chroma keying).