Old News

2015

16 September 2015

Makers and Linux

What is a Raspberry Pi?
What can you do with a Raspberry Pi?
How do I start with a Raspberry Pi?

Join me as we explore this single board computer. We will discuss what it can do, and how to interface to the outside world. In the process we will discuss how to setup a new board, and how to gave a remote Raspberry Pi for use over the network.

Lastly we will build and program a small circuit to get your hands engaged in a real application. I will not pretend to be an expert, but merely a leader in the exploration of this microcontroller.

17 June 2015

Makers and Linux

The weather is a constant topic of interest and concern to everyone. We have weather apps on our phones, and reports on our radio’s. Yet all this information is based on weather stations that report information like temperature, humidity, barometic pressure, wind direction and speed, plus rain fall amounts.

The process of perdicting the weather is beyond home weather stations. But recording those pieces of information can be fun and challenging. Add to this that the WeatherUnderGround Personal Weather Station Network , encourages you to contribute your data to their site, and you have an interesting DIY project.


18 March 2015

Makers and Linux

The Internet of Everything is bring more automation into our lives. The idea is to allow devices in your home, office, and environment to talk to each other. But behind this idea is the automation of tasks using electronic control. A prime target of automation is the home, one of the lowest tech environments around.

Since automation is coming on strong I thought it would be fun to do some home automation ourselves. So I thought we would begin exploring this new level of automation by building some home automation.

Do you ever get home after work in the spring and notice the inside of the house is hotter than the outside? Well suppose you could sense the temperature outside, and the temperature in the house, and turn on a fan to draw in the cool air before you got home.

We are going to design a system that can do just that and discuss how to program it.


2014

15 October 2014

Makers and Linux

There is a movement in this country to reinvigorate DIY (Do It Yourself) with new tools, and community support. Between the PC, and the Internet, DIY is entering a new phase, and enticing a new audience. We are going to explore the meaning of the Movement and how it relates to us. This will be an over view of what is happening in the Maker’s Space lately.


18 June 2014

Lessons in Linux

So you decided to build you very own CNC (Computer Numeric Control)router. Now you need software to control the CNC. You need a design program to create your master pieces. You need to convert your master piece for the CNC control software. Linux comes to the rescue. Come along for an interesting walk throught wood working Linux style.


21 May 2014

Lessons in Linux

We have learned to work with the Arduino Nano to make some interesting circuits. Now lets have a look at a different type of microcontroller board the Raspberry Pi.

We will look at how a computer reads and writes analog signals, and how power is measured. Then we will put it all together.


19 March 2014

Lessons in Linux

We have been focusing our attention on the Ubuntu version of linux. But there are other Linux distributions.

One such distribution is Arch Linux, which is focused on simplicity and gives a lot of control to the user. We will take a closer look at this distribution, and it’s differences from Ubuntu.


2013

18 December 2013

Lessons in Linux

Now that we understand resistors, capacitors, bread boards, and other peripherals for our microcontroller it is time to jump into using one of the boards.

So today we are going to explore making use of the Arduino Nano.


16 October 2013

Lessons in Linux

Due to open school night on the 25th of September, we were unable to conduct the Linux Workshop. So the presentation will be given at the meeting in October.

Many of us work in the Windows OS during the day, but go home and use Ubuntu, or another version of Linux in the evening. Even though both use folders, and directories, there are some differences which can be confusing, or liberating.

In this talk I will list a number of differences and point out the value to the change. Some of the changes are based on different perspectives on how the computer works. Some of simply variations on a theme. and some are simply examples of the engineering principle NIH Not Invented Here


19 June 2013

Lessons in Linux

Before we can start to create our first microcontroller project we need to understand a few basic components, and how to read a circuit diagram.

So we will learn about some of the basic building blocks of electronics before we use them to make a simple circuit.


15 May 2013

Lessons in Linux

You have a computer that is running windows and you want to install one or more copies of Linux. How do you do that?

Learn how to partition and install Linux.

  • How to configure the boot loader for multiple OSs.

  • How to load more than one Linux Version without clobbering /boot

  • How to use one version of Linux to rescue another OS.

  • How to backup your Master Boot Record and partition table.

Finally we will use part of the meeting to install Linux on machines people bring to the meeting.


4 April 2013

Lessons in Linux

What is it about Linux that makes it so popular on so many platforms.

  • Linux for Super Computers

  • Linux for Routers

  • Linux for Embedded systems

  • Linux for Servers

  • Linux for Virtual Machines

  • Linux for Smart Phones

  • Linux for people who want control of their computer.


2012

21 November 2012

Lessons in Linux

The Linux system follows an organized structure known as Linux File System (LFS) which defines where programs, libraries, and configuration files live. We will explore this structure and discuss how to optimize the layout for your next installation, as well as where to find programs. The LFS will naturally lead to a discussion of how to backup your Linux system for recovery. We will discuss what to back up and what to not backup. Finally we will look at backup tools and how to make your own.

Looking ahead to next month I will be speaking about:
The Linux operating system is the third most popular OS for personal computers. What is it about Linux that compels people to load it on their computers? We will explore the reasons for choosing Linux for your OS of choice.


11 October 2012

Lessons in Linux

Networking in Linux is something we all use, but do we understand what is needed to make it work? Do we understand how to troubleshoot it when it doesn’t work? What happens when you only have a command line interface? I will attempt to give you both a mini course in networking and how to troubleshoot it in the process. Roll up your sleeves this talk is going to cover lots of details necessary for your Linux chops.

Looking ahead to next month I will be speaking about:

The Linux system follows an organized structure known as Linux File System (LFS) which defines where programs, libraries, and configuration files live. We will explore this structure and discuss how to optimize the layout for your next installation, as well as where to find programs. The LFS will naturally lead to a discussion of how to backup your Linux system for recovery. We will discuss what to back up and what to not backup. Finally we will look at backup tools and how to make your own.


12 September 2012

Lessons in Linux

Ubuntu 12.04 is out and contains a new look. But for those of us who are familiar with the old look it can be confusing. So we are going to have a look at the default windowing interface Unity as well as it’s base Gnome 3.

Looking ahead to next month I will be speaking about:

Networking in Linux is something we all use, but do we understand what is needed to make it work? Do we understand how to troubleshoot it when it doesn’t work? What happens when you only have a command line interface? I will attempt to give you both a mini course in networking and how to troubleshoot it in the process. Roll up your sleeves this talk is going to cover lots of details necessary for your Linux chops.


16 May 2012

Lessons in Linux

Have you ever thought about creating your own web site. We are going to explore how to create and maintain a web site.

In this first installment we will talk about some choices and methods of maintaining a web site.


18 April 2012

Lessons in Linux

In the Unix world there have been a number of systems for creating documentation. A number of them are still around and doing well. This talk will explore a few of them to give you an idea how you can convert words on a page into a presentation document.

One important aspect for this transformation ability is creating and maintaining web sites. We will look at how a Wiki like page can transform into HTML, or XML, or PDF without revision. We will explore how to easily edit a text document which becomes a web page, or a web site.


15 February 2012

Lessons in Linux

We have talked about Ubuntu, but most of us spend more time using the application, not the operating system. So for this talk I choose some applications to explore, Firefox and some music players.


18 January 2012

Lessons in Linux

The command line is the original type of interactive input to every computer system. Even though the graphical user interface has taken over most peoples interaction with the computer, there is still many valuable uses for the command line, provided you are willing to spend the time needed to learn the commands.


2011

21 December 2011

Lessons in Linux

The Graphical User Interface (GUI) has become the default interface for personal computers. Lets take a look at how we got to the GUI, some of it’s components, and variations on how it looks and works. I will be focusing on the Linux implementation of X Windows and the Linux display managers.


14 September 2011

Lessons in Linux

You just brought home your new Ubuntu system, so where do you start to make it your own? Let look at some common configuration and setup steps you should make.


16 March 2011

Lessons in Linux

Today many of our appliances come with displays and buttons. Instead of motors and gears, many household items today have embedded Microcontrollers. We are going to explore how we can experiment with Microcontrollers at home.


16 February 2011

Lessons in Linux

Before we start to setup our Linux From Scratch system I would like to discuss what is a personal computer. Having an understanding of what makes a computer, and how it operates at a hardware level will help understanding why software works the way it does.

Before we end we will discuss how to get started with the Linux From Scratch setup.


19 January 2011

Lessons in Linux

Have you ever noticed how useful web pages are? Have you ever thought about how you could use the web at home to find information, share ideas, or just play? Well we are going to learn how to make web pages, and serve them at home.


2010

15 December 2010

Lessons in Linux

Tonight we are going to discuss the tools/applications which make up the core applications as defined by LFS (Linux From Scratch), and a couple other small distributions.

Next we will look at how the system boots and what happens before the boot prompt.

Lastly, time permitting, we will discuss shell scripts. These scripts and the shell that supports them are what make many of the operations of Linux useful.


20 October 2010

Lessons in Linux

In this meeting we will finish the Gentoo install. Then we will look at how the Gentoo package management, Portage, works. Then we will look at how a Linux system initializes.


22 September 2010

Lessons in Linux

Tonight we are going to explore the netbook and Linux. I will be using this Lenovo Ideapad S10-3T to demonstrate 6 different versions of Linux. I will also discuss how to go about installing these distributions on a Netbook which has no CD drive.


16 June 2010

Lessons in Linux

In this meeting we will be continuing the install of Gentoo on the machine. We will learn more about configuration for the kernel and finalizing the system.


21 April 2010

Lessons in Linux

In this session of the WPCUG Linux group we are going to learn how to build a Linux installation by making our own distribution. We will learn how to boot strap a system. How to create a system using the scripts and methods created for Gentoo.


8 April 2010

Lessons in Linux

Windows and Open Source Myth or Reality? When the IBM PC first came on the market, it opened up the hardware and software to non-IBM companies. The hardware world exploded with many different brands of computers. Before the IBM PC, much of the software on computers was created by the users and often shared. The original OpenSource movement came from MIT and a group called the Free Software Foundation.

OpenSource exists because people like to create neat applications. Computers allow you to create programs with little cost, distribute them almost free, and contribute to them over time and space. So this freedom is expressed by people creating pet projects and sharing them with the world through the Internet.


15 March 2010

Lessons in Linux

Welcome to a Fresh Ubuntu Install You are ready to start using Ubuntu, but you don’t know what configurations are needed. Since this is new install you are not sure what needs to be done so you can use your system. Today we are going to review what needs to be done to a fresh install. This is picking where the install fest in January 2010 left off.


2009

15 December 2009

Lessons in Linux

When it comes to files and directories in Linux many people have trouble without windows explorer. Since the ability to handle files is critical to computers we are going to review a few file managers for Linux.


21 October 2009

Lessons in Linux

Your new Ubuntu is fresh from the box and you are dying to use it. But where do you start? We will hitting some of the highlights of the Jaunty Jackalope (9.04).


14 July 2009

Lessons in Linux

You just bought a new computer and it has Windows on the whole disk. How can you make this a dual boot with Linux? We will discover how to do this in Ubuntu.


16 June 2009

Lessons in Linux

Backup is a subject which needs no explaining. But what about using Linux to backup your windows partition. This Lesson in Linux discusses backup strategies and how to use Linux to backup your windows data.


2008

2 December 2008

Lessons in Linux

This lesson is going to tackle Rescuing a Window PC This might seem a poor topic for a Linux group. But the simple fact is that it is another example of how a Live CD can be valuable to a Windows user.


2007

26 June 2007

I know this might seem a little out of character for me, but I am concerned about Internet Radio. The latest attack is financial. Here is a summary of what is happening.

Royalty rates for webcasters have been drastically increased by a recent ruling and are due to go into effect on July 15 (retroactive to Jan 1, 2006!). If the increased rates remain unchanged, the majority of webcasters will go bankrupt and silent on this date. Internet radio needs your help! From 2007

Small web broadcasters are being shutdown, because the previous exemption expired. AM and FM radio are exempt, but small web broadcasters are not. Welcome to Congress at it’s finest.

Please help stop this insanity. www.SaveNetRadio.org


21 March 2007

Lessons in Linux

The latest installment of lessons Beginner’s Linux Applications talk has been uploaded. This talk covers similar applications in Windows and Linux to show how similar they are. We then look at differences and finally a Dual Boot Suggestion.


20 February 2007

Lessons in Linux

Double header this time, I uploaded a new talk for the Linux Section of the WPCUG named Beginner’s Linux Intro. In addition I have uploaded a new Tech Crew page named How to run a Concert. Enjoy.


2006

20 December 2006

Lessons in Linux

Welcome to another talk for the Linux Section of the WPCUG. I have created a new talk on Remote access using Linux. Enjoy.


17 October 2006

Lessons in Linux

After too long an absence I have added a new lesson. Please see the lesson on Window Managers for the most up to date presentation.


1 March 2006

Tech Crew

The Tech Pages now include a presentation on how to use microphones for sound reinforcement in a High School auditorium.


9 January 2006

Tech Crew

The next section of the Tech Pages has been added. Those of you interested in Technical Theater for a School should have a look in the Tech Crew section.


5 January 2006

Revised web pages for the Lessons pages. They are now all xhtml pages which should work correctly with Internet Explorer.


2005

16 December 2005

Welcome to the new Lion’s Wing web site. This site came into being to pull together my disparate web pages. Additionally, it gives me a public forum to build on. So with out further ado, please feel free to explore.


Written by John F. Moore

Last Revised: Wed Oct 18 11:01:18 EDT 2017

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