Table of Contents
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This page https://LCTG.toku.us last changed 2025.06.20 06:21 Visits: [66 times today, 64 times yesterday, and 2003 total times]
Speaker schedule page https://schedule.toku.us . Potential Topics (for later scheduling) https://potential.toku.us
Lexington Computer and Technology Group
Lunch after meeting (info page)
- Click to see recordings of past LCTG meetings (YouTube channel)
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- About our “GASP” planning meetings (GASP=Gigantic All-hands Scheduling and Planning)
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.
For further information contact the group coordinators by email at LCTG@toku.us. We look forward to have you join us!
Future Meetings Schedule
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 2025.06.20 09:15
recents
Recently produced meeting videos you can watch now:
- Heat Pumps 5/7/2025
- Selected Nobel Prizes in Medicine 6/4/2025
- Beyond Generative AI 6/11/2025
::RECENT AND UPCOMING MEETINGS::
Date | Topic | confirmed | Followups |
---|---|---|---|
June 4, 2025 | Selected Nobel Prizes in Medicine chat messages Meeting Summary watch the presentation; captions available | ||
June 11, 2025 | Comparison of the most popular AI engines. Which is best for this or that. chat messages Meeting Summary watch the Beyond Generative presentation Beyond Generative slides | ||
June 18, 2025 | GASP Planning session | ||
N e x t . M e e t i n g | |||
June 25, 2025 | Fusion Update | ok | Ted |
. | |||
July 2, 2025 | Potpourri Oliver Marsh: Crack growth and iceberg formation on a dynamic ice shelf. (Oliver is a glaciologist with the British Antarctic Survey) Abstract: Ice shelves around Antarctica are critical to slowing the rate of sea level rise. This talk addresses new technology used to monitor cracks in ice shelves during polar winter, including GNSS precise point positioning, and ground-based and satellite radar systems. Three major iceberg calving events have occurred on the Brunt Ice Shelf since 2021, with new high-precision data used to inform models of fracture propagation and ice shelf stability. (~45minutes) Methylene Blue (JerryS) AI Followup (DickW) | ||
July 9, 2025 | History of Space Travel: Venus and Mars (video) | George | |
July 16, 2025 | Drones. The background of drones and the technology behind them; Using drones in photography and examples of images. | Al Levin | |
July 23, 2025 | (1h8m+30m Q&A) 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 | TedK | |
July 30, 2025 | (59m) 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 (31m) Solving Wordle using information theory | ||
Aug 6, 2025 | Potpourri Ground Based Deep Space Telescope accomplishments (?) | ||
Aug 13, 2025 | Volcanic activity studies | Ted | |
Aug 20, 2025 | Hearing Aid Appliances for Dummies (What options are there to help you improve your hearing? How do you choose a Hearing Aid (HA)? Tricks and tips, things to look for in a HA and what to watch out for. Can you buy a useful HA without a prescription?) | George, Charlie | |
Aug 27, 2025 | What are some interesting uses of AI other than Chats | Harry | |
Sep 3, 2025 | Robots in Everyday Life (working title) | JohnR | |
Sep 10, 2025 | IP Update: Copyright for AI-developed Material and CRISPR Patent | Dick | |
Sep 17, 2025 | GASP Planning session | ||
Sep 24, 2025 | Shooting Down Drones: Raytheon's approach to attacking drones (Will Straus) (tentative) (RH day2) | JohnR | |
Oct 1, 2025 | (YK eve)Altruism, Philanthropy, and Philandering in Science | Ted | |
Oct 8, 2025 | Susan Liebman and The Dressmaker's Mirror | yes | |
Oct 15, 2025 | Potpourri Federal Science Priority Update (George) | ||
Oct 22, 2025 | Edwin Land Mr. Polaroid (smi/m) | ||
Oct 29, 2025 | |||
Nov 5, 2025 | LCTG AI Research Group | John Day | |
Nov 12, 2025 | Potpourri | ||
Nov 19, 2025 | |||
Nov 26, 2025 | Thanksgiving eve | ||
Dec 3, 2025 | |||
Dec 10, 2025 | |||
Dec 17, 2025 | Potpourri | ||
Dec 24, 2025 | 'twas the night before Christmas | ||
Dec 31, 2025 | New Year's Eve | ||
Jan 7, 2026 | |||
Jan 14, 2026 | Potpourri | ||
Jan 21, 2026 | |||
Jan 28, 2026 |
Past Meetings
2024
Date | Topic |
---|---|
Jan 3, 2024 | We Will Have a Syncing Feeling: Using applications and files across platforms - a forum (Drew King, lead) chat messages |
Jan 10, 2024 | LIDAR 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, 2024 | Unifying Nature’s Laws: The State of String Theory. |
Jan 24, 2024 | Videos played: How does Starlink Satellite Internet Work? Bill Gates talking with Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy, about AI transforming education |
Jan 31, 2024 | potpourri: Feynman: Fun to Imagine (67min) followed by luncheon at Bamboo in Bedford |
Feb 7, 2024 | Space Update (George Gamota) chat messages |
Feb 14, 2024 | Nifty Smartphone apps. Like Seek; Shazam; Pedometer; etc. chat messages |
Feb 21, 2024 | Nifty Smartphone Apps Part 2 chat messages |
Feb 28, 2024 | More 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, 2024 | Sleep 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, 2024 | 2023 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, 2024 | How 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, 2024 | 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine - mRNA - Part 2 |
Apr 17, 2024 | Richard Feynman Lecture: “Los Alamos From Below” (1h18m) |
Apr 24, 2024 | GASP Planning session (Gigantic Allhands Scheduling and Planning) chat messages |
May 1, 2024 | Five 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, 2024 | Inflammation Unmasked: Insights into its Physiology, Detection, and Treatment. (Jerry Harris, Rheumatologist) slides . chat messages . watch the presentation |
May 15, 2024 | Spacecraft 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, 2024 | Potpourri: 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, 2024 | Oppenheimer and the Institute for Advanced Study, presented by Dan Kleppner watch the presentation chat messages |
June 5, 2024 | Selected talk(s) from Google |
June 12, 2024 | Materials and Medicine - talk by Robert Langer, a replay of his presentation at Cary Library on May 28th. |
June 19, 2024 | 5G and 6G: 10-fold increase in top internet speeds. (TedK & BobP) 5G slides . chat messages |
June 26, 2024 | YouTube 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, 2024 | Potpourri Considerations and specifications for your next computer slides . chat messages |
July 10, 2024 | GASP Planning session (Gigantic Allhands Scheduling and Planning) |
July 17, 2024 | Development 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, 2024 | Fusion Update (TedK) watch the presentation |
July 31, 2024 | Old Technology 1968-1994 (JohnRudy) watch the presentation . chat messages . slides |
August 7, 2024 | Bob Metcalfe talk: Connectivity is the Thing chat messages |
August 14, 2024 | WinGet - Windows Package Manager (Drew) |
August 21, 2024 | Several 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, 2024 | Euclid Telescope (JerryS) chat messages watch the presentation |
September 4, 2024 | Potpourri * Bringing back the dead (info JohnR found) * JerryS Covid vaccination update chat messages Watch the Covid presentation Meeting Summary |
September 11, 2024 | Quantum 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 Meeting Summary |
September 18, 2024 | Claude 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 |
September 25, 2024 | GASP Planning session (Gigantic Allhands Scheduling and Planning) chat messages |
October 2, 2024 | IgNoble 2024 Meeting Summary |
October 9, 2024 | In light of the announcement of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics, we will present videos of the recipients Geoffrey Hinton and John Hopfield: “The Godfather in Conversation: Why Geoffrey Hinton is worried about the future of AI” and “Emergence, dynamics, and behaviour - John Hopfield” |
October 16, 2024 | Tech for Seniors (selected topics appropriate for our group) Meeting Summary |
October 23, 2024 | Potpourri TedK and his smart bowl of jelly video: the genius of the quantum navigation breakthrough Meeting Summary |
October 30, 2024 | How QR Codes Work, and Intel and Drone “Fireworks” and more in the sky chat messages . Meeting Summary |
November 6, 2024 | OBS Studio (Drew) Using Artificial Intelligence in Programming, such as Javascript in Web Pages (English to Code) (Harry) chat messages . Meeting Summary |
November 13, 2024 | Passkeys and Related Technologies. Starting with a little background on PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) as well as discussing the various ways that people authenticate themselves to websites, best practices and risks including the use of password managers, 2FA (two factor authentication), SMS (Short Message Service: cellphone text messaging) codes, etc, and how passkeys fit into all of this. (Seth Silverman) chat messages . Meeting Summary Videos Seth showed: * How to make passwords more secure 3m * What is PKI (Public Key Infrastructure)? 9m * SSL, TLS, HTTPS Explained 6m * Why you should turn on two factor authentication 8m * FIDO promises a life without passwords 10m * Passwords vs Passkeys: FIDO bites back 11m |
November 20, 2024 | An impromptu potpourri. First three are products Steve has found useful * 1TB SSD * iPhone charging magnetic car mount * 4-USB port car cigarette adapter Videos shown to the group * Cardboard drone used in Ukraine * Ideal Husband (short) * Lexington drone show (short) * What it really means chat messages . (no summary was generated) |
December 4, 2024 | GASP Planning session (Gigantic Allhands Scheduling and Planning) |
December 11, 2024 | Inspiring the next generation: Women’s Technology Program in Mechanical Engineering at M.I.T. (Barbara Hughey) watch the presentation . Meeting Summary slides |
December 18, 2024 | Tuberculosis in the 1800s and how it applies to today (JerryS) watch the presentation |
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
Links to Interesting Stuff
- 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.
Other items
- The group meets weekly on Wednesdays at 10:00am online. It meets online every week, and most weeks also at the Lexington Community Center, 39 Marrett Road, Lexington MA.
- Blurb for use to send people telling about the group and how they might join, for sending to Lexington list, etc