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Hosting in-person meetings at library
by joshua.gage.stone＠gmail.com July 20, 2021

July 20, 2021

Hey all, I've learned that the library in my town is open to the public for hosting club meetings! More info: https://hudsonpubliclibrary.com/ Some of the benefits I can think of for having meetings at the library include: - Free hosting - Free public wifi - Free on-site parking - Low noise levels - Projector and whiteboard are available - Books, music, movies, etc, are available for checking out (https://bark.cwmars.org/eg/opac/home) - Adjacent to many restaurants, most having outdoor seating - Has EV charging stations nearby - Access to well-maintained walking trails and public parks Cons: - Conference room capacity is capped at 10 occupants - Meetings must end 15 minutes before library's closing time, so would have to end at 8:15PM - Many restaurants might be closed by 9PM I could imagine going back to our usual monthly meetings, from 7:00PM to 8:15PM on Thursdays, then walking over to one of the restaurants next door for food and drinks. I can personally vouch for these local establishments, all reachable within a 5 minute walk: https://railtrailflatbread.com/ https://www.wellysrestaurant.com/ https://newcitymicrocreamery.com/ https://www.lessthangreaterthan.com/ https://www.kithandkinhudson.com/ https://www.horseshoepub.com/ https://freshwingma.com/ https://www.medusabrewing.com/beer-garden What do you think? - Josh

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VPN Question
by hammerron July 18, 2021

July 18, 2021

Tim/Chuck: Thank for the info. I will pass it on

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In-person meeting for August
by Joshua Stone July 17, 2021

July 17, 2021

Hey everyone, Thank you for another awesome meetup! It was nice to make that first step of transitioning back to normal. I hope I was able to make a good impression of Hudson! I'm interested to see what everyone would like to do for the next meeting, as well as discuss where to hold our next meeting! - Josh

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Join up via jitsi tonight!
by Tim Keller July 15, 2021

July 15, 2021

Hey gang, Reminder we've got a meeting tonight, join via Jitsi! https://meet.jit.si/WlugMA Thanks, Tim.

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Re: Hosting in-person meetings at library
by Robert N. Evans July 14, 2021

July 14, 2021

I am not in MA today, but I am very interested to attend future meetings in Hudson as I live very close to there. Bob Evans -----Original Message----- From: Worcester Linux Users' Group General Discussion <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> Sent: Jul 14, 2021 3:39 PM To: Worcester Linux Users' Group General Discussion <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> Cc: Joshua Stone <joshua.gage.stone(a)gmail.com>, Tim Keller <turbofx(a)gmail.com> Subject: [WLUG] Re: Hosting in-person meetings at library I think it's a great idea! Speaking with the Technopia folks, they're interested in having us, but it sounds like it would happen in the Sept. time frame, I'd like to have a couple in person meetings before that. Is this something people would be interested in doing tomorrow? Thanks, Tim. On Tue, Jul 13, 2021 at 9:25 PM joshua.gage.stone--- via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> wrote: Hey all, I've learned that the library in my town is open to the public for hosting club meetings! More info: https://hudsonpubliclibrary.com/ Some of the benefits I can think of for having meetings at the library include: - Free hosting - Free public wifi - Free on-site parking - Low noise levels - Projector and whiteboard are available - Books, music, movies, etc, are available for checking out (https://bark.cwmars.org/eg/opac/home) - Adjacent to many restaurants, most having outdoor seating - Has EV charging stations nearby - Access to well-maintained walking trails and public parks Cons: - Conference room capacity is capped at 10 occupants - Meetings must end 15 minutes before library's closing time, so would have to end at 8:15PM - Many restaurants might be closed by 9PM I could imagine going back to our usual monthly meetings, from 7:00PM to 8:15PM on Thursdays, then walking over to one of the restaurants next door for food and drinks. I can personally vouch for these local establishments, all reachable within a 5 minute walk: https://railtrailflatbread.com/ https://www.wellysrestaurant.com/ https://newcitymicrocreamery.com/ https://www.lessthangreaterthan.com/ https://www.kithandkinhudson.com/ https://www.horseshoepub.com/ https://freshwingma.com/ https://www.medusabrewing.com/beer-garden What do you think? - Josh _______________________________________________ WLUG mailing list -- wlug(a)lists.wlug.org To unsubscribe send an email to wlug-leave(a)lists.wlug.org Create Account: https://wlug.mailman3.com/accounts/signup/ Change Settings: https://wlug.mailman3.com/postorius/lists/wlug.lists.wlug.org/ Web Forum/Archive: https://wlug.mailman3.com/hyperkitty/list/wlug@lists.wlug.org/message/J7HU7… -- I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers". _______________________________________________ WLUG mailing list -- wlug(a)lists.wlug.org To unsubscribe send an email to wlug-leave(a)lists.wlug.org Create Account: https://wlug.mailman3.com/accounts/signup/ Change Settings: https://wlug.mailman3.com/postorius/lists/wlug.lists.wlug.org/ Web Forum/Archive: https://wlug.mailman3.com/hyperkitty/list/wlug@lists.wlug.org/message/W5KG5…

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VPN Question
by hammerron July 13, 2021

July 13, 2021

Hey everybody: A friend asked me about VPNs and I don't know a whole lot lot on the topic. They have a Windows computer and are using a McAfee VPN. The question is, is this a decent product, should they use it or not or consider something else? regards, Ron

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No meeting tonight.. sorry for any confusion. Next Meeting 7/15/2021
by Tim Keller July 8, 2021

July 8, 2021

Hey Gang, I just got back from vacation. We're going to have our meeting next week instead. Later, Tim. -- I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".

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Re: I'm thinking Technocopia is a no go.
by Robert N. Evans June 22, 2021

June 22, 2021

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I'm thinking Technocopia is a no go.
by Tim Keller June 22, 2021

June 22, 2021

I've reached out twice and my emails have gone unanswered, I think we should start planning to have WLUG somewhere else. I don't know if WPI is an option or not. I think the last of the people are gone from WPI so we don't have anybody to reserve a room.. If anybody knows someone, etc.. awesome. If people have other options, I'd love to hear them. Thanks, Tim. -- I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".

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opinions on home email services
by Mike Peckar June 17, 2021

June 17, 2021

Hi, I've noted that many of you host your own email and file servers, and I've wanted to do this for several years, but I've been avoiding taking this on myself. This is due to the time investment (to learn tech I don't necessarily want to learn) and the added weight of responsibility for security. Quite frankly, I'm getting lazy in my old age and I'm considering a packaged solution/service like The Helm. I guess my question is, are the tech barriers to setting up a home email server really as formidable as claimed in the below justification from The Helm's web site? If a lazy guy like me sets up an email server, but then doesn't get around to applying security updates for half a year, is he just asking to be hacked? For context, I am a local Charter customer with a standard internet-only subscription. From: https://blog.thehelm.com/post/how-helm-works-part-1-networking [quoted text] For an email server to send and receive email with other servers on the internet, they need port 25 to be open. Unfortunately, ISPs in the U.S. block port 25 by default, a practice started in the 90s when home computers were hacked and turned into open relays abused for spamming. Sometimes it’s possible to get this port unblocked, but it’s not uncommon for the ISP to ask for a significantly more expensive class of service in exchange. ISPs also typically assign dynamic IPs to residential internet connections. Large email service providers block residential dynamic IPs en masse also due to the issue raised above. While it’s possible to get a static IP address from your ISP, they will charge for it and potentially require a more expensive class of service. PTR records, or reverse DNS, is also a key requirement for trustworthiness when setting up an email server. Getting this type of record with a residential internet connection can be a significant challenge and may also incur additional costs. To summarize, port blocking, dynamic IPs and challenges in establishing a PTR record all interfere with easily running an email server at home. It can cost hundreds of dollars per year and consist of a significant investment of time with your ISP to get things set up just right. After thinking about this problem and experimenting for a while, we managed to find a better way. [end quoted text] Thanks, Mike

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