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Re: Reminder: Virtual meeting, October 15th, 2020!

by Keith Wright

Chuck Anderson via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> writes: > On Thu, Oct 15, 2020 at 05:59:12PM -0400, Keith Wright via WLUG wrote: >> so I plan to try it tonight. I'll report back to this list. >> >> I have never used the camara or microphone on this laptop, >> I don't know if I have used sound output, it was long >> ago and might have been a different machine, >> >> Is video chat built into the browser now? > > Yes, video chat is built into all modern browsers. They call it > "HTML5" and "WebRTC". Thank you. HTML5 is a good search key. I have a lot of reading to do, but already I learned from wikipedia that >> In early November 2011, Adobe announced that it would discontinue >> development of Flash >> >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML5#%22Thoughts_on_Flash%22 I noticed that it seemed to be going away, but thought it was just web site developers getting smarter: "Hey Joe, Why do we make the customers download flash before we tell them about our product?" It's more official than that. >> What exactly does Zoom or jit.si do then? > > It starts up a WebRTC session over HTTPS to the jit.si server using > your microphone and camera to send your video/audio, As I said, I have never (knowingly) used the camera or microphone on this computer, nor even the speaker/headphones. But I have a few questions: (1) Did you guys see me? I tried to join WLUG meeting last Thu. I never got sound, but I saw some people I recognized, and a picture of myself. I was the guy with the big head. It actually looked bigger than it is, partly because of the firmware in the standard laptop camera which uses AI to zoom in and magnify any slight hint of receding hair, and partly because I was leaning back in a comfy chair with the "Lap"top on my chest. (2) Is the URL https://meet.jit.si/WlugMA still active? Does it work with Microsoft Windows? I am thinking that I could test it out by connecting to WlugMA with my Linux computer while Diane connects with her MS computer. Then we could debug by shouting across the living room. After I quit the WLUG meeting, a poked some menu buttons I had not before and discovered Multimedia ==> PulseAudio Volume Control. By turning that up, I can reliably get sound while playing a *.mp4 with vlc. I tried listening to radio stations (wicn, wbur, wgbh) and it mostly didn't work, but once or twice it did work. I really have no idea why it is sometime but not always. I did notice that when I click (what I take to be) the button to listen to streaming radio over internet it starts looking up all kinds of things I did not ask for (facebook, twitter, chartbeat). I'm wondering if I might have a DNS (named) problem. I have never set up DHCP here, I just assign a static IP address each time I get a new computer. That does not happen often enough to be worth automation. (3) Does HTML5 require DHCP to redirect or forward the data stream? (4) Is there a standard codec or is that something that must be installed to match the whim of the website? -- Keith (Wright) aka Egghead

Oct. 18, 2020

Re: SBC Options for Network Router

by John Stoffel

Oh yeah, the TP-Link EAP225s were recommended on arstechnica.com about four months or so ago. Ugh... it was back in February. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/02/the-ars-technica-semi-scientific-gu… I had thought of getting Ubiquiti WAPS, but the TP-Link EAP-225s were just $50/ea from Amazon, so I got one and then a second. Great buys. And Jim Salter reviews the Seeed Studio box you're thinking of using as well. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/08/review-odyssey-x86j4105-a-mini-pc-f… Here's an older article where they built a home router, and the MicroTik MIPS based router did really well. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/09/the-router-rumble-ars-diy-build-fac… So they're alot of options. But basically, keep the WAPs seperate from the router, and run cables to them if at all possible, and you'll have a really nice home network. John

Oct. 17, 2020

Re: SBC Options for Network Router

by John Stoffel

David> I would like to build my own network router/gateway and I would like David> some feedback regarding options. This is a good option. David> I would like to separate the WIFI from the router. I plan on David> buying multiple Wireless Access Points to handle WIFI within David> the house and WIFI in the back yard. The backyard WAP will be David> powered over Ethernet. I'm using the TPlink EAP225 at home and I've been pretty happy with them. I've got the Ormada Java controller software running as well. The only annoyance is that if they lose their minds, the default subnet is 192.168.0.x and it defaults to .1 or .10 as I recall. Otherwise they seem to be pretty solid. I recently upgraded from a pair of Netgear WNDR3700s that I was running OpenWRT on. David> Also I want a router distribution that give me lots of David> flexibility in what I can install and is kept up to date with David> regard to security. For my home router I'm using OPNsense running on a PCengines APU with three 1gig network ports. I purposely didn't get the Wifi versions. I've also got a 64gb SSD in there as my boot media, and I'm using very little of the SSD, so I expect it to last quite a while. Now if you add a bunch of modules, I suspect that you really want to get a higher performance system. David> It looks like my choices for distributions are dd-wrt, openwrt, David> and tomahto (tomato). Any thoughts? I've given up on dd-wrt for the APs. It's just too painful to try and figure out which version of the software to use, etc. Maybe openwrt would have been a better choice? But this hardware was getting old and long in the tooth. For years and years I used m0n0wall since it was simple, fast, lightweight and just did the job right. So right now I''ve been using OpnSense for the past three or four years and I'm ok with it for my router. David> So far the only hardware option that I have encountered is David> Seeed Studio's ODYSSEY – X86J4105. It comes with a case and a David> power supply. The project is described in David> https://www.seeedstudio.com/blog/2020/02/24/how-to-build-your-own-openwrt-r… Looks interesting. I'm using the apu2 from pcengines.ch and I like it because it's quiet and low power and handles my home network needs no problem. Probably the three interface version. I like them alot since they're solid state, no moving parts. If you have over 200gbit internet at home, then the APU2 might not meet your needs... but honestly, it's been working really well for me for years. I'm also running the latest 20.3 releasr of OpnSense and it's ... ok. Not wild about the GUI. And if you want to run traffic shaping, or anti-virus or squid proxy, then you will need a bigger box than the APU2 series. But at that point, you may as well find an old PC and use that. Good luck, John

Oct. 17, 2020

SBC Options for Network Router

by David Glaser

Hi Folks, I would like to build my own network router/gateway and I would like some feedback regarding options. I would like to separate the WIFI from the router. I plan on buying multiple Wireless Access Points to handle WIFI within the house and WIFI in the back yard. The backyard WAP will be powered over Ethernet. Also I want a router distribution that give me lots of flexibility in what I can install and is kept up to date with regard to security. It looks like my choices for distributions are dd-wrt, openwrt, and tomahto (tomato). Any thoughts? So far the only hardware option that I have encountered is Seeed Studio's ODYSSEY – X86J4105. It comes with a case and a power supply. The project is described in https://www.seeedstudio.com/blog/2020/02/24/how-to-build-your-own-openwrt-r… Again, any suggestions on which SBC would be a good candidate? -David -- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

Oct. 16, 2020

Re: Reminder: Virtual meeting, October 15th, 2020!

by Chuck Anderson

On Thu, Oct 15, 2020 at 05:59:12PM -0400, Keith Wright via WLUG wrote: > I don't know what the package is for, but somebody on this list > said that it should work just to put the link into a browser, > so I plan to try it tonight. I'll reoort back to this list. > > I have never used the camara or microphone on this laptop, > I don't know if I have used used sound output, it was long > ago and might have been a different machine, > > Is video chat built into the browser now? Yes, video chat is built into all modern browsers. They call it "HTML5" and "WebRTC". > What exactly does Zoom or jit.si do then? It starts up a WebRTC session over HTTPS to the jit.si server using your microphone and camera to send your video/audio, while the web server jit.si sends the video/audio of all the other participants back to your browser. Each participant appears as a small video window in a "grid" on the web page. So the server acts as a "video router". > And what's in that Debian jit.si package? I haven't looked at the Debian package, but since the server side of jitsi is open source (the client side is open source if you use Firefox or Chromium or similar to access the server), I'd imagine that the Debian package contains the server code. jit.si the web site runs the open source code from jitsi.org. Anyone can run their own web server for people to connect to for creating their own video conference: https://jitsi.org/what-is-jitsi/

Oct. 15, 2020

Re: Reminder: Virtual meeting, October 15th, 2020!

by Keith Wright

Tim Keller via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> writes: > Hey Everybody, > > We've got a virtual wlug meeting on Thursday October 15th, 2020! Hey, that's tonight. I almody forgot. > Time: 7pm > Date: Oct 15th, 2020 > Location: https://meet.jit.si/WlugMA > Topic: As usual TBD. I will show off my CNC machine and where I'm at with > it, but besides that, I expect the usual level of banter. The first time WLUG had a jitsi meeting, I searched for it and found a Debian package that I thought I had to install. I dinna wanna. I don't know what the package is for, but somebody on this list said that it should work just to put the link into a browser, so I plan to try it tonight. I'll reoort back to this list. I have never used the camara or microphone on this laptop, I don't know if I have used used sound output, it was long ago and might have been a different machine, Is video chat built into the browser now? What exactly does Zoom or jit.si do then? And what's in that Debian jit.si package? -- Keith

Oct. 15, 2020

Reminder: Virtual meeting, October 15th, 2020!

by Tim Keller

Hey Everybody, We've got a virtual wlug meeting on Thursday October 15th, 2020! Time: 7pm Date: Oct 15th, 2020 Location: https://meet.jit.si/WlugMA Topic: As usual TBD. I will show off my CNC machine and where I'm at with it, but besides that, I expect the usual level of banter. Hope to see some familiar faces and new ones as well! Later, Tim. -- I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".

Oct. 14, 2020

Re: Free Item: Elenco Kids 300 Project Electronics Kit

by John Stoffel

Joel> You are the first to show interest and #1 on the interested Joel> people list. Joel> If others are interested, will pick a person at random from Joel> those interested. I think I can add in more snap circuits to this giveaway too! No manuals, not sure how much I have left, but I'd be happy to have it find a good home since my kids aren't interested at all.

Oct. 11, 2020

Re: Free Item: Elenco Kids 300 Project Electronics Kit

by Aljerin Butler,Jr.

If you really want your kids to "geek out" try looking here, here and here. Al Butler On Monday, October 5, 2020, 1:06:32 PM EDT, Jim Dibb via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> wrote: Hi, Actually, I retract my interest. Went to look at what we do have and the kit you have would be redundant.Thanks for offering it. I'm sure it will find a good home.Regards,Jim On Mon, Oct 5, 2020 at 10:54 AM joel d via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> wrote: Hi WLUG, I have a free item someone's favorite electronics interested kid may love. Elenco Snap Circuits 300 in 1 Electronics Kit. Have the 300 projects kit plus an expansion kit for another 100+ projects. I believe all the parts and manuals are there, but no guarantees. As a ham radio geek, I will genuinely miss my son building a working AM radio receiver on his own on a random rainy Saturday. Think electronics building kit, with no wires to connect and with language-free Lego type instructions. My guess at age range is 6 years old (for simpler builds) to about 13 years old.Kids older than 13 may love it, but are more likely to live with a death-grip on their modern data phone device. If more than one person happens to be interested, I will do a random.org drawing to pick a winner later this week. Joel Here is what Amazon lists for a description of the 300 project kit:https://www.amazon.com/Snap-Circuits-SC-300-Electronics-Exploration/dp/… _______________________________________________ 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/BVGIH… _______________________________________________ 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/UEHBT…

Oct. 8, 2020

Try #2! Next WLUG Meeting is Oct. 15th!!

by Tim Keller

Hey Everybody, let's try this again! I have a conflict on the 8th and the second week of October snuck up on me. We will be having the meeting *October 15th, 2020!* Sorry for any confusion the last confusing email created! Thanks, TIm. -- I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".

Oct. 6, 2020