MVCUG Meeting Notes
July 13, 2019
We had a fun meeting yesterday. Thanks to all who attended. The topic was “Home Automation, Part 2: Home Security.” You can read the description (if you haven’t already) on our website (until the webmaster updates it for the next meeting) or on our Facebook page.
We had an informative presentation from our president, John Buono, about the current state of home security from his experience using mostly Apple HomeKit compatible devices. He started by briefly reviewing Home Automation, Part 1 (presented on July 7, 2017) that covered lights, appliances, and the then new Apple Home app on iOS. Part 2 covered cameras, locks, outside lights, and remote operation/notification. Here’s a few related links to follow up with.
- iHome motion detector (John’s recommendation)
- Eve motion detector
- Getting Started with HomeKit (Automators Podcast episode #26)
- Dash cams and car security: Bonnie posed the question of this kind of device and Mike found one on Amazon (see separate email to this group) from Vantrue.
It would be impossible to convey the entire breadth of information and knowledge presented in our three-hour session. What remains to say here is to provide some notes on the other aspects of the morning’s presentation with some links for your further self-education.
Tips & Favorites
- Using flags in email (John’s tip and how he uses flags)
- 512 Pixels (a long-time, Apple-centric blog by Stephen Hackett—one of Barry’s favorites)
- Windows 10 Calculator (One of Carolyn’s favorite things)
- Graphing Calculators: John is looking for a good one. Carolyn suggested one she uses at Mathway. Mac users can find one in the Utilities folder (inside the Applications folder). It’s called Grapher.
- Apple Books: John touts the ebook reading experience as superior to the Kindle App, but concedes the reading experience on some Kindle devices may be better in certain situations. It’s easier to put your own PDFs into your Apple Books library, however—just drag the file from your Mac Finder window to the Books app window. Once synced to iCloud, your PDFs (and all your other ebooks) are available on all your Apple devices (Mac, iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad).
- Activity Tracker: Maureen shared this third-party iOS app as one of her favorites for tracking physical activity. It’s similar to the Apple Activity app available for Apple Watch users, but you don’t need a watch.
Computer Lexicon Term(s) of the Month
- Java
- A universal programing language, platform independent. Supposed to be savior of the computer. Never really caught on. Very slow. Used by a lot of Web developers for Applications.
- JAVA updates only from Oracle only!
- Javascript
- A scripting language used with web browsers to give the impression of an application.
We hope to see more of you next month on Saturday, August 10. The posted topic was going to be Augmented Reality, but John thinks it’s not really there yet, so watch your email, the website, and the Facebook group for the announcement of the new August topic.
Happy computing!
Barry
Barry “Bazza” Midgorden
Vice President (macOS)
Mountain View Computer Users Group
Sierra Vista, Arizona