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K-LUG - Rochester, MN Area Linux Users Group

Note: To request a wiki account, please join the mailing list and post a message.

We can use presentations for upcoming meetings, please see a list of ideas if you're willing but lacking a topic.


LUG News

We generally meet monthly for technical presentations (2nd Thursday of the month, 6 pm, RCTC), and monthly for socializing (varies). We no longer meet monthly for lunches, if you are interested in reviving this tradition please contact an officer.





Technical Meeting: Thursday January 10th, 2019

Dennis DeLorme on his Garagenator (that's garage doing the work of a refrigerator), involving WiFi/Web based temperature sensor/logger:

Did you have the family gathering at your place for Thanksgiving? Did you run out of space in the refrigerator? Did you wonder if the garage temperature was safe for overflow food storage? If so you needed the GARAGERATOR - the WiFi/Web solution to garage temperature monitoring.

In this presentation I'll describe how to use an under $10 WiFi module as a web server to monitor and log temperature. The "user interface" is via a web browser on a laptop, tablet, or cell phone. No special hardware or software is needed on the user side.

I will demonstrate the web server as an Access Point (a stand alone network) to collect and download data. This requires no additional networking, so it is not dependent on a local network.

It can also be connected as a station on a local network and accessible to any device on the local network. I will describe how to do this (it is only a few lines of code difference). I don't know that I will be able to demonstrate this on the RCTC network - as I recall they had some additional interactions to sign on to their open network.

I will cover the hardware and software used in the project. For those that want to get a head start - the hardware is an ESP8266 module, a DS3231 rtc, and a DS18B20 temperature sensor. The software is developed using the Arduino IDE with extensions for the ESP8266 (https://github.com/esp8266/Arduino).

NOTE: This is not an "Internet Of Things" (IOT) presentation. It could be connected directly to the Internet, but I lack the security knowledge (or, alternately, the level of stupidity) required to do that. It can, of course, access the internet via a local network - like other devices on a local network.


KLUG officer nominations and elections (president, vice president, treasurer).

PCIG officer nominations.

6 pm, in or near RCTC Heintz Center's HA108.


Directions to Campus

Campus layout

Heintz Center Building Map

Anything else you want to see on the agenda? Let Tina know.


Social: January 2019

What might you want to do? Tell Tina.


Technical Meeting: Thursday February 14th

This meeting may get moved to avoid Valentines Day, check here for updates.

Arhelger, on choosing a wifi router. This presentation will be recorded, FYI if that bothers you.


6 pm, in or near RCTC Heintz Center's HA108.

Directions to Campus

Campus layout

Heintz Center Building Map

Anything else you want to see on the agenda? Let Tina know.



Social: February

What might you want to do? Tell Tina.


Technical Meeting: Thursday March 14th

TBD. If you are willing to speak, or can suggest a speaker, please let us know.

6 pm, in or near RCTC Heintz Center's HA108.

Directions to Campus

Campus layout

Heintz Center Building Map

Anything else you want to see on the agenda? Let Tina know.


Social: March

What might you want to do? Tell Tina.


Technical Meeting: Thursday April 11th

TBD. If you are willing to speak, or can suggest a speaker, please let us know.

6 pm, in or near what used to be RCTC Heintz Center's HA108. We aren't moving, but the building numbering scheme is being re-done, so as of March 20th this room will now be known as H1411. If anyone finds updated maps, please let us know.

Directions to Campus

Campus layout

Heintz Center Building Map

Anything else you want to see on the agenda? Let Tina know.


Social: April

What might you want to do? Tell Tina.



Pending potential presentations

[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1523379957/oculus-rift-step-into-the-game

Oculus Rift], "the first truly immersive virtual reality headset for video games" .  Peter Shabino

Jon Gullixson: gnucash or www :: Mechanize


Planned Socials: Fall or winter

-Murder mystery. The host needs to buy a kit at a gaming store to get the event started.

-Jim Henderson, "Silicon Valley" documentary

-Rock climbing at Prairie Walls

-Bowlocity laser tag. 5-6 people minimum needed.

-Liquid nitrogen ice cream. This needs a non-Tina organizer. Dennis DeLorme has 2 recipes. We need safety equipment and someone trained enough to keep us from freezing ourselves.

-MAME/foosball/ping pong at ... can't be Tim Massaro's anymore...

-February or July armchair mapping aka road rally event, http://home.earthlink.net/~oldmaltese/



Upcoming Meeting Crisis!

We need some meeting topics (& speakers) for 2019. We'd like to know what you want to see and hear about. Please email Tina with suggestions for topics. Should we run some previous sessions again (maybe something you really wanted to see but missed out on)? What type of topics are good, what type are bad? Also see this page for a list of suggested topics http://www.k-lug.org/Meetings


Old News Items

See the OldNews page.



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