Happy New Year to everyone.

Coronavirus Impact Covid-19.

Although we are no longer in full lockdown there are still uncertainties and restrictions. So for the present we are continuing to hold our meetings online.

I hope you are all keeping safe and well and will be able to join us online.

Contact Gareth ( or to iceni@woolridge.org.uk ) if you don't think you are on our meeting list of participants for online meetings if you are interested in joining in; since he is sending out the links prior to each meeting. Just follow the link and follow on-screen instructions.

There is nothing to download or install. We still meet on the third Wednesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. via Jitsi.org Video conferencing. If using a Mac IOS the Safari Browser works correctly for screen sharing your own screen, but this doesn't work for Firefox.

Peter

Our Next Meeting: Open meeting suggested on Wednesday 19th January 2022

This would have been a Social Evening if we were in normal times, but as times have not yet become normal, it would be still be enjoyable to meet up online again. If anyone has a good topic to talk about then feel free to air it other wise just come along for a chat. I am sure there will be more talk of 3D printing as well.

I have noticed recent online warnings again of the Qlocker software targetting the vulnerability of QNAP NAS with internet access to Ransomware attacks. See Bleepingcomputer.com

Our Last Meeting: Gadgets and Party Evening 15th December 2021

Quite a good selection of gadgets was presented this year.
1) The evening started with Duncan showing us his replica model of a St.Charmond 1916 tank.

2) Paul began his gadgets by showing his "8 in 1 card" . This was a very handy collection of tools in a credit card sized including a compass, pens, a hinged bit and two lenses which can be either used as a telescope or a magnifier. It also has a red laser pointer a UV lamp for checking security markings and bank notes.

<3) Paul's next gadget was a Cheese Mill which has several grades of cut and can also be used for milling nuts.

4) His next was a rechargeable USB ARTlii pocket digital projector (reduced from £70 to £50) and giving 1080p quality.

5) He has also purchased a better router by TP-Link which works with plusnet and gives better wireless coverage. It has 4 LAN ports and can be extended as a mesh network.

The rear view shows the 4 LAN ports, DSL connection and USB1 and USB2 ports.

6) Paul's next gadget was a survival tool as seen here largely a flat plate with a cutter at the top made by Rolson and found in TK Maxx (£14)

7) This was a Bell & Howell Tac (Tactical) pen torch/screwdriver including a whistle and a Car window breaker tool.

8) Paul's last gadget was a Vitamix Industrial Kitchen mixer which can be used as a soup maker as it even heats the soup too. H has also used ti to make ice cream and peanut butter.

[Ed. Well with all these tools, I can't see Paul getting stuck anywhere or lost even though he did not appear to have a paper clip handy!]

9) The next up was Peter who showed a mains cable tester for checking whether a circuit was live and also a socket tester detecting all combinations of wiring faults, missing earth, interchanged live, neutral etc.

10) This was a good capacity charge bank by Goodmans which Paul had shown last year. Purchased from BMI they were now much cheaper and gave a good indication of charging and discharge level.

11) His favourite photo editing package was ON1 RAW which he purchased a couple of years ago when Apple had abandoned Aperture and he had to find a package which would support large RAW files from his new camera. It has been though several updates since and he is still getting used to its capabilities.

12) A useful package for recovering from corrupted SD cards and also for hunting down duplicate files is Diskdrill. It was quite expensive but is very effective and fast.

13) Finally Peter also liked Daisy Disk which gives a graphical representation of all the files on your hard drive ( or any other drive ) similar in use to WinDerStat but this one works on the Mac as well. I know several of you like other similar software but this one suits me.

14) Next was Michael who had been very busy moving house and had installed a UniFi WiFi Access point with good performance. 1300Mb/s 5GHz , through Amazon for around £60 -£65.

15) He had also installed an 8 camera security system and he found it cheaper to buy a PVR with a 6TB drive for recording instead of paying for all the licences on a NAS.

The next up was Duncan with

16) A Battery charger driven from his car enabling him to have power for his camera whilst away from mains power when camping for a week. He bought two batteries and the charger for £28. A Tesco Juice 5 15KmAh. Also Amazon 30KmAh.

17) Standing ring light giving 8 light levels power from a USB pack. There is also a smaller version available from B&M.

Gareth then showed his

18) Ring Door Camera which could be viewed on a baby alarm.

19) He had also invested in various tools for opening and repairing watches in order to put a new battery in a favourite watch for Sophie at Christmas.

20) Finally Gareth showed some impressive output from his newly acquired 3D printer. Creality Ender3 v2, (Ed. which is the same model as mine which was assembled over Christmas).

Peter

ICENI Future programme

If anyone would like to present a talk please let us know. As always there is scope for adjustments as we go through the year and we are hoping the Covid restrictions will have eased and we can have the social functions. If anyone has a favourite restaurant for our social evening please let us know.

Once the restrictions allow in-person meetings it has been suggested that we alternate our meetings between online and in-person as it has been quite convenient for several of us to avoid going out but still attend a meeting. Gareth suggests this may need a decision at the AGM.

Peter

ICENI Future programme 2022
2022
January 19th Open Topic Evening All
February 16th Photo and Video Editing All
March 16th Home Networking and Network Storage All
April 20th Apps and App Stores All
May 18th AGM + Extras All

MEETINGS WILL NOW BE HELD ONLINE BUT STILL ON THE THIRD WEDNESDAY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. FURTHER DETAILS TO FOLLOW.

Our meetings are held at the Bourne Vale Social Club, Halifax Road,

Ipswich IP2 8RE ,

for a map and other details please see the website. http://icenicomputerclub.org.uk

Membership fee currently £15, visitors free.


Special Notice - Insurance

"ICENI does not have any Insurance cover for computers or other equipment so please be advised that you bring machines to the club at your own risk."

However many household insurance policies will include cover away from home often with no increase in premium. (Ed.)

Our Website and Email

Our website URL is

http://icenicomputerclub.org.uk

Email to: iceni@woolridge.org.uk

I am open to suggestions on what people would like to have included in the website.