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2023-01-23 MUGOO Zoom iMeeting

Started by AdminMan, December 13, 2022, 09:37:08 PM

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AdminMan

We still cannot have in-person meetings at the library, so the following Zoom details apply.

Date: Monday January 23, 2023
Time: 7:30 PM ET  You can join the Zoom meeting starting at 7:20.
Venue: A Zoom meeting that you can join on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

Although Zoom works in many browsers we STRONGLY recommend using the dedicated app on your device with the largest screen for the best experience.
You do NOT need a Zoom account to join a meeting!
If you need instructions, go here: https://mugoo.com/index.php/Main/UsingZOOM

Agenda:

0 - Group chin-wag during log on                                                        7:20 - 7:30                                                                                         

1 - Update on Recent AI Breakthroughs:
      OpenAI ChatGPT Text Generator  and
      Microsoft VALL-E Voice Cloning                 - with David Rhynas      7:30 - 8:10

2 - SMS Text Messaging Scams                       - with Laurence Head    8:10 - 8:30

3 - Some Cool iOS 16 Features                       - with Wally Kuzmicz      8:30 - 8:50

4 - Presidential Sign Off                                  - with Wally Kuzmicz      0.5 minutes                                                                                                                       
         
Unfortunately, no after meeting wings or desserts at the Royal Oak, but feel free to prepare your own snacks and share them with us on screen!

Did you miss a meeting?
Sign up for emailed meeting notices! https://mugoo.com/index.php/Main/MeetingReminders

Don't forget the Ottawa Public Library!
Even though we are unable to meet in person at the library, the OPL still offers a wealth of services you can access online. Go to https://biblioottawalibrary.ca/en

DavidR

#1
0 - Group chin-wag during log on                                                                                         
Marc was recently able to upgrade his Internet service with Bell from 500 Mbps to 1.5 Gbps for $15 per month less than what he was previously paying!  But only after "doing the dance" with Customer Retention.  The stance of most Telcos seems to be why should we do anything if the customer is not complaining?

Ross mentioned that Neil sent him an article about monopolistic practices in Canada.  It was looking at airfares, Internet and mobile phone service where Canada seems to be one of the most expensive places in the world.  No competition.

Wally described some issues he was having in partioning discs, which Marc was able to help clarify.

1 - Update on Recent AI Breakthroughs: - with David Rhynas
      OpenAI ChatGPT Text Generator  and
      Microsoft VALL-E Voice Cloning
David provided an update on two recent and significant announcements in the domain of Artificial Intelligence.

ChatGPT is a large language model developed by OpenAI that is trained to generate human-like text. It can be used for a variety of natural language processing tasks, such as language translation, text summarization, question answering, and text generation. Marc has used the ChatGPT service for programming and has been amazed at the accuracy and how much time it saved.

Microsoft researchers have presented an impressive new text-to-speech AI model, called Vall-E, which can listen to a voice for just a few seconds, then mimic that voice – including the emotional tone and acoustics – to say whatever you like. 

Both of these services offer compelling benefits and major concerns.   Despite some misgivings, the genie is already out of the bottle.  You can view David's presentation deck and commentary here https://mugoo.com/bigfiles/2023-01-23-ai_breakthroughs.key

2 - SMS Text Messaging Scams - with Laurence Head
Laurence described several instances where he almost, but not quite, got scammed; the ruses are becoming more and more sophisticated.  Most recently there was a bogus but very convincing SMS text message which led him to prompts for his banking sign-on.  In iOS 16, there is an easy setting to filter messages from senders not in your list of contacts.  The filter can be turned off and all messages are still there.  Two-factor authentication is a further safeguard that we should now all be using for our financial services. You can view Laurence's presentation deck  at https://mugoo.com/bigfiles/2023-01-23-sms_filter.pdf .

3 - Some Cool iOS 16 Features - with Wally Kuzmicz
Wally gave a real-time demo of one of the slick features in iOS 16: how to instantly lift a subject out of a photo and then do something else with it.  The first example was horse and it was remarkable how the hairs in the mane were so precisely extracted.  Not so long ago this would have been a very tedious process.  The extraction is in .png format which allows placement of an irregularly shaped object.  Furthermore, iOS 16 can identify many of the extracted subjects.  You view this tip and others in the attachment below.

4 - Post Meeting Discussion
The after chit chat lasted longer than usual and covered a broad range of subjects: more spam stories; phishing attempts; Marc has ordered a new M2 Pro Mac Mini; advantages and risks in using some of the new Zoom-based apps; Ross is still waiting for his Fjorden grip that make your iPhone more like a DSLR camera.  We still miss getting together afterwards at the Royal Oak.