Tag Archives: Linux

Lincoln LUG – overview of our first meeting

Posted on Tuesday, October 4th, 2011

Lincoln LUG held its first real-life meeting on Tuesday 27th September at Lincoln Bowl. There were 9 people in attendance; myself and hubby, Philip; Adrian and his wife, Linda; Neal, Kev and 3 members of Hull LUG, Steve, Jon and Dave. Lincoln Bowl made us all very welcome, allowing us to completely re-arrange the furniture in their bar area, and they even produced a mains power extension lead for us to plug into and recharge (our computers!)

Adrian had brought along his wife’s laptop and explained that he was having problems auto-connecting to his home wi-fi without having to keep inputting the password every time. The laptop was duly passed over and fault diagnosis ensued but it was unable to be tested until Adrian got the laptop home. Adrian also announced that it was his 65th birthday, so we all wished him a Happy Birthday (no, we didn’t sing!), we bought him a non-alcoholic beer (as he was driving) and then offered him a fresh Linux install of Linux Mint :D

The Hull LUG guys had brought along their tech, and Philip and I had a drool over Steve’s Kindle. Linda was also interested in the Kindle, as she is an avid reader. Dave then got out his Android Tablet and fresh drooling commenced. There were numerous conversations going on throughout the whole group including Thinkpads, The Big Bang Theory, an exchange of knowledge on must-see Sci Fi programmes, our various real-life jobs, how we got into Linux, installing Qwit as a Linux Twitter client, a hands-up on who was an active KDE user (no-one was!) and much, much more.

Doing what we do best ... geeking out with friends!

I did get a chance to pose my questions about how often the Lincoln LUG should meet, when and where, and the format of the meetings. Everyone was pretty easy-going with the decision making but we finally agreed on holding Lincoln LUG meetings on the 3rd Wednesday of every month. We discussed how a last-minute change of venue had deterred a couple of LUG members from attending due to transport issues, and I agreed that I would source a more central venue for our meetings. We also discussed that the format of the meetings should take the form of an informal social gathering at a pub in central Lincoln.

All in all, I think our first meeting was a great success and I hope that the other members who joined us enjoyed themselves too. I want to thank everyone who attended, especially those who had driven over an hour and a half to join us. I had a wonderful evening, meeting new friends and old, and am looking forward to the next meeting.

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Launch of the Lincoln LUG

Posted on Thursday, August 25th, 2011

I have previously blogged here and here about my proposal to relaunch the Lincolnshire LUG.  Whilst my idea was met with enthusiasm from most, the general feedback was that the geography and rurality of Lincolnshire as a county was too vast, and that a smaller, more localised LUG was needed that could meet more regularly.

Listening to member feedback, I am pleased to be able to announce the start of Lincoln LUG. I am currently in the process of sourcing a venue for our first meet in September, and I will post details via the Lincoln LUG mailing list of the date, time and venue.

The Lincoln LUG membership is open to any existing Lincolnshire LUG or neighbouring LUG members who can travel and want the opportunity to meet with like-minded GNU/Linux people over a drink or two.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of the Lincolnshire LUG mailing list members for their support and ideas, and the lug.ork.uk admins for helping me to make this happen. I would also like to thank my husband, Philip, for his offer of taste-testing all the local hostelries in an effort to find a venue suitable for us. :D

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Lincolnshire LUG: update

Posted on Thursday, August 18th, 2011

Following on from my previous post about relaunching the Lincolnshire LUG, I thought I would share here the responses that I have received so far from the existing members who are on the mailing list.  This is the mail I sent: Lincs LUG: relaunch?

You can see that I have had a lot of positive responses, including a couple from members of neighbouring LUGs.  This has greatly encouraged me and lets me know that there is appetite out there for an active LUG in Lincolnshire.

If this is something that interests you; you live in Lincolnshire and aren’t already a member of the mailing list, please join so that you can contribute to the conversation and help us create a more active Lincolnshire LUG :)

 

 

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Lincolnshire LUG: relaunch?

Posted on Thursday, August 18th, 2011

I came back from OggCamp 2011 completely inspired to contribute something back to the Linux community after sitting in on Lorna Jane Mitchell’s talk about Open Sourcing your career.  Now, I am not a technical geek, and know little or nothing about code, applications or programming but what I lack in technical abilities, I more than make up for in social skills, networking and making things happen.  So I have joined the Lincolnshire LUG mailing list and emailed the members with an offer to take over the running/relaunch of the LUG, which has been dead for nearly 2 years!  I had previously discussed whether LUG’s were still viable/useful when I guest presented on The Dick Turpin Roadshow episode six.

I’m hoping to get a few responses to see whether it is viable to establish the LUG again, and I’m optimistic that it will happen.  I’m certainly fired full of enthusiasm to make a go of it.  If I build it, they will come :D

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OggCamp 2011

Posted on Tuesday, August 16th, 2011
Ken Fallon

OggCamp 2011, Farnham with Ken Fallon, Philip Newborough & Les Pounder

I have just returned with the family from attending my 3rd annual OggCamp event. This year it was held at Farnham Maltings; a fantastic venue which ticked all the boxes – location, size, layout, proximity to shops!

OggCamp is one of the geeky highlights of our year, and we always make the effort to attend.  It is a unique chance for us to meet up with old friends, and a fantastic opportunity to make new ones too.

This year, I am very pleased to have made the acquaintance of Ken Fallon of Hacker Public Radio fame.  I even managed to get our picture taken with him (above) before he cajoled Philip and I into giving him a CrunchBang Linux interview!

This year’s OggCamp was the best yet – the event has grown in strength year on year, increasing in professionalism and content, as well as attendance figures.  Notable moments for me from this year’s event were the inspiring and fascinating talks given by Lorna Jane Mitchell on Open Sourcing your career and Digital Forensics by Freakyclown; the joint Linux Outlaws and UUPC live show recording on Saturday; me and Philip recording a special episode of The Dick Turpin Roadshow as guest presenters with the regular presenters, Pete Cannon and Matt Copperwaite, and meeting up with everyone in the pub on Friday, Saturday & Sunday evening.  Not so notable moments were me having to be undressed and put to bed by our daughter on Saturday night and then throwing up before breakfast on Sunday morning due to a severe hangover – classy! :D

I want to pass on a huge thanks from me and my family to Dan and Fabsh of the Linux Outlaws and to Mark, Laura, Tony & Popey of UUPC, as well as all of the crew, the sponsors and the guest presenters who all helped make this event happen and contributed to its success.  You all rock, and we cannot wait to see you all again next year!

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