Victor Rezmovic, a technology educator, will provide a talk on an internet-related topic every other month in 2023. This will give us an opportunity to examine how we can use this omnipresent force for good in our lives.

These talks will take place the second Thursdays at 3:00 pm.

Thursday, January 12 at 3:00 pm – Cutting the Cord: Streaming Alternatives to Cable TV
High-speed Internet has created many alternatives to watching TV provided by your cable TV supplier. Services such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime offer movies and TV shows that are on-demand, commercial-free, and potentially less expensive than your current arrangement with Comcast or Verizon.  During this lecture and demonstration, we will look at popular alternatives to Cable TV and how popular devices such as Apple TV and Roku are changing the viewing experience. We’ll also examine how devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops have become the new TV sets.

Thursday, February 9 at 3:00 pm – Geniuses and Geeks:  A History of the Digital Revolution 
The personal computer and the Internet are among the most important innovations of our era. But few people know the names and events that contributed to these innovations during the last 200 years. In 2014, Walter Isaacson published “The Innovators” in which he covered the events that produced contemporary computer technology. In this class, we will cover the major events and individuals that have produced that technology. The lecture will follow Isaacson’s timeline and supplement his narrative with additional details on the historical events (supplemented with video clips) of significant moments that brought us to today. Reading Isaacson’s book is not required for attending this class.

Thursday, April 20 at 3:00 pm – WHAT? You still have a landline? Changes in Technology and how you can benefit from the latest updates.
We use technology in our daily lives. Once a technology meets our needs, we tend to stay with it. Technology, however, changes dramatically and we may benefit from examining what’s new and incorporating these new technologies. Adding or upgrading to new options will enable us to do more, be more productive and often save money. In this class we will examine computer hardware, software, the Internet/Cloud and online safety and how to incorporate these technologies.

Thursday, July 13 at 3:00 pm – Staying Safe Online
When the first personal computers were introduced in the early part of the 1980’s, computer security mostly involved locking your PC to the desk so it would not be stolen. Today, hackers have many tools to invade your privacy, steal your identity and encrypt your computer files until you pay them a ransom. In this presentation I will summarize the techniques used by scammers and the best ways to protect our computers and the data contained on our hard drives. The most common tools used today involve some form of social engineering. We will examine many of the ways your email may be compromised and how to avoid getting entrapped.

Thursday, September 14 at 3:00 pm -What is the Cloud?
We use it every day, but we’re not sure what it means. The Cloud has slowly become part of our lives and touches much of the technology we use today. You can’t understand the world of your children and grandchildren unless you spend some time in this Cloud. During this class we will examine the terminology that explains the mechanics of how the Cloud functions. Since the Cloud is reliant on the Internet infrastructure the course will review the architecture of the Internet and how it supports the functionality of the Cloud. We will meet some of the major players that dominate the Cloud such as Google, Apple, and Microsoft. We will also review the primary applications that are being used such as file storage, music, video streaming and the Internet of Things.

Other talks to be determined as the group suggests!

Victor Rezmovic, PhD, is a technology educator who has spent the last 30 years in academic, corporate, and governmental settings. Since taking apart his first PC in the mid-80s he has followed the technology revolution as email, the Internet, digital music, Netflix, and the iPhone have become part of our everyday lives. He has held positions at the University of Illinois and the US Department of Agriculture and currently teaches in the Information Technology Institute at Montgomery College.