Building Robots For The Home

**🏢 Hosted at:** Fabric Group **🚀 Building the Wrong Thing Faster: AI and the Build Trap** AI has dramatically compressed the time it takes to build software. But it hasn't stopped us building products that nobody wants. If anything, it's accelerated the problem - to the point we've invented a new word for the output: ***slop***. Drawing on observations from Brendan's consulting work and conversations with friends at ***Google, Meta and Spotify***, He'll explore how this ***isn't really a new problem*** and why now, more than ever, we need human centricity, sound product strategy and product discovery. **🎤 Speakers:** ***Brendan Marsh*** is a Product & Org Advisor and Director at ***Organa***, where he helps organisations improve product strategy, org design and execution at scale. He previously served as ***Chief Product Officer*** of a mental health non-profit and spent five years at ***Spotify*** during its hyper-growth phase, first as an ***Agile Coach*** supporting innovation and product discovery teams and later as a ***Product Manager*** responsible for the Mac and Windows clients (40M+ MAU). ***Ruben Cardoso*** is the ***Head of Product & Design*** at ***Fabric Group***. An experienced UX/UI designer specialising in product design and delivery, with a strong track record running discovery-to-delivery cycles for large enterprise clients. ***Dzmitry Yaltykhau*** is the ***Delivery Practice Lead*** at ***Fabric Group.*** Leads large-scale product design and delivery programs end-to-end from presales through discovery, build and rollout while driving best practices, coaching and AI-accelerated ways of working across the team. **🗓 Agenda:** Arrival and light refreshments Featured Talk Panel discussion with contributions from Fabric and the audience

Visitors and newcomers are very welcome, please see https://hackmelbourne.com/newcomer-faq/ for more details. COVIDSafe restrictions are also in place, please see https://hackmelbourne.com/covid-19-restrictions/ for the latest. Short walk from Glenferrie train station. Car parking at Hawthorn town hall. Bring a laptop and a project you are working on. There is also a number of group projects that you are welcome to join in. We have starter kits for Arduino, a couple of 3D printers, various tools and equipment available for use. Typically our sessions run from 6:45pm till later in the evening (depending on our members' availability to close) but if you're new please come early.

Nurture your Tarot-loving light as we gather together each fortnight with our cards to engage in conversations that aim to keep our connection with our decks lively, prescient, insightful, and exploratory. Develop your own dialogue in respectful relationship with one another and the cards feeling empowered to participate irrespective of your ‘level’ of card-conversing ability. Each conversation shall be instigated via creative prompts, questions, and pithy talks on a broad range of Tarot-related influences in a ritually-held circle that ensures ample time is provided for reading the cards for one another and sharing our own unique perceptions, wisdom's, experiences and reflections on life. All Tarot decks and levels of experience are welcomed. *‘The Tarot is a nomadic cathedral and constitutes first and foremost an apprenticeship in seeing.’* Marianne Costa from **The Way of the Tarot; the Spiritual Teacher in the Cards** **PLEASE NOTE: ATTENDANCE ON THE NIGHT FOR THIS CLASS COSTS $15 TO BE PAID AT THE DOOR UPON ENTRY.** **The MTS is committed to providing events that align with and further The three objects of The Theosophical Society:** * To form a nucleus of the universal brotherhood of humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or colour. * To encourage the study of comparative religion, philosophy and science. * To investigate unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in the human being. However this being stated, the MTS does not endorse any health, spiritual, science-related, philosophical or theological /other assertions or claims made by any facilitator we host.

We are back for our second of four meetups in 2026. Whether you’re deep in the code or just curious about the future of streaming, it's a perfect chance to grab a slice of pizza, a cold drink, and catch up with the local engineering scene, make some friends and check out Kick.com (Easygo) HQ. Talks in May are from two leaders in Video Technology Industry sharing: **[Garrett Singer (US Remote) - Software Engineer @ Netflix](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gesinger/)** Garrett shared technical strategies and insights on reducing toil and debugging video-related operations in software engineering pipelines. **[Zac Shenker (US) - Senior Director, Media Strategy @ Fastly](https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacshenker/)** We’re making the most of a rare visit from the States from Zac Shenker- a genuinely great guy and renowned leading expert in video streaming who is currently shaping the industry's most ambitious new streaming architectures by drawing on his experience from events like the Super Bowl. **[Sean Curran - APAC Director @ Eluvio](https://www.linkedin.com/in/curransean/)** *Kill the Encode Farm: The Case for Just-in-Time Video* Eluvio is a decentralised, blockchain-backed distribution network that replaces traditional CDNs and cloud stacks by streaming premium video directly from source objects with just-in-time transcoding and built-in monetisation. 📍 Easygo – 271 Collins Street Melbourne 📅 Tuesday 26 May, 6:00–8:00pm 👉 RSVP is essential for Easygo building access **Sponsors** Our thanks to **Easygo** for hosting and sponsoring pizza + drinks at the venue. Melbourne Video Technology is a volunteer group, as part of many groups independently run around the world. Tonight’s hosts will be: [Jeremy Brown - Kick](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremybrownau/), [Nick MacPherson - Fastly](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasmacpherson1/) and [James Broberg - StreamShark](https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-broberg-8654052/)

Hey Shower Singers! Meet us at our new venue the Craftsman's Corner (*313 Lygon St, Brunswick East*) **Please Note:** ACCESS to our rehearsal room requires walking up 2 flights of stairs - there is no lift. You can rock up and and register at the door, or contact us prior if you wish [via our website](https://beyondthebathroom.org/contact-us). We are in person or online, 7.30-9.30pm on Tuesdays. Casual attendance fees are $20 and $15 concession. If it's your first time, please come early so we can give you everything you need for a fun choir session! Looking forward to singing with you soon, BTB

Its Melhug time again! This time we are cohosting the event with the Melbourne Siggraph Chapter. Once again we are delighted to have Framestore hosting the event! \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **PRESENTATIONS -** FX Supervisor Edward Ferrysienanda will be running us through Framestores awesome work on Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age. Further presentations TBC. \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **SCHEDULE** 6pm: Doors open, networking and drinks 6.30pm to 8pm: Presentations and Q&A 8 to 9pm: Networking and drinks \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **LIMITED SPOTS!** Due to space limitations, this event is limited to just 50 people. Only attendees who RSVP may attend this event. We are using humantix to track RSVPs for this event so please grab a ticket if you want to come. https://events.humanitix.com/framestore_prehistoricplanet Attendees must pre-sign an NDA prior to attending the event (this will be sent out to attendees beforehand). \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **PRIZES AND GIVEAWAYS** * SideFX has a couple of Houdini Indie licenses up for grabs. Any questions feel free to ask! Hope to see you there!

Come along and join in a relaxed evening of dev and tech talk, drinks and dinner.

**🍻 The Entrepreneur Club – Last Friday of the Month Drinks** **Not your average knock-off drinks.** Join us for a monthly gathering of entrepreneurs, builders, creatives, and self-starters who believe business is more than just work, it’s a personal growth journey. Whether you're scaling something or just starting out, this is a space to meet others who think like you do. **💬 What to Expect** ✅ Real convos with people building something ✅ A place to bounce ideas, swap challenges, and share wins ✅ Opportunities to give value and get it in return ✅ Chill vibes, no pitches, just smart people in good company You don’t need a title or a polished pitch, just curiosity and the willingness to connect. **🗓 Format** **6:30pm** – Arrive, grab a drink, join a convo **8:30pm** – We wrap, or roll on elsewhere 📍 **The Oxford Scholar** We take over a corner of the bar (Back Bar or Atrium), look for the crew with ideas in one hand and a drink in the other. **🎯 This is for you if** * You want more entrepreneurial people in your life * You’re building something, or want to be * You care about growth, not just small talk Bring a question. Bring a challenge. Bring your curiosity. Last Friday of every month. Let’s make it count.

**Who We are..... 🤝** Our journey to bring people together began in January of 2022. The group was started with a simple intention to gather and meet some likeminded people - connecting through the powerful act of meditation and sharing our genuine selves while sitting in a circle that represents equality, harmony and wholeness( *we believe everyone in the circle is a teacher and a student at the same time)*. And over the last 4 years of consistently coming together, we have fostered a beautiful, loving, dependable community where members from all walks of life have experienced a sacred space to sit in silence together and meditate, share their authentic selves, give presence to others and forge meaningful and long lasting connections. The Meditations are guided by Sana(co-founder and host), who is a Trained and certified meditation teacher by the Meditation Association of Australia, and has been guiding meditations for 3+ years in corporate and community settings. ✨ **Do you wish to....** * Experience a simple yet powerful meditation and breathing practice to find calm, relaxation and clarity * Connect with like-minded people in your local community and foster meaningful connections * Meet others who are passionate about growing, uplifting themselves, and supporting others * Share insights from your personal journey (or simply listen and learn) Or maybe you just want to... ☮️ **Spend your Sunday evening in a peaceful, zen space and meet new people? Bring a friend (or two!) and let’s connect.** **What’s on the evening’s flow?** * **Open meet & greet** – connect and settle in * **5 min guided meditation** to land into the space and connect within * **Sharing circle** (totally optional!) – share your thoughts or simply listen * **20-30 min guided meditation** – for relaxation and deeper connection **Where?** 📍 **250 George St, Fitzroy VIC 3065** Enter through the church gates. You’ll see a small garden on the left and stairs on the right leading up to the **Dance of Life Yoga Studio (first door on your right upstairs).** **What to bring?** * **Donation:** A contribution of **$15 or more is recommended**. Your donations directly help us cover venue, meetup membership and other costs, provide valuable resources, and keep this meditation community alive and growing. * **Warm jumper/jacket** (just in case!) * **Water** * **Any books/resources/inspiration you’d love to share** **Important Notes:** * Spaces are **limited**, so if you can’t make it, please update your RSVP to “Not going” or send us a quick message. * **No-show policy:** To keep it fair for everyone, repeat no-shows without notice may not be able to RSVP in the future. * Attendees under 18 must have a guardian present. **Everyone is welcome!** All ages (with guardians for under 18), backgrounds, genders, and experiences – no meditation experience needed. The event runs for about **2.5 hours**, but you’re free to come and go as you need.

RSVP on our GDG community platform -> https://gdg.community.dev/events/details/google-gdg-melbourne-presents-gdg-melbourne-may26-meetup/ This event is hosted at the Mantel Group Office, with the recording of the talks to be shared afterwards on YouTube if you can't make it. There will be food, networking and some surprise swag!Agenda: 6:20 - Intro 6:30 - Talks 8:00 till late - networking & chat (& drinks optional)Speakers and Talks: Talk 1: Katie Barnett\, Engineering Manager @ Bilue\| Google Developer Expert for Android \| GDG Melbourne Co\-Organiser \| Women TechMakers Melbourne Ambassador What's New on Android Talk 2: Tulsi Sapkota, Senior Software Engineer @ Linktree Replace Yourself with Agents How we built an agent that monitors our Buildkite pipelines, reasons about inefficiencies, and raises PRs to fix it. A practical story about trust, confidence thresholds, and what happens when the agent is better at your job than you are. Talk 3: Saugato Paroi, IT Support Engineer @ PageUp Building AutoCloud: How I turned "why is deploying so hard?" into an AI-powered platform. It started with a frustration every developer knows — you build something that works beautifully on your machine, then hit a wall of IAM roles, Terraform files, networking configs, and CI/CD pipelines just to get it live. I watched that gap kill momentum for too many projects, including my own. So I decided to build the tool I wished existed. AutoCloud is an AI-powered platform that takes a local project or Git repo and turns it into a production-ready cloud deployment — no deep infrastructure expertise required. In this talk, I'll walk you through the journey: the problem that sparked it, the architectural decisions, the hard lessons, and how AI made it all possible. How to find us: Doors open at 5:45 PM at our host the Mantel Group, Level 2/452 Flinders St, Melbourne. Message via Meetup or Slack if you are arriving after 6:00, as the lifts won't let you up. This is an in-person only event. If you have any accessibility requirements, please reach out via the Meetup or Slack to the organiser group to discuss, and we will do our best to help you out. Agenda *** Speakers Katie Barnett - Google Developer Expert for Android (Engineering Manager, Bilue) Katie is passionate about all things Android. She has taken on a wide variety of challenging projects including in the live event, media and travel space. Her favourite thing is to see someone having a delightful experience using something she has worked on. Katie is very active in the development community, she is one of the organisers of GDG Melbourne and is a Women Techmakers Ambassador. Sh… Tulsi Sapkota - Linktree (Senior Software Engineer) Shaugato Paroi - PageUp (IT Support Engineer) Hosted By Katie Barnett, GDE Android / GDG Organiser Suesi Tran, Senior Flutter Developer Poornima Sivakumar, GDG Organiser Lovee Jain, GDG Organiser Zach Jensz, GDG Organiser Ujjawal Raj, GDG Organiser Bramley Turner-Jones, GDG Organiser Yuba Raj (UV) Panta, GDG Organiser Kartik Arora, Android Engineer Google Developer Expert in Android Android Engineer @ Bilue Carolyn Ai Chi Wong, Complete your event RSVP here: https://gdg.community.dev/events/details/google-gdg-melbourne-presents-gdg-melbourne-may26-meetup/.

The discussion topic for this meetup will be identity and whether or not history is a necessary condition for consciousness as Dretske proposed. James

* **Topic:** Real‑time & Batch on Microsoft Fabric * **Date:** Thursday 28th May 2026 at 6.00 pm - 8.00 pm * **Networking:** 6 pm - 6.30 pm and 7.20 - 8 pm * **Presentation Time**: 6.30 pm - 7.20 pm *(includes welcome, presentation 30 mins & community marketplace)* * **Location:** Thoughtworks HQ Level 35/360 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000 * **Ticket:** Free of cost, however, registrations and RSVP are required! * **Sponsor:** Thoughtworks **Real‑time & Batch on Fabric** This session presents the end state of a mixed real‑time and batch analytics platform on **Microsoft Fabric**. Live event streams are handled using KQL/Eventhouse, enabling low‑latency dashboards and operational insights with minimal processing overhead. In parallel, near real‑time and batch data is processed using governed, lightweight Fabric patterns designed for efficiency and scale. The outcome is a single, capacity‑aware Fabric platform where real‑time and analytical workloads coexist cleanly, with Power BI as the unified consumption layer. **About The Speaker** Arjun Shankar has over a decade of experience turning data challenges into scalable, cloud-first platforms that drive real business decisions. He has worked across banking, finance, transport, insurance, and energy, specialising in the Azure stack: Synapse, Data Factory, Databricks, PySpark, and Fabric. From reducing platform costs, to accelerating delivery, and putting self-service analytics in the hands of the people who need it. Outside work, he's usually out on a trail, training for his next marathon, or keeping up with two young boys. We’re excited to bring the Data Engineering Melbourne Meetup group together for an evening with Arjun and his insights!

AI Unlocked: Trust Your AI A Community AI Meetup — Session 1 Are you curious about AI but not sure where to start — or whether you can actually trust it? This is the meetup for you. Join us for our inaugural AI community meetup: a practical, jargon-free evening designed for anyone who wants to understand AI beyond the headlines. No PhD required. No coding experience needed. In just one hour, we'll cover one of the hottest topics in AI right now — what it really means to trust an AI system Whether you're a professional, student, entrepreneur, or simply AI-curious, come ready to learn, question, and connect. Who's it for ? Anyone curious about AI — all backgrounds welcome Short talks + live demos + open discussion DETAILED AGENDA 5:00 PM — Welcome & Introductions (5 mins) Quick intro to the community, what this meetup series is about, and what to expect tonight. Meet your neighbours. 5:05 PM — SESSION 1: Can You Trust Your AI? A Practical Guide to AI Assurance AI is everywhere — but how do you know when to trust it? This session cuts through the hype to give you a real-world grounding in AI reliability and safety. We'll cover: - What AI hallucinations are and why they happen - How bias sneaks into AI systems (and what's being done about it) - What "responsible AI" actually looks like in practice — not just on paper - A live example: spotting when an AI gets it wrong You'll leave knowing what questions to ask before trusting any AI tool or output. 6:05 PM — Open Q&A + Networking(until 6.30 close) Got questions? Bring them. This is your chance to connect with other attendees, share what you're working on, and shape what future sessions cover. This is Session 1 of an ongoing community series. Future topics will be voted on by the community — your voice shapes what we explore next. Follow this group to stay updated on upcoming events.

**Important time note:** Please plan on arriving between 5:30 and 6:00 as the elevators lock after 6 and you'll need to message us and we'll need to come get you. The building address is 4450 Bridge Park The entrance is 6620 Mooney St, Suite 400 You will need to scan your ID at the door to get a visitor badge. **Abstract** Like it or not, AI agents are now capable of turning a quickly written paragraph of requirements into a pull request that is ready to be integrated into real-world production applications and it's now our responsibility to make sure AI doesn't go rogue and take down prod - or corrupt our data by misunderstanding the requirements or our existing schemas. In this session we'll explore strategies to protect our codebases through unit and integration testing, documentation, and code review along with additional ways of providing context and guard rails to our AI agents as they carry out the work we've assigned them to do. By the time we're done, you'll have a firm grasp of the problem and understand some helpful options for protecting your codebase from vibe coding mishaps getting YOLOed into prod. **YouTube Link** https://youtube.com/live/BltmWMH1zG0?feature=share

**How to take control of your subconscious and harness its power!** Join us for an eye-opening lecture where the speaker will break down complex ideas in a clear and practical way. You’ll gain insights into: ✅ The true definition of the subconscious ✅ How it generates unwanted emotions ✅ Its real purpose and function ✅ What determines the pressure it exerts on you And the most important topic: **How do you take control of your subconscious!** But this isn’t just another lecture where you sit and listen passively. It’s interactive and engaging—you can ask questions at any time. 📅 Reserve your spot now! Seats are limited, so don’t wait too long to sign up. Location: 1266 Dublin Rd, Columbus, OH 43215 Hosted by the Hubbard Dianetics Foundation

Most people use AI like a search box: they type one sentence, hope for the best, and get frustrated when the answer is generic, wrong, or useless. But getting better results from tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and other AI systems is not about memorizing magic prompts. It is about learning how to give the AI better context. In this beginner-friendly session, we’ll break down how to make AI dramatically more useful by improving the way you communicate with it. You’ll learn how to give clearer instructions, provide examples, set constraints, ask for better output formats, and use follow-up questions to turn a mediocre answer into a genuinely useful one. We’ll cover practical techniques you can use immediately for work, learning, writing, coding, planning, research, and everyday problem solving. We’ll also touch on why these same ideas show up in more advanced AI systems, including RAG, agents, evaluations, and AI workflows. No technical background required. Bring your curiosity, your questions, and maybe one real task you wish AI was better at helping you with. **What you’ll learn:** * Why “better prompting” is really about better context * How to structure requests so AI gives more useful answers * How to use examples, constraints, and output formats * How to iterate when the first answer is not good enough * How these skills connect to more advanced AI workflows This meetup is for anyone who wants to move beyond basic ChatGPT usage and start getting more practical value out of AI. LOGISTICS AND PARKING: The talk starts at 7:00 PM. The first half hour is reserved for everyone to get set up and mingle. Free pizza and drinks! The cheapest parking option is to find street parking, which will only cost you a few bucks. Otherwise, park in the nearby veteran's museum lot for $8. It's highly recommended you avoid the nearby $15 garage parking.

QA or the Highway is a one-day, affordable, regional, professional conference featuring real-world experience and thought leadership in the QA and testing industry. This is a ticketed event please register here: https://www.qaorthehwy.com/ Featured Keynote Speakers: **Matthew-Hope Eland** **(Wizard at Leading EDJE)** \- An AI Specialist and Wizard at Leading EDJE who is known to teach software engineering\, AI\, and data science concepts in the most ridiculous ways possible\. Matt has used machine learning to settle debates over whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie\, reinforcement learning to drive the behavior of digital squirrels\, data analytics to suggest improvements to his favorite TV show\, and AI agents to play board games and create an AI agent with the personality of a dog\. Matt is the author of "Data Science in \.NET with Polyglot Notebooks" and "Refactoring with C\#" as well as several LinkedIn Learning courses\. Matt helps organize the Central Ohio \.NET Developer Group\, runs several blogs and a YouTube channel\, has a Master’s of Science in Data Analytics\, and is a current Microsoft MVP in AI and \.NET\. **Tatyana Arbouzova** **(CEO at Innovate QA)** \- Tatyana Arbouzova is an engineering and business leader with a strong background in Quality Engineering across multiple industries\, including Big Tech\, Healthcare\, and Entertainment\. She has held leadership roles at world\-class companies such as Microsoft\, VMware\, Disney\, and The Pokémon Company International\, where she focused on building quality\-driven cultures and scaling teams to deliver high\-impact products\. With decades of experience\, Tatyana has helped organizations transform their quality practices so teams can deliver software efficiently\, confidently\, and with measurable business outcomes\. Today\, Tatyana advises software companies on adopting AI to optimize quality practices and improve how software is delivered at scale\. She is also a passionate community builder and the founder of Innovate QA\, a thriving Seattle\-based community and conference for quality professionals\.

Attend a free seminar on how to have successful and lasting relationships. At this seminar you will learn: How to spot and handle negative and toxic relationships. How to get through the "rough patches" in a relationship. How to choose the right people to work with. The three things that make or break any relationship. How to make a good relationship great. All are welcome. Be sure to click on the red "Attend" button below to come to this local event. We look forward to seeing you there. Hosted by the Dianetics and Scientology Life Improvement Center of Central Ohio.