Oriente Medio

**Can R tame the LLM chaos? Let's find out. 🤖** Two talks. Two live demos. One evening that might change how you think about LLMs in R. Refreshments and networking from 18h00. **Agenda** \~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~ \* 16h30 – 16h45 \| Welcome and News \- Handre Williams & Luis de Sousa \* 16h45 – 17h20 \| Handre Williams: **R as the orchestration + statistical validation layer for LLMs** LLMs are powerful but unreliable. R is rigorous but underestimated. This talk explores what happens when you combine the two — using R as the orchestration backbone and statistical validation layer for LLM workflows. Handre will show practical patterns for calling, chaining, and stress-testing LLMs from R, and how classical statistical tools can keep your models honest in production. Includes a live demo. \* 17h20 – 17h55 \| Luis de Sousa: **RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) in R** LLMs hallucinate. The fix? Give them better memory. This talk dives into Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) in R — combining DuckDB's vector search capabilities with R's data ecosystem to ground LLMs in domain-specific knowledge. Luis will show how to build a RAG pipeline from scratch, turning your own data into a knowledge base that makes LLMs actually useful in practice. Includes a live demo. \* 17h55 – 18h00 \| Wrap up\, questions & close \* 18h00 \| Refreshments & networking — continue the conversation in person **Details** \~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~ When: 14 April 2026 @ 16h30 to 18h00 (GMT+2) Where: Microsoft Campus in Bryanston, South Africa Location: https://goo.gl/maps/4ffcC3N6T7S2 Keen to speak at a future event? Submit your session abstracts at https://sessionize.com/johannesburg-r-user-group/ **Stay connected** \~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~ \* Website: https://www.rusergroup.co.za \* Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/joburg-r-users-group \* Twitter: https://twitter.com/JHBRUserGroup \* GitHub: https://github.com/rusergroupcoza \* WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/3CeDifS

**Can R tame the LLM chaos? Let's find out. 🤖** Two talks. Two live demos. One evening that might change how you think about LLMs in R. Refreshments and networking from 18h00. **Agenda** \~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~ \* 16h30 – 16h45 \| Welcome and News \- Handre Williams & Luis de Sousa \* 16h45 – 17h20 \| Handre Williams: **R as the orchestration + statistical validation layer for LLMs** LLMs are powerful but unreliable. R is rigorous but underestimated. This talk explores what happens when you combine the two — using R as the orchestration backbone and statistical validation layer for LLM workflows. Handre will show practical patterns for calling, chaining, and stress-testing LLMs from R, and how classical statistical tools can keep your models honest in production. Includes a live demo. \* 17h20 – 17h55 \| Luis de Sousa: **RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) in R** LLMs hallucinate. The fix? Give them better memory. This talk dives into Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) in R — combining DuckDB's vector search capabilities with R's data ecosystem to ground LLMs in domain-specific knowledge. Luis will show how to build a RAG pipeline from scratch, turning your own data into a knowledge base that makes LLMs actually useful in practice. Includes a live demo. \* 17h55 – 18h00 \| Wrap up\, questions & close \* 18h00 \| Refreshments & networking — continue the conversation in person **Details** \~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~ When: 14 April 2026 @ 16h30 to 18h00 (GMT+2) Where: Microsoft Campus in Bryanston, South Africa Location: https://goo.gl/maps/4ffcC3N6T7S2 Keen to speak at a future event? Submit your session abstracts at https://sessionize.com/johannesburg-r-user-group/ **Stay connected** \~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~ \* Website: https://www.rusergroup.co.za \* Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/joburg-r-users-group \* Twitter: https://twitter.com/JHBRUserGroup \* GitHub: https://github.com/rusergroupcoza \* WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/3CeDifS

Our next much-awaited **COLUMBUS** meetup is **Tuesday April 21 from 7-10 pm EST at ACE OF CUPS**. Meet patients, cultivators, processors, dispensary managers/staff, physicians, home growers, educators, activists, nonprofits, artists, attorneys, business owners, writers, students, and supporters to network, share our knowledge, collaborate, support each other and make new ones! Hope you will be there too! Save the date and pass the word. **Please RSVP** so we know who is coming and how many to expect. Find us to say hi and we will introduce you to others. We should be easy to spot. (The happy-looking group wearing cool nametags! See photos from our past events.) Sign in, grab a name tag, start your own bar/food tab, meet old friends and make new ones! Everyone is welcome. SEE YOU THERE!

Let's grab some coffee/food and share a morning chat! The East Market has an ample parking lot and outdoor and indoor seating. Grab a cup of coffee from Winston's Coffee & Waffles or on your way to East Market and meet us on the second floor - table behind or east of the elevator. Per what this group is about: "Everyone is welcome! International transplants to Columbus who want to improve language skills, Columbus residents who want to discuss international travel and culture, and anyone who enjoys getting together for good conversations."

Whether you've never done improv before, or you've done it for so long you knew Del Close on a personal level, or anywhere in between, come join us! Swing by *Gresso's* for the **Columbus Improv Comedy Meetup** for some fun and games! The idea behind improv is to create entire scenes from scratch based on a suggestion from the audience. This can be done in game form, like *Whose Line Is It Anyway*, *ComedySportz*, or *Wild 'n Out*; it could also be done to tell stories, like *Middleditch and Schwartz*. Our meetup, which is central Ohio's longest running (and free!) weekly comedy event, brings the games (and occasionally different forms) for you to play in a safe, supportive, and compassionate environment. Not only is it a lot of fun, but you get to work on thinking faster on your feet, plus it's an excellent way to meet new people and make friendships that'll last a lifetime! Ask yourself if you want to join the **Columbus Improv Comedy Meetup**, and say "Yes, And" that you'll have fun!

Interested? Contact Preston Moore k.preston.moore@gmail.com 614-300-5989 ———————————— Engaging in men’s work is the new way to forge friendships while being open-minded to personal growth. Many men experience healthier relationships, personally and professionally, by engaging in this work. Open Men’s Group is a container for men to share vulnerably without receiving judgment or feedback. We believe that emotionally mature, powerful, compassionate, and purpose-driven men will help heal some of society’s deepest wounds. We support the powerful brilliance of men and we are willing to look at, and take full responsibility for, the pain we are also capable of creating – and suffering. We care deeply about men, our families, communities, and the planet. Visit ManKind Project USA to discover more. https://mkpusa.org/

Sleep in on Sundays. When you've had your fill of pajama-time, roll out and have some tasty brunch with your fellow Humanists!

Let’s try this popular Italian restaurant in Reynoldsburg. This is the menu: https://scaliristorante.com/#4e468054-0235-43e2-81c2-44e061341e9e