Philadelphia 76ers

**NEW GAME LOCATION at The** Let's play board games. Not the ones your ancestors played but the really cool ones of the new millennium. We play everything from fun, social games to light to heavy strategy games. Don't know how to play? Not a problem - we're happy to teach. It's a great chance to learn new games or play your favorites with non-competitive people who like to laugh. You can build a railroad, eradicate a plague, or explore the far reaches of the galaxy in one evening. While many will bring their own games, you can show up gameless and still play. We play at the Ballston Quarter mall basement food court on Wednesday from 6:30-10:00. It's within walking distance from the Ballston metro and there's evening parking in the garage for $1. **Find us at the tables with the boadgames.** Look for a group that has containers and carrying bags with multiple games.

**X is an illusion** There are a large number of philosophy views that hold that major features of what we think is real, is instead an illusion. Examples: Solipsism. The ultimate of “illusion” movements is the belief that oneself, and one’s mind, is the only thing that is real in the world, and that everything else, including everyone one supposedly knows, is an artifact of one’s own mind. Great Deceiver or Long Dream. Similar to solipsism, but with an added wrinkle of a Trickster God, or a Trickster Dreamer leading to everything being illusion. Buddhism. Similar to Long Dream, but the illusion is shared between all of us, with the added wrinkle that our own selfhood and identity is also part of the illusion. Delusionism. We are not actually conscious, and do not have experiences, or a self. We are instead a meat machine computer, which creates and backdates all of our supposed internal experiences when our neural net computer’s choices are written into long term memory. Consciousness is an accidental byproduct of that memory writing process. (This is Daniel Dennett’s model of Consciousness, spelled out in Consciousness Explained). Eliminative Materialism – We are fundamentally confused about consciousness and selfhood, and all of our “folk psychology” is simply wrong. Explicitly our views that we are: self-conscious, hold beliefs, have emotions, and have the power of reason – are wrong. Instead, we are a neural net, and all of our wrong beliefs simply reduce to neural net functions (this is very similar to Delusionism, but with a different version of theory -- this time Paul Churchland’s). Free Will Illusionism – we think we have free will, but are deluded about this. See The Illusion of Conscious Will, by Daniel Wegner for an example. Time passing illusionism. In Einstein’s 4-D Block time, the passage of time is only apparent – and is very location and travel direction dependent. One can plot graphs in all sorts of axes in the 4-D space, and there is nothing special about the ones that appear to create the passage of time. Idealism – The universe is fundamentally mind, or abstractions (there are two significantly different versions of idealism), and all appearances of matter (and sometimes of selfhood) are just illusions of the fundamental mental or logic/math reality. "Illusion" is a common enough claim that I think it is important to have a method to evaluate Illusion claims. I have a method I use, that is based on my approach to epistemology. I don’t think there is a general method across philosophy, and I welcome suggested alternative to mine. **My Epistemology** I start with empiricism, assisted with reasoning, as my base method. We have data inputs to empiricism, they are intuitions. They include our perceptions of the world, perceptions of selfhood and mental state, and intuitive knowledge and reasoning’s. I use the 2-system model of our minds from thinking Fast and Slow – that we have a fast intuitive neural net and a slow rational reasoning process, and the 2nd of these is conscious and the first unconscious. I also use the “trick the CEO by using a few props” model from David Eagleman’s Incognito, that system 1 misleads System 2 into thinking it came up with system 1’s ideas, and fully understands the world. The ideas and props of our intuitions are themselves generally highly processed hypotheses about the world, which are presented to our consciousness as unsupported intuitions. SOME of our intuitions are therefore raw data, and basically fundamental. These include that we have two systems, that we can perceive, emote, and act, that we experience time, and that we can reason. Much of the rest is – probably true. We have tuned our system 1 neural net pretty well after all – but it can be mistaken. That is why System 2 needs to check it. As an empiricist, who treats data as king, and theories as what gives way to data, the “illusion” theories that claim our base data is an “illusion” – I am strongly suspicious of. Illusion claims about more complex processing – are more intrinsically believable. However, I am a falliblist. I maintain an open mind that we could be mistaken about everything. Including this apparent base data. The criteria for rejecting basic data, however, comes with a very high Burden of Justification. My criteria: Is there a massive increase in the accuracy of our models and ability to understand the world, by adopting a philosophy that treats basic data as an illusion? If not, then dismiss the theory. **Applying my standard:** Solipsism, Long Dream, and Buddhism hypotheses do not seem to carry a significant life advantage over treating the world, others and one’s self as real. Interestingly, Susan Blackmore actually wrote a book, her “Very Short Introduction to Consciousness”, that tried to meet my criteria for delusionism. She claimed that physicalism was so well established it must be true, and all physicalist theories of consciousness failed one test or another, therefore consciousness must be an illusion. I disagree that physicalism is unquestionably true, which left her book unable to meet my criteria. I have not encountered a free Will, time passage, or material world illusionist who has come even as close as Blackmore to meeting my criteria. So for all of the above Illusion theories – I tend to respond – “your philosophy is simply not complex enough to capture our world. Simpler theories, that are wrong, are pretty common. And we don’t throw out our data, but the theories, when we find they are wrong.” This is me. **Questions:** What do you folks think of my approach? I am a skeptic of illusion claims, do others find them more useful/insightful than I do? I went down the pragmatic empiricist path early in my philosophic career, and sometimes have difficulty Groking how other philosophic traditions will address some fundamental issues. Analytic philosophy, phenomenologists, existentialists, Thomists – all could take a very different approach. Any other methods to address these claims anyone would like to share? There are lots of other possible “illusion” claims. Other examples anyone wants to share? We meet in person and online. In person will be at the cafeteria of the applied physics lab. Snack and drinks are available for online purchase. Pizza will be provided as well at a price of $2/slice. Online will be: https://teams.live.com/meet/93583191724730?p=hY3jxVvnOciVl2aRn5 \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-

Wednesday night skate and chill is our weekly group ride. DCESK8 has been hosting this weekly ride for several years now. We are very active in our group chat and that is where you will find the most up to date information on the rides. Follow the link below to join. Join our Telegram chat here https://t.me/dcesk8 to stay current on what's going on in DCESK8. Our ride meets up at the Lincoln Memorial, near the southwest side of the Reflecting Pool and the Korean War Memorial. That is on the left side if you are looking at the Lincoln Memorial. We meetup at 6:30pm, with the ride leaving at 7:00pm.

**How does a TennisDC Season / League run?** The league advertises the season dates and builds a queue of committed players for the season. **Kickoff Day - July 28th** The start day of the season, players are sent a kickoff email that contains important information about the league, the link where your league standings and players contact information. We guarantee 6 playing partners at your playing level, but have been averaging closer to 15+ partners in most cities. The number of different levels we run is solely based upon the number of players enrolled for the league kickoff. Typically we are running a Skilled-3.0, Competitive-3.5 and Advanced-4.0 in most cities. **Your Task - "Flexible Scheduling"** After this kickoff email is sent, it is the **player's task to communicate with other players**. Players should work with their partners to find an agreeable time and location to play the match. While TennisDC doesn't mandate your playing schedule, it is recommended that players schedule at least one match per week. By request of the players, we started to allow players to play 1 rematch per season. The regular season is all about playing as much as you can. As of Feb. 9, 2026 we've had an amazing 2,016 players play more than [20 matches in a season](https://www.tennisdc.com/info/MatchesInSeason). Where to Play? Play at your local free tennis courts, tennis parks, condo courts or tennis clubs. The league strongly suggests that players jointly try to pick a tennis court location convenient to both. We provide an extensive list of [tennis courts](https://www.tennisdc.com/TennisCourts), including # of courts, lighting, hitting walls, etc.We strive to keep this list up-to-date. TennisDC sets up a must play dates to push players out on the courts. The final deadline is the date marking the end of the season, at which point players with 3-5 wins (Actually total is specified on the division page) will qualify for a post-season playoff to determine the league champion. **How to Play?** Players can use three mostly standard playing formats: 2 out of 3 sets, 2 sets with 10 point super tie-breaker or the 10-game pro set (First to 10, used when court time is limited). On Feb. 2018, we added Fast Tennis 4 game pro set format as a valid format. **Playoffs** Each season concludes with a playoffs where players with anywhere from 3 to 5 season wins qualifies for a single elimination tourney. The champion is awarded based upon the league [Prize Pool](https://www.tennisdc.com/info/prize_pool3). Each singles league champion also receives a playing entry into one of two national championships we run. **[JOIN TODAY](https://www.tennisdc.com/join)** Full price is $44.95 to play in a season. The earlier you sign up we typically offer discounts during these tough economic times. Just go to the [Join Page](https://www.tennisdc.com/join) and complete the short form. We'd be happy to find you dedicated tennis playing partners.

This is an opportunity for volunteers to support a professional mechanic as he guides customers working on their own bikes. If you know how to do some basic repairs, that's a plus, but even if you don't, you can greet customers and manage who gets helped next. Feel free to attend for only a portion of the time if you can't be there the whole three hours. Please note that this event is not usually an opportunity to learn about bicycle repair, since the mechanic tends to be very busy helping customers, especially during the warmer months. But it's a great way to contribute to Velocity, since almost all the funding for the volunteer program comes from the work done at the shops.

We have taken more than a year off due to the pandemic. Our old favorite cafe in Bethesda is now closed so lets try the Panera Bread down the street on Wisconsin Ave. Please come and join us for some double deck pinochle, assuming (of course) that you have been inoculated for Covid-19 and you are willing to follow the current guidelines of the business on mask wearing. We will start the first game about 6 pm. We play 300 point games so the second game will likely start just after 7 pm, and we will rotate tables if we have more than 4 players. Card players of all level are welcome. We play primarily 4-handed double deck Pinochle but other variants are have been tried on occasion. Games go from 6 pm until Panera closes, which currently is 9 pm. This event is scheduled to repeat every other Wednesday night. Please don't wait until the last minute to RSVP.

**THIS CLASS IS OFFERED THROUGH CAPITAL PHOTOGRAPHY CENTER** **PLEASE REGISTER WITH CAPITAL PHOTOGRAPHY CENTER, NOT MEETUP!** https://capitalphotographycenter.com/classes/class/2026-06-14-creative-phone-photography-chinatown-penn-quarter Learn smartphone camera settings for creative images. From essential techniques for exposure, to composition and focusing tips in this vibrant DC area. We begin outdoors at the National Portrait Gallery and then explore the surrounding Chinatown/Penn Quarter area with its quirky architecture and street scenes. The class will start with basic instruction on the operation of the native mobile phone’s camera. We’ll then cover some of the more advanced features of setting focus and exposure independently. We’ll explore how to turn the mobile camera’s limitations such as one lens, fixed aperture, no zoom and a small sensor to advantages using creative techniques of focus, exposure and composition. You’ll create pictures on an easily paced photo walk with guided instruction coupled with gentle critique and suggestions to make your pictures the best they can be. This class is designed for users of iOS and Android mobile devices. Participants will need to bring a fully charged phone. THIS CLASS IS BEING OFFERED THROUGH CAPITAL PHOTOGRAPHY CENTER https://capitalphotographycenter.com/classes/class/2026-06-14-creative-phone-photography-chinatown-penn-quarter

Let's watch our home team take on the new flashy Tempos! Game starts at 7:30pm, we can be at Green Turtle at 7pm and get settled. Should be a fun watch, both teams playing for the Commissioner's Cup!

Everyone’s heard of book clubs where the group reads the same thing and gets together to discuss, which is great… if you have time and interest in whatever’s chosen. This is a different type of book club where you bring whatever you’re currently or recently reading (or just a book you’re super excited about) and talk about it with fellow book lovers. We’ll start with people arriving/ordering food between 615-645, then go around and introduce ourselveslves and give a very brief synopsis of what we’re reading and why we’re excited (or not!) about it. Then devolve into informal conversations until people need to head out. The goal Is to create community and connections in a group of strangers - to facilitate this please make sure you have at least a clear first name on your profile. Upside on Moore has a great selection of food you can order from your phone or at the kiosks. There’s also a bar with happy hour, something for everyone! Arrival tips: if you’re taking the metro, it’s the building above the Rosslyn exit. If you’re driving, you can park in the public lot under the food hall (entrance from the one way bus street) and validate parking after 6!

This event is being held in partnership with the DMV Spades Meetup Group. Direct all questions to the Event Host, Nne-Nne Abanobi. ________ 🦐♠️🦐 We are playing Second Saturday Spades at Hook & Reel in Greenbelt, MD. Join us at this popular PG County sports bar for food, fun, drinks.....and, of course, Spades. * All skill levels are welcome * Get matched with a partner onsite * Free parking 📍Located right off the Beltway! 🌟 Remember to support the business. **This event is posted in multiple groups. So expect a nice crowd.** ***** The fun starts at 6:30pm! It will be worth the trip. Hope to see you there. God bless. ☺️❤️🙏🏿

**🐺🤝🇺🇸💼Welcome to Team Network MoCo Home Team—a high-energy, virtual zoom networking experience built for professionals, entrepreneurs, and Main Street business owners who believe that strong local relationships create outsized business results. Rooted in Montgomery County, the MoCo Home Team brings together community-focused leaders who want to grow together, collaborate intentionally, and win as a group.** **This is not random networking or surface-level conversation. MoCo Home Team meetings are intentional, structured, and process-driven, designed to connect you with your true Power Play Partners—the professionals in complementary industries who can drive referrals, open doors, and create long-term opportunity. Every meeting is engineered to turn introductions into momentum.** **At the center of the experience is Team Network’s proprietary Wolf Pack Connect speed-networking system. This fast-paced, highly engaging format ensures that every attendee meets multiple high-quality professionals in a single morning, with clarity around who they serve, how they add value, and where collaboration makes sense. It’s efficient, energizing, and built to respect your time while multiplying your reach.** **Expect a zoom call filled with prepared business owners, trusted advisors, and local leaders who show up ready to contribute—not just collect cards. Expect meaningful conversations, warm introductions that actually happen, and relationships that extend well beyond the meeting room.** **Weekly Professional Business Networking Zoom** (The first week of each month we meet in person. All other weeks we meet on Zoom.) **Thursdays \| 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM \| Zoom** \*\*[https://my8qfgpy.r.us-east-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F%2Fus02web.zoom.us%2Fj%2F3013705351/1/0100019cfbcaed04-6986f508-97c2-42f2-9d88-76ee8d97df49-000000/CmSYbg2lHXOspSBize9tjdnV5Y4=469**](https://my8qfgpy.r.us-east-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F%2Fus02web.zoom.us%2Fj%2F3013705351/1/0100019cfbcaed04-6986f508-97c2-42f2-9d88-76ee8d97df49-000000/CmSYbg2lHXOspSBize9tjdnV5Y4=469**) **Passcode: 010192** **Start your Thursday morning with energy, momentum, and meaningful professional connections.** **Each week, Team Network MoCo Home Team join forces with Team Network’s Asburn Growth Hub and Team Network’s Baltimore City Charmers for a dynamic multi-team professional networking Zoom meeting designed to help serious professionals build relationships, exchange introductions, and grow their businesses.** **At Team Network, we believe that business grows through relationships built on Know–Like–Trust. Our meetings are structured, engaging, and focused on helping members become the answer when someone asks: “Do you know a great professional who can help with this?”** **These meetings bring together entrepreneurs, professionals, and business leaders who understand that:** **• If you have time to breathe, you have time to network** **• Quantity has a quality of its own** **• Consistent weekly engagement creates powerful referral relationships** **During the meeting you will experience:** **✅ Structured professional introductions** **✅ Referral opportunities and warm introductions** **✅ Insight from high-level professionals across industries** **✅ Accountability and business development momentum** **✅ A welcoming but serious environment for professionals who want to grow** **Our multi-team format increases the energy and opportunity in the room by bringing together members from multiple Team Network teams—creating more connections, more introductions, and more opportunity for everyone involved.** **👥 Visitors Welcome** **Professionals who are not yet members of Team Network are invited to attend up to two meetings as a guest. After that, those who wish to continue are encouraged to apply for membership and claim their professional seat.** **Team Network is designed for professionals seeking a long-term marketing and business development cornerstone for their business.** **Make this the year you Join the Team and Run with a Pack! 🐺🤝🇺🇸💪** **Thursdays \| 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM \| Zoom** **Team Network MoCo Home Team** **Bring your energy, bring your introductions, and come ready to grow.**

Over a billion documents processed. Millions of Veterans impacted. Hundreds of thousands of employee hours saved. Faster decisions. Greater accuracy. More benefits in the hands of our disabled Veterans. We created Smart Search, the world’s largest consumer of Amazon Textract, right when GenAI began reshaping what’s possible. Since then, we’ve built a suite of AI‑driven solutions that transform this data into real, measurable outcomes—accelerating benefits decisions for our Nation’s Veterans. Join us for a focused conversation on how an outcome‑driven approach to AI is helping us boost accuracy, streamline workflows, and deliver faster results for those who have served. This is a follow up to the AWS re:Invent 2023 "Intelligent Document Processing with Gen AI for Public Sector" presentation. About Speaker: Cameron Williams is a Senior Technical Project Manager and cross-functional technical leader at Booz Allen Hamilton with 15+ years of experience architecting and evolving scalable, cloud-native systems, from greenfield development to complex enterprise modernization. https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameronw711/ **THANK YOU** *Franklin University* for hosting our meetup! To learn more about *Franklin University*, please visit their website: https://www.franklin.edu/ **DIRECTIONS** Franklin University Fisher Hall 300 E. Main St, Columbus, OH 43215 Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/jxjBA2hUmS5qrvhq8 Parking is FREE! Please park in Lot C in front of Fisher Hall. See attached map. NOTE: Map the address only. When mapping with Google Maps it may use the Fisher Hall at OSU, which is NOT correct. **Want to sponsor the pizza and/or bar tab?** Please contact me if you would like to sponsor this meetup's pizza and/or bar tab: angelo@mandato.com

**The event has been canceled.** *Note: this is a demonstration event only, you **will not** shoot you own images. However, if you bring your camera we can test it for compatibility with the studio lights.* Bondage elements can add an extra layer of emotion and artistry to your images. Sample images on the internet are however dominated by BDSM style shots that are often sexualized and emphasize the model being in distress. In this demonstration Rachel and I show ways to use bondage elements in an artistic way. We explore the types of accessories that work best in artistic images and the best way to photograph them. Our model is Rachel Adams, an internationally known fetish model with many years of experience in this genre.

Start your week the right way with Manic Mondays. Giving you an enjoyable Bachata lesson with a push of cool moves. The second hour has Beginner/Intermediate Salsa on 1. You must understand basic Salsa skills to participate. 730pm-830pm Bachata Cool Moves 830pm-930pm Salsa On 1 (Beginner/Intermediate) 15 for One Class 20 for Both Free Parking & Plenty of Dance Space. Viva Dance Columbus 2809 Festival Lane Dublin OH 43017

🔥 OVER 50 HAPPY HOUR at PBR EASTON! 🔥 Looking to meet new people, enjoy great music, dance, laugh, and have an unforgettable night out? Then grab your friends and join us for one of the most exciting Over 50 social events in Columbus! 📍 PBR Cowboy Bar + Smokehouse – Easton 📅 Thursday, June 18th ⏰ 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM (and the fun keeps going!) This is NOT your typical quiet happy hour… this is a high-energy, country-meets-nightlife experience designed for fun-loving singles and couples over 50 who still enjoy getting out, socializing, and making memories! ✨ What’s Happening: 🎵 Live Music from 6:30–8:30 PM 🐂 Mechanical Bull Riding starting at 8:30 PM 💃 Line Dancing with Instructor from 9–10 PM 🎧 DJ & Dancing starting at 9 PM 🍹 Drink Specials All Night: $3, $4 & $5 specials! Whether you want to relax with a drink, hit the dance floor, try the mechanical bull, or just meet a great group of people in a fun atmosphere — this event has something for everyone. 👉 IMPORTANT: When you arrive, CHECK IN with the host under: “Doug / Meetup” to receive your wristband. 🚗 FREE Parking available across from the venue and at the Easton West Garage. Come when you can, leave when you want… but don’t be surprised if you stay all night! Let’s make Thursday night FUN again! 🎉