Apache Kafka

🇭🇷 Programiranje u paru je kada dvije osobe rade na istom zadatku, za istim računalom, u isto vrijeme. Na prvi pogled zvuči dvostruko skuplje — kako to uopće može biti jeftinije? U ovom predavanju istražit ćemo zašto je ta intuicija pogrešna. Pogledat ćemo kako solo programiranje tiho gomila skrivene troškove, te kako programiranje u paru, kada se pravilno prakticira, sprječava mnoge od njih prije nego što nastanu. Pridružite nam se i saznajte zašto bi rad u paru mogao biti najpametnija investicija koju možete napraviti. 🇬🇧 Pair programming is two people working on the same task, at the same computer, at the same time. At first glance, that sounds twice as expensive — how could that possibly be cheaper? In this talk, we’ll explore why that intuition is wrong. We’ll look at how solo programming quietly accumulates hidden costs, and how pair programming, when practiced well, prevents many of them before they form. Join us and discover why working in pairs might be the smartest investment you can make. 📣 Speaker: [Marko Bjelac](https://www.linkedin.com/in/markobjelac) ⏰ Schedule: \- Introduction \- Pair programming is cheaper \- Q&A or ⚡LIVE PAIRING⚡ \(if test subject is acquired\) ©️ Image by [freepik](https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/people-cooking-illustration_7882565.htm)

**Hey fellow AWS enthusiasts! ✨** Last time we heard a lot about the latest announcements from AWS re:Invent 2025, featuring AWS' new **[Agentic AI IDE Kiro](https://kiro.dev/)**! This evening, we are welcoming **[Marco Strauß](https://www.linkedin.com/in/marco333444555/)**, a Senior Solutions Architect at AWS, supporting customers in the Manufacturing sector. With his talk **"AI-driven Software Development - Dawn of a New Age?"**, he will introduce Kiro, the new agentic AI with an IDE and CLI that helps you go from prototype to production with spec-driven development. Using Kiro's structured approach will help you go far beyond the boundaries of vibe coding and deliver production ready software at scale. A special shoutout to our friends from **[nerdware](https://www.nerdware.dev/)** who supporting us with location, drink and food! **📆 Tonight's Agenda** 18:45 - Doors Open 19:00 - Welcoming by our hosts 19:15 - Talk by our speaker 20:00 - Pizza, Drinks & Networking Looking forward to seeing you 👋🏻 Nora & Frank

We’re happy to announce the next **AWS User Group Zagreb meetup**, once again focused on a **recap of this year’s AWS re:Invent**, followed by a short startup spotlight. **Date**: February 12, 2026 **Time**: 18:00 **Venue**: Planinska 13a, third floor, Tellus [Google Maps Link](https://maps.app.goo.gl/bMHxbf56yZni87ip6) When you exit the elevator, the doors are on the right with a sign "Tellus". ### **Speakers** **Bojan Sovilj** Bojan is an active AWS community member and frequent speaker who regularly attends AWS re:Invent. He focuses on translating AWS announcements into practical insights, helping teams understand how new services and changes impact real-world architectures and development workflows. **Bruno Rožman** Bruno is part of the Sonder AI team and will briefly introduce the product and its motivation. **Ante Čerkez** Ante is the CTO at Sonder AI and will touch on how AWS is used to support the Sonder platform. *** ### **Agenda** #### **AWS re:Invent 2025 Recap** **Speaker:** Bojan Sovilj AWS re:Invent continues to grow every year, with a large number of announcements across infrastructure, application development, data, and AI. In this session, Bojan will deliver a **structured and practical recap of AWS re:Invent 2025**, focusing on the announcements and trends that are most relevant for AWS users today. The talk will cover: * The most important **service launches and updates** * Key **technology and architectural trends** introduced at re:Invent * Context on what is truly new versus incremental changes * How these updates may influence **application design, infrastructure, and operations** Rather than attempting to cover everything, the session will focus on **relevance and impact**, helping attendees decide what’s worth exploring further. *** #### **Startup Spotlight: Sonder AI** **Speakers:** Bruno Rožman & Ante Čerkez **Topic:** **Why networking is inefficient today and how Sonder is building a “personal connection system” using AWS** A short startup-focused talk on: * The problem Sonder is addressing in modern networking * How AWS supports their product development *** ### **Networking** After the talks, we’ll continue with informal networking, drinks, and discussions with fellow AWS community members. *** **Attendance is free, registration is required.**

Speaker: **Tomislav Maričević** Title: **Nix ❤️ Python: Maybe you don't need devcontainers after all** Life is too short to wait for Docker image rebuilds during everyday development. This talk shows how Nix and devenv provide deterministic, host-native development environments that model compilers, runtimes, system libraries, and tooling as a reproducible dependency graph — eliminating much of the toolchain complexity developers often push into Docker and Docker Compose. We will compare the failure modes each approach addresses, demonstrate where devenv can replace Compose in local workflows, and clarify where containers remain the correct abstraction. \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- Join us on **Tuesday** at MaMa for a fun technical deep dive. Drinks and, most likely, very opinionated discussion afterwards at [Old Pharmacy Pub](https://maps.app.goo.gl/AeaRdnBrMqPiRhvPA) 🍻🍷🥤☕️

Hi everyone! Join us for the RubyZG February. We'll hear about building a query builder with AI and what is like to work at a company where Ruby On Rails itself was created. This event is hosted by [DECODE](https://decode.agency/about-us/) who will be providing snacks and refreshments after the formal part of the meetup. Btw. they are hiring, so be sure to check [their open positions](https://decode.agency/open-positions/). For those coming by car, there is no dedicated parking but there should be plenty of parking at that time in the street in front of the building. See you at DECODE! \*\*\* How to use AI agents to build query builder by [Lovro Žmak](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lovro-zmak-22706253/) Does code generation with AI agents always help or is it better to manually write it sometimes ? How does Arel fit into the story and how did it influence the code design decisions ? This talk will bring you the story of building a query builder with AI agents, from initial wrong directions to the final solution. Through practical examples and live demos, you will receive guidelines on how to use AI agents to generate usable and sustainable code. **Working at 37signals: The birthplace of Ruby On Rails** by [Stanko Krtalić Rusendić](https://www.linkedin.com/in/stanko-krtalic/) Last July Stanko started working at [37signals](https://37signals.com/), the company behind Basecamp, Hey & Fizzy and the place from which the very first version or Ruby On Rails was extracted back in 2004. It's still the company with the largest influence on the direction of Rails development with major contributions like ActiveStorage, SolidQueue, Turbo & Stimulus. We'll hear how the company works and what it's like to work there.

Franjo Kmet – Profesionalni planinski i gorski vodič Osnivač i voditelj brenda **Mountain Fit** – programa usmjerenog na planinarenje, alpinizam i outdoor aktivnosti. Voditelj planinarskih škola, visokogorskih tečajeva, ledenjačkih i sportsko-penjačkih programa. Strastveni prenositelj znanja i iskustava iz planinarenja i alpinizma. Organizator i vodič uspona, trekinga, ekspedicija i planinarskih izleta diljem svijeta – od Alpa do Himalaje i Patagonije. Planine su prirodni "terapeut" koji djeluje na više razina – od fiziologije (endorphini, serotonin) do egzistencijalne promjene. Najmoćniji efekt često dolazi upravo kroz smanjenje ega – kad ego prestane biti glavni lik priče, um postaje tiši, otvoreniji i sretniji. Teme LevelUp Meetup-a: **Smanjenje stresa i anksioznosti** Planine pružaju tišinu, ritmično hodanje i fokus na svaki korak – to brzo prekida krug briga i pretjeranog razmišljanja. * **Povećanje osjećaja prisutnosti i mindfulnessa** Hodanje po stazi, disanje na većoj visini, promatranje oblaka ili slušanja vjetra prirodno nas uvodi u „ovdje i sada“, smanjujući mentalni šum i preopterećenost mislima. * **Doživljaj strahopoštovanja i šire perspektive** Pogled s vrha, ogromnost planina i beskrajno nebo izazivaju duboki osjećaj strahopoštovanja. * **Povećanje samopouzdanja i osjećaja postignuća** Svaki uspješan uspon, savladavanje tehničkog dijela ili dolazak na vrh gradi unutarnju snagu i samopoštovanje. * **Povećana povezanost s prirodom i osjećaj smisla života** Boravak u planinama jača osjećaj da smo dio prirode. Napredak je nemoguć bez promjene, i oni koji ne mogu promijeniti svoj um ne mogu promijeniti ništa! 📍 Pivana, Ilica 222, Zagreb 🗓 11.02.2026. u 18:00 h Organizator: Međunarodni institut za emocionalnu zrelost – zajednica poduzetnika, stručnjaka i znanstvenika posvećenih razvoju pojedinaca i društva.🌐 http://emotionalmaturity.eu

Where locals, expats & travellers turn Thursday into Small Friday. Hey everyone! Whether you’ve just landed in Zagreb, been here a while, or live right around the corner, **Small Friday International Zagreb** (**[SFIZ.FUN](https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb)**) is your go-to for winter evenings, language swapping, and good times with great people. 📍 **Where?** The Beertija, Pavla Hatza 16 🕗 **When?** Thursdays, every other week from 8PM ✨ Free to join, just grab a drink and support the bar’s rockin’ vibe 🍺🎸 ✨ Open to all, all ages, all vibes, all language levels welcome 💬 **What to expect?** 🗣️ **Language Exchange:** English, Croatian, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Ukrainian, Russian… you name it 💬🌐 🌍 **Cultural Vibes:** Locals, expats, travellers, Erasmus students . . . sharing tips, stories & laughs 🎭✨ 🤝 **New Connections:** Real convos, real mates, winter evenings to remember 🤗 🍷 **Weekend Planners:** From concerts, winter sports, partying to fests and day trips, let’s plot our winter adventures 🎶❄️🏔️ 🌟 **Why now?** 🎭 Winter is when Zagreb slows. The days are cold and sometimes snowy, the city quieter, more reflective. It’s the season for winter walks, museums and cinemas, snow-dusted hikes on Sljeme, and simple pleasures like warm food and long conversations indoors.🌍💖💬 Zagreb is unusual in that winter can mean a mini ski break close to home. Sljeme offers easy slopes for beginners and casual skiers, without crowds or queues. Ice skating adds to the rhythm, outdoors at Šalata or indoors at Velesajam and the Admiral Ice Dome. ⛸️🎿 And the best way to share it? At **[SFIZ.FUN](https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb)**. Our meetups are where plans get made, tips get swapped, and crews form to explore Zagreb together. 🌍💖 🍺 **Why The Beertija?** Because it’s that place everyone ends up wishing they’d gone to 😏✨ Warm beer cellar vibes 🍻🔥, cosy living-room energy 🛋️☕, 🚭 non-smoking inside (happy clothes, happy lungs 😌), plus a covered outdoor patio for quick smoke breaks 🚬😉. Skip it, and you’ll hear about it later 👀💬 💡 Top tip: Turn up early, smile, catch someone’s eye, and dive into conversation, that’s how the magic starts 😉💫 No pressure, just rock up and join the crew. 💖 Let’s ditch the screen, grab a drink, and meet the world! See you soon, **SFIZ Crew** P.S. Spread the word https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb 🔎 **How to Spot Us** New here? Best trick is to swing by right at the start, that’s when it’s easiest to find the crew and jump straight in, or ask the bar staff about the event ✨ Need quick updates or can’t see us straight away? No worries, our [WhatsApp group](https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb/faq/sfiz-whatsapp-guide-keeping-it-fun-and-respectful) is where you can ask quick questions. 💖 #ZagrebGlobalMingle 💖

**Autogenic training** is a method that, by directing attention to specific parts of the body and entering a state of deep relaxation, reconnects the brain with the body. By establishing communication between the brain and physical organs and body parts, we can positively influence our overall health. The **RDD Club** is organizing an **Autogenic Training session in Zagreb**, Maksimir, held in the hall at **Ružmarinka 15** (ground floor of the building). The training will take place on **February 13 and February 20, 2026**, both dates being **Fridays at 6:30 PM**. The session on **February 20** will be held as a **dual-language session**, in **Croatian and English**, so participants who do not understand Croatian are also welcome. **No prior registration is required.** The donation is **€15**.

IMPORTANT PLEASE RSVP @ https://www.meetup.com/washington-dc-elastic-fantastics/events/312487028/?eventOrigin=group_upcoming_events \*\*\* **Date and Time:** Tuesday, February, 10th from 5:30-7:30 pm EDT **Location:** Elastic Arlington Office - 4100 Fairfax Drive, Ste 500, Arlington, VA 22203 **Agenda:** * 5:30 pm: Doors open; say hi, grab a seat, and eat some food. * 6:00 pm: "Streaming Context: Powering Semantic Search with Kafka and Elasticsearch", by Sandon Jacobs, Developer Advocate at Confluent * 6:30 pm: Q&A * 6:40 pm: "Agent Builder: Providing Relevant Context for Data Driven Agents", by Joe Gentsch, Senior Solutions Architect at Elastic * 7:10 pm: Q&A * 7:20-7:30 pm: Networking & refreshments **Talk Abstracts:** **"Streaming Context: Powering Semantic Search with Kafka and Elasticsearch"** As the de facto platform for event streaming, we’ve seen how data from Apache Kafka can easily empower basic keyword search. But let's be real, modern semantic search applications need *context* to interpret the real meaning and intent of a user's query. We could wait around for the next batch job to kick off and provide that context... *or* we could serve it up in near real-time right from our data streams. In this talk, we'll discuss how to leverage data streams from Kafka to power much smarter semantic search with Elasticsearch. We’ll follow a simple event from a Kafka topic and see how it transforms into a powerful vector embedding. Then, we’ll see this whole flow in action using a k-Nearest Neighbor search to instantly find similar items in milliseconds. While my code examples will be in Java or Kotlin using the Spring Boot and Spring AI ecosystem, FEAR NOT! The core concepts—getting data into a vector format via a stream—are totally language agnostic. Join us to grab a few practical ideas you can take and use in your next project! **"Agent Builder: Providing Relevant Context for Data Driven Agents"** What are agents? What is context engineering? Join us as we dive into the importance of context engineering for providing relevant information to agents, and how to build grounded agents using Elastic Agent Builder. **Parking:** * The building’s parking garage is operated by Colonial Parking and is located off N. Randolph Street * Book a spot on[ SpotHero](https://spothero.com/search?kind=address&latitude=38.8818514&longitude=-77.1095268&search_string=4100+Fairfax+Dr+%23500%2C+Arlington%2C+VA+22203%2C+USA) * A Metro Station is located across the street

We’re excited to bring the community together for an evening of learning and connection. This time, we'll have a community member sharing a use case and, as usual, an Elastic employee sharing their expertise as well. Come support your fellow developers, learn something new, and meet others who are passionate about search, observability, and security. **Date and Time:** Tuesday, February, 10th from 5:30-7:30 pm EDT **Location:** Elastic Arlington Office - 4100 Fairfax Drive, Ste 500, Arlington, VA 22203 **Agenda:** * 5:30 pm: Doors open; say hi, grab a seat, and eat some food. * 6:00 pm: "Streaming Context: Powering Semantic Search with Kafka and Elasticsearch", by Sandon Jacobs, Developer Advocate at Confluent * 6:30 pm: Q&A * 6:40 pm: "Agent Builder: Providing Relevant Context for Data Driven Agents", by Joe Gentsch, Senior Solutions Architect at Elastic * 7:10 pm: Q&A * 7:20-7:30 pm: Networking & refreshments **Talk Abstracts:** **"Streaming Context: Powering Semantic Search with Kafka and Elasticsearch"** As the de facto platform for event streaming, we’ve seen how data from Apache Kafka can easily empower basic keyword search. But let's be real, modern semantic search applications need *context* to interpret the real meaning and intent of a user's query. We could wait around for the next batch job to kick off and provide that context... *or* we could serve it up in near real-time right from our data streams. In this talk, we'll discuss how to leverage data streams from Kafka to power much smarter semantic search with Elasticsearch. We’ll follow a simple event from a Kafka topic and see how it transforms into a powerful vector embedding. Then, we’ll see this whole flow in action using a k-Nearest Neighbor search to instantly find similar items in milliseconds. While my code examples will be in Java or Kotlin using the Spring Boot and Spring AI ecosystem, FEAR NOT! The core concepts—getting data into a vector format via a stream—are totally language agnostic. Join us to grab a few practical ideas you can take and use in your next project! **"Agent Builder: Providing Relevant Context for Data Driven Agents"** What are agents? What is context engineering? Join us as we dive into the importance of context engineering for providing relevant information to agents, and how to build grounded agents using Elastic Agent Builder. **Parking:** * The building’s parking garage is operated by Colonial Parking and is located off N. Randolph Street * Book a spot on[ SpotHero](https://spothero.com/search?kind=address&latitude=38.8818514&longitude=-77.1095268&search_string=4100+Fairfax+Dr+%23500%2C+Arlington%2C+VA+22203%2C+USA) * A Metro Station is located across the street

**Title**: Powering AI Through Data Modernization: Modernizing ETL with Databricks & Unity Catalog In this session, we will discuss how enterprises are modernizing their data platforms by migrating from legacy ETL tools (such as Informatica and traditional data warehouses) to Databricks Lakehouse architecture, and how Unity Catalog enables enterprise-grade governance, security, and discoverability across data and AI assets. We will start with food and drinks at 6pm and then move into the presentation at 6:30pm. The session will cover: * Why traditional ETL platforms are becoming a bottleneck for scale, cost, and AI adoption * How Databricks changes the data engineering and analytics operating mode * The role of Unity Catalog in centralized governance * How this foundation enables AI and Gene.AI use cases on trusted data * Q&A Our speaker for this event is **Hirenkumar Dholariya**. Hirenkumar Dholariya is a Senior Data Engineering Architect with 18+ years of experience modernizing enterprise data platforms for global Fortune 500 organizations, delivering up to 40% system performance improvement and 20–35% infrastructure cost reduction through large-scale migration from legacy ETL platforms to cloud-native Lakehouse architectures. He specializes in Databricks-based data engineering, Unity Catalog–driven governance, and building scalable, secure, and real-time analytics platforms. He has led multiple enterprise-wide transformations from tools such as Informatica and traditional data warehouses to Databricks, establishing governed data foundations using Unity Catalog and enabling advanced analytics and AI use cases on top of trusted data platforms. His leadership focuses on architecting durable data platforms, enabling teams to move faster with confidence, and translating data and AI investments into measurable business outcomes. *

**Agenda :** * 4.30 to 4.45 PM ET: Food and Networking * 4.45 to 5.30 PM ET: "Practical Applications of Model Context Protocol (MCP) (Feb 2026 Edition)" Hello Everyone! Please join us for our Feb 10th edition of the AI-ML MeetUp. **Please note this is an in-person meeting and light refreshments/food will be provided.** **Title:** Practical Applications of Model Context Protocol (MCP) (Feb 2026 Edition) **Description:** This session explores how the Model Context Protocol (MCP) can be used to connect AI models with real-world tools and data. Attendees will learn practical patterns for implementing MCP in production workflows and applications. Through examples and use cases, the session highlights how MCP enables more capable, context-aware AI systems. **Location:** The meeting will be hosted in the Applied Information Sciences ( AIS ) office in Reston, at 11440 Commerce Park Dr # 600 · Reston, VA. The location is also right off the Silver Line metro's Wiehle-Reston Metro Station. **Parking:** Parking is paid and can be validated at the AIS office reception. We will meet in Room Lake Anne. We hope to see you all there!!!!

**Inflow 6:00 PM - Talks Start \~6:30 PM** **Reston Community Center - 2310 Colts Neck Rd, Reston, VA 20191** NoVA Hackers is a group located in the Northern Virginia area and is made up of Information Security Professionals from all walks of life, from government and private sector, to students and beginners. The monthly meetings are held much like a mini-conference with 4-8 speakers and only a few basic but strict rules. Participation and Permission Active Participation is required for continued membership and is the only due required. Permission is required to be obtained from anyone providing information to the group from the person providing it to be made public by anyone other than the provider. Historically our talks generally run a bit late and we have a hard stop at 9:30pm for the room. If you want to socialize we recommend you arrive at 6 to meet and greet before the talks. Agendas and remote meeting option available after you join the group.

This training is designed for real estate agents who want to learn how to play the Agent Investor game. The goal of this training is to help you flip your income into ownership. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ **Investors move fast. Most agents don’t.** If you can’t evaluate a deal quickly and confidently, you lose credibility—and the opportunity disappears. Deal or Disaster teaches a simple, repeatable framework to determine in minutes whether a deal prints money or burns it. In this session, you’ll learn a 5-minute investment evaluation system that works across flips, rentals, BRRRRs, wholetails, and creative deals. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s speed, clarity, and credibility. We’ll break down: * How to identify the investor’s true goal before running numbers * A fast, reliable method to estimate ARV with confidence * How to calculate the real all-in acquisition cost * Simple heuristics to ballpark rehab and improvement costs * The key metrics that reveal whether a deal works—or should be killed You’ll also learn the most common red flags that signal bad deals, thin margins, and hidden risk, so you know when to pause or walk away. When you can analyze deals in minutes, you earn authority, build trust, and become indispensable to investors. Speed creates opportunity—and opportunity creates repeat business. If you want to move from real estate generalist to trusted investment strategist, this session gives you the framework to do it. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ **Did you miss it?** [Watch all GRID Reston event playback on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOTh5kxLLJI1G3VH6Pqhlhu0uTA8yrdpi) ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ **Join the GRID Facebook Community** [Join the online GRID community here](https://www.facebook.com/groups/gridinvestor) to post deals, ask questions, and connect with other investors across the globe.