Microsoft Azure

🌌Ever look up like I do and marvel with insatiable curiosity at both the beauty and wonder of the **universe?** That wild sobering thought that somewhere in the chaos of creation - the emergence of life - the universe became **conscious** enough to look back and ask the big questions; How it all started, our evolution and place in it, and where else in the cosmos other complex life might exist (almost every star you see at night has planets orbiting with up to **20 billion habitable exoplanets** easily in our galaxy alone!)? 🪐🌟🌟🌟 🌍Then RSVP to view the potential life harbouring moons of **Jupiter**, the 3I Atlas **interstella** **Comet** ☄️(estimated to be 8+ billion years old), the famous **Orion Nebula** where stars like our sun were born, the majestic rings of **Saturn**, the international space station, the Tau Ceti star system with **2 Earth like planets** orbiting in the habitable zone, remnants of **supernova** witnessed by our early ancestors plus a range of other fascinating celestial wonderments (comets, star systems, galaxies) over drinks and engaging chats and banter this Dec fully hosted by me - a passionate amateur astronomer and former global Journalist covering big picture stories including cutting edge science related ones. 🚀In between observing - we'll have **drinks and engaging chats** on all astronomy related topics for those inclined (Astrobiology, SETI/Femi Paradox, cosmology, space exploration, exoplanetology, astrophysics, paleontology etc) as well as non space chatter and banter too. No doubt I'll hear the usual jokes we've all heard hundreds of times before! If those don't make you laugh, then my impersonation of Los Angeles ET will! 👽 **======= Joining Astronomers Group & Telescopes =======** I'm able to take a limited number of people (please only RSVP if you can make it) to join my friendly informal relaxed London amateur astronomers' club that have been for over a decade with their regulars made up of up to about 150 people. As there will be people attending from this private Astronomers group as well as others from one of my other groups - the total attendees will be far higher than rsvps here and the public liability insurance only covers a max number of people - hence I need to impose strict limits on attendance. Over the years we have enjoyed numerous social evenings of stargazing and thought provoking chatter with people of all ages and varying levels of astronomy knowledge - so complete beginners that are genuinely curious about the universe are very welcome. If you are just looking to meet generic randoms then there are others groups that will better cater for that. The world renowed **BBC Television Sky at Night** also attended our events pre covid and interviewed some of us for it's show that aired on BBC1 in Feb 2019. BBC **Radio London** (94.9 FM / digital) were there Aug 2023 to cover our meteor shower event broadcasting live to millions of Londoners for 3 hours You don't need a telescope as you will be able to view through scopes belonging to me and other club members (as long as you behave responsibly and don't temper with expensive equipment). If you have your own telescope/binoculars feel free to bring along and I can help you setting it up if you're a newbie **==== Food & Drinks With Seating From Warm Indoor Cafe ====** Alcoholic beverages (wine, beer, cider only), hot drinks and food/snacks will be available to purchase from an indoor cafe at the observation point which Regent's park keep open exclusively for the astronomers group so please don't bring your own drinks **==== ITINERARY =====** We will meet outside Camden Station. After a short wait for anyone delayed, I will escort everyone to our observation point in the local park 15 minutes walk away and brief you in terms of what to expect, observing etiquette, tips, equipment handling and take any questions you have - weather general or astronomy/cosmology related. **After Drinks:** Unless I have a very important 9AM Thursday deadline for a client presentation or something that I'm still gonna be writing 2 mins before start - most of us usually head our way back to Camden for another drink. If so - I will annouce the pub when we leave the park **==== What Can You Expect To See (this time of year)? ====** * Orion Nebula * Jupiter and 4 moons * Meteors * Andromedia Galaxy * Saturn, rings & moon * Star clusters such as the Pleiades & Owl Cluster etc * International Space station fly by * Venus & Mercury * Binary & tripple star systems (think planet *Tatooine in* Starwars!), * Neptune * Uranuus * Mars * Our moon * A look towards the galactic centre where that supermassive £22b Labour black hole sits (Sagittarius A) More here from Jodrell Bank Observatory/Astrophysics Centre: [http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/astronomy/nightsky/](http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/astronomy/nightsky/) Guide to viewing the cosmos for beginners: [https://phys.org/news/2018-05-universe-distant-starstips-cosmology-backyard.html#jCp](https://phys.org/news/2018-05-universe-distant-starstips-cosmology-backyard.html#jCp) **===Weather Dependent=====** The event is subject to clear skies forecasts on the night so if on the actual afternoon of the event the weather forecasts looks unsuitable beyond doubt then I will postpone so please check the event status on the day of the event . If this event is still listed here at 5PM on the day, it will be going ahead at the designated day and time! Happy Stargazing Lucas Skywalker - The Singin, Dancin, DJin Astronomer

**ARE YOU A MEMBER OF ACROSS THE ROOM? PLEASE CALL TO REGISTER 01449 722800 PRIOR TO BOOKING YOUR TICKET.** Address: Stock Brook Country Club, Queens Park Avenue Stock Nr. Billericay CM12 0SP Dress Code: Bow tie for the gents, long dress for the ladies We are incredibly excited to announce our return to Stock Brook Manor for our pre New Years’ Eve Singles Extravaganza! This Black Tie Ball will be a thrilling event to see in 2026. This event could change your life, as the clock strikes midnight, whose gaze will catch your eye Across the Room. This will be an exhilarating experience; the atmosphere will be electric, the company will be stimulating and the food will be delicious. Eleanor will meet you on arrival, introducing you to new and existing members - so don’t worry about coming alone. Two table moves for the gentlemen throughout dinner keeping the conversation flowing. This is set to be a fantastic event so an early booking is highly recommended. Call us on 01449 722800 to register PRIOR to booking your ticket as we are unable to accept payment on the door. Wine included with the meal. Price includes a delicious three course meal Age group : mixed Equal numbers of ladies and gentlemen

✳️IMPORTANT - READ👇TO ATTEND✳️ 🇬🇧🇮🇳🇫🇷🇯🇵🇮🇹🇪🇸🇺🇸🇩🇪🇨🇳🇳🇿🇧🇷🇰🇷🇺🇦🇭🇰🇨🇴🇹🇷🇷🇺 Join us for our 2nd 🌎 Festive Drinks 🥂Social and our last event of the year as we say👋to 2025 ⏳ This event is much more social drinks 🥂🍹🍻 🍷🍸and just a bit language exchange! You must have a confirmed place on MeetUp to attend this event. Guests are welcome, if confirmed. There is a small £1 fee to attend this event, which you can pay on arrival. The location for this event is \*\*COVENT GARDEN \*\*We have a reserved space just for our group 😄 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Welcome to the Highest Rated International Language Exchange group in London,🏆 with 1300+ reviews rated 5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ TO ATTEND THIS EVENT YOU MUST ... 1. **BEFORE** buying your drinks, collect & wear your badge as soon as you arrive. 2. Wear your badge during the event and please return it before you leave ♻️ 3. Start meeting the community and having fun...lots of fun!😃 **Please ensure you buy at least a few drinks from the bar to support the venue, who kindly offer us a dedicated space.** www.languages.london WHEN & WHERE This event takes place at Craft Beer Co. Covent Garden on Tuesday evening **30th December from 5pm.** Please arrive by 6:30pm **The address is 168 High Holborn, London WC1V 7AA** https://maps.google.com/?cid=12246258418147807722&entry=gps 🇵🇱🇹🇼🇲🇽🇻🇳🇧🇬🇵🇸🇸🇪🇮🇱🇨🇦🇳🇱🇿🇦🇭🇺🇹🇭🇵🇪🇧🇴🇳🇬🇦🇺🇨🇭 **WHO** Languages in London events are organised for our community - being social, making new friends, building cultural bridges and always very relaxed. We have the largest number of languages and countries represented in our weekly language exchange and social events in London. This is **not** a dating event. Our events are open to Internationals, Locals, Expats, Students, Travellers..... Everyone! This is the event for a truly global community and for citizens from around the World. Is this the Intercambio you've been looking for? Want to practice your ingles, espanol , francais, italiano, Deutsch, portugues or other European languages? Asian languages ? Or maybe prefer to only speak English.... that's just fine. **All languages and all fluency levels are welcome** Spread the love...Bring your friends 💙 The creator and organiser of **Languages in London - Girish**, will always be visible at the event and there to support you and help with introductions, if you prefer. We want to remain the BEST language events group in London, being the biggest isn't our focus. These are real events with real people. We don't fill our events with inflated numbers and fictitious attendees 👻 **Community members that no-show at our events and inactive members are regularly removed from our group.** **LANGUAGES** Here's a selection of some of the languages that our community speak or have been practicing ... English, Spanish (incl Latin American), French, Italian, Portuguese (incl Brazilian), German, Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin & Cantonese), Russian, Korean, Hindi, Turkish, Arabic, Ukrainian, Polish, Hebrew, Swedish, Bulgarian, Vietnamese, Hungarian, Bengali, Dutch, Catalan, Farsi, Greek, Urdu, Welsh, Romanian, Norwegian, Czech, Slovakian, Estonian, Danish, Finnish, Turkmen, Latvian, Lithuanian, Nepali, Yoruba, Filipino, Thai, Albanian, Croatian, Serbian, Ebo, Afrikaans, Tamazight, Tagalog, Creole, Malagasy, Mongolian, Tok Pisin and more... you get the idea! 🇷🇴🇬🇹🇨🇿🇳🇴🇩🇰🇫🇮🇨🇾🇺🇾🇪🇬🇧🇬🇦🇷🇰🇪🇱🇰🇲🇦🇹🇳🇩🇿🇸🇬🇲🇾 **SUSTAINABLE** 🌎🌳 Like you, we really care about our planet. We don't like single use paper name tags, stickers or wristbands as they can't be reused or recycled and can even damage your clothing ☹️ The Solution? ...Our personalised and completely reusable Languages in London badges! 🏆👍 So, please make sure you return your badge to us, before you leave the event. We'll sanitise it (anti bacterial & disinfectant cleaners) and use it again & again & again. Thanks for helping us do the right thing and keep our costs down🙏 **SAFE SPACE FOR EVERYONE** 👮‍♂️ We don't tolerate prejudice or harassment of any kind, at any time. Be polite and respectful to everyone else and they will reciprocate. Let's keep the space safe, welcoming for everyone and free of any political agendas. Please report any concerns to the Organiser immediately. Please look after your belongings, the venue is a public place. We may take photos or video at the event for future promotional use. Let us if know you'd rather not be included, we respect your choice 📸 **SPREAD THE WORD** 🗣️💬 If you enjoy our events, please tell your friends and colleagues and help us grow **your** community, thank you ♥️ Join our community - https://www.languages.london/ We're looking forward to welcoming you at Languages in London 😊😃👋 🇲🇰🇳🇵🇧🇩🇵🇭🇦🇪🇦🇱🇧🇪🇮🇪🇰🇿🇱🇦🇯🇴🇱🇹🇱🇻🇪🇪🇰🇭🇨🇱🇲🇳🇨🇺

**ARE YOU A MEMBER OF ACROSS THE ROOM? PLEASE CALL TO REGISTER 01449 722800 PRIOR TO BOOKING YOUR TICKET.** Address: Stock Brook Country Club, Queens Park Avenue Stock Nr. Billericay CM12 0SP Dress Code: Bow tie for the gents, long dress for the ladies We are incredibly excited to announce our return to Stock Brook Manor for our pre New Years’ Eve Singles Extravaganza! This Black Tie Ball will be a thrilling event to see in 2026. This event could change your life, as the clock strikes midnight, whose gaze will catch your eye Across the Room. This will be an exhilarating experience; the atmosphere will be electric, the company will be stimulating and the food will be delicious. Eleanor will meet you on arrival, introducing you to new and existing members - so don’t worry about coming alone. Two table moves for the gentlemen throughout dinner keeping the conversation flowing. This is set to be a fantastic event so an early booking is highly recommended. Please call us on 01449 722800 to register PRIOR TO booking this event as we are unable to accept payment at the door. Price includes a delicious three course meal (wine included) Age group : Mixed Equal numbers of ladies and gentlemen

We are a welcoming community of board game designers and playtesters, please join us and bring your games in development for feedback, to play upcoming games, or just to chat about the hobby and industry! We range from first-time designers, hobby designers, published designers, and publishing companies. We meet **every Tuesday** at The Ludoquist board game cafe in Croydon, from 6:30pm-10pm. We try to ensure that as many games can be played in an evening, and prioritise those that haven't been able to test their games recently, although we cannot guarantee that your game will be played in the first session you join. The **final meeting of each month is reserved for playing published games**. We use this time to catch up on games that we want to try or discuss. You can also join our Facebook Group community for feedback and discussion: https://www.facebook.com/groups/playtestuksouthlondon We look forward to seeing you!

Join our weekly mixed 3x3 basketball run, organised by the GG3x3 (https://www.gg3x3.com/), an hour of non-stop 3x3 action based on FIBA 3x3 rules all levels welcome! 3x3 is an Olympic Sport played in teams of 3 in half court, and is a fun way of experiencing the game of basketball. 3x3 is particularly suited to basketball beginners as you get more touches on the ball, have more space to move into off of ball screens or when you are playing off the ball. Please join this game using the free GameOn Active app ([download here](https://gameonactive.co.uk/connect.html)) which is a free app we use to organise the run. Crossharbour Montessori Day Nursery is 1 min walk from Crossharbour DLR station. On arrival, please let reception know that you are there for a basketball session and you will be let through, at the courts please ask for Scotty. We look forward to balling with you there!

Life Drawing Friendly sessions for all levels run by professional artist for 16 years. U

You want to do your best! You want to realise your potential! You want to make the right decisions at the right time! Obviously- you want to be a success! Do you have all the skills in place? Do you have areas in your life or personality that are weaker and you feel can stop you or hold you back? Would you like a free personal consultation to help locate your strengths and weaker areas? We can help you to maximise on your potential. If you would like a free 1 hour consult then register now! We have various times available for your own personal consultation This is hosted at the Scientology Life Improvement Centre in London. We use the Oxford Capacity Analysis test. https://www.scientology-london.org.uk/personality-test/

Get ready to dance the night away at the NYE PARTY at @Angel & Crown - it's going to be a night to remember! 🥳🎶 Get ready for the most explosive New Year’s Eve party! DJ on the decks with a fiery house, electro set, the dance floor ready to move, and cocktails always within reach. A night full of energy, music, and celebration to welcome the New Year in style. Shining lights, unforgettable vibes, and an electric atmosphere—everything you need to kick off 2026 in the best way possible! **THE VENUE** Step inside **The Angel & Crown**, a far-out, 70s-inspired pub with retro decor and a mellow, intimate feeling. Sip on craft beers, dig our hand-crafted cocktails, and groove with some seriously tasty food. Check our IG page 👉 @angel_and_crown_bethnal **TABLE BOOKINGS** Wanna take your night higher? Book your table at **angelandcrown.co.uk** and we’ll make sure you’ve got the best booze, the sweetest spot at the bar, and all the good vibes. ✌️

Lezmeeters who wanna party at Mint for NYE come join us for drinks, good vibes and dance to ring in 2026.

If you are you interested on creating your own comic, but need help to put your vision together or do not know were to start then we may have the solution for you. Come talk shop with fellow creators, share experiences, ideas, techniques and tips to help each other grow and have a chance in the industry.

## Learn Infrastructure-as-Code (the FUN Way) — Through Minecraft 🎮☁️ **Joint Meetup: Azure CBUS × Columbus HashiCorp User Group** What if learning Terraform and Infrastructure-as-Code didn’t feel like a whitepaper… but more like a game? Join us for a joint Azure CBUS and Columbus HashiCorp User Group meetup where **Mark Tinderholt** \(Principal Architect\, Microsoft Azure \| HashiCorp Ambassador \| “The Azure Terraformer”\) shows how **Minecraft** can be used as a surprisingly powerful way to understand real-world Infrastructure-as-Code concepts. In this session, Mark will demonstrate how Terraform and Azure can be used to provision, configure, and manage Minecraft servers—while teaching the same patterns you’d use for production cloud infrastructure. ### What we’ll cover * Infrastructure-as-Code fundamentals using **Terraform** * Provisioning real infrastructure on **Azure** * Applying **IaC best practices** (immutability, repeatability, versioning) * How playful environments like Minecraft make complex concepts *click* * Why learning through experimentation beats click-ops every time ### Who should attend * Developers, platform engineers, and cloud engineers * Terraform users (new or experienced) * Anyone curious about Infrastructure-as-Code but tired of boring examples * Minecraft fans who want to see it used in a totally unexpected way No prior Minecraft experience required—just curiosity and a willingness to learn infrastructure the fun way. Come for the blocks, stay for the Terraform. 🧱➡️📐 Want to be a speaker? submit your talk to our Call for Presenters!!! https://sessionize.com/azure-cbus-2026/

### Tools in your AI's Toolbox : An introduction to MCP Servers The generative AI revolution has unlocked unprecedented capabilities, but the next frontier is agency: empowering models to interact with, query, and act upon the world. The current challenge is the “N x M integration problem,” where every AI model requires a custom, brittle integration for each external tool or data source. This approach simply doesn’t scale. How can we give an AI access to our sales leads, code repositories, or IoT devices in a standardized, secure, and reusable way? This session introduces Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP), the open-source framework designed to solve this challenge and become the universal connector—the USB-C port—for AI. MCP standardizes how AI models discover and use external tools, moving beyond simple function-calling to a robust, client-server architecture. We will dive into how this open protocol is creating a new ecosystem for building powerful, context-aware AI agents. Join this session for a developer-focused introduction where you will learn how to: Understand the core concepts of the open-source Model Context Protocol and its architecture. Utilize pre-built, open-source MCP servers to instantly connect AI to tools like Git, Slack, and databases. Build a custom MCP server to securely expose your own proprietary data and APIs as tools for any compliant AI. Move beyond bespoke integrations and contribute to a standardized, collaborative, and open ecosystem. Stop building one-off connectors and start building intelligent agents. This session will give you the practical knowledge to leverage MCP and create the next generation of AI that doesn’t just talk, but does. Want to be a speaker? submit your talk to our Call for Presenters!!! [https://sessionize.com/azure-cbus-2026/](https://sessionize.com/azure-cbus-2026/)

The January Ohio North Database Training user group meeting will be held on **January 6th, 2025 at 5:00PM**. This will be a **HYBRID** event and we will be joined online by **Jason Romans**. You're welcome to come meet in-person at our meeting location, the offices of Improving at **[6000 Freedom Square Dr,](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Improving/@41.4004167,-81.6614462,17z/data=!3m2!4b1!5s0x8830e5b8255c5919:0xd8297060eb68fe04!4m6!3m5!1s0x8830dc7a0fe35dc9:0xbfc4710ecadfc5c!8m2!3d41.4004127!4d-81.6588713!16s%2Fg%2F1hm3hkqp3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDQzMC4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D)** **[Unit 110,](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Improving/@41.4004167,-81.6614462,17z/data=!3m2!4b1!5s0x8830e5b8255c5919:0xd8297060eb68fe04!4m6!3m5!1s0x8830dc7a0fe35dc9:0xbfc4710ecadfc5c!8m2!3d41.4004127!4d-81.6588713!16s%2Fg%2F1hm3hkqp3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDQzMC4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D)** **[Independence, OH 44131](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Improving/@41.4004167,-81.6614462,17z/data=!3m2!4b1!5s0x8830e5b8255c5919:0xd8297060eb68fe04!4m6!3m5!1s0x8830dc7a0fe35dc9:0xbfc4710ecadfc5c!8m2!3d41.4004127!4d-81.6588713!16s%2Fg%2F1hm3hkqp3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDQzMC4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D)** [Teams Link ](https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_N2Q3ODVjM2YtNDQ1NS00MDBjLWI5MzYtNDQ3YmFlZjkzMjAx%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22b966f302-6b93-4686-9041-c084635642c5%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%2278c760cb-657f-46aa-bd2f-7066d9403bdb%22%7d)if anyone needs it after RSVP-ing for in person. If you would like to subscribe to our email list outside of Meetup, we have changed platforms recently and you will need to register [here in Kit ](https://ohio-north-data-training.kit.com/b8f036f615)instead to receive emails. Agenda: **5:00 PM EST**: Online and in-person meeting begins with a social hour. This is an unstructured hour where you can join us to catch up and meet other group members before the session starts. There will be food brought in for in-person attendees. **6:00 PM EST**: Updates and announcements, followed by our feature presentation. See below for presentation details. **7:30 PM EST**: Optionally after the main presentations, the in-person crowd may go out for snacks and drinks at a local establishment. We hope to see you there! Session Abstract **Data on Fire: A Hands-On Intro to Spark in Fabric** Curious about Apache Spark but not sure where to start? This hands-on session introduces you to Spark in Microsoft Fabric Notebooks—a powerful and accessible way to process and analyze big data using familiar tools in the Microsoft ecosystem. We’ll break down key Spark concepts like distributed computing, DataFrames, and lazy evaluation, then show how they come to life inside Fabric’s notebook experience. You’ll see practical demos that cover loading, transforming, and analyzing large datasets—while leveraging Fabric’s modern data stack, including OneLake, Dataflows, and Pipelines. You’ll also learn how to choose between Spark and pure Python notebooks in Fabric, based on execution needs, data integration, and use case fit. Whether you're a SQL pro, BI developer, or data engineer, this session will give you the tools and confidence to start using Spark in your own projects—no cluster management required. \*Please note, that we will be using Microsoft Teams for the online portion of this meeting. You may want to join a few minutes early to ensure you do not have any issues. If you are attending in person, there are large TVs at the office, and you do not need to bring a laptop or use Teams.

Topic details coming soon. AGENDA: 7:00pm - Opening announcements 7:10pm - Main Topic 7:50pm - Q&A

Christians in Tech is a community at the intersection of faith and technology. Our meetups are designed to spark meaningful conversations, promote knowledge sharing, and encourage growth—both in your career and your spiritual walk with God. Whether you're an experienced professional or just starting your tech journey, CIT welcomes you. Our Website [https://linktr.ee/citcbus](https://linktr.ee/citcbus) Sponsors and Partners * Improving (Venue Sponsor) * Bethel World Prayer Center (Fiscal Sponsor) * Fruits & Roots (Coffee Partner)

**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 **Abstract** GitHub Copilot is rapidly changing how developers write, understand, and maintain code. Powered by generative AI and deeply integrated into modern development environments, Copilot acts as an intelligent coding assistant, helping developers move faster while maintaining quality and focus. In this session, we’ll explore what GitHub Copilot is, how it works, and where it fits into a real-world developer workflow. We’ll break down what Copilot can (and cannot) do, where it can be used, and how licensing differs for individuals and organizations. Most importantly, this talk goes beyond theory with a live, hands-on demo showcasing Copilot inside the IDE and on GitHub, demonstrating how it can assist with code generation, refactoring, learning new APIs, and accelerating day-to-day development tasks. Designed for developers, technical leads, and engineering managers, this session provides a practical introduction to AI-assisted development, highlights best practices for getting value from Copilot, and closes with guidance on how to continue learning and evolving alongside this rapidly advancing tool. Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of how GitHub Copilot can enhance productivity, improve developer experience, and fit into modern software teams today, not someday. **YouTube Link** TBA

Our monthly PHP meetup. A virtual shindig courtesy of Zoom. Check back here for the details around 6:15 pm