Decentralized Systems & Applications

Gaming, AdTech, EdTech, Media Streaming, and FinTech are just a few of the workloads where high-availability cloud infrastructure matters. Whether you’re doing battle daily in one of these spaces or are just curious about ways to improve performance, meet us in Reston for an in-person discussion on bare metal cloud architecture. You’ll meet our product lead, James MacKenzie, who will walk through how modern bare metal serves as a control plane for hybrid and private cloud architectures. **What we will cover** * Ways to leverage bare metal, containers, and orchestration for better performance and predictable economics; * Real-world hybrid, disaster recovery, and data-intensive architectures; * Our approach to eliminating ingress and egress fees. **Who should attend** * Cloud architects and platform engineers; * DevOps professionals and infrastructure leads; * FinOps stakeholders managing data-heavy or hybrid workloads. **Why attend** This is a technical, architecture-first conversation. You will leave with a clearer understanding of high-availability cloud infrastructure and how organizations are scaling cost-effectively. Food and drinks will be provided. Space is limited to keep the discussion interactive.

# Happy Birthday, You’re Dead Written and Directed by Terry Smith Produced by Jerri Wiseman ***You are invited to a surprise birthday party for Candy Crush, a D-list actor. She’s the hottest ticket in town. But her birthday party isn’t the only surprise she will get tonight! Someone’s about to be murdered. Only you can prevent this from happening before it’s game over. To miss this would be a crime.*** January 24 at Ono Offshore in Chantilly (with dinner) ONO Offshore, 4515 Daly Drive, Suite N, Chantilly, VA 20151 5:30pm Doors and Beverage Tabs open 6:00pm Dinner starts 6:45pm Show starts There will be a 15-20-minute intermission. Tickets: $57 plus ticketing fee and sales tax includes the show, catered dinner and dessert by Odd BBQ. Menu: Choice of smoked pulled pork or smoked chicken thighs and bun. Assemble your own sandwich with choice of BBQ sauce. (A Beyond Brat will be available for those who select a Vegetarian/Vegan Meal.) Macaroni and cheese. Grilled Vegetables. Baked Beans. Cookies for dessert. Beverages are not included in the ticket price. Guests will be able to open a tab for the self-serve beer wall with 4 craft beer options from Ono Brewing Company. There will also be hard seltzer available for purchase in addition to assorted sodas, tea, and bottled water. ### **[Buy tickets for ONO Offshore.](https://www.stagecoachtc.com/happy-birthday-youre-dead/)** You must buy a ticket to attend. An RSVP here will not save you a seat. This venue sells out quickly!

HYBRID EVENT, VIRTUAL SPEAKER In this talk, Sean Hoar will explore the transformative journey of AI’s role in modern software engineering, from rapid prototyping (“Vibe Coding”) to strategic AI integration by skilled practitioners. It clarifies the distinctions between AI-assisted, AI-enabled, and practitioner-led approaches, offering insights into how developers can effectively adapt to and harness AI tools. The presentation also highlights recent advancements and practical strategies for leveraging AI in daily workflows and long-term development.

You are invited to Heal and RELAX with doTERRA Essential Oils! You will receive one of two introductory applications: #1 The digestive, immune, and cardiovascular systems or #2 The musculoskeletal, immune, and respiratory systems Essential oils support the body in its healing work. Symphony of Cells (SOC) is a collection of 21 essential oil applications that target a different body system. Applying the oils to the back and the feet is selected because of the large number of nerve endings along the spine and on the bottom of the feet. Nourishing the nerve endings helps to feed all the organs and glands of the body. Essential oils are natural plant oils obtained from different parts of the plant and easily recognized and used by the body to help achieve balance and assist in cleansing of foreign substances. SOC was created by Boyd Truman, a DoTERRA Wellness advocate, to create physical, emotional and spiritual journey within the body. Receive a SOC Essential Oil Healing Experience Session. Please Note: The SOC Essential Oil Experience Session is by appointment only. Message by 8pm the day prior to the event to reserve a time slot. To schedule your session please contact Joyce at (703) 395-5151. Symphony of the CellsTM is a holistic approach to bring harmony physically, emotionally, and spiritually within the body. The applications incorporate pure, therapeutic-grade essential oils and utilize a layering technique.

Dulles Code & Coffee is a collaborative community of software and technology enthusiasts seeking to learn, grow, and help each other. All skill levels are welcome. The concept is simple. Bring a laptop and ideas. We’ll provide coffee, tea, and donuts. Thank you to [BTI360](https://www.bti360.com/) for sponsoring this event. ## **Event Format** 1. At 9:15 everyone introduces themselves and briefly describes what brought them out this morning (project, homework, networking, etc.). 2. For the rest of the day folks work in the communal space, socializing and asking/giving help as desired. ## **Location** BTI360’s Office in Herndon The office is across from Worldgate, looking down on the toll road. ## **Address** 12930 Worldgate Dr, Ste 400, Herndon, VA 20170 [[map](https://goo.gl/maps/pF5ZrPUviX1vtmdSA)] ## **Logistics** * **Must be a U.S. Citizen to attend. Real ID verification is required.** * PARKING: Use the surface lot. All spaces marked MIII are open for parking. Please avoid Management spaces, State Farm and SP+ * ARRIVAL: Follow the signs from the front entrance to the freight elevator located in the parking garage on level P2. Take the elevator to Suite 400 (Floor 4). * How to find us video: [https://youtu.be/ohqFzyqiASE](https://youtu.be/ohqFzyqiASE) ## **Community Guidelines** We value the participation of each member of the community and want all attendees to have an enjoyable and fulfilling experience. To ensure a conducive environment, all participants are required to conform to our [code of conduct](https://github.com/DullesCodeCoffee/.github/blob/main/code-of-conduct.md).

This is our weekly training session. NOVA Jujutsu is a self-defense focused system incorporating Geri (Kicking), Atemi (Striking), Uke (Blocking), Tai Sabakai (Body Movement), Tai Hodoki (Escapes), Kansetsu Waza (Joint Locks), Nage Waza (Throwing), Shime Waza (Choking), Katame Waza (Grappling), Tantojutsu (Knife), Bojutsu (Bo), Kenjutsu (Sword), and Kata (Forms). Come on down to a class and see for yourself what this group has to offer. You will get a great workout! You will have an awesome learning experience! You will meet some good people! We look forward to meeting you. See you there. TAGS: japanese, martial arts, self-defense, jujutsu, jujitsu, juijitsu, bujutsu, defense, karate, koppo, kenjutsu, bojutsu, tantojutsu

Join us for another session of our study group as we dive into the fascinating world of Large Language Models (LLMs) using the book **Build a Large Language Model from Scratch** from Manning. In this session, we will finish **Chapter 7: Fine-tuning to follow instructions**. In the last session, we talked about how to prepare the dataset for instruction fine-tuning and in this session we will perform the fine-tuning and evaluate the model afterwards. This isn't just a lecture! Come ready to ask questions, share insights, and code along. Whether you're a beginner or have some experience, this is the perfect opportunity to build a strong foundation together. If you plan to work with the code on your own laptop during the session, try and set-up the environment ahead of time (https://github.com/rasbt/LLMs-from-scratch/tree/main/setup). We will be meeting at the North County Governmental Center this time that is across from the Reston public library.