.NET

Hi Deep Learners, Our first Deep Learning Meetup in 2026 is taking place on **January 26** at Sky lounge of Raiffeisenbank International in Wien Mitte. Our topics this time are: Agentic RAG and Surprise Estimation in Music. \*\*\* **Agenda:** * 18:30 **Introduction** by the meetup organizers * **Welcome** by the host: Raiffeisenbank International * 18:45 **Talk 1:** **Agentic RAG: Advances in Autonomous Information Retrieval, Quantized Indexing, and Scalable System Design** by Liad Magen *(Raiffeisen Bank International)* * 19:30 **Announcements** * **Networking Break** * 20:00 **Talk 2:** **Surprise Estimation in Music** by Mathias Bjare *(Johannes Kepler University)* * 20:45 **Networking** * \~22:00 **Wrap up & End** \*\*\* **Talk Details:** **Talk 1: Agentic RAG: Advances in Autonomous Information Retrieval, Quantized Indexing, and Scalable System Design** Agentic RAG systems enable AI to plan how to find and utilize information autonomously, moving beyond simple lookup-and-answer patterns. Traditional RAG follows a fixed approach: retrieve documents, then generate an answer. Agentic RAG, on the other hand, utilizes autonomous agents that can reason through problems in multiple steps, reformulate queries intelligently, and adapt their retrieval strategy based on what they discover. This talk examines the architecture and capabilities of agentic RAG, focusing on how retrieval strategies have evolved to support multi-hop reasoning (following chains of related information), tool integration, and agent-driven workflows. Special attention will be paid to recent advances in quantized indexing and vector search, including Matryoshka embeddings. This technique stores information at multiple levels of detail, enabling scalable retrieval with tunable trade-offs between accuracy and storage. **About the Speaker:** Liad Magen is a senior data scientist at Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) and serves as the product owner of the Data Science Academy, an internal school within the RBI to upskill employees in machine learning and data science. In addition, he is teaching selected courses on NLP, computer vision and Information Retrieval as part of Master's degrees in Hochschule Campus Wien (HCW) and the university of applied sciences - IMC Krems. **Talk 2: Surprise Estimation in Music** The presentation will focus on Bjare's work on latent autoregressive diffusion models for computationally estimating experienced "expectedness" and "surprise" (surprisal) in music listening, presented at [Neurips 2025 - AI for Music Workshop](https://openreview.net/forum?id=rXUKO0ysUy&referrer=%5BAuthor%20Console%5D(%2Fgroup%3Fid%3DNeurIPS.cc%2F2025%2FWorkshop%2FAI4Music%2FAuthors%23your-submissions)). We revisit an established connection between music appreciation during listening and the extent to which humans or autoregressive models can predict musical continuations. We visit [Music2Latent](https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.06500), an open-source, computationally efficient audio codec used as the audio representation on which surprisal is modeled. We review GPT-style autoregressive diffusion models and show how they are suitable for surprisal estimation. We discuss the prediction of EEG responses to music listening based on our surprise estimates. **About the Speaker:** Mathias Rose Bjare is a fourth year PhD student at the Institute of Computational Perception, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria. He builds computational models for the estimation of musical expectancy and surprisal in audio and general symbolic music using modern artificial neural networks. His surprisal estimates enable research into how features of general recorded music correlate with neural responses to music listening We'd like to thank Raiffeisen International for providing the venue, drinks & snacks. ** Please note that the venue has a capacity limit of 120 people and people will be admitted on a first come, first served basis. ** We are very much looking forward to seeing you at our first meetup in 2026! Your VDLM organizers

Welcome to our friendly badminton event! Let's get moving, improve our game, and make some new friends. **Very important: this event is for you if your level is upper intermediate or advance.** 🏸🙂 **If you're joining us for the first time, the organizer will contact you directly to confirm that you have the required level for this event.** Feather shuttles (Babolat 1 / Viktor Master ACE / Forza s 6000) will be provided for this event and are included in the event fee The location: Sport & Fun Halle Favoriten / Windtenstraße 2, 1100 Wien The Price: We try our best to provide you with the best price in Vienna. You will be paying 9 euros for 2 hours. How to pay: We accept cash and bank transfer Number of players: 6 players for 1 court and about 10 -11 players for 2 courts. Remember to bring your own racket, please. **Cancellation policy:** 1- 24 hours before the event = free cancellation. 2- Any time after the 24-hour limit, I will ask you kindly to pay the event fee, if we can't find a suitable replacement. (No exceptions) See you on the court :)

PCE - "Philosophic Conversation in English" is a discussion event in English language which focuses on psychology, philosophy, self-consciousness and self-realization. The conversation is based on inclusive discussion rules. We will meet at at a restaurant where we will have a private room exclusively reserved for our event. At the beginning we will choose the topic to discuss. Everybody can suggest a topic. Then we will vote what to discuss. The person who suggested the winning topic will then explain his idea of the topic. Afterwards everybody gets his/her chance to make a statement. But you can also decide to remain silent and only listen, if you prefer that. We have a time limit for statements, so that everybody has enough time to speak. It is not allowed to interrupt somebody who is speaking. After a statement everybody can ask a question and the speaker will answer. After the first part there will be a 10 minutes break before we start the second part. Everybody is welcome to our event: We are interested in your thoughts and opinions! It is no problem if you arrive late and you can also leave whenever you want. Please check out last event's topics via this link: [http://pce-topic.project-website.org](http://pce-topic.project-website.org/)

**What is Innate Dance?** Innate Dance is a joyful approach to movement, which invites deeper embodiment and self-connection through butoh inspired movement, Noguchi Taiso exercises, the Seki Method, somatic attention and imagination. We shake it out, breaking up stuck energy held in the body, and explore new movement possibilities from a place of alignment and sensitivity. Thanks to our open awareness we can be surprised by lesser-known parts of ourselves and come to appreciate our innate wisdom in movement. Through exercises, explorations and improvisations we build trust in the body that knows how it would like to move and express itself, and when we follow our innate dance, it just feels good! There is also time and space to dance freely, to enjoy the music in your body and to let go! Ultimately, it's about feeling more 'in' our body and grounding joy. **When? Where? How much?** **Mondays 19:30-21:00** in Studio 2, Tanz\*Hotel, Zirkusgasse 35, 1020 Wien Try out € 14\,\- \| One class € 17\,\- \| Student € 10\,\- \| 5 x class pass €80\,\- \| 10 x class pass € 150\,\- **Who teaches the course?** Jess is a dancer and psychotherapist (humanistic and integrative), who loves shaping classes that offer the space to explore the many facets of being human. Sometimes this learning involves physically embodying non-humans like trees, fish and wind, so we can get out of our limited-human-thinking-mind and into the bigger wisdom available through imagination and our body. At other times it's about dancing textures, sensations or taking on the energy of parts of ourselves so we can know them better. Jess has danced all her life and has been exploring butoh dance for the past eleven years alongside her psychotherapeutic practice. She co-authored *The Seki Method* (soon to be published!), is a Seki Method Facilitator, and was a 2024 student at the Im_Flieger Schule researching dance and healing.

Hello Viennovans! Pickwick's is getting quizzical every monday night! You have a chance to win a round of shots, a 40€ bar tab and/or eternal bragging rights 😉 Teams of up to 6 people, reserve your spot today! Start time is 7! FREE SHOT FOR EVERYONE COMING FROM VIENNOVA!

Join Vienna’s longest-running English stand-up comedy open mic for laughs, live comedy, and English-language performances. Drop by to see experienced comedians work on their new jokes or maybe you will catch somebody trying to be funny on stage for the first time ever! We don't really know what will happen and that's part of the magic! Join Vienna’s longest-running English stand-up comedy open mic for laughs, live comedy, and English-language performances. Drop by to see experienced comedians work on their new jokes or maybe you will catch somebody trying to be funny on stage for the first time ever! We don't really know what will happen and that's part of the magic! **Do you want to perform yourself?** Hit us up on Instagram (@wiener.comedy) or Facebook (Wiener Comedy). Not on social media? Send us an email at wienercomedy5000@gmail.com If you’re waiting on a reply, please also check your spam folder. **Do you just want to watch?** Just come on over before 19:30, wear something comfortable, enjoy a pint and/or a burger, lean back and let us tickle your funny bone! **Tickets:** Seats can fill up fast, so we recommend reserving yours on Eventbrite. This is a *pay what you like* show so it doesn't cost you to reserve your seat. **Need a table for dinner or coming with a larger group?** Write us an email to sort everything out: wienercomedy5000@gmail.com or contact Charlie P's directly Doors Open: 19:00 Show Starts: 19:30 ***We'll hold your reservations until 19:20 at which time we will release the remaining seats to the public*** Age - 16+ Good talk, see you out there! **Do you want to perform yourself?** Hit us up on Instagram (@wiener.comedy) or Facebook (Wiener Comedy). Not on social media? Send us an email at wienercomedy5000@gmail.com If you’re waiting on a reply, please also check your spam folder. **Do you just want to watch?** Just come on over before 19:30, wear something comfortable, enjoy a pint and/or a burger, lean back and let us tickle your funny bone! **Tickets:** Seats can fill up fast, so we recommend reserving yours on Eventbrite. This is a *pay what you like* show so it doesn't cost you to reserve your seat. **Need a table for dinner or coming with a larger group?** Write us an email to sort everything out: wienercomedy5000@gmail.com or contact Charlie P's directly Doors Open: 19:00 Show Starts: 19:30 ***We'll hold your reservations until 19:20 at which time we will release the remaining seats to the public*** Age - 16+ Good talk, see you out there!

Die **offene Singrunde** ist für alle, die sich (mehr) trauen wollen, mit anderen gemeinsam zu singen, Hobby- und Profi-SängerInnen, die ein **energievolles, einfaches MITEINANDER SINGEN erleben** wollen. Die wohltuende Wirkung des Singens und die Freude am gemeinsamen Klang stehen im Vordergrund. ☺️🙂🤩 Nach ein paar Körper und Stimme entspannenden und aktivierenden Übungen singen wir leicht zu lernende Lieder mit Texten, die Seele und Herz berühren, auf Deutsch und Englisch. **Alle Stimmen sind herzlich willkommen, egal ob routiniert oder ungeübt.** **Vorkenntnisse sind nicht erforderlich.** Aus meiner umfangreichen Liedersammlung stehen z.B. 🎶 Segel setzen 🎶 Tanze, also ob niemand dich sieht 🎶 I am here 🎶 L-ICH-T 🎶 Vertrau dem Fluss 🎶 Wir sind verbunden 🎶 Let it go 🎶 For each child that's born 🎶 Rhythm and Syncopation 🎶 May the Circle be open 🎶 Ich stehe wie ein Baum / Standing like a Tree 🎶 Be still and know … 🎶 zur Auswahl. Das Programm wird beim Singabend intuitiv entstehen. Ich bringe die Liedertexte und meine Gitarre und begleite unseren Gesang. Mit dabei sind auch Cabasa, Klangfrösche, Chickenegg, Shaker, Schellenring, Triangel, Caxixi ("Kaschischi"), Claves, Trommeln ... die zum intuitiven Improvisieren, mit Mut und Freude am einfach Ausprobieren genutzt werden können. 💎 **Ablauf:** Check-In-Runde, Warm-Up, Singen, Check-Out (anschl. Plaudern & Vernetzen wer mag) 💎 **Ankommenszeit ab 15:45 Uhr.** Bitte rechtzeitig da sein. Wir beginnen pünktlich um 16:00 Uhr. Danke 🙏 💎 **Grätzelraum** (gleich rechts nach dem Eingang) **im GB\* Stadtteilbüro** am Max-Winter-Platz 23, 1020 Wien Das Gebäude ist freistehend vor / hinter / neben dem Spielplatz. 💝 Ein freiwilliger Wertschätzungsbeitrag wird dankend angenommen. **✅ Mit deiner VERBINDLICHEN ANMELDUNG bis spätestens 9 Uhr am Singtag sicherst du dir deinen Platz. Einfach hier zusagen oder eine Nachricht direkt an mich schicken.** Die Teilnahme ist auf 16 Personen beschränkt. Die Ankündigung und Anmeldung läuft auch auf anderen Kanälen. Nach aktuellem Stand (25.1. 20 Uhr) sind wir schon zu zehnt. Bei Fragen stehe ich euch gern bis zum Anmeldeschluss zur Verfügung. ***Ich freue mich auf euch, Karin***

Let’s kick off the year with some talks in collaboration with the **[Java and Friends](https://www.meetup.com/java-and-friends/)**[ meetup group](https://www.meetup.com/java-and-friends/). Fresh topics, shared knowledge and a strong community vibe. **===Topic===** **1st talk: WebAssembly** If you have been living under a rock like me and have heard about WebAssembly but don't really know what it does, then this talk is right for you! WebAssembly is one of the biggest standardization efforts in modern computing and we will have a look at how it works, why you should care, and why big players like Microsoft, Intel, and the CNCF alike have a vested interest to push it further. Did you know that Kotlin is implementing a wasm backend, so we can run Kotlin code without the JVM? What once started out as a browser hack to make javascript faster is slowly but steadily growing into a new computing substrate, and finally, a common architecture and compilation target for our programs. It's write once, run everywhere, but hopefully for real this time. Oh and it will also replace docker. And Kubernetes. Okay, I am overdramatizing. I swear my takes are not as biased as this introduction but you will have to listen to my talk to find out. **Speaker:** Florian Schindler **2nd talk: Spring Boot 4 with Kotlin: Modern Spring Development, Refined** Spring Boot 4 raises the bar for modern development in the JVM ecosystem, and Kotlin fits it perfectly. This talk highlights what’s new in Spring Boot 4 and how Kotlin helps you build cleaner, safer, and more concise applications with less boilerplate and better defaults. **Speaker:** Marián Varga **===Schedule===** 18:00 - Doors open 18:30 - Welcome by Erste Bank, Kotlin Vienna & and SQUER 18:40 - First talk 19:25 - Break 19:35 - Second talk 20:20 - Pizza, Drinks & Networking **===How to find us===** Canetti Tower - Erste Group, Canettistraße 5, 1100 Wien

**ANMELDUNG** via: https://www.eventbrite.at/e/adventure-network-tickets-1979380491333?aff=oddtdtcreator **OVERVIEW** Networking event for start-ups, founders and young entrepreneurs focused on real connections, ideas and collaboration. **ADVENTURE Network** is a new event format that brings start-ups and entrepreneurs together in one place. Our goal is to create a platform where people can connect. Perfect for people who are building their businesses, driving change, and thinking ahead. ### What to expect? * Welcome and brief introduction of the initiators * A short keynote on successful networking * Moderated breakout sessions to get to know each other * An interactive networking challenge * Open networking in a relaxed atmosphere

Bring your JS interest and a good vibe! Everybody is welcome & feel free to share this invitation! https://viennajs.org/en/meetup/vienna-js-january-2026 **Timetable:** * 18:00: Gathering, food & drinks * \~18:45 - 19:00: Start of the first talk **Talks:** 🗣️ Housein Abo Shaar ▶️ AI Just Made Us Better at Typing AI can write code now, and it's only getting better at it. Which changes something I genuinely love: the act of *programming*. Just opening up an editor and typing away, observing problems and patterns, finding reusable solutions, caring about how my code *looks* while probably making a few too many premature abstractions. However, I say "programming" for a reason, because it's entirely distinct from software engineering, the thing I actually do for a living. In this talk, I'll go through my experience with AI: the ups and downs, the mistakes I made, and why I think I'll be using it a lot more in the future. \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- 🗣️ Marcel Maßmann ▶️ It's about time - a new Date() with Temporal Working with dates and times in JavaScript has always been… complicated. new Date() looks simple, but quickly turns into a source of bugs, confusion, and timezone-related headaches. Adding days, comparing times, or reasoning about “what date is it really?” often requires defensive coding or third-party libraries. Temporal is a new JavaScript API designed to fix this. In this talk, we’ll explore what Temporal is, why it exists, and which long-standing problems it solves compared to Date. We’ll look at how Temporal makes time arithmetic predictable, how it models concepts like instants, calendar dates, durations, and time zones explicitly, and how it can replace much of the functionality we currently rely on external libraries for. We’ll also cover how Temporal interoperates with legacy Date objects, and— most importantly — what mental model you need to use it correctly. You’ll leave with a clear understanding of when to use Temporal.Instant, Temporal.PlainDate, or Temporal.ZonedDateTime, and when Temporal is not the right tool. If you’ve ever been bitten by time zones, off-by-one-day bugs, or confusing date math, it’s about time we talked about Temporal. **🗣️ Give a Talk:** [https://viennajs.org/en/participate/give-a-talk](https://viennajs.org/en/participate/give-a-talk) **Location:** Sentry 📍 **NEW ADDRESS** Jakov-Lind-Straße 5, 4. OG (Entrance next to Max & Benito) 1020 Wien **Sponsors:** 🙏 Sentry Sentry is the market leader in the error monitoring space and like many startups with engineer founders, Sentry was born out of frustration with technology. David started Sentry as an open-source side project in 2008. We started in a small community — the Django web framework — and over time expanded our technology to support dozens of other platforms, including browser JavaScript and mobile applications. Fast forward to today, we're a $90M Series E company with a $3B valuation and 200+ employees on a mission to help developers write better software faster, so we can get back to enjoying technology. As one can see, the adventure continues to be exciting as we bring our developer-first Application Monitoring to more customers and industries worldwide. Consider us for the ride - We're hiring a JavaScript developer! 🙏 Ketryx Ketryx is an American based AI-powered platform specifically designed for the life sciences industry supporting companies that build regulated software. Its core function is to bridge the gap between agile software development practices and stringent regulatory compliance. The platform operates as an overlay that integrates seamlessly with existing, best-of-breed developer tools like Jira and GitHub. By doing this, Ketryx automates compliance-related tasks, such as generating audit-ready documentation, maintaining a real-time, end-to-end traceability matrix across all connected systems. This automation significantly reduces the manual burden of paperwork allowing development teams to accelerate their release cycles and bring safer, compliant products to market much faster. We're building up our engineering hub in Vienna. Our Co-Founder and CTO, [Jan Pöschko](https://www.linkedin.com/in/poeschko/), is based here, and we’re on the hunt for best-in-class engineering talent to join our team. Link to Open Roles: [https://www.ketryx.com/about/open-positions](https://www.ketryx.com/about/open-positions) **🙏 Want to sponsor?** We are looking for more sponsors! If you are interested please contact us via [viennajsmeetup@gmail.com](http://viennajsmeetup@gmail.com/) or at [viennajs.org.](http://viennajs.org./) \*\*\* **Don't forget to RSVP!**

⭐ Business Speed Networking Vienna Make connections. Find opportunities. Meet inspiring people. Looking to expand your professional circle and actually enjoy the process? This business speed networking event in Vienna is designed for people who value real conversations, not superficial small talk. 💼 What to expect: Structured speed networking with short one-to-one conversations. Each round lasts about 10 minutes, then you meet a new person. Clear format, easy flow, and a professional office-style environment. 💎Price 10€ (cash) and order a drink 🤝 Who it’s for: Entrepreneurs, freelancers, startup founders, managers, and professionals from different industries who want to connect, exchange ideas, and explore collaboration opportunities. ⭐️ The atmosphere: Focused, respectful, and business-oriented. Come for the networking. Stay for the conversations. Leave with new contacts — and new opportunities 💬✨

⭐️Speed Networking Vienna Make connections. Find opportunities. Meet new friends. ⭐️Looking to expand your circle, meet inspiring people and actually enjoy the process? This is not just about business contacts — it’s about real human connection, shared interests and new friendships that can grow into something meaningful. 🔄 How it works: 10-minute one-to-one chats, new person each round. Easy, natural and relaxed — no awkward vibes, no forced conversations. ⭐️Perfect for people from different professions who want to connect, collaborate, exchange ideas and simply meet great new people. 💎Price 10€ (cash) and order a drink 📌 Limited spots – registration required. Come for the networking. Stay for the conversations. Leave with new contacts and new friends. 💬✨ Join us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/makegoodfriends?igsh=YjA2czVxNjF0cGJi&utm_source=qr

Hello everybody, Let’s start the new year with two great talks on how we can avoid falling into the legacy debt trap … **Agenda** 🕡 17:30 - Doors open 🕕 18:00 – Intro & First Talk 🗣️- Tracking Health over Debt: Strategies to keep a Microservice Architecture Healthy 🕢 18:50 – Break 🕖 19:00 – Second Talk 🗣️ - Architectural Fitness in Practice: Defining & Measuring your architecture goals with fitness functions 🕗 19:50 – 🎉 Open-end with 🍕&🍻 \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **🗣️ First Talk - Tracking Health over Debt: Strategies to keep a Microservice Architecture Healthy** For a long time kununu focused on fixing what’s broken - a Big Ball of Mud Monolith - and how to move away from it. As we enter the last phase of what has been a multi-year migration, we are shifting from focusing on what's broken into maintaining what’s healthy (Known as [tracking health over debt](https://www.thoughtworks.com/radar/techniques/tracking-health-over-debt)). Expect an inside view into kununu’s practices that maintain a healthy system. Learn how we define what healthy means through testable System Quality Requirements, how we ensure that we learn from incidents long term, and how regular domain health checks help teams prioritise what’s important. Whether you're stuck in tech debt discussions or looking for a more proactive approach to system quality, join us for practical lessons from our journey. ***Angela Rumpl*** *is a Solution Architect at kununu, the leading employer review platform in the DACH region. With 20 years of experience in software engineering, a strong background in backend development, and extensive leadership experience, she now leads the Architecture Council supporting approximately 80 engineers across 9 cross-functional teams. She drives cross-organisational strategic initiatives such as kununu's migration from monolith to microservices. Her approach emphasises architecture facilitation over gatekeeping – empowering teams through collaborative processes such as modeling workshops, Advice Forums & ADRs for decision making. Angela is a co-organiser of the DDD & MRDS meetup in Vienna and contributes to organising [ComoCamp](https://comocamp.org/).* \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **🗣️ Second Talk - Architectural Fitness in Practice: Defining & Measuring your architecture goals with fitness functions** Modern software architecture needs measurable guardrails instead of PowerPoint wishful thinking. In this talk, I’ll show how to use fitness functions as a systematic approach to derive the right metrics for you to turn architecture goals into something concrete and verifiable. I'll show you my pragmatic catalog of building blocks you can use and combine to design your own fitness functions and why these are the most important dimensions to consider in practice. On this basis, I’ll introduce a fitness function testing pyramid, walk through concrete examples of useful checks and metrics, and demonstrate how to deliberately use generative AI as an architecture assistant – from generating ideas for fitness functions and target metrics to helping you shape your ideas into concrete metrics to verify. ***Rene Weiss*** *is an independent software and enterprise architect, consultant, and coach based in Vienna. He lives the “Architecture Elevator”: from the boardroom down to the code, he works with top management on transformation programs as well as with development teams on concrete architectures, fitness functions, and effective ways of working.* *For more than 20 years, Rene has supported agile software development projects and has been a regular conference speaker on evolutionary architectures, measurable architecture goals, and pragmatic software engineering practices.* \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **🏢 Location sponsor** The location, food, and drinks are sponsored by kununu ([https://www.kununu.com/](https://www.kununu.com/)). kununu is the leading employer review and workplace insights platform in the DACH region, empowering employees to share authentic workplace experiences and helping job seekers make informed career decisions. With millions of reviews and salary insights, kununu creates transparency in the job market while helping companies build stronger employer brands. Sounds interesting? Check out [their open positions](https://www.kununu.com/at/kununu/jobs).

**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** TBD **YouTube Link** TBA

**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** TBD **YouTube Link** TBA

Bring your work or your hobby, hang out, and code with us. Follow @buckeyecocoa for more information.

**Chaos Monkeys, Open Telemetry, and .NET Aspire: Taming Complexity in Modern Apps** .NET Aspire is far more than just a sleek dashboard for wowing your boss and co-workers. It's also a gateway to increased observability with open telemetry, better fault tolerance to fend off chaos monkeys, and a drastically improved onboarding experience for new developers. This session will explore Microsoft's latest guidance for building distributed, cloud-first applications, with practical strategies for enhancing simpler existing apps. You'll discover the inner workings of Aspire, from installation to customization, and learn how it streamlines integration with performance boosters like Redis. Most importantly, you'll see why scalable microservices architectures can be challenging—and how Aspire helps simplify the journey. **Presenter:** Lee Richardson, Microsoft MVP **Pizza starts at 6. Presentation starts around 6:30.**

Come out to Improving for our monthly iOS and Mac meetings. This Month's Presentation: Nothing yet. (You should volunteer). What is Cocoaheads (http://cocoaheads.org/)? CocoaHeads is a group devoted to discussion of Apple Computer's Cocoa Framework for programming on MacOS X and iOS (including the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch). During monthly meetings, members present on their projects and offer tutorials on various programming topics. What is BuckeyeCocoa (http://buckeyecocoa.org/)? BuckeyeCocoa is a group of Objective-C/Swift developers/enthusiasts. We host monthly Cocoaheads and near-weekly NSCoder meetings in Columbus, Ohio. The meetings are free to attend. Presentations! Presenters welcome! We are always in need of people willing to present material. Any Swift and/or Objective-C related topic is welcome. Times can be 5 minutes (i.e. lightning talks) to a maximum of 2 hours. Interested? Contact info is on the BuckeyeCocoa website. To volunteer for a presentation contact us at @BuckeyeCocoa on Twitter. Follow us on Twitter! @BuckeyeCocoa (https://twitter.com/#!/Buckeyecocoa/) For more information: http://buckeyecocoa.org/

## Learn Infrastructure-as-Code (the FUN Way) — Through Minecraft 🎮☁️ **Joint Meetup: Azure CBUS × Columbus HashiCorp User Group × DevOps Columbus** 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, Columbus HashiCorp User Group, and DevOps Columbus 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/