Election Reform

**Debait - a modern public square that promotes respectful disagreement.** **We offer a much needed alternative to social media "debating". We are anti-clickbate and shouting. Just thoughtful discussions about issues shaping society.** We run an in-person and an online session every week, as follows: * In-person sessions are held on **Tuesdays at 259 Goswell Road, London, between 6pm-8pm** * Online sessions are held on **Wednesdays between 7pm-9pm** All our sessions are limited to a **maximum of 20 attendees** which guarantees that everyone will get ample opportunities to engage. **All our sessions are free for first timers. However, please note that you still need to book via the website (www.debait.co.uk) to secure your place on any given session. Use code FIRSTDEBAIT to claim your free spot.**

It would be great to see you again in-person, for the latest edition of **HR Roundabout**: **networking and knowledge-share opportunity for People professionals.** Over a coffee and croissant, we will talk through the latest ET rulings, and workshop a case study in order to share ideas about best practice. There will also be the opportunity to ask questions and discuss and sense-check your approaches with peers. 08:15 - Arrivals 08:30 - Session start 09:30 - Session end, time for a quick chat before you head off! **📍 Where: Personio,** **151 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8AL** 🚂 Nearest tube: Tottenham Court Road or Covent Garden Closer to the time we'll ask you to confirm your RSVP so we can share names with the Personio reception team. See you soon!

**MEMBERS ONLY.** Before signing up please make sure that you speak to the organiser about how to become a member/member details or for a trial session. And just to repeat this session is for training and games not just games only. Every Tuesday 6.45PM till 9.55PM. There will be 3 courts for Training and games. For any queries or for details to sign up for membership please don't hesitate to contact us. All levels are welcome. PARKING: Parking is available and Free onsite. PAYMENT: We are accepting bank transfer rather than cash payments. In 2 days in advance to confirm your attendance. Any NO SHOWS or cancellations on the day will incur a charge as it could stop other players from playing. Bank details: Name: The Badminton Collective Ltd Sort Code: 60-83-71 Account Number:69874292 Reference must be your Full Name to match you to the list of attendees. £15 for training and Games. IMPORTANT NOTES: Other Information: There is now a water fountain but it's outside so please bring a bottle and fill up before we get straight into the session. The Badminton Collective and Royal Docks Academy are not responsible for any injuries or loss of items.

This session is coached and uses the fundamental skills for age groups from 6 years old up 16 years old to grasp footwork, Racket skills to name the core. All levels are welcome. Please bring your racket with you however if you don't have your own racket please let us know ahead of time. We also ask that all players to wear appropriate sports clothing. PAYMENT We are accepting bank transfer rather than Cash payments. £10 pay and play £24 4 session upfront payment. Bank details: Name: The Badminton Collective Sort code: 60-83-71 Account number:69874292 Reference must be your Full Name to match you to the list of attendees. We shall be operating a pay and play system however if you wanting something more long-term we shall be offering term specials. PARKING: Parking is available and free on site. Other information: There is a water fountain however it is outside the building so if you could bring water for the session. If you need further information or have any questions please don't hesitate to contact us on tldnbc@gmail.com or message us on meet up. The Badminton Collective and Royal Docks Academy are not responsible for any injuries or loss of items.

Friendly book group Please remember to change your RSVP at least a week beforehand if you can't make it, so someone on the waitlist can take your slot. New books are chosen by popular vote and are read 2 months later. We look forward to seeing you there!

**Venue:** Riverbank House, 2 Swan Ln, London EC4R 3AD **Please note:** 1\. 🚨🚨🚨 A valid photo ID is required by building security\. 🚨🚨🚨 2\. This event follows the [NumFOCUS Code of Conduct](https://numfocus.org/code-of-conduct). Please familiarise yourself with it before attending. If your RSVP status says "You're going" you will be able to get in. No need to show your RSVP confirmation when signing in. If you can no longer make it, please unRSVP as soon as possible. **Code of Conduct:** This event follows the NumFOCUS Code of Conduct. Please get in touch with the organisers with any questions or concerns. As always, there will be free food and drinks, generously provided by our host, Man Group. **Main Talks** 1. **SVD-ROM: Reduced Order Modeling of huge arrays using the Singular Value Decomposition** - **David Salvador-Jasin** We present SVD-ROM, an open source Python package to perform Reduced Order Modeling (ROM) of very large arrays using the Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). Despite the high dimensionality of datasets typically encountered in real-world scenarios such as fluid dynamics or weather & climate, these are typically low-rank: there are a few dominant patterns that explain the high dimensionality. The SVD is a useful dimensionality reduction technique for such systems, and has the advantages of being explainable and computationally efficient. SVD-ROM enables the application of SVD-based machine learning methods such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) or Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) on massive datasets. We employ Dask for parallel and out-of-core computation, Xarray for labelled N-dimensional arrays, and data formats such as Zarr and NetCDF for chunked storage of large arrays. We have developed SVD-ROM keeping user-friendliness in mind, exposing a Python API that enables the straightforward application of methods such as pre-processing, model fitting, reconstruction and forecasting. Additionally, Dask makes code portability across laptop, HPC clusters or cloud straightforward, enabling the user to run SVD-ROM on different computational environments with minimal changes. The development of SVD-ROM has also resulted in multiple contributions to PyDMD, the most popular open source Python package for the application of DMD. In this talk we show how we can fit a DMD model to a global weather dataset tens of GB in size and produce an accurate sub-seasonal forecast (6 weeks ahead) on a laptop in just a few minutes. 2. **From Zero to HyperPod: Cutting Infrastructure Complexity for Distributed Model Training on AWS** - [Anton Nazaruk](anton.e.nazaruk@gmail.com) Training state‑of‑the‑art models often stalls on two pain points: GPU availability and infrastructure complexity. In this 40‑minute, practitioner‑level session, I will demystify the fastest, most cost‑effective routes to dedicated NVIDIA H100 and B200 clusters on AWS. We will compare EC2 On‑Demand, Spot, Savings Plans, EC2 Capacity Blocks, and the new SageMaker Training Plans with HyperPod, showing where each shines for research, production training, and massive fine‑tunes. A live demo will provision a 256‑GPU HyperPod, walk through distributed‑training set‑up with Deep Speed + PyTorch, and showcase built‑in checkpointing and automatic node recovery. Attendees will leave with: 1) a decision framework for picking the right reservation model, 2) reference Terraform and CDK snippets to launch clusters in minutes, and 3) cost‑optimisation tips that have saved our clients up to 35% versus unmanaged fleets. Biggest focus on practical architectures, benchmarks, and war stories you can apply the next day. **Lightning Talks** 1. **Agentic, Agentic AI for Personalized Care — Lessons and Challenges from Holisticare.io - Mojtaba Kargar** 2. **Mapping the International PyData Community featuring Web Scraping and Data Wrangling - [Hugh Evans](https://www.linkedin.com/in/hugh-evans-dev/)** \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **Logistics** Doors open at **6.30 pm** (get there early as you'll need to sign in with building security). Talks start at **7:00 pm**, with drinks afterwards from **9:00 pm** at The Banker (EC4). We have reduced capacity for this event, but there will be plenty of people to discuss data science questions with. Please unRSVP in good time if you realise you can't make it. We're limited by building security on the number of attendees, so please free up your place for your fellow community members. If you want me to trim lightning talks down to two or shorten any abstracts, say which ones.

Welcome back ramblers, rovers, loungers and loafers and happy 2026! It's a new year, but we're picking where we left off, in the onetime capital of cockney London with its dockworkers and gangsters, the Isle of Dogs - which became the landing-pad for an invasion of alien Thatcherites in the 1980s with the construction of Canary Wharf, which now towers over the council estates and parklands of this misunderstood peninsula. From there we'll head west, looking eventually to end up in the Brutalist wonderland (featured in Kubrick's *Clockwork Orange*!) of Thamesmead, possibly by way of the free Woolwich Ferry service from north shore to south. Meet at Canary Wharf station, out in front of the big curved class canopy. Elizabeth Line services at Abbey Wood will get us home. See you there! Check planned TfL disruptions here - our day should be all clear for most everybody: https://content.tfl.gov.uk/planned-track-closures.pdf A little background on our City Drifting project here: **Now just wait a minute. What the hell is a drift ([dérive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9rive))?** A drift is any unplanned journey through the urban landscape in which participants practice a form of radical mindfulness, collectively exploring new ways of relating mentally, ideologically and materially to the "ordinary" urban environment we all think we know so well. First theorised publicly by Situationist thinker, artist and provocateur Guy Debord in his 1956 essay *[Theory of the Dérive](https://libcom.org/article/theory-derive-guy-debord)*, drifting is a sort of *critique of ideology* done by walking, looking, and feeling. **The urban environment of London is not a neutral space:** it is packed with surveillance equipment, anti-homeless architecture, consumerist [Gruen transfers,](https://www.smartcapitalmind.com/what-is-the-gruen-transfer.htm) crowd management systems and security perimeters, among a thousand other subtle and not-so-subtle methods of population control. Moreover, our everyday relationship to the city and its pathways is conditioned deeply by our habits of movement and our habitual perceptions: our commute to work, to school, our nips down to the shops, etc. **All these routines create what Marxists call a *reified* relationship with the urban environment: through over-familiarity it becomes something seemingly natural, "just there", ordinary, unchangeable - boring.** This boredom and familiarity kills the radical imagination, without which we're fucked. To be able to start to imagine how society could be transformed, we also need to imagine how spaces, buildings, their use, their whole purpose (and who these serve) could themselves be transformed. A necessary step in this process, according to Debord and the Situationists, is the drift. Like the 19th-century gentleman *[flâneur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fl%C3%A2neur),* by wandering the city with an attitude of "fresh eyes", we can shake loose our ingrained sense of what London and its streets are like. **As a collective, we will work to "estrange our senses" and see the streets, buildings and people differently, as if we were encountering them for the first time.** That is to say: these aren't just random walks around London - with the right frame of mind, they will be opportunities to turn the world upside down, if only for a moment! But don't take it from me - as Debord observed: *"In a dérive one or more persons during a certain period **drop their relations, their work and leisure activities, and all their other usual motives for movement and action, and let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there.** Chance is a less important factor in this activity than one might think: from a dérive point of view cities have [psychogeographical](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychogeography) contours, with constant currents, fixed points and vortexes that strongly discourage entry into or exit from certain zones."* See you on the streets comrades, and remember, as [Raoul Vaneigem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raoul_Vaneigem) once wrote: *"All space is occupied by the enemy. We are living under a permanent curfew. Not just the cops — the geometry".*

The session is Every Thursday 7PM till 10PM. There will be 3 courts for just games only as the other court is for training from 7pm till 8pm then all 4 courts for games. If you want training please join the other meet up sessions available. Any queries please don't hesitate to contact me. All levels are welcome. PARKING: Parking is available and Free onsite. PAYMENT: We are accepting bank transfer rather than cash payments. In 2 days in advance to confirm your attendance. If you don't pay 2 days in advance then you will be put on the non attending list and will have to go on the waiting list again. Bank details: Name: The Badminton Collective LTD Sort Code: 60-83-71 Account Number:69874292 Reference must be your Full Name to match you to the list of attendees. £13 for Games. £15 for Training and Games IMPORTANT NOTES: How to get there. If you use the provided postcode it will take you to the front of the school. For the car park please use this postcode E15 3PA. By all means message me if you are having troubles. There is now a water fountain so please bring a bottle to fill up, this is in the main building while they fix the one near the sports Hall. The Badminton Collective and School 21 are not responsible for any injuries or loss of items.

The session is Every Thursday 7PM till 8PM. This is for all levels, so after the training you will be able to play games and use what you have learnt. Just like the saying practice makes perfect. Any queries on what levels you may be or just any questions please don't hesitate to contact us. PARKING: Parking is available and Free onsite. (The postcode is E15 3PA) This at the previous address on New mount Street. Press the buzzer and they will let you in. PAYMENT: We are accepting bank transfer rather than cash payments. In 2 days in advance to confirm your attendance. Bank Details: Name: The Badminton Collective Ltd Sort Code: 60-83-71 Account Number:69874292 Reference your name and date of the session. £15 for Training and Games IMPORTANT NOTES: We shall be starting at 7PM sharp so if you miss the start you'll have to just catch up I'm afraid. How to get there. If you use the provided postcode it will take you to the front of the school. By all means message me if you are having troubles. There is now a water fountain so please bring a bottle to fill up, this is in the main building while they fix the one near the sports Hall. The Badminton Collective and School 21 are not responsible for any injuries or loss of items.

**En’hittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What To Do About It** by Cory Doctorow https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/enshittification-4 (also available via Spotify premium) Misogyny, conspiratorialism, surveillance, manipulation, fraud, and AI slop are drowning the internet. For the monopolists who dominate online - X, TikTok, Amazon, Meta, Apple - this is all part of the playbook. The process is what leading tech critic Cory Doctorow has dubbed en'hittification. First, the platform attracts users with some bait, such as free access; then the activity is monetized, bringing in the business customers and degrading the user experience; then, once everyone is trapped and competitors eradicated, the platform wrings out all the value and transfers it to their executives and shareholders. Book is available at Hatchards and elsewhere. https://www.hatchards.co.uk/book/enshittification/cory-doctorow/9781836742227 Other related books: \- Ten Arguments For Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now\, by Jaron Lanier \- Empire of AI: inside the reckless race for total domination\, by Karen Hao (https://xigxag.co.uk/audiobook/empire-of-ai-9781837311262/) \- Taming Silicon Valley: How to Protect Our Jobs\, Safety\, and Society in the Age of AI\, by Gary F\. Marcus \([https://www.hatchards.co.uk/book/taming-silicon-valley/gary-f-marcus/9780262551069](https://www.hatchards.co.uk/book/taming-silicon-valley/gary-f-marcus/9780262551069)) \- The New Empire of AI: The Future of Global Inequality\, by Rachel Adams \- The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want\, by Emily M\. Bender \- More Everything Forever: AI Overlords\, Space Empires\, and Silicon Valley's Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity\, by Adam Becker \([https://open.spotify.com/show/36wi0Xfr6C5eoJnA0WCISN?si=177a406de3014913](https://open.spotify.com/show/36wi0Xfr6C5eoJnA0WCISN?si=177a406de3014913)) \- Rebooting AI: Building Artificial Intelligence We Can Trust\, by Ernest Davis \- Dark Patterns\, Deceptive Design\, and the Law\, by M\.R\. Leiser \- Genius Makers: The Mavericks Who Brought A\.I\. to Google\, Facebook\, and the World\, by Cade Metz **Venue** Blooms Coffee & Pizza https://maps.app.goo.gl/Yy7etKb94vU1wC5m6 Russell Square is the closest metro (underground) station. **Book Club Rules** * Reading the book is required, even if you read a single chapter. * Discussion is centred around the book and its theme. * No show is not appreciated. Please sign up if you are interested in reading and discussing books. In case you cannot make it anymore to the meeting, do let us know in time.

Live poker tournament game at the Long Room Bar, Tooting Broadway, SW17 9NH **Every Thursday 7 pm - 11.30 pm** This game is for anyone wanting to learn how to play friendly and inexpensive tournament poker in a relaxed atmosphere. We're a bunch of friendly recreational players and are always happy to explain the rules, answer questions and we just want the game to be fun for everyone. If you already know how to play you're more than welcome to test your poker skills, reads and bluffs. Come join us we would love to see you here. £10 single entry for 10K chips. Details about the tournament structure will be explained in person. More info: John 07411 207 234 - please communicate via text or Whatsapp message as I don't answer phonecalls from unknown callers thanks

Ready to think clearer, reason better, and express with clarity? Join us for a practical wholesome philosophy practice where we learn essential thinking skills through hands-on group practice. Leave academics and theory at the door— this is a skills-building adventure for everyday life! 🧠✨ This event's focus: **Clear Thinking & Better Arguments** 🎯 a part of the Wholesome Philosophy series — 6 practice sessions that help you build a complete thinking toolkit. **See below** 👇🏽 **Why should you sign up?** Introductory ***trial pricing*** 📣 with 1 coffee included ☕ Private, Quiet and vibrant venue Your feedback will help shape future sessions. 🙏 **What is Wholesome Philosophy?** Practical philosophy for everyday life - helping you build useful skills for thinking clearer and communicating better in work, relationships, and daily conversations. You'll learn through pair work, and group practice. 💬 spread across **6 sessions:** 1. Clear Thinking & Better Arguments — How to reason 2. Develop Thinking Habits — Spotting biases and fallacies 3. The Art of Dialogue — Having productive disagreements 4. Constructing Your Position — Building solid viewpoints 5. Decision-Making Frameworks — Choosing wisely under uncertainty 6. Self-Examination & Growth — Questioning your own beliefs Each session works standalone — attend one, some, or all. ***Want to join all?*** Speak to the facilitator about discounted pricing for the full series ✅ **Who is it for?** * You want to think clearer and communicate better * You feel frustrated when your point doesn't land * You want to spot weak reasoning (including your own) * You enjoy learning through practice, not just theory * You crave thoughtful conversation with curious people * You want practical tools you can use tomorrow No philosophy background needed — just show up ready to practice. 🎉 **What's in it for you?** * Make your points stick (without fighting) 💡 * Think more clearly about any topic even complex ones 🧠 * Have disagreements that don't turn into arguments 🤝 * Understand the world better 🌍 * Connect with curious, thoughtful people ✨ * Gain confidence in your reasoning abilities 💪 **How does it work?** * Facilitated practice session (2 hours) with structured exercises ⏱ * Small group discussions (4-6 people) 💬 * Pair work for hands-on practice 🤝 * Individual reflection moments 🧘 * Whole group sharing (optional, not required) 🌟 Everything is timed and guided — you'll know exactly what to do at each stage 📝 **What to expect** Collaborative discovery, without competitive learning. Practicing together, without performing for each other. What happens in the room stays in the room. 🔒 * **Depth**: Beyond small talk, but it's not therapy — we're developing thinking skills 🧠 * **Safety**: Wholesome Agreement principles apply — respect, curiosity, no judgment 🤝 * **Practical**: You'll leave with tools, not just concepts — things you can actually use the next day 🛠️ * **Participation**: These are practice sessions — your active participation creates the learning environment 💬 **Ready to upgrade your thinking skills?** 🌊 Join us for a Wholesome Philosophy practice session and walk away with various thinking tools — it's for anyone who wants to navigate life with a sharper, kinder mind. 🌟 We really hope to see you there! 👋 **About Deeper Connections** We have a mission at Deeper Connections to improve the quality of people's lives through conversation. All our events are centred around the concept of connecting deeply, because we believe we all deserve to be seen, felt and understood for who we really are. To have the 'deeper conversation' approach when relating with others can change our lives and can change the world. **Our Values** * **Respect:** Treat everyone with kindness and consideration. ❤️ * **Open-mindedness:** Be open to different perspectives and ideas. 🧠💡 * **Active Participation:** Share your thoughts and engage in meaningful discussions. 🗣️💬 **Staying in touch** Interested in finding out about all the events sooner than on Meetup or staying in touch beyond the events, you can join our WhatsApp channel and community using 👉🏽 [Deeper Connections WhatsApp Channel](https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vb6CBAdIN9ijrEYdv33z) 👉🏽 [Deeper Connections WhatsApp Community](https://chat.whatsapp.com/EqGsmF3021RKTwBpGcuR80)

http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/2/a/9/6/600_348310902.jpeg Instructor - Crow, HPS Class fee is $30 at the door or approved exchange RSVP with Advance pay of $25 (discounted) by PayPal on the web or by contacting Enchanted Elements (614) 437-2642. Reservations made directly to Enchanted Elements will be added to the class list manually not online. Private Instruction ~ Closed to the Public ~ Initiated Members Only Please come prepared for ritual. Blessings ~ Crow

**How to take control of your subconscious and harness its power!** Join us for an eye-opening lecture where the speaker will break down complex ideas in a clear and practical way. You’ll gain insights into: ✅ The true definition of the subconscious ✅ How it generates unwanted emotions ✅ Its real purpose and function ✅ What determines the pressure it exerts on you And the most important topic: **How do you take control of your subconscious!** But this isn’t just another lecture where you sit and listen passively. It’s interactive and engaging—you can ask questions at any time. 📅 Reserve your spot now! Seats are limited, so don’t wait too long to sign up. Location: 1266 Dublin Rd, Columbus, OH 43215 Hosted by the Hubbard Dianetics Foundation

**Our February novel is: Julia by Sandra Newman** **This month is a classic, dystopian, fiction, literary fiction, women’s fiction, and science fiction novel. The book is 394 pages in print and 14 hours and 20 minutes on audiobook.** **An imaginative, feminist, and brilliantly relevant-to-today retelling of Orwell’s 1984, from the point of view of Winston Smith’s lover, Julia, by critically acclaimed novelist Sandra Newman.** Julia Worthing is a mechanic, working in the Fiction Department at the Ministry of Truth. It’s 1984, and Britain (now called Airstrip One) has long been absorbed into the larger trans-Atlantic nation of Oceania. Oceania has been at war for as long as anyone can remember, and is ruled by an ultra-totalitarian Party, whose leader is a quasi-mythical figure called Big Brother. In short, everything about this world is as it is in Orwell’s 1984. All her life, Julia has known only Oceania, and, until she meets Winston Smith, she has never imagined anything else. She is an ideal citizen: cheerfully cynical, always ready with a bribe, piously repeating every political slogan while believing in nothing. She routinely breaks the rules, but also collaborates with the regime when necessary. Everyone likes Julia. Then one day she finds herself walking toward Winston Smith in a corridor and impulsively slips him a note, setting in motion the devastating, unforgettable events of the classic story. Julia takes us on a surprising journey through Orwell’s now-iconic dystopia, with twists that reveal unexpected sides not only to Julia, but to other familiar figures in the 1984 universe. This unique perspective lays bare our own world in haunting and provocative ways, just as the original did almost seventy-five years ago.

Connected Westerville Night of Networking flips the script on networking, with surprises and connections that'll make you say, "Who knew networking could be this much fun?!"

Private Group. Closed to the Public Knowing ourselves and understanding our abilities is the first step toward wielding our gifts with control and accuracy. In subsequent classes we will verify and hone our talents with activities and discussion. These are hands-on workshops and participation is expected. The goal of our series will be to develop expertise in areas of particular interest such as mediumship, channeling, divination, healing and, etc.. Our ultimate directions will be determined by class members as we evolve. I look forward to sharing and discovering with you. - Cynthia

CONNECTED – Grove City A casual, people-first networking gathering. CONNECTED – Grove City is a casual, people-first networking gathering. Join us for a relaxed, low-pressure space to meet new people, build real relationships, and have meaningful conversations — no sales pitches required. From 7:30–8:30 AM every 3rd Wednesday of the month at the Grove City Business Center. Coffee & baked goods available for purchase at Pick ’Em Up Joe's. Free street & public lot parking behind the building. Free to attend & open to all!

Join members of the local UX and Digital Design community for a casual monthly breakfast. There _might_ be a little snow, but there _will_ be effectively infinite serve-yourself coffee, so it evens out if you ask me. Just a reminder, while the other locations are great too, we’re at the Lane Ave one this time.