Firewalls

🌿 Pause. Reflect. Release. **A Guided Healing Circle & Fire Release Experience** 📅 Wednesday, 27 May 2026 🕖 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM 📍 RYVE Level 1, 38 Shafton St, Huntingdale VIC 3166 ## A gentle space to slow down and reconnect In the busyness of life, we carry so much quietly within us. Unspoken thoughts. Old emotions. Stress, grief, or experiences we’ve never fully processed. We keep going—often without giving ourselves the space to truly pause. This evening is an invitation to slow down. To breathe. To reconnect with yourself. And if you feel ready—to gently release what no longer serves you. ## What to expect This is a small, guided healing circle designed to feel calm, safe, and supportive. • Gentle grounding and guided reflection • Simple sensory awareness practices • A calm and welcoming group environment • Optional sharing (no pressure to speak) • A symbolic fire release experience No prior experience is needed. You are welcome exactly as you are. ## 🔥 Fire Release Experience Toward the end of the evening, you’ll be invited (if you choose) to take part in a symbolic fire release. You may write down something you’re ready to let go of— a past story, emotional weight, fear, or something you’ve been quietly carrying. As it burns, it becomes a moment of intention: to release, to shift, and to move forward. Many people describe this moment as grounding, emotional, and deeply liberating. ## A gentle, grounded approach Throughout the evening, we’ll explore simple awareness practices—connecting with your body, your breath, your emotions, and your inner sense of clarity. There’s nothing you need to “get right.” Just come as you are and experience the space in your own way. ## A safe and supportive space There is no pressure to share. You are welcome to simply sit, listen, and be present. This is not therapy or counselling, but a guided space for reflection, awareness, and connection. ## Hosted by Vivienne Vu Through her work with Kismetrix \| True Connection\, Vivienne creates spaces for presence\, emotional awareness\, and meaningful human connection\. ## Important Notes • Small, intimate group to maintain a safe environment • Optional participation in all activities • Please arrive on time to respect the group experience ## Limited spots available This is an intimate experience and spaces are intentionally limited. ## By attending You acknowledge this is a guided wellbeing experience and not a substitute for medical, psychological, or therapeutic treatment.

**Event Confirmation Form!** ➡️ We kindly request you fill out this **event confirmation form** to confirm your attendance for the event and your dietary requirements - [https://forms.gle/5P1kfDSRtbtKze9AA](https://forms.gle/5P1kfDSRtbtKze9AA) \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- ## **What's On? 👀** **Speaker:** James Bannan **Title:** Zero-Friction DevSecOps: Automated Code Signing Done Right **Abstract:** Software supply chain attacks aren’t hypothetical anymore; they’re depressingly regular headlines. Yet many teams still treat code signing as an afterthought: painful to set up, difficult to automate, and even harder to make developer-friendly. This session shows that it doesn’t have to be that way. In this deeply technical, demo-driven talk, we’ll walk through how to implement automated artifact code signing using SigStore and Smallstep PKI, integrated directly into GitHub Actions. You’ll see how to transform code signing from a security bottleneck into a frictionless part of your CI/CD pipeline; one that developers barely notice, but auditors and CISOs absolutely love. ## **Location** 📍 Atlassian Melbourne Queens & Collins Building, Level 20, 100 Queen Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 ## **Agenda ⏰** * 5:30 - Food is served * 6:15 - Session start * 7:30 - Post-event networking \-\-\- Note: Please complete the event confirmation form: [https://forms.gle/5P1kfDSRtbtKze9AA](https://forms.gle/5P1kfDSRtbtKze9AA)

Join us at Brunswick Stadium for a FREE fun-filled Walking Football Mixed Gender Session, brought to you by Walking Football 4 Health Victoria. This event is designed for anyone looking for a low impact sport to stay active, be part of a welcoming community, and most importantly have fun. Our friendly host, Walter, will be there to introduce you to walking football, ensuring a safe and engaging experience. Don't miss out on this opportunity to engage in sports, socialise, and promote a healthy lifestyle in a welcoming community environment. There is no cost for this program. Sign up now and be a part of this exciting Walking Football Session. If you wish to contact the organiser, Mick directly, you can do so on: 0430 163 550 Email: [info@wf4hvictoria.org.au](mailto:info@wf4hvictoria.org.au) Website: https://wf4hvictoria.org.au/ Facebook Community: [https://www.facebook.com/groups/wf4healthvictoria/](https://www.facebook.com/groups/wf4healthvictoria/)

Hello everyone! Join us for an Apache Kafka® meetup on **June 24th from 5:30pm**, hosted by Ippon in Melbourne! The address, agenda, and speaker information can be found below. See you there! **📍Venue**: Ippon Australia Collab Hub Level 8, 607 Bourke Street Melbourne VIC 3000 IMPORTANT: Please note that for security purposes, all attendees are required to sign in at the lobby to get into the building. \*\*\* 🗓 Agenda: * 5:30pm: Doors open * 5:30pm - 6:00pm: Pizza, Drinks, and Networking * 6:00pm - 6:45pm: Usman Khan, Technical Support Engineer, Confluent * 6:45pm - 7:30pm: Additional Q&A & Networking \*\*\* 💡 Speaker: Usman Khan, Technical Support Engineer, Confluent Talk: Kafka Connect On-Prem Troubleshooting Playbook Abstract: When a Kafka Connect sink stops writing, the failure can be hiding in one of several layers, Database, the connector config, the Connect worker, the schema, or the topic itself. In this session, Usman walks through a live Oracle JDBC Sink troubleshooting demo built on the kafka-docker-playground, showing a repeatable classify → fix → verify approach. We cover how to check connector and task state via the REST API and internal Kafka topics, navigate worker logs efficiently, use the Connect admin logging API for dynamic trace logging without restarts, Grafana metrics, manipulate sink offsets for replay. Bio: Usman Khan is a Technical Support Engineer on Confluent's Global Support team, based in Melbourne and covering the APAC region. He specialises in Kafka Connect, working daily with engineering teams to diagnose and resolve connector and framework issues across both on-premises deployments and Confluent Cloud. \*\*\* ***DISCLAIMER*** BY ATTENDING THIS EVENT IN PERSON, you acknowledge that risk includes possible exposure to and illness from infectious diseases including COVID-19, and accept responsibility for this, if it occurs. NOTE: We are unable to cater for any attendees under the age of 18. \*\*\* If you would like to speak or host our next event please let us know! community@[confluent.io](http://confluent.io/)

Let's have fun while watching the night view with our friends! 🏃‍♂️Training menu🏃‍♂️ Every Wednesday 6:00p.m~ Fed Square Assembly 【https://maps.app.goo.gl/zmPQ6U533pUDcNSA9?g_st=ic】 If you have luggage, please consider using the lockers at the station. 💥40~60 min Jog+Walk Pace: Easy pace, suitable for beginners. If you got tired, let's walk together. 【schedule】 6:00 p.m Gathering 6:10 p.m Start 7:00 p.m End of training Challengers we are waiting for you 😊

🎉 **Melbourne AWS User Group – June Meetup** 🎉 📅 Wednesday, 24 June 📍 NAB Events Hub – 395 Bourke Street, Melbourne ⏰ Food at 6:00 pm, talks from 6:30 pm (with live stream) Join us for our June meetup, featuring two lightning talks and a full technical presentation covering community contribution, generative AI, and cloud-native security. This month also celebrates the AWS community speaking journey. Sanjana Kailash will deliver her first-ever public presentation, while Bharat Wadhwa returns to present after beginning his own public speaking journey at a Melbourne AWS User Group event. This month’s lineup features: • **Matthew Merriel** giving a behind-the-scenes look at how the Melbourne AWS User Group’s regular “What’s New in AWS” segment is prepared—and how other volunteers can get involved. • **Sanjana Kailash** making her first-ever public presentation, demonstrating an automated market-intelligence pipeline built with Amazon Bedrock, retrieval-augmented generation, and AWS-native services. • **Bharat Wadhwa** presenting a cloud-native approach to malware protection for Amazon S3 using Amazon GuardDuty Malware Protection. Bharat also gave his first public presentation at a Melbourne AWS User Group event, making this a great example of where taking that first step can lead. A huge thank you to our sponsors: 🥇 Mantel Group – Gold Sponsor, 🥈 Cevo – Silver Sponsor, 🏛 NAB – Venue Sponsor The event will also be live-streamed on YouTube: 👉 [https://melb.awsug.org.au/live](https://melb.awsug.org.au/live) *** 🗓️ **Agenda** 6:00 pm – Food & Socialising 6:30 pm – Introductions 6:40 pm – What’s New in AWS 6:55 pm – Preparing the “What’s New in AWS” Segment (Level 100); Speaker: Matthew Merriel 7:10 pm – RAG to Riches: AI-Powered Market Intelligence on Amazon Bedrock (Level 200); Speaker: Sanjana Kailash 7:25 pm – Intelligent Malware Protection Using AWS GuardDuty (Level 200); Speaker: Bharat Wadhwa 7:55 pm – Marketplace (Who’s Hiring) 8:00 pm – Networking + Close *** 🎤 **Talk Details** **Preparing the “What’s New in AWS” Segment** Speaker: Matthew Merriel Level: 100 Format: Lightning Talk “What’s New in AWS” is a regular part of Melbourne AWS User Group meetups—but how is the segment put together? Matthew will provide a behind-the-scenes look at the process used to find, shortlist, and prepare recent AWS announcements for presentation at the meetup. This session is designed to help volunteers understand what is involved and make it easier for more community members to take on the segment at future events. No previous speaking experience is required. *** **RAG to Riches: AI-Powered Market Intelligence on Amazon Bedrock** Speaker: Sanjana Kailash Level: 200 Format: Lightning Talk What if a strategy team never had to manually scan more than 50 data sources again? In this lightning talk, Sanjana will walk through how she built a fully automated AI-powered market-intelligence pipeline using Amazon Bedrock, retrieval-augmented generation, and AWS-native services. The solution transforms more than five hours of Monday-morning manual research into a polished briefing delivered directly to inboxes—with no manual effort required. This will also be Sanjana’s first public presentation, and we’re excited to welcome another new speaker to the Melbourne AWS community. *** **Intelligent Malware Protection Using AWS GuardDuty** Speaker: Bharat Wadhwa Level: 200 Format: Full Presentation This presentation showcases a cloud-native malware-protection solution for Amazon S3 using Amazon GuardDuty Malware Protection. The solution replaces legacy antivirus approaches with intelligent, event-driven malware detection and automated security workflows. Bharat will explore how this approach can improve scalability, operational efficiency, and security visibility across AWS environments. Bharat also began his public speaking journey at a Melbourne AWS User Group event and now returns with a full technical presentation. *** 🙌 Could This Be the Start of Your Speaking Journey? This month, Sanjana will take the stage for her first-ever public presentation. Bharat also began his speaking journey at a Melbourne AWS User Group meetup and is now returning with a full technical session. Every experienced speaker started with a first talk. Whether you have an idea for a full presentation, a lightning talk, or would like to help prepare and present the “What’s New in AWS” segment, the organisers are happy to help you take that first step. Speak to us at the meetup or submit an idea through our website: 👉 [https://melb.awsug.org.au/speak/](https://melb.awsug.org.au/speak/)

Since 2019 Amir and David have been catching up for what they term 'shit sandwiches', exchanging professional and personal trials and successes, sharing sympathy and occasional advice. Should I leave my job; how do I handle a difficult report; how do I get buy in; and do you know a good osteo you could recommend, my back is killing me. They’ve have turned our catch up sessions into a live, high stakes gameshow for the product community's amusement. They will be borrowing from the 'who wants to be a millionaire format' and we will share stories that will hopefully inspire people to step up and lead (when required) in this messy and uncertain world we find ourselves in. Get ready to have some fun and hopefully learn a thing or two. Our Speakers: Amir Ansari: With over 25 years’ of experience in the field of design and design leadership, Amir has worked across the private and public sectors, in-house and agency, managing design practitioners and leaders to build long-lasting and impactful products and services. Amir is passionate about democratising the craft of design and sharing my learnings - doing it with a smile and a hug. David Bacon: After graduating from Monash with a Bachelor of Science, David worked as a penguin keeper in England which somehow lead to a career spanning marketing, behaviour change, innovation and human-centred design. David has experience delivering digital products and services in financial services, healthcare, retail, government. He has the goal of weaving humanity into technology. He still dreams about penguins.

WHEN: **Every Sunday** MEET TIME: **8:50am** START TIME: **9:00am** MEET LOCATION: **Jells Park, Wheelers Hill** (Meet outside of the "T House at Jells" Cafe) DISTANCE: **5km** DIFFICULTY: **Easy** COST: **Free** **ABOUT THIS WALK** Come along for our free weekly Jells Park Social Walk, a relaxed and scenic Sunday morning walk through one of Melbourne’s most loved parks. We’ll meet at Jells Park "T House at Jells" Cafe and set off at 9:00am (sharp) for an easy paced social walk through beautiful open parkland, peaceful walking trails and lakeside surrounds. This walk is designed to be enjoyable, welcoming and suitable for a wide range of fitness levels, with plenty of fresh air, great conversation and a relaxed community vibe. The total walk is approximately 5km and is expected to take around 1.5 to 2 hours, depending on the group and pace. After the walk, anyone who would like to can stay around for a coffee and chat. This walk goes ahead rain, hail or shine. **WHAT TO EXPECT** Expect an easy, friendly and social walk with a relaxed pace. Jells Park offers a great mix of scenic lake views, open green spaces, birdlife and well formed walking paths, making it a perfect setting for a Sunday morning stroll. This walk is all about connection, movement and starting the day well. **WHO CAN COME** Everyone is welcome. Whether you come on your own, with a friend, or you’re brand new to Social Walks, we’d love to have you join us. **WHAT TO BRING** * Water * Comfortable walking shoes * Weather appropriate clothing * A hat and sunscreen if it’s sunny * A rain jacket if wet weather is forecast **PUBLIC TRANSPORT** Jells Park is best accessed by car. If you need a lift, you may be able to organise a carpool with others in the Melbourne Social Walks Facebook group. **IMPORTANT INFO** By attending this event, you acknowledge that you are participating at your own risk. Please make sure this walk is suitable for your fitness and health level. Children are welcome if supervised by a parent or guardian at all times. Dogs are welcome if they are friendly, well behaved and kept under effective control in line with local laws. **ABOUT SOCIAL WALKS** Social Walks is all about bringing people together through walking, hiking, adventure and community connection

**AI-Assisted Vulnerability Research: Building a Binary Audit Agent - kdz** Vulnerability research on closed-source binaries is slow, specialist work. It means pulling an executable into a disassembler, recovering its structure by hand, tracing attacker-controlled data flows, and proving that suspicious code fragments are reachable and exploitable. What if an AI agent could help drive that entire pipeline? This talk walks through my attempt to design such an agent using a custom Claude Code plugin (very much a work in progress and a learning opportunity for me). The agent orchestrates a workflow that follows a target end to end: QA'ing the decompilation, sweeping for dangerous code, reasoning over the code to build a whole-binary flow map that traces attacker-controlled input through to dangerous operations, and then attempting to craft and verify a payload that actually triggers the bug. **Location** Room 080.02.002 at RMIT (Building 80) - 445 Swanston St, Melbourne **Discord** [Discord Invite](https://discord.gg/2qcaxce8Mw) [Discord Event Info](https://discord.com/events/1347056412529791047/1477841544907325591)

**Please note:** We meet at 11am and start walking towards Elwood soon after. Please be on time or message us. Thanks! :) Walk and talk with us. Meet on St Kilda Beach in front of Republica near the Rhinocerous statue, Walk to Ormond Point Elwood 🏃🏼‍♀️‍➡️🏃🏻‍➡️ We practice English conversation plus our first and second languages on the way. Bring a friend, dog and perhaps a ✍🏽 and notepad to remember new words and phrases. Meet new people. We look forward to chatting with you!🤗 ***Please note:*** *For attendance at this beach walk read the disclaimer below:* *By signing up and participating in this **Language Practice and Walking on the Beach** today I agree to do so at my own risk. I know that my attendance and this agreement operates to exclude any liability in negligence for harm that I may suffer. I have been warned that this recreational activity may cause physical harm to me or to someone under my control or accompanying me, and I confirm that I do not have a condition, medical or physical, that could prevent me from, or be aggravated by, participating in this activity. Examples of the risks I have been warned about include: Tripping, slipping and falling • Collision with someone or something • Something giving way unexpectedly • Back injury, strains • Spillage and burns • Trip hazard• Bites and stings • Sun • Injury from falling branches*

**Register now to attend! =>** [https://konfhub.com/ksug-au-2026-06-29](https://konfhub.com/ksug-au-2026-06-29) **<=** **Latest promotions** discovered by our community! * **50%** OFF **[Kubernetes](https://lf.ksug.ai/)** Bundles - Code: **JPRIME26BAI** * **20%** OFF **[FinOps](https://ksug.ai/finops/?ref=meetup)** Certs Code: **KSAI_20** * Missed **65%** off [LF / CNCF](https://lf.ksug.ai/)? [Get Notified](https://ksug.ai/?notify&ref=meetup) for next BIG drop! We're excited to welcome you to the upcoming **KSUG.AI Australia Meetup** — happening in-person at at AWS Melbourne office! 🎉 We're actively seeking more awesome K8s and AI topic speakers! 👉 [https://sessionize.com/ksug-au](https://sessionize.com/ksug-au) **Workshop Overview [Hands-on Workshop]** Join us for the Agentic Platform Engineering Experience (APEX) — an adaptive, instructor-led, choose-your-own-adventure workshop where you and an AI tutor explore Amazon EKS through the lens of agentic platform engineering. Using Claude Code and AWS DevOps Agent as a co-pilot alongside purpose-built APEX Skills, you will design, build, and operate Amazon EKS clusters with AI-guided assistance that adapts to your experience level and goals. **Who Should Attend** This workshop is designed for platform engineers, DevOps engineers, solutions architects, and developers who want practical, hands-on experience combining AI agents with Kubernetes platform engineering. **What Matters to You** * **Immediate Applicability:** Deploy and operate EKS clusters using the same patterns and tools you will use in production — no toy examples. * **Reduced Operational Risk:** Understand and enforce critical safety rules that prevent NodeCreationFailure and pod creation blocks. * **Faster Time-to-Value:** Use AI-assisted infrastructure generation to scaffold complete, production-ready Terraform projects in minutes, not days. * **Security & Compliance:** Harden cluster security posture with guided remediation and constraint patches for air-gapped, proxy, and compliance environments. * **Cost Optimization:** Identify and implement compute cost savings through AI-driven operational reviews — applied to your real cluster. * **Career Growth:** Gain hands-on experience combining AI agents with Kubernetes — a rapidly growing skill set for modern platform engineers. **Environment prepared for you by AWS** * AWS account pre-configured at no cost * EKS cluster already deployed & ready * Claude Code workspace provisioned * APEX Skills included — no local setup required **Pre-requisites:** Foundation knowledge about Kubernetes. Attend this self-paced digital course if you are not familiar with Kubernetes Home - [AWS Skill Builder](https://skillbuilder.aws/learn/X5RBBUKERD/the-amazon-eks-cluster/FJVEUUZGEK?parentId=393YRXJZWC) **IMPORTANT: Please bring your own laptop and government ID.** **[Register Now](https://konfhub.com/ksug-au-2026-06-29)** Seats are limited. Register now to secure your spot and accelerate your kubernetes platform engineering with AI. **Speakers** **Frank Fan** Principal Solution Architect, Containers, AWS **Nirmal Rajan** Senior Technical Account Manager, AWS **Don George** Senior Technical Account Manager, AWS **Location:** Amazon MEL12, Level 13.304 [555 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000](https://maps.app.goo.gl/Kbi13GZqj2zDqDz2A) 👉 Join our [Discord](https://discord.com/invite/Rp9WzYyKua) and [WhatsApp](https://chat.whatsapp.com/D9a9IDiCS7U4cqQ0Sh60cz?mode=gi_t) for latest update! 🔖 𝐎𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬: ☸ 30% OFF **[Kubernetes](https://lf.ksug.ai/)** Certs - Code: **30K8SUG** ☸ 20% OFF **[FinOps](https://ksug.ai/finops)** Certs - Code: **KSAI_20** 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐖𝐞 𝐃𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬: ✅ Learn 𝐅𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 ⚡ ✅ Certify 𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑 💰 ✅ Grow 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 💪 𝟐𝟎𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎+ follow **[KSUG.AI](https://ksug.ai/?ref=meet)** 🔥 [github.com/ksug-ai](https://github.com/ksug-ai) *By registering, you consent to the management of your personal information in accordance with KSUG.AI Meetup's [Privacy Policy](https://k8sug.ai/privacy). Additionally, you agree that our sponsors may contact you.* **[KSUG.AI](https://ksug.ai/?ref=meet)** is an independent community and not affiliated with or endorsed by CNCF. Kubernetes, K8s, Kubestronaut are registered trademarks of The Linux Foundation.

**Experience a different kind of Toastmasters club.** *Port Melbourne Toastmasters is built around **SpeakLabs**—experimental, high-impact learning environments designed to accelerate speaking growth through deliberate practice, real-time feedback, and guided experimentation.* This is not a traditional meeting format. It is a **speaking laboratory**, where ideas are tested, skills are refined in the moment, and speakers are developed through action rather than theory. Our **SpeakLab: The Experiment sessions** give prospective members a chance to experience this unique culture firsthand. You’ll observe members in action, see how feedback is delivered in real time, and experience our distinctive approach to speaker development inside a fast-paced, supportive environment. Whether you're new to public speaking or looking to elevate your speaking... Join us tonight at Port Melbourne Toastmasters to experience an innovative approach to propelling your speaking forward. *Guests, Meetup Group members, and visiting Toastmasters attend for free.* 🌐 [www.portmelbournetoastmasters.org](http://www.portmelbournetoastmasters.org) 📍 Where: Find directions [here](https://www.portmelbournetoastmasters.org/directions.html) ***Port Melbourne Toastmasters is a club for people who are serious about developing their speaking, leadership, and personal presence.*** We offer limited, curated guest sessions throughout the year for prospective members. These sessions allow you to experience our high-engagement, growth-focused environment firsthand — without open access to every meeting.

RSVP on our GDG community platform -> https://gdg.community.dev/events/details/google-gdg-melbourne-presents-gdg-melbourne-june26-meetup/ This event is hosted at the Mantel Group Office, with the recording of the talks to be shared afterwards on YouTube if you can't make it. There will be food, networking and some surprise swag!Agenda: 6:20 - Intro 6:30 - Talks 8:00 till late - networking & chat (& drinks optional)Speakers and Talks: Talk 1: Olga Mirensky - Senior Staff Site Reliability Engineer @ Ping Identity Olga and Her Agent Attended AI Engineer Conference. Lessons Learned What happens when you let an experimental Stand-In Agent run loose against a live conference environment? To follow the fast-paced sessions of an AI Engineer conference, I built an agent while at the conference. The agent monitored talks and distilled what actually mattered to me - filtering for high-value signal and turning it into specs ready to implement or articles I should read. I started with a different platform, but pivoted to an ADK agent deployed to GCP Agent Platform. Identical system prompt, different platform architecture, different LLM - completely different outcomes. This talk is a transparent look at what happens when agentic experiments meet reality, including an architectural runaway bug that burned 1M tokens per minute. We look past the hype and focus on the real engineering rigour required to build purposeful agents, with four key takeaways: * The Purpose Filter: Why does your agent care about this specific talk? If it’s not highly unique, you’re just automating noise. * Architecture > Hype: The gap between what you expect and what actually happens at runtime and why. * The Personalised Flywheel: High-signal distillation requires deep context about you, your team, and where you are in your journey. * Clear Goal Setting: Moving from “autonomous” to “purposeful”. In the replay demo I’ll walk through my flywheel showing how the agent filtered the content in real-time, picked up on tech I am interested in, turned it into an implementable spec, and how AI tools can close the loop to further automate the entire implementation, testing, and release cycle. Talk 2: Sahil Bahadur Devkota - Full Stack Developer Beyond LLMs: why RAG is equally important In this talk, I'll break down how RAG works, why is it really important in real-world and it's popular architectural pattern. We'll look at the core components of a RAG pipeline, discuss it's implementation approach, and cover some of the key things to think about when building an AI applications with RAG. Whether you're working with AI or building application that need accurate responses, you'll leave with a practical understanding of when RAG make sense - and when it doesn't. Talk 3: Abhijeet Kumar - AI & Automation | Cloud enthusiast Beyond RAG: Building an Agentic "Second Brain" with FastAPI, pgvector, and Gemini Move beyond static note-taking apps. This talk explores Project NeuralFortress—a custom, Python-built knowledge management system designed to actively synthesize information. We’ll walk through evolving a basic RAG script into an agentic pipeline using FastAPI for routing, Neon PostgreSQL (pgvector) for vector storage, and Google Gemini for cognitive processing. In Development (Sneak Peek): A brief look at experimental features currently in testing to make the system fully autonomous: GraphRAG: Mapping multi-hop relationships beyond standard vector distance. MCP Integration: Native database queries directly from your code editor. Async Watchers: Autonomous background web scraping and data ingestion. How to find us: Doors open at 5:45 PM at our host the Mantel Group, Level 2/452 Flinders St, Melbourne. Message via Meetup or Slack if you are arriving after 6:00, as the lifts won't let you up.&nbsp; This is an in-person only event. If you have any accessibility requirements, please reach out via the Meetup or Slack to the organiser group to discuss, and we will do our best to help you out. Agenda --- Hosted By Katie Barnett, GDE Android / GDG Organiser Katie is passionate about all things Android. She has taken on a wide variety of challenging projects including in the live event, media and travel space. Her favourite thing is to see someone having a delightful experience using something she has worked on. Katie is very active in the development community, she is a Google Developer Expert for Android, one of the organisers of GDG Melbourne and is a Women Techmakers Ambassador. She frequently runs events, speaks on technical and non-technical topics and enjoys writing blog posts to share her experience with others. Katie is based in Melbourne, Australia but loves to travel the world and outside of tech she enjoys boardgaming and attempting to finish many craft projects. Suesi Tran, Senior Flutter Developer Google Developer Expert in Dart, Flutter & Firebase, Women Techmaker Melbourne ambassador, GDG Melbourne & Flutter Melbourne co-organiser. In short: Flutter is love, and mobile is life. Poornima Sivakumar, GDG Organiser Lovee Jain, GDG Organiser Lovee is a Software Engineer at Prezzee, a GDG Melbourne Organiser and also a Women Techmakers Ambassador. A tech inquisitive philomath, she loves problem solving and solution design. She has worked at a city council where she developed a lot of useful system integrations and while at Prezzee she develops and works on multiple gift card solutions to cater the B2B2C market. Zach Jensz, GDG Organiser Passionate about the web, seamless UX and accessibility. I love attending meetups, find me and come say hi! Ujjawal Raj, GDG Organiser Bramley Turner-Jones, GDG Organiser Yuba Raj (UV) Panta, GDG Organiser Kartik Arora, Android Engineer Google Developer Expert in Android Android Engineer @ Bilue Carolyn Ai Chi Wong, Complete your event RSVP here: https://gdg.community.dev/events/details/google-gdg-melbourne-presents-gdg-melbourne-june26-meetup/.

RED ROOM Smashing! Try something new Thursday Interactive workshop - Become the charismatic leader Serious about improving your leadership - **Why mess, come to the best** Why is Smashing different to other speaking clubs? Just one member's thoughts, "The fun/laughs factor is definitely a point of difference. We keep it moving with high standards so it’s a nice balance. Too strict makes it tense and boring, too loose and we can lose the energy/commercial feel. SmashSpeak's vibe's in the sweet spot." **Free parking** close: O'Connell and Cobden streets **IMPORTANT: Be on time, as doors close when the show starts** “Proudly Australian" – Free-flowing teamwork, greater good focus, sharing the stage, etc Multicultural Hub, 506 Elizabeth St (Opposite Queen Vic Market) Level 1, RED ROOM (End of corridor) More to come.

**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 You will need to scan your ID at the door to get a visitor badge. **Abstract** *Customize the IDE: Building Extensions for Visual Studio Code* Visual Studio Code is one of the most widely used development environments today, and much of its flexibility comes from its extension ecosystem. Extensions allow developers to customize the editor with new features, integrations, and workflow improvements tailored to their needs. In this session, we’ll cover what extensions are and the different types available, including full extensions written in TypeScript or JavaScript, along with lighter-weight extensions such as color themes, language packs, language support, code snippets, and keymaps. We’ll also look at practical reasons a developer might create an extension, from automating repetitive tasks to adding custom tooling. The session includes a hands-on walkthrough of creating a new extension, testing it locally, and understanding the basic project structure. We’ll close with a brief overview of how extensions are packaged and published to the Visual Studio Marketplace and other distribution options. **YouTube Link** TBD

[The Board Walks](http://www.theboardwalks.com/) are for curious people who love deep conversations. If that sounds like you, **bring a thoughtful topic** and join us for a 5-mile walk (10,000+ steps!). **HOW IT WORKS** **Step 1: Bring a topic** Before you arrive, think of **one** topic you want to explore. A question. A thought that's been on your mind. An obsession you want to geek out on. This is your ticket to the event. **Step 2: Circle up & share** We gather in a circle. Your friendly walk host gives a speech to set the tone. Everyone shares: your name, what you're grateful for, and your topic. That's it. 60 seconds. **Step 3: Walk, talk & float** We walk 5 miles. You naturally drift into conversation with 2-3 people at a time, pulled by topics that spark your curiosity. When you're ready to move on, just say: "I'm going to float!" **Step 4: Feel more alive** Two hours flies by. You're back where you started — but you feel different. More alive. More energized. More connected to yourself and others. That's why regulars join 20+ times. *For more details, read our [Orientation Guide.](https://www.theboardwalks.com/orientation)* **HOW TO BRING A GREAT TOPIC** A great topic = something you're genuinely curious about. Recent topics include: * "What are you passionate about right now?" * "What makes a good friend?" * "What's a belief you used to hold that you've completely changed?" * "How do you want to be remembered?" * "What would you do if money wasn't a factor?" Think of your topic like the dish you're bringing to our conversational potluck. If everyone brings an A+ dish (i.e. energizing, uplifting, expansive), we'll all walk away feeling lighter and brighter. **WHAT TO EXPECT** This isn't a fitness event with casual chitchat. It's a walking think tank where we explore life's big questions together, beyond small talk. *If you're looking for light banter or a standard networking event, this probably isn't the right fit.* But if you crave depth, genuine connection, and conversations that make you feel alive? You'll love it here. **FAQ** * Wear casual athletic attire and sneakers. It's a long walk! * We have multiple first-timers at each event. We work hard to create a welcoming, inclusive, clique-free space. * We welcome people of **all** ages, backgrounds, and industries who align with the [intention](https://www.theboardwalks.com/ground-rules) of this space. * Rain or shine, we've been out here nearly every week since July 2022. If the event is cancelled, we'll let you know. * Dogs, babies in strollers, parents, and friends are welcome — please text/email them the event link so they can RSVP and prepare a topic! **LOGISTICS** * If you'll arrive over 10 minutes late, we suggest skipping the event. It's hard to find us once we start walking, and your host can't answer messages during the event. * This walk is designed for everyone to *move together at the same steady pace* (about 20 min/mile). This format works best when the whole group moves in unison. If you have mobility limitations, we kindly encourage you to find an event better suited to your needs. * Read our [Orientation Guide](https://www.theboardwalks.com/orientation) for full details. * If you enjoy the event, send **[this](http://www.theboardwalks.com/)** to a friend or sign up for our **[newsletter](https://theboardwalks.beehiiv.com/)**. We're in multiple cities with more on the way. 🤠👋 **IF YOU WANT TO GO DEEPER...** [The Board](https://stan.store/ellebeecher/p/the-board) is the next step: a high-trust collective for renaissance people devoted to creating, connecting, and building lives that light us up. * This is a global HQ for people who crave big talk, deep connection, and dream collaborations with people across industries. If the walks feel like a spark... The Board is the fire. Apply [here](https://stan.store/ellebeecher/p/the-board).

Most people still use AI like a search box: type one question, get one answer, repeat. But the next step is AI agents: systems that can take a goal, break it into steps, use tools, remember context, and produce useful work for a human to review. In this beginner-friendly session, we’ll demystify what AI agents actually are — without hype or jargon. We’ll walk through practical examples of how agents can help with research, planning, writing, coding, operations, and personal productivity. We’ll cover: * What makes an AI “agent” instead of just a chatbot * How agents break tasks into steps * Where agents are genuinely useful today * Where they fail, hallucinate, or need human review * How to design simple AI workflows for your own work * A live demo of an AI agent-style workflow from start to finish No coding experience required. This is for anyone who wants to understand where AI tools are going and how to use them more effectively right now. LOGISTICS AND PARKING: The talk starts at 7:00 PM. The first half hour is reserved for everyone to get set up and mingle. Free pizza and drinks! The cheapest parking option is to find street parking, which will only cost you a few bucks. Otherwise, park in the nearby veteran's museum lot for $8. It's highly recommended you avoid the nearby $15 garage parking.

Join us for the best **fireworks** show in the Columbus area, [Dublin Independence Day Celebration](https://www.visitdublinohio.com/event/independence-day-celebration/203/)! **7pm**: *We'll gather at **Urban's Pint House*** to meet n greet for a bit and grab some drinks and eats. **8:30pm**: *Head over the* **Bridge to Old Dublin** and **Getaway Brewing** (*second meetup spot*). **9:30pm**: *walk across the street to secure space on the* **top level of the Library Parking Garage.** **9:50pm**: **FIREWORKS SHOW!** **AFTERPARTY**: traffic is bad for a while so either get in line to exit the parking garage OR hang out at **PINS** (or Roosevelt Room) open til late back at Bridge Park. **PARKING**: the garages all around Bridge Park are free!

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

Local members of Ohio Paper Folders are invited to our home Fourth of July cookout and fireworks show. This will be on Sat July 4th. This is a four grill (plus a big-ass smoker) cookout with burgers, brats, veggi burgers, salmon burgers, roasted corn and lots of sides (feel free to bring a side). The fireworks show is...huge. 760 mortars plus four tables of multi-shot cakes. (anything worth doing is worth over-doing). We start cooking around 5:00 PM, end when everyone is stuffed. Fireworks just after sundown, so around 9:30 PM. We have an air conditioned building where people hang out and eat. Here is a [link to 2025 show](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNS4q5TrEdc) (rushed a bit because rain coming in) Rain date Sun July 5th. Plenty of parking. 4066 Philipps rd Granville OH 43023

**Improving Office in Franklinton** Physical location: Improving Office 330 Rush Alley Suite #150 Columbus, OH 43215 Schedule: 6:00 p.m.: Socialize, eat, and drink. Improving will be providing pizza and beverages. 6:30 to 8:00 pm. Main meeting and presentation(s). Topic: This month Chris Pazsint will be talking about Agentic Coding. How does one use CLI Based Agents, and Agentic IDEs such as Cursor, Kiro, Antigravity? How to include agentic coding plugins for IDEs you already love such as Visual Studio Code. We meet on the last Monday of each Month. Presentations are given by members and friends of this group. If you would like to do a presentation (small or large) on a python topic, please contact Central OH Python at centralohpython@gmail.com