Free Software and Hardware
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Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Check out free software and hardware events happening today here. These are in-person gatherings where you can meet fellow enthusiasts and participate in activities right now.
Discover all the free software and hardware events taking place this week here. Plan ahead and join exciting meetups throughout the week.
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Free Software and Hardware Events Near You
Connect with your local Free Software and Hardware community
Columbus Arduino Raspberry Pi Enthusiasts (CARPE) (Check Location)
Bring your Raspberry Pi, Arduino, microcontroller, or any other electronic project and join fellow electronics makers for a night of creativity and collaboration!
This session is open forum to share your current projectsâwhether complete or in progress, itâs all interesting! Whether youâre deep into embedded systems, exploring new ideas, or just getting started, youâll find a welcoming space to collaborate, share, and get inspired.
Topic TBD!
While we continue to pursue a more permanent venue for this Meetup, weâll be using public library facilities based on availability.
This session will be at the Columbus Library - Northern Lights Branch in the Meeting Room 1C.
Free In-Person Events: How to Let Go of the Past and Move Forward
The emotional pain from past bad experiences easily lingers in the present, making it hard to enjoy life and create your future. Even when you think you've moved on, the negative emotions can be triggered, sending you back into the pain of that experience.
And we are talking about pain; emotions such as grief, depression, anxiety, fear (or terror), boiling anger, simmering resentment, feelings of shame, blaming and regret can leave you incapacitated to a greater or lesser degree.
In this local event we will be discussing the reasons why these past bad experiences have the power to affect you long after they occurred. We'll go over why the emotional pain can be so strong. We'll also discuss some simple solutions to overcome your emotional pain and be free to fully enjoy your life again.
Examples of painful experiences include:
* A broken relationship or divorce.
* Death or loss of a loved one.
* Death of a pet.
* A sudden shock or bad news.
* A betrayal.
* Being part of an abusive relationship.
* A bad injustice.
* Loss of a job, position or business.
* A grave illness or injury.
The negative emotions from these experiences don't just go away on their own. But the good news is there is a way to clear them out of your way.
Be sure to click on the red "Attend" button below to come to this local event. We look forward to seeing you there.
This group is sponsored the Dianetics & Scientology Self-Improvement Center.
COhPy Monthly Meeting
**NEW LOCATION: 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).
For this first meeting of the year, we will be reviewing submissions for the
[Your Program is Hideous and Obfuscated Challenge (YPHOC). ](https://docs.google.com/document/d/13zbxwElpJqPMuAN4Ele2hUgsqtFKzH3OCTL5NEeiLKQ)Submissions for this challenge are due by January 12th, 2026. The details can be found here:
or on our website
http://www.cohpy.org
See Our [Parking Map](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1u2A4fLNlxwLJn0KA_hKc8bnFlFHLvsHBDh-_8wzX_tk/edit?usp=sharing)
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 centralohpython@gmail.com
Soft Life Society Cultural Potluck Night
Join Soft Life Society for a cozy and intentional Cultural Potluck Night centered on community, connection, and culture.
This is a potluck-style gathering where each guest is invited to bring a dish that represents their culture, heritage, or a family tradition. We will be tasting and sharing each otherâs cultural foods while connecting through conversation, laughter, and soft living.
The evening will also include fun games and a prize for the winner. Drinks will be available, but guests are welcome to bring their own favorite beverage if they prefer.
This is a relaxed, welcoming space to slow down and enjoy a beautiful evening together. Limited spots available. RSVP required.
Christians in Tech - Meetup #27 @ Improving
Christians in Tech is a community at the intersection of faith and technology. Our meetups are designed to spark meaningful conversations, promote knowledge sharing, and encourage growthâboth in your career and your spiritual walk with God. Whether you're an experienced professional or just starting your tech journey, CIT welcomes you.
Our Website
[https://linktr.ee/citcbus](https://linktr.ee/citcbus)
Sponsors and Partners
* Improving (Venue Sponsor)
* Bethel World Prayer Center (Fiscal Sponsor)
* Fruits & Roots (Coffee Partner)
Intro to GitHub Copilot: Your AI Pair Programmer - Chris Steele
**Important time note:** Please plan on arriving between 5:30 and 6:00 as the elevators lock after 6 and you'll need to message us and we'll need to come get you.
The building address is 4450 Bridge Park
The entrance is 6620 Mooney St, Suite 400
**Abstract**
GitHub Copilot is rapidly changing how developers write, understand, and maintain code. Powered by generative AI and deeply integrated into modern development environments, Copilot acts as an intelligent coding assistant, helping developers move faster while maintaining quality and focus.
In this session, weâll explore what GitHub Copilot is, how it works, and where it fits into a real-world developer workflow. Weâll break down what Copilot can (and cannot) do, where it can be used, and how licensing differs for individuals and organizations. Most importantly, this talk goes beyond theory with a live, hands-on demo showcasing Copilot inside the IDE and on GitHub, demonstrating how it can assist with code generation, refactoring, learning new APIs, and accelerating day-to-day development tasks.
Designed for developers, technical leads, and engineering managers, this session provides a practical introduction to AI-assisted development, highlights best practices for getting value from Copilot, and closes with guidance on how to continue learning and evolving alongside this rapidly advancing tool.
Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of how GitHub Copilot can enhance productivity, improve developer experience, and fit into modern software teams today, not someday.
**YouTube Link**
TBA
Happy 8th Birthday, GOhio! @ Pins Mechanical!!! đ đ đ¨ đ đ đ§ đ 𼳠đ° đŞ
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*GOhio!* turns 8!! 𼳠Come celebrate with us at [Pins Mechanical](https://www.pinsbar.com/locations/easton)! đ
**Summary**
Pins Mechanical Co. is a social entertainment venue that combines old-school games like duckpin bowling, pinball, and other classic arcade and table games with craft cocktails, local beers, and punch. The vintage-industrial atmosphere is designed for playful, face-to-face gatherings with friends, family, and colleagues, offering a casual and lively alternative to a typical bar.
Pins' Easton location spans over 38,000 square feet, making it the largest in the United States. This massive entertainment venue features two floors, a mezzanine level with stadium seating, and three full-service bars. It offers 16 duckpin bowling lanes, two indoor bocce courts, and more than 60 classic and modern pinball and arcade games. For additional fun, the location is known for its two outdoor patios, an indoor slide, and an expanded patio pong setup.
**Activities**
As noted below, some machines take actual quarters. Pins has two change machines (one downstairs and one upstairs) that accept ones, fives, or tens (only), and return quarters (only).
* *Duckpin Bowling*
[Like Bowling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duckpin_bowling) but with smaller balls, stubby pins, and no oil on the lanes. The cost is $9 per game per person.
* *Pinball*
[Who](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Who)'s a [wizard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinball_Wizard) on these [retro machines](https://pinballmap.com/map/?by_location_id=15311)? At $1 per play, everyone! Takes quarters.
* *Arcade*
Play classics like Gorf, Pac-Man, Gorf, Donkey Kong, Gorf, Galaga, and Gorf! The best part is, there's Gorf! And all the arcade games are free!
* *Patio Pong*
The classic college party staple but bigger. Instead of tossing a ping pong ball into cups, you use a regular ball and oversized buckets. There are two of these upstairs, and they're both free!
* *Ping Pong*
The most popular sport in China! They have two ping pong tables downstairs and two more ping pong tables upstairs. For those of you who have studied topological spaces and set theory, you will know this means they have four total ping pong tables.
They have bubble gum dispensers with ping pong balls in them for 25¢ each. The dispensers take quarters. However, they also have racks where they store the ping pong paddles, and in these racks are slots for ping pong balls. It's not uncommon to see balls already here, so there's a chance you may be able to play ping pong for free if you want to.
* *Hookie*
You can't put your eye out! The safe alternative to darts: Hook thrown rings on a board. Outdoors on the upstairs patio, and free!
* *Bocce*
Like bowling, except thereâs turf and a lot more balls. You can also knock your opponentâs balls out of the way. There are two of these upstairs, and they're both free!
* *Foosball*
Everyone loves [foosball](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_football)! 50¢ a game. Takes quarters.
* *Giant Jenga*
Stack massive wooden blocks into a tower, then take turns pulling out one block at a time without collapsing the tower. There are four of these sprinkled throughout the venue (two downstairs and two upstairs, with one on each patio), and they're all free!
* *Skeeball*
There are three skeeball machines on the first floor (near the Gorf machine!), and they're all free!
* *Giant Connect Four*
On the outdoor patio upstairs, and free!
* *Bubble Hockey*
This is upstairs. Up to four people can play at once, and it costs $1. Takes quarters.
* *Cornhole*
There are two cornhole lanes upstairs, and they're both free!
* *Basketball*
There are two basketball machines downstairs. They're tucked behind the downstairs bar, so they're not always obvious unless you go look for them. They're $2 per play, and they take quarters.
* *NES and Sega Genesis video games*
These are collections, downstairs (near the Gorf machine!), of video games that you can play for free!
* *The Big Metal Indoor Slide*
This large two-story slide is for kids, and certainly no adults would ride this. After all, it's not like it's free or anything.
**Outdoor Patio**
Pins at Easton actually has two outdoor patios. But for our purposes, only the upstairs one matters. See, it will be winter and likely cold. But their upstairs patio has multiple ceiling heaters and two massive gas fire pits that put out a ton of heat. Sitting out here may be a real option.
As mentioned above, the upstairs outdoor patio has one of the venue's two Patio Pong setups, one of their multiple Giant Jengas, the Giant Connect Four, and Hookie.
**Food**
Pins doesn't serve food, but there's a [Mikey's Late Night Slice](https://www.latenightslice.com/) next door. This Mikey's is basically an extension of the Easton Pins; there's a large open doorway between both establishments. Mikey's has a fountain dispenser with Coke products.
You can also get Coke and Diet Coke (but not Coke Zero, like you can at Mikey's) at the bars in Pins, but I think the quality of the soda pop from Mikey's fountain is better than that from the bar hoses Pins uses to dispense soft drinks.
You are also quite allowed at Pins to either bring food in or order it in via your favorite delivery app.
**Parking**
I recommend parking in the [Worth Garage](https://eastontowncenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/parking-at-easton-updated-file-sept-25.pdf). It's literally right next door to Pins, and it's free as long as you park on Level 2 or above.
They recently started charging people to park on Level 1, and you pay for parking on this level the same way you pay for street parking in Columbus, with the [ParkColumbus](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.parkmobile.parkcolumbus&hl=en_US&pli=1) app.
I've seen them enforce this by ticketing people's cars, but I don't know how they actually compel payment. The garage is not a public street that actual cops can write you tickets for parking illegally on. If you have an actual ticket from a cop that you don't pay, they can go so far as to issue a warrant for your arrest. But all Easton has, seemingly, is, "[Please pay our ticket](https://eastonpreferredpark.com/)." Still, in my ongoing efforts to eliminate needless stress and aggravation from my life, I just park above the first Level.
The actual address of the garage is [4049 Worth Ave, Columbus, OH 43219](https://www.google.com/maps/place/4049+Worth+Ave,+Columbus,+OH+43219/@40.0542293,-82.9137962,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x88388a86de3af559:0xc1dc8b4661fc834f!8m2!3d40.0542293!4d-82.9137962!16s%2Fg%2F11sgzjp4ml?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDkyNC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D). However, your GPS is stupid. The actual entrances to the garage are on the cross steets Brighton Rose Way and Fenlon St, not Worth Ave. Just keep this in mind once you get to the garage.
**Where we'll meet**
I'll post in the comments where I am. People will obviously want to explore different areas of the venue over the course of the event (and there's a lot to explore), but please just let me know (as in, come find me) once you've arrived.
**Peroration**
Come on out and say hi! đ







