Innovation

Open Heart Meditation Sessions with Amrita Rani (Live in-person and online on selected Thursdays via Zoom) You are warmly invited to join the Open Heart Meditation Sessions with Acharya Amrita Rani — a living space of awakenings and direct experience. These sessions are created both for beginners and seasoned practitioners who wish to deepen their meditation practice, stabilize awakening, and walk the path of enlightenment with guidance and support. Whether you are new or experienced, each gathering offers a grounded structure to help you build consistency in daily practice and grow in confidence on your spiritual path. At the heart of Open Heart teachings is direct recognition. Through the Two-Part Formula and precise meditative guidance, you are supported in shifting from self-based mode into selfless awareness, again and again, until cessation of suffering takes place. A central and deeply transformative practice in Open Heart is guru yoga. Through guru yoga, the practitioner directly connects with awakened awareness through devotion, transmission, and experiential recognition. With the help of this profound method, one recognizes their true selfless ease, the natural, effortless state beyond space and time. Alongside guru yoga, the sessions include insight meditation (Vipashyana), tantric methods, dynamic concentration, trauma-healing techniques, and foundational practices such as Bodhicitta prayers. Each session includes guided meditation, space for questions, reflection, and personal support. Rani’s meditation sessions are held live on Zoom on selected Thursdays from 18:30 to 20:00 (CET). Recordings may be available for continued integration and practice on her YouTube channel, The Sweetness of Enlightenment. Participation fee: 15 € per session Please make your payment in advance via PayPal before joining, to Rani’s PayPal account: kaisaeskeli@gmail.com Upcoming Thursday Sessions for Spring and Summer Season: 7.5.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 14.5.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 4.6.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 11.6.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 18.6.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 25.6.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 2.7.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 9.7.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 23.7.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 30.7.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) Zoom link for all sessions: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89766267672 Open Heart ashram (meditation center) is located in Zgornje Gorje, Slovenia. If you feel called to join in person, please email Rani at kaisaeskeli@gmail.com. Welcome all!

Hallo liebe Java User Group Mitglieder! Diesmal haben wir zwei Bonner Kollegen zu Gast: * Martin Stoller: **Backend-Performance in Hochlast-Systemen: Lösungsansätze aus dem Data Engineering** * Andreas Monschau: **Zehn goldene Regeln, um dein Softwareprojekt zuverlässig zu ruinieren** Wir freuen uns euch zu sehen (virtuell oder vor Ort). Dank an [codecentric](https://www.codecentric.de/standorte/nuernberg) für Location, Bier und Pizza! ================= Viele Hochlast-Systeme beginnen als kleine, unscheinbare Prototypen - gebaut mit bewährten Mitteln wie relationalen Datenbanken, objektorientierter Business-Logik und klassischen Request-Response-Architekturen. Doch was passiert, wenn diese Systeme plötzlich nicht mehr Tausende, sondern Millionen von Requests bedienen oder Terabytes an Daten verarbeiten müssen? In der Praxis zeigt sich häufig: Klassische Optimierungen wie Caching, horizontale Skalierung oder effizientere Algorithmen stoßen irgendwann an ihre Grenzen, weil sie innerhalb desselben Paradigmas bleiben. Dieser Vortrag zeigt, warum echte Skalierbarkeit oft ein Umdenken erfordert. Anhand eines durchgehenden Praxisbeispiels wird schrittweise demonstriert, wie sich ein System von einer latenzoptimierten Request-Response-Architektur hin zu einem durchsatzoptimierten, analytischen System entwickelt. Dabei werden zentrale Konzepte aus dem Data Engineering greifbar gemacht - darunter Precomputation, Batch Processing, deklarative Verarbeitung und Denormalisierung - und in den Kontext klassischer Backend-Entwicklung eingeordnet. Die Teilnehmenden lernen, typische Grenzen traditioneller Architekturen zu erkennen und erhalten ein alternatives Denkmodell, um High-Throughput-Systeme gezielt und nachhaltig zu skalieren. ================= Softwareprojekte sind chaotisch, anstrengend und voller Überraschungen. Und ganz ehrlich: So soll es auch bleiben. Ordnung würde ja nur den Spaß verderben. Trotzdem gibt es immer wieder Menschen, die glauben, man könnte Projekte wirklich zu Erfolg führen… unglaublich, oder? Damit dir so etwas nicht passiert, zeige ich dir in diesem Vortrag, wie du ein Softwareprojekt in 10 einfachen Schritten zuverlässig an die Wand fährst. Die „goldenen Anti-Pattern für maximalen Projektschaden“ entstammen jedoch nicht meiner Fantasie, nein, sie werden in der Realität täglich mit beeindruckender Konsequenz praktiziert. Und das Beste: Sie wirken nachhaltig. Manche dieser Muster entfalten ihre volle Zerstörungskraft erst Monate später. Nachdem du alle Regeln kennengelernt hast, kannst du selbst entscheiden: Möchtest du sie weiterhin anwenden, oder vielleicht doch etwas verändern? Solltest du allerdings inspiriert sein, eines dieser Anti-Pattern künftig noch konsequenter zu leben… dann sollten wir uns nach dem Talk dringend unterhalten. ================= Dein Vortrag bei der Java Usergroup Nürnberg! Hast du dich in letzter Zeit in deinem Projekt oder privat mit einem interessanten Thema beschäftigt? Vermutlich ist das nicht nur für dich selbst interessant! Hast du Lust, selber einmal einen Vortrag bei der Java-Usergroup Nürnberg zu halten? Wir sind nicht nur auf Java-Themen fokussiert, sondern beschäftigen uns gern mit und um alles über Software Entwicklung und IT. Wir wollen bei der JUG nicht nur bekannten Speaker\*innen eine Plattform geben und die neuesten State-of-the-Art Technologien vorstellen. Wir freuen uns auch besonders, wenn wir Themen aus unserem technologischen (Arbeits-)alltag Raum geben zu können. Melde dich gerne bei uns, wenn du dazu Lust hast, wir geben wenn gewünscht gerne auch Hilfestellung bei der Vorbereitung!

Open Heart Meditation Sessions with Amrita Rani (Live in-person and online on selected Thursdays via Zoom) You are warmly invited to join the Open Heart Meditation Sessions with Acharya Amrita Rani — a living space of awakenings and direct experience. These sessions are created both for beginners and seasoned practitioners who wish to deepen their meditation practice, stabilize awakening, and walk the path of enlightenment with guidance and support. Whether you are new or experienced, each gathering offers a grounded structure to help you build consistency in daily practice and grow in confidence on your spiritual path. At the heart of Open Heart teachings is direct recognition. Through the Two-Part Formula and precise meditative guidance, you are supported in shifting from self-based mode into selfless awareness, again and again, until cessation of suffering takes place. A central and deeply transformative practice in Open Heart is guru yoga. Through guru yoga, the practitioner directly connects with awakened awareness through devotion, transmission, and experiential recognition. With the help of this profound method, one recognizes their true selfless ease, the natural, effortless state beyond space and time. Alongside guru yoga, the sessions include insight meditation (Vipashyana), tantric methods, dynamic concentration, trauma-healing techniques, and foundational practices such as Bodhicitta prayers. Each session includes guided meditation, space for questions, reflection, and personal support. Rani’s meditation sessions are held live on Zoom on selected Thursdays from 18:30 to 20:00 (CET). Recordings may be available for continued integration and practice on her YouTube channel, The Sweetness of Enlightenment. Participation fee: 15 € per session Please make your payment in advance via PayPal before joining, to Rani’s PayPal account: kaisaeskeli@gmail.com Upcoming Thursday Sessions for Spring and Summer Season: 7.5.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 14.5.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 4.6.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 11.6.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 18.6.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 25.6.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 2.7.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 9.7.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 23.7.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 30.7.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) Zoom link for all sessions: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89766267672 Open Heart ashram (meditation center) is located in Zgornje Gorje, Slovenia. If you feel called to join in person, please email Rani at kaisaeskeli@gmail.com. Welcome all!

Rainbow Body Yoga – Level 1 Online Course We warmly invite you to join the Rainbow Body Yoga Level 1 Course, a transformative practice from the Open Heart tradition. The course is taught by Amrita Rani, an ordained sangha member and trained Open Heart instructor. You are welcome to join either in person in Zgornje Gorje, Slovenia, or online via Zoom. Rainbow Body Yoga is a profound tantric non-meditation practice designed to deconstruct the selfing mechanism of the mind. Through the Guru mantras of Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyal, subtle energy practices, and dynamic concentration, we cut through self-based energies that block the direct recognition of our natural state. Although regarded within the tradition as a post-awakening purification practice, you do not need to be awakened to begin. The practice itself deepens recognition of the selfless state, supporting further awakenings and the maturation of clarity. Both those who have experienced awakening shifts and those who feel called to deepen their spiritual path are warmly welcome. This carefully structured sequence works directly with the causal body, where self-based energies are stored. We examine the klesha of ignorance (avidya), the root of existential suffering. With the Guru’s blessings, RBY techniques, and vipashyana (direct seeing), even the subtlest layers of selfing can be cut through. As the practice deepens, you become familiar with the clarity and aliveness of your enlightened mind. Eventually, you recognize that wakeful awareness has always been present, even within negative thoughts and emotions. As mental clutter dissolves into the natural state, increased clarity brings deep healing. Self-sabotaging patterns can be liberated, and the energy once consumed by worry and rumination becomes available to you. Practiced consistently, Rainbow Body Yoga reveals the natural luminosity of selfless awareness and leads toward the realization of emptiness, not as a concept, but as a living experience. These precious practices were given to Amrita Baba by Padmasambhava through visionary transmission, offering a direct path beyond self-based suffering. Level 1 provides a grounded and systematic introduction, enabling you to continue confidently with your home practice. The process is powerful, deeply rewarding, and often brings tangible results relatively quickly. You’re welcome to join either of the weekend courses, or both, if you wish. However, attending just one weekend is already enough to begin practicing on your own. First Weekend Course 📅 20–21 June 2026 🕒 3:00–9:00 pm (CET) Dinner break approximately 6:00–7:30 pm each day Participation fee: Sliding scale €100–200, depending on your financial situation. Please make your payment in advance via PayPal to: kaisaeskeli@gmail.com Register by emailing Amrita Rani at kaisaeskeli@gmail.com. You will receive the Zoom link for all sessions. If you are joining in person, you will receive the address of the event location in Zgornje Gorje, Slovenia. Welcome all!

Hallo liebe Java User Group Mitglieder! Diesmal haben wir zwei Bonner Kollegen zu Gast: * Martin Stoller: **Backend-Performance in Hochlast-Systemen: Lösungsansätze aus dem Data Engineering** * Andreas Monschau: **Zehn goldene Regeln, um dein Softwareprojekt zuverlässig zu ruinieren** Wir freuen uns euch zu sehen (virtuell oder vor Ort). Dank an [codecentric](https://www.codecentric.de/standorte/nuernberg) für Location, Bier und Pizza! ================= Viele Hochlast-Systeme beginnen als kleine, unscheinbare Prototypen - gebaut mit bewährten Mitteln wie relationalen Datenbanken, objektorientierter Business-Logik und klassischen Request-Response-Architekturen. Doch was passiert, wenn diese Systeme plötzlich nicht mehr Tausende, sondern Millionen von Requests bedienen oder Terabytes an Daten verarbeiten müssen? In der Praxis zeigt sich häufig: Klassische Optimierungen wie Caching, horizontale Skalierung oder effizientere Algorithmen stoßen irgendwann an ihre Grenzen, weil sie innerhalb desselben Paradigmas bleiben. Dieser Vortrag zeigt, warum echte Skalierbarkeit oft ein Umdenken erfordert. Anhand eines durchgehenden Praxisbeispiels wird schrittweise demonstriert, wie sich ein System von einer latenzoptimierten Request-Response-Architektur hin zu einem durchsatzoptimierten, analytischen System entwickelt. Dabei werden zentrale Konzepte aus dem Data Engineering greifbar gemacht - darunter Precomputation, Batch Processing, deklarative Verarbeitung und Denormalisierung - und in den Kontext klassischer Backend-Entwicklung eingeordnet. Die Teilnehmenden lernen, typische Grenzen traditioneller Architekturen zu erkennen und erhalten ein alternatives Denkmodell, um High-Throughput-Systeme gezielt und nachhaltig zu skalieren. ================= Softwareprojekte sind chaotisch, anstrengend und voller Überraschungen. Und ganz ehrlich: So soll es auch bleiben. Ordnung würde ja nur den Spaß verderben. Trotzdem gibt es immer wieder Menschen, die glauben, man könnte Projekte wirklich zu Erfolg führen… unglaublich, oder? Damit dir so etwas nicht passiert, zeige ich dir in diesem Vortrag, wie du ein Softwareprojekt in 10 einfachen Schritten zuverlässig an die Wand fährst. Die „goldenen Anti-Pattern für maximalen Projektschaden“ entstammen jedoch nicht meiner Fantasie, nein, sie werden in der Realität täglich mit beeindruckender Konsequenz praktiziert. Und das Beste: Sie wirken nachhaltig. Manche dieser Muster entfalten ihre volle Zerstörungskraft erst Monate später. Nachdem du alle Regeln kennengelernt hast, kannst du selbst entscheiden: Möchtest du sie weiterhin anwenden, oder vielleicht doch etwas verändern? Solltest du allerdings inspiriert sein, eines dieser Anti-Pattern künftig noch konsequenter zu leben… dann sollten wir uns nach dem Talk dringend unterhalten. ================= Dein Vortrag bei der Java Usergroup Nürnberg! Hast du dich in letzter Zeit in deinem Projekt oder privat mit einem interessanten Thema beschäftigt? Vermutlich ist das nicht nur für dich selbst interessant! Hast du Lust, selber einmal einen Vortrag bei der Java-Usergroup Nürnberg zu halten? Wir sind nicht nur auf Java-Themen fokussiert, sondern beschäftigen uns gern mit und um alles über Software Entwicklung und IT. Wir wollen bei der JUG nicht nur bekannten Speaker\*innen eine Plattform geben und die neuesten State-of-the-Art Technologien vorstellen. Wir freuen uns auch besonders, wenn wir Themen aus unserem technologischen (Arbeits-)alltag Raum geben zu können. Melde dich gerne bei uns, wenn du dazu Lust hast, wir geben wenn gewünscht gerne auch Hilfestellung bei der Vorbereitung!

The evening begins with a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark our American debut, followed by a reception bringing together industry leaders, executives, and elected officials from across the region. You'll be among the first to meet our leadership team, hear how Diconium — a Volkswagen company — is bringing the engineering rigor of one of the world's most demanding manufacturers to the US market, and explore where our work might intersect with yours. The evening continues with networking, hospitality, and a few moments we're saving for the night itself. This is a milestone we'll mark only once — it would be our honor to have you there. Warm Regards, Diconium, *a Volkswagen company* Supporting Partners: Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce VW Group of America Porsche Consulting

NOVA Code and Coffee is an inclusive, informal, co-working session. People of all skill levels are invited. The concept is simple, bring a laptop and ideas, we'll provide the coffee and donuts! Here's how it works: 1. At 10:15 everyone introduces themselves and briefly describes what brought them to Code & Coffee today (project, homework, networking, etc) 2. For the rest of the day, folks work in the communal space on their projects providing one another help and conversation as needed. Oh and they usually drink coffee and tea too! That's it! Hope to see you there! **Location** Our hosts are the Fairfax City Economic Development Building: [10300 Eaton Pl, Fairfax, VA 22030](https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=d7298231ca2df594df822003f9a93517c788fceefe1fcbb79c8976696e341bc6JmltdHM9MTc1MzIyODgwMA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=4&fclid=180d0745-3b7f-69a1-23a2-11433a7868e5&u=a1L21hcHM_Jm1lcGk9MTA5fn5Ub3BPZlBhZ2V-QWRkcmVzc19MaW5rJnR5PTE4JnE9RmFpcmZheCUyMENpdHklMjBFY29ub21pYyUyMERldmVsb3BtZW50JnNzPXlwaWQuWU44NzN4ODI4MTk2Mjg0NTk5MDM4MTU0MiZwcG9pcz0zOC44NjE0NDYzODA2MTUyMzRfLTc3LjMwMjE3NzQyOTE5OTIyX0ZhaXJmYXglMjBDaXR5JTIwRWNvbm9taWMlMjBEZXZlbG9wbWVudF9ZTjg3M3g4MjgxOTYyODQ1OTkwMzgxNTQyfiZjcD0zOC44NjE0NDZ-LTc3LjMwMjE3NyZ2PTImc1Y9MSZGT1JNPU1QU1JQTA&ntb=1) Conference Room A- Large, Floor 1 This is a new venue for us, so give us some time to get more details about it. Driving is the best option. There is plenty of free on-site parking. Otherwise, we are a 22 minute bus from the Vienna Metro Station. Bicycling from Vienna is possible but difficult, though once you are here, there's a bike rack in the garage behind the building, and there's also a Capital Bikeshare dock 15 min walk away. **Sponsored by:** Thank you [Fairfax City Economic Development](https://gofairfaxcity.com/) and [Mason Enterprise Center](https://enterprise.gmu.edu/) for making this event possible! **Thank you so much to our wonderful sponsors!** Organized by [DMV Petri Dish](https://www.dmvpetridish.com/) **[Code of Conduct](https://github.com/NoVACodeCoffee/admin/blob/master/code-of-conduct.md):** We value the participation of each member of the community and want all attendees to have an enjoyable and fulfilling experience. To make clear what is expected, all delegates/attendees, organizers, and volunteers at any Nova Code & Coffee events are required to conform to our [Code of Conduct](https://github.com/NoVACodeCoffee/admin/blob/master/code-of-conduct.md).

Important: Register on [AICamp website](https://www.aicamp.ai/event/eventdetails/W2026061814) is required for admission. **Description:** Welcome to the AI meetup in Washington DC. Join us for deep dive tech talks on AI, GenAI, LLMs and Agents, hands-on experiences on code labs, workshops, and networking with speakers and fellow developers. **Agenda:** \* 5:30pm\~6:00pm: Checkin, Food/drink and networking \* 6:00pm\~8:00pm: Tech talks and Q&A \* 8:00pm: Happy Hour at Courthouse Social (cross the street) **Tech Talk: Secure Developer Environments in the Age of AI Agents** **Speaker:** Patrick Brown (Coder) **Abstract:** Federal engineering teams are under pressure to ship faster while meeting some of the most demanding security and compliance requirements in the world. In this talk, Patrick Brown of Coder explores how cloud development environments (CDEs) give agencies a foundation to accelerate software delivery without sacrificing control — and why that foundation matters even more as AI-powered coding agents enter the workflow. He'll cover how CDEs keep source code off endpoints, enforce zero-trust access patterns, and provide the consistent, ephemeral infrastructure that both human developers and AI agents need to operate safely at scale. **Speakers:** Stay tuned as we are updating speakers and schedules. If you have a keen interest in speaking to our community, we invite you to submit topics for consideration: [Submit Topics](https://forms.gle/JkMt91CZRtoJBSFUA) **Sponsors:** We are actively seeking sponsors to support AI developers community. Whether it is by offering venue spaces, providing food, or cash sponsorship. Sponsors will not only speak at the meetups, receive prominent recognition, but also gain exposure to our extensive membership base of 5,000+ AI developers in D.C and 500K+ worldwide.

We will be meeting at Starbucks to learn together. Come with an online class you're already going through or an interest and we will try to connect you with a course where you can learn it. Already have a skill you want to contribute to a Kaggle Datascience competition? We will work on these too! Laptop required :)

The next NoVABeerSec event - "Informal Gathering of Security Minds Over Beer'' will be Tuesday, June 23rd, 5:30PM til 7ish at Starr Hill Tysons Biergarten (1805 Capital One Dr S Suite 1100, Tysons, VA 22102). **Venue for June:** Starr Hill Brewery / Biergarten (Outdoor) **\*\*\* The Biergarten is primarily an outdoor venue, if the weather isn't cooperating we'll shift into Brewpub located on the ground level next to Capital One Hall \*\*\*** In the early 1990s, Charlottesville native, Mark Thompson took his biology degree from James Madison University and moved to Portland, Oregon, ground zero for craft beer’s growth in America. The natural blend of art and science poured into the brewing scene inspired him to take up the craft. Working alongside brewers in Oregon and Colorado, Mark honed his own artisan beer recipes. An old friend looking to start a brewpub and music hall back in Charlottesville eventually lured Mark back to Virginia. In September 1999, they partnered to found Starr Hill Brewery out of a passion for great beer and live music. Named after the local neighborhood, the brewery shared its original space with the Starr Hill Music Hall. The historic storefront on Main Street was once home to the state of Virginia’s first craft brewing operation, Blue Ridge Brewing Company. **Additional Info:** We are an inclusive group, so if we missed anyone please let us know or if you want to bring your significant other/spouse please do. Have a great week and see you next month! Cheers, Rinaldi Rampen & Mike McCabe of @NoVABeerSec

[Profs and Pints Northern Virginia](https://www.profsandpints.com/washingtondc) presents: **“Can Artificial Intelligence ‘See’?”** A look at how humans and artificial intelligence systems interpret the visual world in fundamentally different ways, with Arryn Robbins, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Richmond and cognitive scientist who researches visual attention, perception, and category learning. [Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at [https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/nv-can-AI-see](https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/nv-can-AI-see) .] Artificial intelligence can now identify faces, categorize objects, describe scenes, and outperform humans on certain visual tasks. But does AI actually “see” the world the way that people do? Or does it arrive at correct answers using representations that differ markedly from human perception? Join Arryn Robbins of the University of Richmond for a fascinating exploration of how humans and AI construct meaning from visual information and a look at comparisons between human perception and AI that reveal just how dynamic and context-dependent our own visual systems really are. Dr. Robbins, who previously has given excellent Profs and Pints talks on flaws and biases in human visual perception, will draw from research in cognitive science, visual perception, and AI vision systems. She’ll explain how human perception is not merely a simple recording of the world, but an active process shaped by expectations, context, goals, and recent experience. You’ll learn how humans form flexible mental representations that allow us to recognize objects across changing environments and conditions, and why those representations continuously adapt as we interact with the world. Many AI systems, by contrast, learn visual categories through statistical patterns in data. They can produce impressive results, but sometimes they also produce strange and unexpected failures, and sometimes they classify images in ways that seem strange to us. Dr. Robbins will discuss what these differences reveal about the nature of perception itself, and why the mismatch between human and AI representations matters for technologies like self-driving cars, medical imaging, facial recognition, and automated surveillance. Important for anyone trying to understand the rapidly growing role of AI in daily life, this talk will explore one of the biggest questions in cognitive science and artificial intelligence: What does it actually mean to “see” and understand the world? (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.) Image: “Eye Farm” by Nevit Dilmen (Wikimedia Commons).