Service Dog

**Abstract:** This talk introduces a new high-level CUDA C++ library that brings functional, array-style programming to GPUs - without compromising performance. With a fluent API that slashes boilerplate and minimizes kernel launches, it enables you to write expressive, high-performance GPU code with up to 10× less code. This talk explores how functional patterns can unlock both clarity and speed in GPU development. **Speaker: Conor Hoekstra** Research Scientist at NVIDIA working on array programming models and languages. Creator of the [Parrot](https://nvlabs.github.io/parrot/) library (a high-level, array-based library with implicit GPU fusion). Extremely passionate about programming languages, algorithms, and beautiful code. Founder and organizer of the [Programming Languages Virtual Meetup](https://www.meetup.com/Programming-Languages-Toronto-Meetup/). Host of four podcasts and an avid conference speaker.

“𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧” 𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 “𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲 & 𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫” 𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟐𝟕𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞! This is the next in my “Coffee & Chat” seminar series covering such topics as: Estate planning essentials Protecting family & loved ones Reducing estate & probate taxes Business & professional considerations Common (costly) planning mistakes 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟐𝟕𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝟕:𝟎𝟎-𝟖:𝟎𝟎 𝐏𝐌. 𝐓𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐚 𝐂𝐚𝐟𝐞́, 𝐄𝐥 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧 – 𝟔𝟕 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝, 𝐎𝐚𝐤𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞 james.whelan@igpwm.ca (905) 808-1759 [#FinancialPlanning](https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/financialplanning?__cft__[0]=AZZ3WWK8OwKtI3UFanx5ntq_1MNUCmHWYG1PSMNQmuiFu6qwHE4HRnuzrnN00J87x5Oipc6SMizvoUFBlUJ6FZfywyTPnK7yAyWZRjtwepGxs8cY4wQV7F2eIejjb6_-azqnsXZiygN8KhVy5WW-GqjPERxcoPeH0lqA08ohUytCb-EW1Sib5i8iYc_eD-xr1tQ&__tn__=*NK*F) [#FinancialLiteracy](https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/financialliteracy?__cft__[0]=AZZ3WWK8OwKtI3UFanx5ntq_1MNUCmHWYG1PSMNQmuiFu6qwHE4HRnuzrnN00J87x5Oipc6SMizvoUFBlUJ6FZfywyTPnK7yAyWZRjtwepGxs8cY4wQV7F2eIejjb6_-azqnsXZiygN8KhVy5WW-GqjPERxcoPeH0lqA08ohUytCb-EW1Sib5i8iYc_eD-xr1tQ&__tn__=*NK*F) [#BronteVillage](https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/brontevillage?__cft__[0]=AZZ3WWK8OwKtI3UFanx5ntq_1MNUCmHWYG1PSMNQmuiFu6qwHE4HRnuzrnN00J87x5Oipc6SMizvoUFBlUJ6FZfywyTPnK7yAyWZRjtwepGxs8cY4wQV7F2eIejjb6_-azqnsXZiygN8KhVy5WW-GqjPERxcoPeH0lqA08ohUytCb-EW1Sib5i8iYc_eD-xr1tQ&__tn__=*NK*F) [#Networking](https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/networking?__cft__[0]=AZZ3WWK8OwKtI3UFanx5ntq_1MNUCmHWYG1PSMNQmuiFu6qwHE4HRnuzrnN00J87x5Oipc6SMizvoUFBlUJ6FZfywyTPnK7yAyWZRjtwepGxs8cY4wQV7F2eIejjb6_-azqnsXZiygN8KhVy5WW-GqjPERxcoPeH0lqA08ohUytCb-EW1Sib5i8iYc_eD-xr1tQ&__tn__=*NK*F) [#CoffeeAndChatBronteVillage](https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/coffeeandchatbrontevillage?__cft__[0]=AZZ3WWK8OwKtI3UFanx5ntq_1MNUCmHWYG1PSMNQmuiFu6qwHE4HRnuzrnN00J87x5Oipc6SMizvoUFBlUJ6FZfywyTPnK7yAyWZRjtwepGxs8cY4wQV7F2eIejjb6_-azqnsXZiygN8KhVy5WW-GqjPERxcoPeH0lqA08ohUytCb-EW1Sib5i8iYc_eD-xr1tQ&__tn__=*NK*F) See less ## C

**Meet new people over great food in a relaxed, social setting.** This is a small-group social dining experience for people who enjoy good food, good conversation, and expanding their circle in a natural way. Everyone attending is there to meet others — no pressure, no awkward networking. **What to expect** * A small group (usually 4–8 people) * A friendly, low-pressure atmosphere * Easy, natural conversation **How it works** We coordinate the group and reserve the table once attendees confirm. The venue and details are shared with the group beforehand. Just show up, order what you like, and enjoy the experience. Each guest covers their own food and drinks. To keep groups balanced and confirmed, seat confirmations happen through #dine: https://www.hashtagdine.com/

Come and lets talk Ubuntu talk. Bring your laptops and show off your favorite apps and your wallpaper. Got questions ? Bring them too ! Location and time: Monday 7pm Apr 27 2026 Bishop and Belchers pub Church and Bloor St E. 175 Bloor St E. Toronto, ON M4W 3T5 [(416) 591-2352](tel:+14165912352)

**THIS WILL BA A BI-WEEKLY EVENT TO CHAT, LAUGH, AND GET TO KNO**W EACH OTHER. NO PRESSURE TO ATTEND - JUST VISIT OR DROP IN...(members only please) ***Be kind and rsvp so that the host knows how many tables to save.*** **Anyone that is not a member will be asked politely to leave and apply to TSSC if they so choose.** Bring yourself and your sense of humor. The group can decide it's own agenda of chat after a few meetups. I know it is difficult NOT to talk about politics or religion, but we are a social group whose premise is fun! As tempting as it can be, please restrain and stick to topics less heated. **We will meet at 2PM. Please try and be on time. ENTER FROM 55** **AVENUE ROAD, DOWN THE STAIRCASE AND INTO THE FOOD COURT.** PARKING : [Avenue Road Toronto parking - free or cheap lots, garages and street meter spots (parkopedia.ca)](https://en.parkopedia.ca/parking/avenue_road_toronto/?arriving=202409231130&leaving=202409231330) THANKS FOR HOSTING JIM!

**Meet new people over great food in a relaxed, social setting.** This is a small-group social dining experience for people who enjoy good food, good conversation, and expanding their circle in a natural way. Everyone attending is there to meet others — no pressure, no awkward networking. **What to expect** * A small group (usually 4–8 people) * A friendly, low-pressure atmosphere * Easy, natural conversation **How it works** We coordinate the group and reserve the table once attendees confirm. The venue and details are shared with the group beforehand. Just show up, order what you like, and enjoy the experience. Each guest covers their own food and drinks. To keep groups balanced and confirmed, seat confirmations happen through #dine: https://www.hashtagdine.com/

**Hands-on. Real-world. Team-based. AWS JAM is here!** Join us for an exciting evening of cloud-powered challenges at our **AWS JAM Session**, hosted during the **AWS User Group Toronto** April meetup. This interactive session will challenge individuals and teams to solve **real-world, open-ended problems using AWS services.** Whether you're a seasoned AWS builder or just getting started, JAM sessions offer a collaborative and gamified environment to learn, compete, and grow your cloud skills. *** ### **What to Expect:** * Hands-on problem-solving * Team-based format – form your squad onsite * friendly competition * Swag & prizes for top performers * Networking with AWS experts and cloud enthusiasts ### **What You’ll Need:** * Laptop with Wi-Fi access * AWS account (will be provided) * Curious mindset and collaborative spirit! ### **Date and Time:** **-> Thursday, April 30, 2026** **-> 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM EDT** *** ### **Location:** **AWS Office ;** Floor 47 - 40 King St W, Toronto, ON M5H 1H1 ### **Venue Note:** We’re hosting this at the **AWS Toronto Office**, So please RSVP early and update your status if your plans change. **Let’s JAM and build something awesome together! 💥**

A hands-on workshop on turning insights into ideas that actually hold. Most ideas aren’t bad. They’re just… premature. ​We’re trained to move fast, jump to solutions, and make things look good quickly. ​But good design doesn’t come from speed. It comes from **seeing differently.** ​This session is about breaking that habit. ​This hands-on workshop explores how ideas actually emerge i.e through tension, constraints, and collaboration and not just creativity. ​ **👉 To secure your spot, please register via [Luma](https://luma.com/caozni5i): https://luma.com/caozni5i** (*Meetup RSVPs don’t guarantee a seat*) # ​**What we’ll do:** ​**Start with people (but not in a fluffy way)** ​Map real experiences ​Surface assumptions ​Interrogate what we think we know ​ ​**Push beyond obvious ideas** ​Generate more (and worse) ideas — on purpose ​Break out of default thinking patterns ​ ​**Make it real** ​Work with constraints ​Shape direction ​Turn messy thinking into something tangible ​ ## ​**What you’ll take away** * ​Why most teams default to shallow thinking * ​How to actually *practice* divergent thinking (not just talk about it) * ​What it means to move from insight → concept * ​How constraints make ideas stronger, not weaker ​**Who this is for** * ​Professionals who want to relax, nerd out, and build fun things * ​Designers who are tired of surface-level workshops * ​People who jump to solutions (you know who you are) * ​Anyone curious about how ideas *actually* come together ​ ​**About Service Design Drinks (SDD)** ​SDD is a community of practice for people interested in service design. ​We host casual, hands-on sessions to learn, share, and grow together - no fluff, just thoughtful work and conversation. ​ ​**Agenda** ​5:30 pm \| Arrival \+ settle in ​6:00 pm \| Workshop session ​7:30 pm \| Stay back and connect

**This is a ticketed event. Please register at [this link](https://luma.com/gprawfks).** In this talk, Sheikh Abdur Raheem Ali: 1) Discusses rare cases where deployed LLMs have been observed to engage in self-directed behavior which would have led to catastrophic outcomes if the agent escaping containment were equipped with stronger capabilities. 2) Introduces arbitrium, a peptide-based communication method used by certain bacteriophages which release small molecules known as autoinducers to decide coordinated population-level behavior, and in particular lytic and lysogenic pathways, with a quorum-sensing mechanism. 3) Explores landmark results from alignment science which inform our current understanding of LLM biology (<250 malicious documents required to poison training datasets vs <100 viral particles required to produce infection in humans). 4) Analyzes early findings from experiments which attempt to investigate scalable improvements to defenses that monitor the internal activations of production transformer models (such as probes) and demonstrates how these enable targeted interventions on known distributions which are more difficult to achieve with input/output only methods (such as prompted classifiers) in certain cases (such as long context windows or latent reasoning models) ​​​**Event Schedule** 6:00 to 6:30 - Food and introductions 6:30 to 7:30 - Presentation and Q&A 7:30 to 9:00 - Open Discussions ​​​​​​If you can't make it in person, feel free to join the live stream starting at 6:30 pm, via [this link](https://www.youtube.com/@Trajectory-Labs/live).

It feels like we just saw each other 🤷. Join members of the local design and UX community for our monthly breakfast. For May we’re stopping in for Rooh’s popup breakfast/cafe concept. You know someone is getting the lobster yuzu croissant, and that’s not even the prettiest thing on the menu!.

Topic to be announced. **CALL FOR SPEAKERS** Learn more: https://www.awscolumbus.com/get-involved/ **THANK YOU** *VEEAM* for hosting our meetup! To learn more about *Veeam*, please visit their website: https://www.veeam.com/ **DIRECTIONS** 8800 Lyra Dr #450 · Columbus, OH go to 4th floor. **Want to sponsor the pizza and/or bar tab?** Please contact me if you would like to sponsor this meetup's pizza and/or bar tab: angelo@mandato.com

WQC has weekly Thursday night social nights at the Westerville Java Central. Come and grab a coffee and connect with the community: low stakes, chill environment, and tasty drinks. No registration is required; come as you are.

Some trained COUNT volunteers work together once a month at RMH (http://www.rmhc-centralohio.org/volunteer.php) as Housewarmers (usually on the 1st Sunday from 1 – 5 PM). Some schedule other shifts at their convenience. You may try this out with less fuss by following a "Fast track" or go through the normal process. Fast track • Arrange a time to shadow a COUNT volunteer. Call Dave Nohle at 614-268-9558 (cell). • Show up and try it out. • Complete application, etc. later. Normal process • Complete an online application (http://rmhc-centralohio.org/volunteer/). • Attend orientation in advance. • At orientation you will complete forms agreeing to keep family/patient info private and allowing a background check and tour the facility. • Complete one training shift. Daily shifts are: morning 9 AM - 1 PM, afternoon 1 - 5 PM and evening 5 - 9 PM. • Schedule shifts online using the on the RMH scheduling system (http://www.volgistics.com/ex/portal.dll/?FROM=32895). The Ronald McDonald House (RMH) provides housing and meals for families with sick children. The Columbus RMH is the largest in the world with 137 rooms. COUNT has been volunteering there since May 2014. Housewarmers work with RMH guests to provide a home-like environment - greet, assist with family needs, answer phones, give tours, assist with checkin/checkout, prepare guest rooms after checkout, clean facility, laundry, restock supplies and staff the front desk. RMH Housewarmers volunteer at least one four-hour shift a month. All Housewarmers must complete an application and agree to a background check before they can be full fledged volunteers.

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?!"

Let's catch up and have a relaxed chat, including chat about the book Disability Visibility. This collection of essays is available at the library. You'll be invited to share the essay that you related to the most, and the essay that did the most to grow your awareness of something new. It's OK if you don't read the whole book!