During this event, we’ll embark on a collective mission to map essential elements such as roads, buildings, bike lanes, and more. Our collaborative efforts will not only enrich the accuracy and depth of OSM but also contribute to a valuable resource for transport and urban planning.
We’ll be using the Every Door app – a cutting-edge tool that simplifies and enhances the OSM editing process, making it more accessible to users of all skill levels. With its user-friendly interface and intuitive features, you can easily add, edit, and verify map data right from your smartphone or tablet.
Whether you’re passionate about local geography, community development, or simply curious about OSM editing, this event offers a unique opportunity to make a positive impact. Come join us and be part of a dynamic community of mappers shaping the world, one door at a time! Don’t forget to bring your enthusiasm and mobile device loaded with the Every Door app.
When: Wednesday, September 6, 6 – 8pm
Starting Point: Meet in front of the Walkerville Theatre (1564 Wyandotte St E, between Gladstone and Lincoln)
Ending Point: Walkerville Chill (1580 Wyandotte St E, NW corner of Wyandotte and Lincoln) – Stick around for ice cream and chatting at the end!
In this free python training session we’ll be reviewing and building upon the basics learned in last month’s Python Primer. Don’t worry if you missed part one – the opening review will be enough to get you caught up before we dive into more practice and learning.
This hands-on, in-person event has limited capacity, so make sure to register now to reserve your spot. No prior knowledge is necessary, but you will need to bring a computer. (Don’t have one? No problem! Hackforge has a limited number of loaner computers available for the workshop. Email lauren@hackforg to arrange)
When: Sunday September 10th from 10 – 11:30 am
Where: Hackforge HQ (300 Ouellette Ave, unit 210
It ia recommended that attendees have Anaconda and Jupyter Notebook installed on their computer. However, if this is not possible there will be alternative options presented on the day of the event.
It’s time to celebrate another year of innovation, collaboration, and community building!
Hackforge’s Annual General Meeting serves as a platform for our members and supporters to come together, reflect on our achievements, and chart the course for the future.
During this event, you’ll have the opportunity to hear from our team about the milestones we’ve reached, the impact of our projects, and the various initiatives we’ve undertaken to foster technological advancement and creativity in the Windsor-Essex region.
As a community-driven organization, your active participation in the AGM is crucial. This is the perfect occasion to share your ideas, suggestions, and feedback, as we strive to continuously improve and expand our offerings to meet the evolving needs of our members and the local tech community.
To allow as many people as possible to join, this year’s AGM will be a hybrid event. Join us in-person at Hackforge HQ, or tune in virtually via Zoom. Whichever method you choose, eligible members (https://hackf.org/members-list/) will still be able to vote.
When: Tuesday, September 12th, 7 – 9 pm
Where: Hackforge HQ (300 Ouellette Ave, Unit 210), Zoom
Open Streets Windsor
Sunday, September 17th, @ 10AMIn-Person Only
During Open Streets vehicular traffic is rerouted while roadways are taken over by pedestrians, bikes, roller blades, scooters, and more. Community members and organizations line the routes with information and activities on a variety of topics. It’s excellent community building, and the best day of the year!
Stay tuned for more information on Hackforge’s involvement in Open Streets 2023.
Come hangout and chat about all things Linux and open source in this month’s Linux Users Group Meetup! Hackforge is a casual, welcoming space, and everyone is invited to join this event, regardless of experience level.
This monthly event is a great chance to meet other Linux enthusiasts, get answers to your Linux questions, and to learn more about the world of open source operating systems.
To join the conversation outside of our monthly events, join the Hackforge discord and visit the #linux-users-group channel.
When: Tuesday, September 19th, 7 – 9 pm
Where: Hackforge HQ (300 Ouellette Ave, Unit 210)
AWS Users Group Back To The Basics: Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)
Are you new to Amazon Web Services or looking to master the fundamental building block of cloud architecture? This meetup is designed just for you!Agenda:
Understanding VPC: We’ll demystify what VPC is and why it’s essential.
Proper Provisioning: Learn the best practices for provisioning VPCs to meet your specific use cases.
Hidden Costs & Gotchas: Explore potential pitfalls and hidden costs associated with VPC implementation.
Expert Insights: Accelerate your career by gaining insights from seasoned AWS professionals.
Q&A Session: Bring your AWS questions, and our experts will provide answers and guidance.
This meetup is an excellent opportunity to enhance your AWS knowledge, connect with like-minded individuals, and expand your professional network. Plus, don’t forget to enjoy some refreshments while networking with fellow attendees!
Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced AWS user, this meetup promises to deliver valuable insights and practical tips. Join us for an engaging evening of learning and networking. Don’t miss out!
Border City Data: Working with Facebook Advertising Data
This month, Doug Sartori leads a tutorial on working with Open Ad Data provided by Meta. Parent company of social media giants Facebook and Instagram, Meta claims to have over 3 million active advertisers. And they’re kind enough to share some of that data! Through their Ad Library, users can find data on all currently running ads and ads about social issues or politics from the last 7 years.
This intermediate-level tutorial will include a review of available data, details on registration and working with API keys, and a demo of code for consuming and processing application data.
This is a free, hybrid event that will be of interest so social media marketers, researchers, and data enthusiasts. Review the Ad Library for yourself at: https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/
When: Thursday, September 28th, 6 – 7:30 pm
Where: Hackforge HQ (300 Ouellette Ave, Unit 210), Zoom
For this month’s meetup OpenStreetMap Windsor-Essex is updating local speed limits in OSM.
Using MapRoulette and your favourite OSM editor, you can join in and help us to log speed limits throughout the city (we can’t make people adhere to them, unfortunately, but we can at least spread the word!)
Join us in-person at HF HQ or participate virtually, drop in for a few minutes or stay all night! The MapRoulette challenge on speed limits will remain open before and after the official event, but let’s see how much we can accomplish in 2 hours. We think we’ll surprise ourselves!
In an era where digital experiences shape our daily lives, it’s crucial to ensure that everyone can access and navigate websites seamlessly. This event is your gateway to mastering the art of web accessibility and making a positive impact in the online world.
Presented by Jason Pomerleau of Elev8 Web Studio, this event will cover WCAG standards and how to follow them. While geared towards web developers, anyone who works in digital marketing, content management, and graphic design can benefit from attending.
In-person and virtual spots are available, and attendance is free. Please note that there will be no recording of this event made available after the fact, so be sure to take notes!
Event Date: Thursday, June 15th, 2023, 6:30 – 8pm
Event Location: Hackforge HQ (300 Ouellette Ave, Unit 210, Windsor
Elev8 Web Studio is southwestern Ontario’s leading WordPress development team. From a single web page to more than a million, Elev8 Web Studio builds custom themes and plugins for organizations of all shapes and sizes, from the smallest non-profit to multinational corporations. They are also the authors of WordPress Snippets, the most popular WordPress extension for Visual Studio Code with 375,000 active users.
This will be a chance for data enthusiasts of all skill levels to network and learn together. Doug Sartori will moderate this session, help newcomers write their first SQL queries, and provide a set of challenging exercises for more experienced SQL developers.
This is a completely free, in-person event with limited space. All operating systems are welcome, and while we recommend participants bring their own laptops, we will have a limited amount of loaner computers available. Please send an email to info@hackf.org if you will need to use one.
Come out to Hackforge HQ on Tuesday, June 20th for a chance to get to know other members of the Windsor Linux Community.
This is a low-key informal event where we can discuss experience with and questions on Linux, while also making plans and gathering insight for future meetups. Come for the whole thing or stop by for a bit – whatever suits your schedule best!
If you can’t make this in-person event, you can still engage with us on the Linux User Group channel of the Hackforge Discord Server.
This month, LUG will be hosting a Linux install and social gathering. If you’re interested in trying out Linux, then this is the event for you! Members will be available to help you with installing Linux on your laptop or onto a virtual machine. Participants are encouraged to socialize and chat about Linux and open-source software.
As a bonus, will be a Commodore 64 and a Commodore 128 hooked up to monitors that will be available to tinker with.
Looking forward to seeing you all at the event!
When: Tuesday, August 22nd, 7 – 9 pm Where: Hackforge HQ (300 Ouellette Ave, Unit 210)
In this joint Border City Data/OSM Windsor-Essex event, Doug Sartori leads an interactive session demonstrating the tools for surfacing OpenStreetMap data in QGIS. Follow along as he makes a paper map for children to use in an upcoming Jane’s Walk event in South Walkerville!
Join Doug in-person or online, and learn how you can take the overwhelming database that is OSM and turn it into a simple line-drawing, perfect for colouring books, scavenger hunts, and kid-friendly cartography!
There’s a new tool for mobile OSM edits, and this one’s available cross-platform! Come meet up with us in Downtown Windsor and we’ll test it out together!
Every Door allows users to create and edit objects in OpenStreetMap, including building addresses, benches, and more! It works on both Android and iOS devices, and even supports offline mapping, with the ability to download tiles in advance.
Meet us at the Hackforge HQ at 6pm on Monday, May 15th where we’ll make sure everyone has downloaded and signed in to the app, then we’ll head out to update some downtown data. Bikes and other personal belongings can be left in Hackforge for the duration of the event.
After ten or so years, the Hackforge website is getting a refresh!
As the people adding to the site every month we have an idea of the changes we’d like to see, but we want your feedback, too! What content would you like to see on www.Hackf.org? How can we make the layout better? Let us know!
We’re also open to help from anyone who might want to be part of this meta project. Whether you’re a high school student looking to learn (and earn volunteer hours!?), a copywriter looking to build your portfolio, or a professional site designer who wants to give back to the community, we’ve got space for you!
This is our first open meeting on the topic, so come on out to share your ideas! Virtual and physical attendance options are available.
Winfosec: OWASP Top 10 Pt.6 – Vulnerable and Outdated Components
25,227 software vulnerabilities were published last year and the numbers keep rising. Join us for Winfosec’s sixth session on the OWASP Top 10. We’ll talk about how vulnerabilities happen, how to manage them, and keeping your software supply chain safe.
Free event, all are welcome, join virtually or in-person.
Join us for our first Linux user group meetup! We’ll be getting to know each other, sharing our experiences with Linux, and diving into the technical side by compiling the Linux kernel together. Whether you’re a seasoned Linux user or just starting out, all are welcome to join us. Don’t forget to bring your laptop and a willingness to learn!
The Canadian government publishes climate data from thousands of individual weather stations going back decades. Unfortunately, it can be challenging to access for certain scenarios – particularly when you’re interested in a geography wider than a single station.
In this session Doug Sartori demonstrates a Python solution to access climate data in bulk and store it in a database table for analysis or visualization. Everyone is welcome and there is no cost to attend this hybrid event.
FinOps, AKA “how to manage your cloud costs and have all teams take ownership of their cloud usage.” It’s a cultural practice that applies to developers, engineers, architects, and finance teams. Let’s learn how to master this important discipline!
Featuring guest speaker and Amazon Web Services Technical Account Manager Rick Triana.
Are you looking to part with some old games, or hunting for some nostalgia? Perhaps you’re just interested in meeting like-minded folks and playing a few casual rounds of Jet Moto? Either way, we want you to come out to the Windsor Hackforge Video Game Swap!
All games and systems are welcome. We’ll have a couple of consoles set up for people to play and test games on, and attendees are also welcome to bring their own consoles.
This event is happening at our new HQ (300 Ouellette Ave, Suite 210) on Saturday, April 22 from 1 – 4pm. It is completely free and open to everyone, but there are a few ground rules:
While straight swaps are encouraged, sales are allowed. However, this event isn’t intended as a money-maker for anyone. Please keep this in mind.
Hackforge is not mediating any sales or swaps. This is entirely peer-to-peer, and we expect everyone to behave civilly.
Don’t be a jerk.
If you are a jerk, you’ll be asked to leave.
Play nice and share the consoles.
Attendees under 18 must be accompanied by a guardian
Please respect Hackforge’s facilities and volunteers.
Winfosec – OWASP Top 10: Security Misconfiguration
We’re now halfway through the OWASP top 10! Attend to learn about number 5 of the list: Security misconfiguration.
Modern software is highly configurable, making this security threat more and more common. Ensuring that all security settings are properly enabled (or even enabled at all) can greatly reduce threats to your system or application. Join this free training to learn more – physical and virtual attendance options available!
Join special guest speaker Deepak Kaushik for a rundown of Azure Lakehouse. This modern data management architecture combines the cost-efficiency, scale, and flexibility features of a data lake with the data and transaction management capabilities of a data warehouse.
In this one-hour session, Deepak will cover:
Concept
Demo
Real time challenges
Q/A
This virtual event takes place on Thursday, February 9th at 6pm. Register now via Zoom to reserve your spot.
Speaker Bio:
Deepak is a Microsoft Azure MVP. His breadth and depth of knowledge have enabled him to lead the development of various products/solutions around Microsoft Azure. Deepak is a knowledgeable and sought-after speaker within IT circles and consulted regularly by companies formulating their Cloud strategies.
Launching in early February, ADUSearch is a data-driven application intended to empower property owners, industry professionals, policymakers, non-profit housing providers, and researchers to see the potential of detached ADUs in Canadian municipalities.
In this edition of Border City Data, host Doug Sartori will be joined by ADUSearch leadership and GIS researchers to discuss how the application was made. Attendees will get the chance to see some of the ArcGIS processes that went into creating the geodata that drives the project, as well as how Doug and his team at Parallel 42 Systems turned that data into an interactive web app. Attendees will have a chance to ask questions at the end of the session.
This virtual event will take place via Zoom on Monday, February 13th from 6 – 7:30 pm. There is no cost to attend and everyone is welcome.
Come meet other local mappers in person at this low-key event. Bring your laptop and/or favourite mobile editing app and do some collaborative mapping!
This is a great opportunity to make connections in the OSM community as well as to ask questions and get advice from other active OSM contributors. Whether you’re brand new or well-seasoned, we’d love to have you out!
Serratore Bistro-Café (98 University Ave, W.) is new to Windsor’s downtown, so this is also a great chance to check them out! We recommend the chocolate croissant, but also hear great things about their paninis.We’ll be hanging out from 6 – 8pm. Drop in for a quick visit or stay the whole time – however you prefer!
AWS Re:Invent took place between November 28 and December 2, 2022 in Las Vegas. For those who were unable to make the trip, the Windsor AWS User Group is going to be rehashing everything on Tuesday, February 21st.
Hear about news and updates in the world of Amazon Web Services, and connect with other AWS users at this free, virtual event.
6:30 PM – 6:45 PM Meet and greet
6:45 PM – 7:45 RE:CAP – brief overview of all cool technologies introduced at RE:INVENT
7:45 PM – 8:00 PM – Post event discussion, Q&A, career advice, project advice, industry trends, anything AWS related, etc
We’ll be posting a Chime link and the AWS speaker shortly – follow the Linkedin Event for all the latest updates.
Join us to learn about a new entrant into the OWASP list: Insecure Design. We’ll look at common mistakes made in the design of software that can affect security, and give advice on what to do instead.
This is our fourth session on OWASP Top 10 – visit our Youtube channel to review past events.
This is a virtual event that will be held via Zoom.
