How to Join an Online Watch Party

On the first Friday of every month, Hackforge organizes a movie screening that allows members the chance to watch a movie together – from home.

We use our movie-screening-specific channel on the Official Hackforge Discord to share the streaming link and for mid-movie chatting, and the Teleparty browser extension to sync everyone’s Netflix playback. Please remember that all attendees require their own Netflix subscription to participate!

January 2022 at Hackforge

Hackforge Virtual Watch Party: I Am Mother
Friday, January 7th @ 8PM Discord

Experience a post-apocalyptic world where the human race relies on the repopulation efforts of sentient robots for survival in this month’s Online Watch Party. 2019’s “I Am Mother” is an R-rated dramatic sci-fi thriller starring Rose Byrne and Hillary Swank, with a runtime of 1 hour 53 minutes. Dim the lights, grab the popcorn, and meet us on Discord at 8pm to watch along!

Join our discord server and download Teleparty to take part. Please note that all participants are required to have their own streaming subscription service.

Border City Data: Intro to OpenStreetMap
Tuesday, January 18th @ 6pm Meetup | Facebook | Linkedin | Register

OpenStreetMap (or OSM) is like Wikipedia, but for geographical information.

All of the geodata stored by OSM is generated and maintained by the public, resulting in a database that covers more than just vehicular roadways. This is particularly useful for Hackforge’s newest endeavour, Cycle Windsor, which aims to improve the quality and quantity of cycling-related geodata available for the city.

In this free one-hour event, host Doug Sartori will be introducing the basics of contributing to OSM, and outlining ways existing data can be used in different applications.

Border City JavaScript: Intro to CyclOSM
Monday, January 31st @ 6pm Meetup | Facebook | Linkedin | Register

Building upon the Border City Data talk on OpenStreetMaps, this event continues the conversation around crowd-sourced geodata.

CyclOSM is an opensource OSM layer that displays geodata most relevant to cyclists – including bike paths and lanes, locations of bicycle repair stations, and information on road surface quality (as well as much, much more).

In this free, one-hour talk, host Chris Burford (Tech Manager of Cycle Windsor) will introduce attendees to the backend of this system, including the Hackforge-specific fork that will be used to build out Windsor’s very own cycling-specific map.

Join us to learn more about CyclOSM and the Cycle Windsor initiative!

December 2021 at Hackforge

Hackforge Virtual Watch Party: The Social Network
Friday, December 3rd @ 8PM Discord

After a fantastic inaugural event, our monthly online movie screening is back! Join our discord server and download Teleparty to take part. Please note that all participants are required to have their own streaming subscription service.

In this month’s screening, Jesse Isenberg plays a lizardman with goals of world domination. With help from his favourite 90’s pop star, he battles Spiderman in court for the right to be the main invader of your privacy. All of this is set to an award-winning soundscape provided by Nine Inch Nails. 2010’s The Social Network will remind you that Facebook (or Meta), has been swimming in scandal since its inception.

Border City Data: Python Basics – Exploratory Data Analysis
Thursday, December 16th @ 6:30 PM Facebook | Meetup | Linkedin | Register

Python programming language just celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2021. Trusted by internet giants like Instagram and Spotify to support their backend, the high demand for Python application developers demonstrates that it’s a leader amongst the most popular programming languages.

Using this easy-to-learn high level language, we’ll discuss the fastest way to get started with Python using a Jupyter Notebook. And we’ll explore ways to use Python data analytics libraries such as Pandas and Matplotlib to transform and visualize Windsor election results and traffic data by creating repeatable workflows.

Hosted by Ken Hudak

Do you have a topic or project you would like to present at a Hackforge meetup? Is there a subject you would love to see us cover? Reach out to Lauren@parallel42systems.com!

November 2021 at Hackforge

Hackforge Virtual Watch Party: The Fifth Element
Friday, November 5th @ 8PM Discord

Starting in November, Hackforge will be hosting a watch party at 8pm on the first Friday of every month! Join our discord server and download Teleparty take part. Please note that all participants are required to have their own streaming subscription service.

This month’s screening will be 1997’s The Fifth Element, starring Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, and Milla Jovovich, and directed by Luc Bresson. A fan-favourite sci-fi flick that takes place in the 23rd century, The Fifth Element is a humorous, action-filled adventure featuring unforgettable characters and quotes.

Border City JavaScript: Show and Tell
Wednesday, November 17th @ 8PM Facebook | Meetup | Linkedin | Register

We want to see what you’ve been working on!

on November 17th, Border City JavaScript is opening the floor to members so they can show off something they’re excited about. Be it a personal project, a new skill, or a recently discovered resource, each participant will get 3 minutes to screen share and/or monologue about their latest obsession.

Whether you’re looking to present or just interested to see what others are bringing to the table, sign up via Zoom to receive the link.

As always, everyone is welcome and there is no cost to attend or participate.

Border City Data: Intro to SQL Pt.III: Programmability Objects in SQL Server
Thursday, November 18th @ 7:00 PM Facebook | Meetup | Linkedin | Register

SQL Server is a powerful database engine that includes tools for creating reusable SQL code.

In Pt.III of our Intro to SQL Series, we’ll learn the basics of coding in SQL Server, including Stored Procedures, Functions and Views. As in previous sessions, this event features practical learning with follow-along instructions and the option to ask questions.

If you missed Pt. I and II, or just want a refresher, check out the event recordings on Youtube.

🎇NEW EVENT: Project Management Professionals: The Ins and Outs of Deploying a National Health System Program
Wednesday, November 24th @ 6:30 PM Facebook | Meetup | Linkedin

Host April Murray is a 21 year Registered Respiratory Practitioner veteran and most recently a Health Informatics Specialist with one of the largest healthcare systems in the United States. Her introduction into the high value and high impact role that technology plays in healthcare came when her clinical curiosity was met with the complexities of the electronic health record as it began its adoption into hospitals. She currently spends her time between taking care of patients at the bedside at a local metro Detroit hospital and creating a better and safer user experience in her role as informatician.

The COVID-19 world pandemic changed the normal routine of the day to day operations in healthcare and made her passion with closing the gap in the disparities that are seen in healthcare all the more urgent. She has spent the last nearly two years of the pandemic deploying programs across the country to not only keep patients and frontline staff members safer but she’s also implemented strategies that kept communication open with families when all visitations were completely restricted.

Tune in for this free session with April as she walks through her strategies for running healthcare programs and projects during the pandemic. No registration is required for this event – simply join the Zoom call using this link at the event time.

Do you have a topic or project you would like to present at a Hackforge meetup? Is there a subject you would love to see us cover? Reach out to Lauren@parallel42systems.com!

October 2021 at Hackforge

Border City Data: Geospatial Data in SQL Data Warehouses
Thursday, October 21st @ 6:30 PM Facebook | Meetup | Linkedin | Register

A Geographic Information System (GIS) connects data to a map, allowing for visualization and analysis of location-based information. This system is becoming ubiquitous across industries, with infinite uses across analytics applications.

To give SQL users an introduction into the use of GIS data, Hackforge and Border City Data present a one hour talk, delivered by Doug Sartori, that will cover:

SQL Server spatial data types and functions
Transforming and loading spatial data
Handling complex geographic hierarchies

Border City JavaScript: October Social
Thursday, October 14th @ 8pm Facebook | Meetup | Linkedin | Register

Border City JavaScript will be gathering virtually on Thursday, October 14th for an informal discussion on recent news in tech, your current projects, and anything else that attendees are interested in chatting about.

Do you have a topic or project you would like to present at a Hackforge meetup? Is there a subject you would love to see us cover? Reach out to Lauren@parallel42systems.com!