I maintain a portfolio of my work on a GitHub page that you can access using these easy-to-remember URLs…
…and I’ve updated it to include some new stuff, because it’s been a pretty busy 2026 so far!
Additions include:
Want to go to a real AI conference, packed with real practitioners, in a place where you’ll catch a lot of great talks and plenty of “hallway track” in a fun city?
That conference is Arc of AI, and as of this writing, it’s happening in just under three weeks, from April 13th (if you catch the full-day workshops) or April 14th through 16th.
Better still, I’m giving a brand-new talk, described below:
SEO is dead for developers. The new workflow for building software has shifted from the Google search bar to the IDE prompt box. When a developer asks an AI agent (which could be Claude, Cursor, or a custom MCP server) to implement a library or secure an API, they’re no longer the primary consumer of your documentation. It’s the LLM now.
If your code, documentation, and reference architectures aren’t optimized for machine ingestion, the AI will hallucinate the implementation, and the developer will blame your product. We’re entering the era of AEO: AI Engine Optimization.
This session covers user-friendly documentation to explore the architectural reality of the “user” being a machine. We’ll dive into the emerging standards recently validated by industry leaders, including the llms.txt proposal and Andrew Ng’s Context-Hub, to show how to provide the “Goldilocks” amount of context to an agent.
We’ll explore:
llms.txt standard to ensure your project is accurately indexed in central context hubs.Stop writing for the crawler and start writing for the context window. It’s time to ensure that when the robots are asked to build, they choose your stack!
Once again, Arc of AI will take place from Monday, April 13 through Thursday, April 16, with the workshop day taking place on Monday, and the main conference taking place on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
From Arc of AI’s registration page:
You read that right! For each conference ticket you purchase, you get one free ticket. This applies only to conference tickets and not for workshops.
Happy Saturday, everyone! Here on Global Nerdy, Saturday means that it’s time for another “picdump” — the weekly assortment of amusing or interesting pictures, comics, and memes I found over the past week. Share and enjoy!
Here’s what’s happening in the thriving tech scene in Tampa Bay and surrounding areas for the week of Monday, March 23 through Sunday, March 29!
This list includes both in-person and online events. Note that each item in the list includes:
✅ When the event will take place
✅ What the event is
✅ Where the event will take place
✅ Who is holding the event
Need to see last week’s list? It’s here.
Tuesday at 10 a.m. at Hashtag Cafe (Sarasota): The EveryDay AI Learning & Social Meetup Group presents Coffee & AI, a casual Saturday morning conversation for non-technical people who want to understand what AI can actually do in everyday life. No laptops required. No jargon. Just coffee, good conversation, and a few genuine “I didn’t know it could do THAT” moments.
Hosted by Rudy Poe, Emmy-winning filmmaker, serial entrepreneur, and Sarasota local, who’ll show you how and why you will want to use AI.
Find out more and register here.
Tuesday at 6:00 at Embarc Collective (Tampa): Calling all e-commerce operators, remote workers, digital marketers, Shopify entrepreneurs, Facebook Ads pros and AI enthusiasts and start-up entrepreneurs! Join us for an evening of high-impact networking and actionable conversations in the heart of Tampa Bay. This month’s keynote will be Content Strategy in the Age of AI: Paid vs. Organic.
Two free drink tickets with admission.
Find out more and register here.
Wednesday at 12:30 online: The Heart of Agile Coffee Corner brings people together from around the world via Zoom in a casual setting to share and discuss ways we Collaborate, Deliver, Reflect, and Improve.
After February’s reset conversation with Alistair Cockburn, we’ll keep exploring the kinds of topics people asked for: real‑world stories of agile in practice, small high‑leverage changes in how we work together, and the intersections between Heart of Agile and emerging areas like AI—shaped by who’s in the room and what you bring.
The Heart of Agile is not just for software teams; it applies anywhere people work together—healthcare, education, community work, product development, coaching, and beyond—so you’re welcome whether or not you work in tech.
Find out more and register here.
Wednesday at 5:30 at Ark Innovation Center / spARK labs (St. Pete): AI Salon St Pete/Tampa/Orlando #4 will take place!
Find out more and register here.
Wednesday at 6:00 at Embarc Collective (Tampa): A hands-on workshop focused on making your business more capable, efficient, and competitive with AI. This three-part series explores practical tools, real-world workflows, and proven strategies to help your business thrive with AI in 2026 and beyond. Hosted by Clarky AI, this workshop is built and led by software engineers—practitioners who design and deploy AI systems—not event professionals.
Find out more and register here.
Thursday at 6 p.m. at sal y mar (Midtown Tampa): Tampa Bay New-In-Tech presents Tech meetup @ MidTown rooftop! Unwind after work and connect with professionals from across industries in casual, welcoming settings.
Whether you’re hoping to grow your network, exchange ideas, or simply take a break from the week, this is a great opportunity to meet like-minded people in one of Tampa’s most vibrant spots.
Find out more and register here.
Thursday at 6 p.m. online: Tech in Full Effect presents Security Concerns in Vibe Coding. Drawing from real-world incident response and post-breach investigations, this presentation will break down common security failures tied to AI-assisted development, including blind trust in generated code, insecure defaults, over-permissioned APIs, prompt leakage, and the quiet disappearance of secure code review. It will also cover how attackers are already adapting to exploit these habits, not the tools themselves.
Attendees will leave with a practical framework for safely using vibe coding, including guardrails that preserve speed without sacrificing security, questions developers should ask before shipping AI-generated code, and simple controls that catch problems early. This session is designed for builders, security teams, and leaders who want the productivity boost of vibe coding without turning their app into a future breach case study.
Find out more and register here.
Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Wild Rover Brewery (Westchase): Time for another Lean Beer!
Lean Beer is an alternative to the early morning Lean Coffees, for folks who can’t always join us at 7:30 AM. Lean Beer is a great place to ask questions and share your stories of using Agile and Lean software approaches, over an adult beverage, if you choose. They discuss any topics on Agile and Lean that are of interest to whomever is gathered. You suggest the topics, then they prioritize that list democratically, through a good ole’ fashion vote. They manage our discussions via time boxes, and a Roman vote (drinks up/drinks down). Vegas rules apply!
Find out more and register here.
Friday at 7 p.m. online: Google Developer Group Central Florida presents their March Virtual “Show and Tell” of Projects by the Community!
Ready to showcase your creativity and ingenuity? Want to see what fun, cool, and innovative projects community members are working on? Then get ready for their March Creative Exchange!
Opportunities:
Find out more and register here.
| Event name and location | Group | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Computer Repair Clinic 2079 Range Rd |
Tampa Bay Technology Center | 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM EDT |
| Community Service at Metropolitan Ministries Metropolitan Ministries |
Tampa Bay Bitcoin | 4:30 PM to 7:30 PM EDT |
| Friday Board Game Night Bridge Club |
Tampa Gaming Guild | 5:30 PM to 11:00 PM EDT |
| MTG: Commander FNM Critical Hit Games |
Critical Hit Games | 6:00 PM to 11:00 PM EDT |
| March Virtual “Show and Tell” of Projects by the Community Online event |
Google Developer Group Central Florida | 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM EDT |
| Taps & Drafts | EDH/MtG Night 1Up Entertainment, Tampa |
Nerdbrew Events | 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM EDT |
| Modern FNM Sunshine Games | Magic the Gathering, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! |
Sunshine Games | 7:00 PM to 10:30 PM EDT |
| Friday Pokemon Tournament Sunshine Games | Magic the Gathering, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! |
Sunshine Games | 7:30 PM to 11:30 PM EDT |
| Return to the top of the list | ||
| Event name and location | Group | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Saltmarsh and Beyond (5e 2024 D&D Campaign) Sunday, Mar 29 · 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM EDT |
Adventurers of Central Florida | 3:09 PM |
| Weeki Wachee paddle with Gen Geek Mary’s Fish Camp |
Gen Geek | 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM EDT |
| Distinguished Scholar Series: Brittany Polat Online event |
Orlando Stoics | 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM EDT |
| Sunday Chess at Wholefoods in Midtown, Tampa Whole Foods Market |
Chess Republic | 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM EDT |
| D&D Adventurers League Critical Hit Games |
Critical Hit Games | 2:00 PM to 7:30 PM EDT |
| Savage Worlds: Thrilling Tales Emerald City Comics 4902 113th Ave N, Clearwater, Florida 33760 |
St Pete and Pinellas Tabletop RPG Group | 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM EDT |
| Sunday Pokemon League Sunshine Games | Magic the Gathering, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! |
Sunshine Games | 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM EDT |
| Sew Awesome! (Textile Arts & Crafts) 4933 W Nassau St |
Tampa Hackerspace | 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM EDT |
| A Duck Presents NB Movie Night Discord.io/Nerdbrew |
Nerd Night Out | 7:00 PM to 11:30 PM EDT |
| Return to the top of the list | ||
How do I put this list together?
It’s largely automated. I have a collection of Python scripts in a Jupyter Notebook that scrapes Meetup and Eventbrite for events in categories that I consider to be “tech,” “entrepreneur,” and “nerd.” The result is a checklist that I review. I make judgment calls and uncheck any items that I don’t think fit on this list.
In addition to events that my scripts find, I also manually add events when their organizers contact me with their details.
What goes into this list?
I prefer to cast a wide net, so the list includes events that would be of interest to techies, nerds, and entrepreneurs. It includes (but isn’t limited to) events that fall under any of these categories:
Tampa Bay Tech Week is only a couple of weeks away!
Billed as “a multi-day, citywide celebration of technology, culture, and community,” it’s a week worth of events taking place across Tampa Bay, from Ybor and downtown Tampa to midtown Tampa to St. Pete.
The organizers have teams up with startups, enterprises, investors, and community organizations to put this series of events together, and it’s for techies of all stripes: founders, engineers, creators, and students.
Here’s the latest list of events associated with Tampa Bay Tech Week. They might add more, so to be sure, check the Tampa Bay Tech Week events page often!
You can get passes from the Passes page on the Tampa Bay Tech Week site. There are different passes:
Tampa Bay Tech Week is organized by this team:
For more info about Tampa Bay Tech Week, visit the Tampa Bay Tech Week site!
Pictured above: a screenshot from a conversation I had with Claude last night. I was using it to craft an email in response to an interview that could be better described as an ambush.
I use LLMs as a double-check for when I’m trying to remain professional when greatly annoyed and for when I want to spend the minimum amount of time on something or someone. The party I was communicating with met both criteria.
I’m pretty sure that the way I sass back at LLMs doesn’t affect the quality of their revision when I harshly tell them that I disagree with their original answer. But as a catharsis, creative outlet, and excuse for an amusing screenshot and blog post, it’s oh-so-good.
Want more? Here’s a post from January about what I call The “Nick Fury” method for refusing LLM answers.
From April 13th through 16th — and a couple of days before, because it’s in Austin — I’m going to be at the Arc of AI conference! Over the next little while, I’m going to be posting articles about Arc of AI, in case you’re wondering what the conference is about and whether you should go.
In this article, I’ll talk about my favorite title from all the talks on the Arc of AI agenda.
When your talk happens on the last time slot at the end of a three-day conference (four days, if you’re also going to do one of the workshops), you need to put in some extra effort to get the attendees to show up and not disappear for the local sights (Arc of AI’s in Austin) or make a beeline for the airport.
Brent Laster, President and Founder of Tech Skills Transformations, is giving a number of talks — and a workshop! — at Arc of AI, and he has one of the closing talks. He has a talk in one of those last speaking slots on the Thursday at 4:00 p.m., and it has what I think is the most interesting title on the agenda:
We’re all using AI, But We’re Not Enjoying It
Here’s the abstract:
We’re All Using AI, But We’re Not Enjoying It takes an honest look at a growing gap in the workplace: AI adoption is skyrocketing, yet frustration, confusion, and uneven results are just as common. This talk explores why AI so often feels harder than it should—poorly integrated tools, unclear workflows, unrealistic expectations, cognitive overload, and the pressure to “keep up.” Looking at patterns seen across teams learning to use AI effectively, we’ll break down the practical barriers that make everyday AI work feel tedious instead of empowering. More importantly, we’ll outline a set of achievable shifts—better task design, lighter mental models, context-first prompting, workflow pairing, and small but meaningful guardrails—that can restore a sense of control and clarity.
I need to figure out how I can attend both Brent’s talk and my former Tucows coworker Leonid Igolnik’s talk (which he’s giving with Baruch Sadogursky), Back to the Future of Software: How to Survive the AI Apocalypse with Tests, Prompts, and Specs…
Great Scott! The robots are coming for your job—and this time, they brought unit tests. Join Doc and Marty from the Software Future (Baruch and Leonid) as they race back in time to help you fight the machines using only your domain expertise, a well-structured prompt, and a pinch of Gherkin. This keynote is your survival guide for the AI age: how to close the intent-to-prompt chasm before it swallows your roadmap, how to weaponize the Intent Integrity Chain to steer AI output safely, and why the Art of the Possible is your most powerful resistance tool. Expect:
• Bad puns
• Good tests
• Wild demosThe machines may be fast. But with structure, constraint, and a little time travel, you’ll still be the one writing the future.
Decisions, decisions…
Once again, Arc of AI will take place from Monday, April 13 through Thursday, April 16, with the workshop day taking place on Monday, and the main conference taking place on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
From Arc of AI’s registration page:
You read that right! For each conference ticket you purchase, you get one free ticket. This applies only to conference tickets and not for workshops.