Warming up with weather

By exploring the process of creating AI characters like the Pumpkin King or a fully generated Weatherman in this talk. You will be equipped with practical tools and frameworks to craft compelling AI-driven narratives, providing insights on leveraging Large Language Models for creative innovation that can be used in a plethora of applications. Attendees will gain hands-on examples and the know-how to apply these technologies in their projects, enhancing engagement and interaction through the characters themselves.

"Conjuring the Weather: Unleashing Creativity with Generative AI" is a deep dive into the transformative power of AI in crafting characters and narratives that captivate and engage. From the whimsical Pumpkin King to a weather-forecasting AI, this session explores the nuts and bolts of creating lifelike AI personas using Large Language Models. Attendees will learn practical techniques for harnessing these technologies across various applications, gaining the skills to bring their imaginative concepts to life. This talk is a must-attend for anyone eager to push the boundaries of creativity and innovation in their projects, offering a unique blend of technical insight and inspirational examples.

The Power of Words

Join David Bates (A Modern Magician) for a captivating exploration of how Large Language Models and other AI tools have revolutionized R&D and rapid prototyping. Discover the immense potentials, and the subtle pitfalls, of building with today’s most compelling AI tools.

In a landscape where technology continually shifts the boundaries of possibility, there emerges a potent blend of art and science that is transforming the way we approach R&D and rapid prototyping: Large Language Models (LLMs) and embeddings. Join David Bates, a modern-day magician with a cutting-edge toolkit, for a sweeping exploration of these formidable tools.

In this presentation, attendees will gain:

• Insight into the world of LLMs: What are they? Why are they pivotal in today’s tech-driven world?
• Understanding of embeddings: The underlying magic that enables machines to grasp the nuances of human language.
• Awe at the range of applications and solutions that have been birthed, thanks to these tools. From product development to entertainment, the reach is boundless.
• Caution with a candid discussion on the pitfalls and challenges of building solutions with LLMs and embeddings. Not every potion is without its side effects.

Arthur C. Clarke once said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” By the end of David’s presentation, you’ll understand why today’s AI tools truly feel like the wands of the 21st century. Dive deep, learn, and be prepared to be spellbound.

Beyond the Curtain: Creating Interactive Experiences with Hardware and Software.

Welcome to “Beyond the Curtain: Creating Interactive Experiences with Hardware and Software.” In this captivating session, you’ll dive into the fascinating world of highly interactive custom characters brought to life with modern AI.

In this talk David Bates will guide you step by step through the process, revealing the secrets behind creating enchanting experiences without breaking the illusion. Don’t worry, there’s no heavy math involved—well, maybe just a little. ;)

Get ready to uncover the magic behind the technology and see how APIs, whimsical characters, and seamless hardware-software integration come together to create something truly magical.

*Key Takeaways*
1. Accelerate Your Prototyping with APIs:
• Understand how APIs can streamline the development process and reduce the time to create a proof of concept.
• Learn practical examples of leveraging APIs to quickly bring ideas to life.

2. Crafting Whimsical and Interactive Characters:
• Discover the techniques and tools used to develop engaging characters, like the Pumpkin King, a real-time weatherman and more!
• Explore the role of AI in enhancing character interactivity and realism.

3. Seamless Integration of Hardware and Software:
• Gain insights into interfacing hardware with software to create immersive and magical user experiences.
• See real-world applications of beam break sensors and other technologies in interactive projects.

4. Inspiration and Practical Applications:
• Leave with ideas and inspiration to apply these technologies in your own projects, whether for fun, education, or innovation.

This talk is geared towards a technical audience but anyone interested can take away how these characters are created.

This is an adaptation from two previous talks "PHD: The Pumpkin Human Detector" & "Warming up with Weather" and some new content. This is suitable for an hour long session geared towards a technical audience.

Tweeting in the Upside Down: How I Built an Interactive 'stranger Things' Display

This talk will walk through the process of building a Stranger Things wall from start to finish. You'll learn what you need to code with ESP8266 as an IoT platform and how to roll your own services for communicating with IoT devices using a custom NodeJS server. We'll talk about connecting the application to Twitter and how to transform messages to numbers to address LEDs. In the end, we will all have fun sending messages to the wall and reminisce about the show.

This was first delivered during Code on the Beach 2018. https://youtu.be/nq9-qghmV5c My overall goal in speaking is to promote making as a passion so the target audience is developers or beginning makers.

Developer Marketing: Market Yourself, Market Your Product

In this talk, I'll show by example why it's important to learn marketing trends and give examples on how to stand out amongst the sea of developers applying for your dream job. I'll also touch on how to use marketing knowledge to your advantage when breaking down problems. You should come out of this talk excited to build your personal brand and communicate better with your designer.

This is based on my own experience getting laid off and finding a new job in under two days. The speech is intended to help developers think outside the box when it comes to marketing themselves. You can read the full story here: https://medium.com/@dlbates.com/getting-over-getting-laid-off-a56856e92dfd

How to Convince Your Boss to Let You Build an Interactive Christmas Tree

Is there a new framework you've been dying to try? A different language? Maybe you want to learn about AI or some other topic that doesn't relate to your daily job. In this session, I'm going to show you how to find those unique opportunities where you can build, learn, and grow without the fear of failure. This session will also show you through examples how to pitch these ideas to your boss so that you don't have to spend your own valuable time. Last but not least you will hopefully take away an eagerness to seek out these opportunities and better yourself as a developer. Oh and there will also be an interactive Christmas tree for you to play with :)

How to Make IoT Devices Speak with Fire

This talk is being rewritten but was first given with much success in 2016 at RevolutionConf (https://2016.revolutionconf.com/schedule). It made both the local newspaper and was mentioned in the blogs of developers (https://codersblock.com/blog/revolutionconf-2016/). It was presented on Adafruit's Show and Tell and has been featured on Hackster.IO during Halloween ever since. https://www.hackster.io/Dlbates/iot-flaming-and-talking-pumpkin-using-aws-and-esp8266-49934f

If you would like me to give this talk my DM's are open on Twitter. It's more than just talking about Flaming Pumpkins it's a way to get developers excited about creating things and pumping up their passion in making the developer to maker transition.

So You Wanna be a Maker Too?

This talk was given between 2014-2015 at various local day conferences and was intended to give developers the tools and subjects they would need in transitioning from developer to maker.

Using Kinect Service to Build a Better Bear Trap

Kinect Service (a coding4fun library) shows us how to send data from the Kinect for Windows sensor other API's like Azure, WebSockets, Etc. This talk will show you how to create a Kinect Service to notify you when a human is detected. We will also cover how to use Face.com's facial and mood recognition API to tell whether the person is an angry bear looking to cause trouble.

This talk was first given in 2012 at ThatConference: http://2012.thatconference.com/Sessions/session_277

The Microbrewery Approach to Building Innovative Teams

This will be a fun session where we will talk about beer, moonshine, and technology teams. With a microbrewery popping up every 30ft or so it's hard not to notice the success of the framework that drives this new type of business. This session takes a look at how they are successful and how to apply those learnings to multiple areas. We'll take a hard look at the gamut of innovation frameworks out there today and I'll share a strategy and framework for innovation that can drive the same success.

This talk is best served before a social engagement where beer will be served. The Balmer curve will be mentioned. :)

If you are going to innovate you have to experiment

Software companies are agile whose guiding principle is small incremental constant improvement. But how can you make disruptive innovations to your product under that kind of construct? Let me show you how to innovate within agile.

This talk will go over how to adapt the scientific method within agile frameworks and tools like Jira, how to plan innovation and break down the problems into chunks that can be included in a sprint, and finally the pitfalls I can hopefully help you avoid while making an effort to innovate.

No special equipment for this talk. Generally, 45 minutes will cover the concept, one hour will allow for questions and dialog.