I've been in Cardiff for approaching a year now and it's about time I sought out the geek community. I'm following some of the local colour on Twitter, but have so far forgotten or been forced to miss the Linux User Group meetings, Trydan gatherings (always during working hours, grr!) and other fun meetups that have happened. (Although I did make it to the SWN new media presentations last year!)

Well, there's a whole bunch of geeky fun coming up over the next month, and I'm determined to attend most or all of them! This list was mostly written for my benefit, but I decided to share it here:

Moonwatch: Telescope Open Evenings, Cardiff School of Physics and Astronomy

Cardiff University Observatory will be
holding free Open Evenings on one or more of Monday 30th March to
Thursday 2nd April 2009 (weather permitting) from 5pm to 8pm. They will
also open Friday 3rd April if there is sufficient demand, or if the
weather is unfavourable earlier in the week.

Joint N.E.R.D. Geek Event / SWLUG meetup

Wed 1st April at 7pm
The Central Bar (Wetherspoons)

Ignite Cardiff presentations
With talks from:
Matthew Cashmore (Lonely Planet) – (title to be confirmed)

Tom Beardshaw (www.tombeardshaw.com/) – Lifestreaming
Pete Prior (http://nermal.org/) – CATaLOG
Suzi Wells – Infinity
DK (MediaSnakers) – Change
Denis Campbell (UK Progressive) – When School Ties and Party Organisations are not Enough to Win

Tim Millwood (http://millwoodonline.co.uk) – Drupal
Mike Ellis (http://variousbits.net/) – Everyware
Mark Stevenson (www.lifeinpixels.co.uk/) – Cardiff Twitter trends
Lloyd Morgan (http://LoneGunman.co.uk) – Vines and Minds
Rob May – How to survive the zombie apocalypse

Facebook event page
April 8th at 18:30 – 21:30
SodaBar, Mill Lane

University's 125th Anniversary Celebration Lectures
As part of the celebrations for the 125th Anniversary of the University, a number of lectures are being given by internationally renowned speakers from institutions across the world.  These lectures are free, but booking is required.

I'm planning on attending only two:

The Warped Side Of The Universe: From The Big Bang To Black Holes & Gravitational Waves
Professor Kip Thorne, California Institute of Theoretical Physics

16th April 2009 at 6pm – Julian Hodge Lecture Theatre, Julian Hodge Building, Column Drive.

Robots with Biological Brains and Humans With Part Machine Brains
Professor Kevin Warwick, University of Reading. In this presentation a look is taken at how the use of implant and
electrode technology can be employed to create biological brains for
robots, to enable human enhancement and to diminish the effects of
certain neural illnesses.

7th May at 7.00pm – Faculty Lecture Theatre, Manufacturing Engineering Centre, Queen's Building (T/2.09)