Lightning Talks Day 2

Speaker 1: All right, we'll get started in a couple seconds. Did you want to say anything before I dove in head first, Megan?

Speaker 2: Not particularly. It's good to see so many faces here today.

Speaker 1: Yeah, my partner in crime, Megan. We're actually both in North Carolina right now. I'm normally in Philadelphia, but uh I'm down here at my second home about probably about a half an hour drive uh from Megan. So we're we're both right uh in the tri research triangle area. So Well welcome to Lightning Talks. Um there's your drum roll I'm above. Lightning talks are talks that are on any topic. It doesn't have to be Wagtail specific, it doesn't have to be Jenger specific, it doesn't even have to be Python specific. That is less than five minutes. It can be as short as I've seen ones that are 30 seconds in the past.

Speaker 1: For example, I'm going to give one right now as part of my introduction. So Matt's talk kind of inspired me to talk about something I've been playing with, which is ParadeDB's PG Search. This is a extension for Postgres that you can install right now. I've used the internal TS vector search with Postgres for quite a few years and found a lot of shortcomings. in it. One of the big problems we have with it is that, you know, it would work just great for my blog, but we have several products, for example, our SEC filings product that have documents that go into the megabytes of length. And what we found with the limitations that exist within TS vector, we only end up searching between 20 and 30%

Speaker 1: of our total corpus because of the 16,383. token limit. There are several other limits within TS vector that this overcomes. And the big new thing that PG Search is giving us with Postgres is it incorporates the same ranking algorithm that is used in Elasticsearch and OpenSearch. which is called the BM25 algorithm. It's also much faster. So some of the key features are it's 100% Postgres native. With zero dependencies on an external search engine. So it's all within your Postgres cluster. It's built on top of Tanta V, which is a Rust-based alternative to Lucene. For those of you that don't know what Lucene is, it's actually what sits underneath Elasticsearch and solar before it. The query times over a million rows are 20 times faster compared to TSQuery and TS Vector within Postgres

Speaker 1: that's built in. There's support for fuzzy aggravation, aggregations, highlighting, relevance tuning, all the things you'd expect from a modern text search. And again, the relevance scoring uses the BM25 algorithm, which is the same algorithm used by Elasticsearch. You also don't have to manually re-index anytime new data is added. It's automatically put into place. And if you take a look, here's some basic syntax of how to do searches. within the PG search. As you can see, they are uh they're they're pretty post But they've taken pains to make sure that it feels like Postgres. So if you've ever used TS vector or anything within Postgres, you'll see that this sort of syntax kind of falls in line

Speaker 1: And uh you'll see that in addition to the results ranking 20 times faster, on a million rows it indexes 50 times faster than TS vector. And we've seen this to be true in our tests over SEC filings with millions of documents. So if anyone's interested, you can check out uh github. com slash parade db slash parade db and pg search is listed right in there as a subdirectory and it gives you sort of instructions on how to install. One of the easiest ways is to use PigSty. If you've never heard of PigSty, it's kind of like PIP for Postgres It just pre-installs binaries from the Postgres extension ecosystem. So you can install PigSty for your various Linux distribution and then just do pig

Speaker 1: install pg search and then go ahead and create it. So it's still very much, I'd call this very much a work in progress. We found a fair amount of issues with this, but ParadeDB has been very responsive to fix some of the issues we've had. So we're going to continue to play with it. and uh and see where it heads. Ta -da, that was my three-minute lightning talk. So just as an example, you don't need to do any preparation for a lightning talk. You don't have to do a slide deck or anything like that. You can just bring up a couple tabs on a webpage and talk about something you're something you're excited about that you've been working on recently and that's perfectly fine. So I will one last time put the uh the sign-up

Speaker 1: link into the chat and if you've decided uh that you want to give something a go like I just did um I'll put you at the end of the list. But without further ado, I don't see Brian on. So I'm going to turn it over to my friend Kenya, who's going to talk about how to help build the next DjangoCon. Please take it away, Kenya.

Speaker 3: Thanks. Thanks everybody. I do have a cute little, well, a tiny little slide that let me see if I could get my technology to work. Not a big Zoom person. And I apologize, Graham is barking at Amazon. No, this is not what I want to score. One more thing here.

Speaker 1: Don't worry, I won't start the clock ticking yet.

Speaker 3: All right, I don't think I'm gonna have a slide deck, so I'm gonna just talk about what I need to talk about. My name is Kenya Phelps. Hello everyone. I am going to talk about bringing DjangoCon to your city and volunteering for DjangoCon. I don't have a um I don't have a Wagtail Lightning Talk. It isn't about Wagtail t Wagtail, but I do want to talk about something that's near and and dear to my heart. That's community and more specifically the Django community. So after cheering DjangoCon US 2025 ,

Speaker 3: I can tell you that DjangoCon just doesn't happen. It is built, it's cultivated. and uh curated by people just like us, folks on this call. It isn't just a conference. I believe it's a celebration. It's a community celebration. um built by people who care deeply about open source and they also care about each other. So I you you can't stop me from talking about the Django community. So I it want to just let folks know that it's built year after year by volunteers, people who raise their hands and say, you know, what can I do to help? What do you need?

Speaker 3: So first off, you know, volunteering, um, not to just, you know, it not only it bringing the the conference to your to your city, but volunteering. It's an extremely rewarding experience. I can say that because I volunteer quite a bit. You don't need a decade's worth of experience. You don't need a fancy title. Just a willingness to contribute. Be kind and helpful. So some of the things you can get out of it is building lit leadership skills. So those soft skills that you might not get to practice every day. You can connect with other developers, like-minded people, speakers, and sponsors too that you might not never have met otherwise.

Speaker 3: And honestly, you do make real friends, not just work friends. Um so for me the comp the volunteering turned into that conference that I attended one year. um into the community that I belong to. And then that furthered my experience too, oh, I can help lead some things in the community. That's how I found mentors, collaborate, collaborators, and just cheerleaders. And we all need cheerleaders, especially in this day and age. So I feel like whether you can review, help to review talks, run social media, organize sprints, welcome attendees, whatever's your jam, this is the place for you. So

Speaker 3: now let's talk about hope hosting Django Khan in your city. So we'd love to get some proposals to bring this energy and these folks to your town. I feel like hosting Django Khan is a love letter to your city. I'm from Chicago and I wanted to curate like the best experiences for my friends in Django. So I've gotten a lot of feedback that folks love the things that I suggested. And it was, you know, I I love to have people that I respect and like being around in Chicago. So it was awesome. You get to show out off what makes your community uniquely you. So I did bring my own little, my little flavor to it. The people, the food, the skyline, the culture, the energy, everything.

Speaker 3: And when attendees experience the city through DjangoCon, they remember it. There's your city through DjangoCon, they will remember it. And I feel like the local communities get boosts. And companies get noticed, new voices get get heard. And on top of that, you know, you wouldn't be doing it alone. If you submit a proposal, DEFNA and other Django community, they will have your back every step of the way. Now you need to submit the proposal. And then Daphna and uh different entities would help you to to refine that proposal. They'll help you not just going to be doing this on your own. So um What I would ask is here's my challenge.

Speaker 3: You know, maybe you want to volunteer for the next DjangoCon or maybe submitting that proposal to hosts um in your city is something you're thinking about, you're thinking about. Or maybe it's looking for a partner or someone to collaborate with to bring the um to bring Django Khan to your city. That what what you know I'm hoping that you would think about doing that today. And just to leave with the um Django Khan is power, Django Khan is powered. through people like us. I mean every hour, every local organizer, every sleepless night, every idea, I think that's what keeps Django Khan thriving 20 years later.

Speaker 3: So that is my lightning talk. I apologize for the technical difficulties. I did have a cute little slide deck, but it wouldn't work.

Speaker 1: Well, thank you so much, Kenya. And as uh somebody who's hosted uh DjangoCon in Philly as well as a couple Wagtail spaces, it's uh it's a topic near and dear to my heart These things don't just happen if people from the community don't step up and help them happen. So a big thank you to all the Wagtail Space volunteers this year as well, because doing it online has its own challenges as well But yeah, a lot of us have gotten to be really good friends over the years because of these communities, and it's uh it's been a big part of my life. Um next up we have Adya Srivastava talking about AI and robotics from science fiction to everyday reality. Please take it away.

Speaker 4: Thank you very much, sir. Thank you. So good morning. I'll just share up my screen. So yeah, that's it. So good morning, good evening, good afternoon from wherever you are joining guys So this is all wherever you are across the planet. Thanks for joining. Today I invite you to fasten your digital seatbills because we are about to take a whirlwind journey. into the most exhilarating eras in the human history.

Speaker 4: The rise of AI and robotics. So here we go. What actually is artificial intelligence? So the artificial intelligence all about it is AI is just isn't about the clever code. It's machines that learn, reason and solve the problems. Almost as if giving the microchips a soul. So we are taking about computers that spot patterns, chat like humans, and even create art. AI's fingerprint are everywhere. everywhere from your phone's assistant to the system shaping the business and the medicine. Next we move on to the evolution of the robotics. So you know, robots started uh as a glorified screwdriver, just tightening bolts and

Speaker 4: factories. But with the clever AI, today's bots can handle the surgery. can help in the disaster zones and even team up with the humans. Imagine working with a teammate who never drops the veil. That's the new wave of robotics for you Practical applications. I've got some of the video clips for you, which I'll be showing it out in the end. So now AI and robotics are in the hospitals, in the transportation, in the manufacturing part and in the in a manufacturing part and then in the consumer part as well. So that is all about then we come to the opportunities and the challenges, the most important thing, the upside, massive productivity.

Speaker 4: If you talk about the upside to the massive productivity, the new industries and jobs that didn't exist a decade ago, but here's the catch. Here's the catch, the shift in the employment, the ethical dilemmas and the tricky questions about the fairness and privacy. It's a double-edged swell uh double-edged sword and everyone's got the skin in the game. So the impact impact is on the job displacement where it uh there it's causing the decline in jobs, it's also creating a new job. uh like the ones which are using the AI and robotics as their uh to increase the efficiency in the work that are up ahead in the game. Then if we talk about the ethics. So here where it gets too deep, AI can amplify bias

Speaker 4: if we are not careful and its decisions should be explainable. Being accountable isn't an afterthought. It's the backbone responsible technology. As we build these systems, let's ensure they work for everyone everywhere Then the this video. Then we have this video. She has a breathtaking robotic woman. This woman just stood up and walked again with a robotic exoskeleton. So I'll just present it. She's a paralyzed woman and there are around 10,000 users who are struggling with this and robotics has made it easy. You just swatch it.

Speaker 5: Okay, so um there is one. Yeah, so yeah, that'll be a lot. That's all that finds it.

Speaker 4: Then if you talk about the neural link participant controlling the robotic arm only using his thoughts He's just only using his thoughts and you see he's just sipping up at the juice and the coffee. Just only using his thoughts.

Speaker 5: Oh , we're all

Speaker 4: So that's one uh another thing. Next we come to the artificial intelligent robots are like evolving to look remarkably like a humans. You see the faces. See And it's a skid-eye robot. Uh it's built a robot brain that nothing can stop. It has the uh like the ability the adaptability it has uh like it can feel whether a push or a force it can like adapt to it to see.

Speaker 4: It's a broken knee, it doesn't matter. It will adapt to it like a first VR here held in the first VR the uh robotic fight first VR robotic fight held in the San Francisco This is it. Just a glimpse of it If we move move forward, then we have a bionic hand

Speaker 4: with the brain. So not only it can crawl on its own, but easily can handle the daily life needs. Then we have then we have the Elon Musk showcasing the Optimus 2. 5

Speaker 4: Optimus 2. 5 to the National Media Office. And then about the Optimus Prime So here it was found uh doing kung fu in front of the Jared Leto during a red carpet premium. You see right in front of the Jared Leto This is the same Optimus Prime which Elon Musk presented in front of the Abdullah.

Speaker 4: Okay, so since we are running short of time, so I was given a five minute slot, so I've taken a much more. So to increase the productivity, we have a lot many AI tools like for writing. We have Grammar Leads, Hat GPT, Quantitab. The action framework, we have a lot, many things. Then for the productivity part, we have neuta, author, notion, and a lot, many things like that. For any purpose, we have another for the marketing, for the AI agent. We have Grok Perplexity. Perplexity is the one like I personally feel like it's a very useful tool. And Microsoft Copilot as well for the productivity part. Then this is the new figure that is coming to be released tomorrow. That is 10th of September. Sorry, 9th of Oct 10th of October it will be releasing.

Speaker 4: So it's a misprint here. Sorry for that.

Speaker 1: All right, those were uh pretty interesting demonstrations.

Speaker 4: So yeah, concluding it. So yeah, uh thank you. To close the AI and robotics aren't just changing the technology, they are changing us. Let's steer this revolution with wisdom, courage, and the global teamwork here to a future that's not just automated, but enlightened. And thank you all for plugging in from around the globe and sticking around the questions and as we say In Britain, cheer you or in the US. See you next time. Thank you very much. And with a quote, like AI-powered exoskeletons help the paralyzed walk. hand bionic hands exceed the natural ability and robots can now think on their feet. Sometimes literally watching these breakthroughs, it's clear. The line between the science fiction and science fact is nearly erased.

Speaker 4: Thank you very much.

Speaker 1: Thanks so much. Next up we have uh Cohen Vanderkamp. Um with exact crop, please, Cone, take it uh uh take it away when you're ready.

Speaker 2: Think you're muted, Kuhn

Speaker 6: Thanks. I think I have to uh even restart to give access to Zoom to share my screen. Let me try.

Speaker 1: Yeah, feel free.

Speaker 2: Yeah, we can certainly keep people entertained if you need to bop in and out. The joys of a Mac

Speaker 1: Absolutely. I like how it makes you do it like three times for the different accesses.

Speaker 2: Oh, Persephone wants it, Jim.

Speaker 1: I mean my

Speaker 2: my most my most common joke is when I introduce my name, which is uh hello everybody, my name is Megan. Uh it's a Irish name. It means I burn in the shade.

Speaker 1: I have to think of one that won't violate the code of conduct.

Speaker 2: Oh, Tim.

Speaker 1: So saucy.

Speaker 2: So saucy, Tim. So saucy.

Speaker 1: Hey Megan, did you know that the first French fry wasn't actually cooked in France?

Speaker 2: Oh

Speaker 1: Turns out it was cooked in Greece Ho

Speaker 2: ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho Alright Koon is back y'all

Speaker 1: Please save them from our sense of humor. Take it away, Cohen.

Speaker 6: I hope you can all see my screen and uh I'm terrible at this because now this this nice bar is over my content. Ah whatever. Let's do it. So um my lightning talk is about um uh exact crop and uh normally you've got the the focal point I'm not uh sure Oh, I can minimize your whatever. Um so normal normally you've got the focal point and if you don't set it you get something like this and then uh it just centers the crop. And if you uh uh save the focal point

Speaker 6: you say like okay the tower needs to be in focus, then uh you can reload this. And it does its best, but it might still not be ideal. So um One of the problems, and we get this feedback often, is that uh people think this is an exact crop and they don't understand. that it's only a suggestion and they will want mere more control. One problem with the vocal area is also that it doesn't give direct feedback about the exact frame that will be cropped. So with exact crop, I made this widget and you can just decide yourself how you want to crop this

Speaker 6: and also toggle some guides and put it that in the center. And maybe I want a little bit more uh space around it, like that. And uh I can do that for uh every image, every uh rendition that I want to have. So maybe um This and also there m maybe the rule for apply here and I want to have the tower exactly there. And this is probably a header image or something. And uh also here I want uh a little bit more control. um how it's shown. So maybe

Speaker 6: a bit more like that. And I can imagine that I even bring this further with uh maybe uh an avatar where you have a circle or whatever. Um but now I can save this. And this was the focal point. This is the exact crop without anything applied yet. But if I reload this then they are dead center and all nicely propped like I specified them. So um To have the widget know which crops to make and also the templates I define

Speaker 6: the crop sizes in my settings. So they are named now and they have a width and a height and also have the WagtoExact image crop widgets because sometimes uh some uh images have the same ratio And then they can present it as a single crop widget. So here you can name the widget and give them a description and also say to which presets they apply. So the list image small and the list image medium is actually one list image widget, but it creates two renditions And in the template it looks like this, its exact crop and then the name of the crop.

Speaker 6: So yeah, I think that's it. It's uh currently a work in progress. I still have the Jason with the data in plain sight, so I have to hide that. I'm still not sure if I'm gonna remove the uh focal area or not maybe some sites need both I probably like to have a lock on this Because if you accidentally move this then yeah you can go back to what it was but uh it's maybe better that you on scroll not accidentally uh change the crop. So probably a lock and then unlock to to change the the exact crop.

Speaker 6: And some polishing, some tests, some documentation, stuff like that, and then it's ready as a package. So uh this was my presentation.

Speaker 1: Fantastic, thank you. That looks incredible. Uh we had one question pop up And I think I know the answer, but I'll let you answer. Is this open source and available?

Speaker 6: Not yet. It's on my local machine at the moment. So

Speaker 1: give you a two to three hours.

Speaker 6: Yeah, no. Um I'm I'm not sure yet. It's uh it's uh a side project at the moment and uh I hope that uh we'll uh come package it. any time but yeah have to get uh get around to doing that

Speaker 1: fantastic thanks so much We had two other people sign up to give lightning talks, but uh I don't see them here. Um so I think that may uh wrap us up unless anybody wants to uh give a last second. Take the floor for a last second lightning talk off the top of your head. Otherwise we can uh we can move on to social time.