Our Last Meetup

Abner Coimbre is our Handmade Cities founder. You may reach the author at abner@handmadecities.com

Dear Handmade folks,

This Saturday is the last monthly meetup… for 2026! I hope I DID scare you, because it’s in the spirit of Halloween :D

This last month is open seating, no RSVP required!

The details:

We’re right next to Roosevelt’s Light Rail. We can’t miss it if we have Apple/Google maps:

• Where: One Bite Cafe (in Seattle)
• When: Saturday, October 31st, 2:00 - 4:15PM
• Parking: There is street parking around the block. However, the most reliable place to park is “Green Lake Park & Ride”

One Bite is reserved for Handmade, and their seasonal drinks are just incredible. Let’s support this local shop!

Saturday’s Schedule

• 2:00 - 2:30: Everyone arrives and orders drinks, catching up with folks, etc.
• 2:30 - 2:45: Community news & updates
• 2:45 - 3:00 (John): Changes in federal R&D funding
• 3:00 - 3:30 (River): Pokemon map editor
• 3:30 - 3:45: Bathroom break
• 3:45 - 4:15 (Luciano): Mysterious technical demo

Presentation #1: Changes in Federal R&D Funding

Before we get to our usual nerdy goodness, community member John Boyle will take fifteen minutes to demonstrate how federal R&D funding has changed over time. To hear it in his own words:

“Much of the computer technology of today came out of federally funded research initiatives. I’ll review how federal funding for research has changed since DOGE was established and also discuss some of the administration’s plans for ushering in a ‘New Golden Age’ of science.”

One of my best friends, who’s a NASA hardware / CPU engineer at Goddard – think James Webb Telescope – is currently affected by this “golden age.” It’s a FANTASTIC habit to become aware of how cash flows in our society, especially after the (ongoing!) mass layoff apocalypse.

Presentation #2: Pokemon Map Editor

Our Kirkland meetup host, River, graciously agreed to demo a Pokemon map editor that has me SCREAMING.

Handmade Cities is celebrating decompilation, recompilation, reverse-engineering, level editors, and just modding community efforts overall. River’s a true veteran in the field, and even though this particular Pokemon project is in its early stages, I already see enough there that’s worthy of a group presentation!

Presentation #3: Mystery Demo (?)

Luciano Remes, who has very-professionally fuzzed and tested Terminal Click (thank you!) is now cooking up something else and I have no idea know what it is. Kinda spooky right? How fitting for a Halloween meetup. In his own words:

“Also Abner I’m cooking something up recently if you want a very visual presentation next Handmade.”

I’m excited for whatever this is.

Seattle After Dark (4-7PM) 🍕

Between 4:15 - 4:30PM we will wind down the official meetup and make our way to dinner and drinks. “After Dark” is optional, but during this time I moderate very little, which lets community members get spicier with their takes on our industry as a whole. It’s a hoot.

See you Saturday at 2PM,
Abner Coimbre