compsoc-freshers October 2011

compsoc-freshers@lists.ox.compsoc.net

2 participants
6 discussions

Week 4
by Ben Gazzard 30 Oct '11

30 Oct '11

Hi All, I hope you're all enjoying that delicious extra hour today (clocks went back in case you didn't know - I didn't!). This week we have the Bank of America Merill Lynch dinner on Tuesday - to those that have RSVP'd, I will send out an email separately. I have attached details of a competition they are running as well. On Wednesday we also have our Lightning talks in Catz. Alex has already covered it pretty well in his email on Friday, but just a reminder if you want to give a short talk (on anything computer related) - there will be refreshments afterwards, and we'll buy hall in Catz for everyone (numbers permitting) that lets us know they will be doing a talk in advance. Read more below to find out about these events and this weeks technology challenge (which is open to anyone, but only members can win prizes) - as well as last weeks solution. Ben and Alex CompSoc Co-Presidents ************************************************************************ The Oxford Computer Society ************************************************************************ Lightning Talks: Wednesday 2, 20.15-22.00 St Catz JCR Lecture Theatre Link: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=193745284036553 Have you an interesting idea you want to share with a technologically-minded audience, pertaining to computers in general? Test whether you can get your message across in only 5 minutes! Data projectors will be provided. We do welcome surprise contributions, but it would be lovely if you informed us beforehand regarding your wish to take part. Email committee(a)ox.compsoc.net with the title of the talk you plan on doing and we'll buy you hall before the talk. As usual, refreshments will be provided afterwards. The plan is to meet at St Catz lodge at 20.15 for a 20.30 start in the JCR Lecture theatre. Here is a handy map for finding Catz: http://g.co/maps/eeut2. If you get truly lost in Catz, you can call Ben on 0754 999 3401. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CompSoc jobs mailing list: The society receives a number of advertisements each week from companies and individuals interested in employing our members. The jobs range from graduate positions, to a bit of help with another societies website. If you would like to receive these emails just email compsoc-jobs-request(a)lists.ox.compsoc.net with 'subscribe' in the subject line. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bank of America Merill Lynch Optimisation Challenge: Fancy winning an iPad2? Bank of America Merrill Lynch is launching a coding competition for Oxford Students. The instructions are enclosed in the poster attached. Submit your code by the 11th of November and take your chances to win an iPad2. Apply to Bank of America Merrill Lynch via baml.com/campusEMEA The applications deadlines are . 11th November- Full time 2012 Technology Analyst Programme . 16th December - Technology Analyst Internship - summer 2012 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Technology Competition: Challenge 4: This week's challenge follows from the Netcraft talk we had on Wednesday (don't worry, if you weren't there you should be able to solve it still!). There is a vulnerability somewhere in http://compsoc.dartoxia.com - the challenge is to find it and exploit it. As usual, answers can be submitted at http://compsoc.dartoxia.com/answer Bear in mind that the answer to this challenge isn't that you can DoS the website or that there is a hypothetical vulnerability on some port of my machine. Anyone (with a .ox.ac.uk email address) can sign up to the competition through the http://compsoc.dartoxia.com website, but only members can receive prizes. Compsoc.dartoxia.com isn't connected to the compsoc network, and so you will need to make a new account to participate. For more details about the competition see http://compsoc.net/technology_competition or contact committee(a)ox.compsoc.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Technology Competition: Challenge 3 Result: Congratulations to Katrina Spensley for correctly deducing that the wordsearch was also a simple shift cipher. We will get in touch separately about your prize ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Membership: Our current membership rates are £5 for life and £3 for a year. Being a member entitles you to free socials, prizes in the technology competition and you can attend (obviously) members only events - such as the upcoming Bank of America dinner. You will also receive a CompSoc membership card! Membership forms can be downloaded from http://compsoc.net/forms/Compsoc_Membership_Application.pdf - please return them completed and money to a committee member.

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CompSoc Lightning Talks
by Alex Kavvos 28 Oct '11

28 Oct '11

Dear all, Next week, we will be hosting an experimental and completely informal LIGHTNING TALKS SESSION! I agree; it will be rather silly. But we can still try! === WHAT IS IT? === The idea is simple: #1 -- Pick a topic; #2 -- Prepare a VERY SHORT presentation, and #3 -- Deliver it. In Step #1, the only constraint we suggest (but will not enforce) is that the topic is something pertaining to computers in general: from a short introduction to your favourite esoteric pet programming language, to a hilarious tale about why you think UNIX userland tools are rubbish, or even a post-structuralist, Derrida-esque analysis of "2001: A Space Odyssey" and the topic of intelligence and machines, anything goes! Re Step #2, I suggest the absolute, hard time limit is 5 MINUTES; this will be strict, and we will make sure you will be heckled if you go on a second longer. An extra 2 minutes will be allocated to questions. Oh, and a timer will be provided! And, finally, for Step #3: if you wish to use slides, we will provide a computer, running some fancy operating system made by Microsoft, a PDF viewer, and most probably Microsoft PowerPoint as well. We can probably plug your own laptop in on the data projector (yes, there will be one of them!), but I wouldn't bet on it. === ORIGINS === The idea of lightning talks was first implemented in a Python conference, although it seems Perlistas (yes, Perl programmers, and my pun is terrible) have trademarked the idea. Here's some (wise, unlike their horrendous programming language) advice, apparently stemming from experience: ---> http://www.perl.com/pub/2004/07/30/lightningtalk.html === WHY ARE WE DOING THIS === There are many reasons. Quite a few of us seem to have some sort of 'techical experience' in various technologies; it seems like a good idea to start communicating to each other what we're doing outside Oxford but within computers: you never know whom you might excite! Furthermore, it would be a good idea to practice our talking: no matter the sort of profession, job or vocation most of us will follow after leaving Oxford, it will most probably involve some requirement for 'talking skills.' This is a good opportunity to practice an extreme side of your ability to speak to an audience. Finally, if we keep the atmosphere informal enough, it will be a good laugh. You'll get probably get to hear some interesting things, or heckle. And if you speak, you'll get to say something interesting, or be heckled. Both are excellent opportunities to practice our repressed hooliganism and stretch the limits of our self-confidence! === WHO & WHERE === As usual, the Oxford CompSoc. The Place: St Catz' JCR Lecture Theatre As always, instructions will be provided in good time, for those who haven't yet showed up to any of our events The Time: WEDNESDAY of WEEK 4 (02 Nov), 8:15pm - 10:00pm This implies we could accommodate up to approximately 10 speakers. (Note that the termcard has put this event down on Thursday. Maybe it is time to publish the full errata for it...) === I WANT TO SPEAK === Excellent; then show up! If you can, do e-mail us in advance about your wish to speak. It will still be fine if you show up without notice, though. So; have a very good weekend! Best, Alex

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Bank of America Dinner and Netcraft Talk
by Ben Gazzard 26 Oct '11

26 Oct '11

Hi Guys, Just a quick reminder that you will need to RSVP by tomorrow if you want to come to the (FREE*) Bank of America dinner at Quod next Tuesday at 7 - there are still about 10 places left. There isn't a dress code for this event though smart seems to be a good rule of thumb. Also, I would like to remind you that the Netcraft talk starts at 17.30 today in the JCR Lecture Theatre at Catz. If you are after an internship/job at the end of this year I highly recommend coming along to this talk as, in my opinion, they provide both engaging and interesting work as well as very good salary + other bonuses. If you're just interested in internet security and free buffets of course it will still be worth coming along. All the best, Ben *for members, if you're not a member it is only £3 for a year £5 for life PS Since no one seems to have got the technology competition again here is a clue, the message is in the wordsearch: B C Y F F I M J U W Y N B Y L Y M J U W Y W I O G J M E I W M J U W Y P G Y G V Y L M N I M J M J C U W Y W I H R A L U N O F U N C I P H M M A J U W Y C O M P U T E R I H M J U S W Y Z F C H X C G H A M J U W Y N B Y M J O U W Y R L Y M R O F N M J U W Y I Z M J X C U W Y E N B A Y M J U W Y Z C L M N M F J U W Y W T B M U F F Y H A Y M N I J M O J U W Y M O N M L J L E C M C H A F S M R J U W Y Y U M I S M J R U W Y N B I O A D B T E N R E T N I W I A G G M U M J U W Y A L C A B N K G O Y M W N C I I H M J U W Y Z O M C H A M J U W D Y N B Y C M J U W Y O Z L F M J U W Y J R L I P C A R X Y X M J U I W Y Q B Y H M A J U W Y R M O Y N R E T U P M O C X N C H H A M J D U W S Y N B Y M J U W Y W I B U F F Y H A Y M J O U W Y Y R N Y H X M N J U W Y C N M J U W C Y Q C N B M J U W Y U C N Q U M C H N B Y Q I L X M Y U L W B U F E M A D M J U W Y N I M J U W Y Z C H C M B Compsoc Oxford Computer Pizza Programming Microsoc Unix Interface Internet Computer Hardware Card

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Week 2
by Ben Gazzard 23 Oct '11

23 Oct '11

Hi All, I hope everyone has had a good 1st week and settled back in to Oxford life. It was great to see so many people at Freshers' Drinks on Tuesday. This week we have two events planned, a talk on 'Using Machine Learning To Solve Real-World Problems' on Tuesday and a film screening on Saturday. Read more below to find out about these events and this weeks technology challenge (which is open to anyone, but only members can win prizes) - as well as last weeks solution. Ben and Alex CompSoc Co-Presidents ************************************************************************ The Oxford Computer Society ************************************************************************ Using Machine Learning To Solve Real-World Problems: Tuesday 18, 20.00-22.00 St Catz JCR Lecture Theatre Link: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=266683403374448 How do you approach a classification problem involving thousands of categories rather than the 'usual' five or six? What happens when your data-set is several gigabytes and growing? What open-source tools are available, are they any good, and can they be put to commercial use? How do you measure the system's effectiveness when you're not allowed to see the real data because of client confidentiality? David North and Richard Ashby, from local software company CoreFiling, will aim to answer all these questions and more in their talk on machine learning from an industry perspective. There will be free drinks afterwards. David has for some time been a CompSoc Systems Administration Co-ordinator (http://compsoc.net/network/), if you think you might be interested in taking over this role or just want to know what it is then after the talk would be an excellent opportunity to ask about it. Here is a handy map for finding Catz: http://g.co/maps/eeut2 And here is another one for finding the JCR lecture theatre (it joins on to the PDR): http://compsoc.dartoxia.com/map.png If you get truly lost in Catz, you can call Ben on 0754 999 3401. We will meet at the lodge in Catz at 2000 for a 2015 start. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Film Screening: Saturday 22, 19.30-22.00 St Catz JCR Lecture Theatre Link: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=302974333051482 We will be screening a film to be decided by Doodle poll. Refreshments will be provided. Free for members, £2 for non members - got to cover pizza costs! Here is a handy map for finding Catz: http://g.co/maps/eeut2 And here is another one for finding the JCR lecture theatre (it joins on to the PDR): http://compsoc.dartoxia.com/map.png Doodle Poll: http://compsoc.dartoxia.com/poll.html If you get truly lost in Catz, you can call Ben on 0754 999 3401. We will meet at the lodge in Catz at 1930 for a 1945 start. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Technology Competition: Challenge 2: This weeks challenge is to determine what the code below does: def f(b):n=b.find('0');~n or exit(b);[m in[(n-j)%9*(n/9^j/9)*(n/27^j/27|n%9/3^j%9/3) or b[j]for j in range(81)]or f(b[:n]+m+b[n+1:]) for m in'%d'%5**18] Once you have figured it out go to http://compsoc.dartoxia.com/answer/<ANSWER GOES HERE>. Anyone (with a .ox.ac.uk email address) can sign up to the competition through the http://compsoc.dartoxia.com website, but only members can receive prizes. Compsoc.dartoxia.com isn't connected to the compsoc network, and so you will need to make a new account to participate. For more details about the competition see http://compsoc.net/technology_competition or contact committee(a)ox.compsoc.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Technology Competition: Challenge 1 Result: Congratulations to Alaric Stephen for solving the first challenge the quickest - we will get in touch separately to arrange your prize. Last weeks challenge was "What does our logo mean?". The correct answer was OX. This answer is found if you interpret each dot to be a 0 or 1 depending on shade and for the columns into values: 0100 1111 0101 1000 = 4 F 5 8. Now if you look up the ASCII symbols for 4F and 58 you get OX. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Membership: Our current membership rates are £5 for life and £3 for a year. Being a member entitles you to free socials, prizes in the technology competition and you can attend (obviously) members only events - such as the upcoming Bank of America dinner. You will also receive a CompSoc membership card!

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Re: [compsoc-freshers] Week 2
by Ben Gazzard 21 Oct '11

21 Oct '11

Hi guys, Just so you know, we will be watching 2001: a space odyssey on Saturday night. More details about the event can be found at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=302974333051482. All the best, Ben PS Nobody has yet guessed this weeks technology challenge correctly - first one to do so gets a £5 prize. I have copied the challenge and a clue below. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Technology Competition: Challenge 2: This weeks challenge is to determine what the code below does: def f(b):n=b.find('0');~n or exit(b);[m in[(n-j)%9*(n/9^j/9)*(n/27^j/27|n%9/3^j%9/3) or b[j]for j in range(81)]or f(b[:n]+m+b[n+1:]) for m in'%d'%5**18] Once you have figured it out go to http://compsoc.dartoxia.com/answer/<ANSWER GOES HERE>. Anyone (with a .ox.ac.uk email address) can sign up to the competition through the http://compsoc.dartoxia.com website, but only members can receive prizes. Compsoc.dartoxia.com isn't connected to the compsoc network, and so you will need to make a new account to participate. For more details about the competition see http://compsoc.net/technology_competition or contact committee(a)ox.compsoc.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Clue: It is not PI, quicksort or a turing machine. Sample input for the code is copied below: 402705016603000080010008000700591040000307000020864007000900070040000608870402109

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Freshers Drinks and More...
by Ben Gazzard 10 Oct '11

10 Oct '11

Hi All, Welcome to the CompSoc mailing list to all of our new subscribers from Freshers' Fair, and hi again to everyone who was already here. We've got plenty planned this term, you can find the full termcard at http://compsoc.net/termcards/2011/michaelmas/. Details of our first event and the first of our weekly challenges follow. Ben and Alex CompSoc Co-Presidents ************************************************************************ The Oxford Computer Society ************************************************************************ Freshers Drinks: Tuesday 11, 20.15-22.00 St Catz PDR Come along to talk geek, have a few drinks and nibbles on us and to generally find out what the society is. If you can't stay for long, feel free just to pop in for a quick drink and a chat. Here is a handy map for finding Catz: http://g.co/maps/eeut2 And here is another one for finding the PDR: http://compsoc.dartoxia.com/map.png If you get truly lost in Catz, you can call Ben on 0754 999 3401. Someone should be at the lodge to show you where to go between 2000 and 2030. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Technology Competition: Challenge 1: This week the challenge is a really easy introductory one: "What does our logo mean?" This week we will only be awarding a prize to new members - as our older ones already (hopefully!) know what the answer is. Once you have figured it out go to http://compsoc.dartoxia.com/answer/<ANSWER GOES HERE>. Anyone (with a .ox.ac.uk email address) can sign up to the competition through the http://compsoc.dartoxia.com website, but only members can receive prizes. Compsoc.dartoxia.com isn't connected to the compsoc network, and so you will need to make a new account to participate. You can see our logo on http://compsoc.net, for more details about the competition see http://compsoc.net/technology_competition ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Membership: Our current membership rates are £5 for life and £3 for a year. Being a member entitles you to free socials, prizes in the technology competition and you can attend (obviously) members only events - such as the upcoming Bank of America dinner. You will also receive a CompSoc membership card!

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compsoc-freshers October 2011