Hi everyone,
It was great to see so many people at last week's *Learn to Code*! We hope
to see you again this week, where we'll be continuing with while loops and
other control structures. Don't forget:
- *Arrive early* to ensure you can attend!
- *Don't forget your laptop!*
- *Charge your laptop beforehand* – we have only a few extension leads.
*Many thanks to all the volunteers!* If you'd like to be volunteer, join
the Learn to Code Helpers group
<https://www.facebook.com/groups/OXLearnToCodeHelpers/> to get updates.
If you missed Metaswitch's talk on Rust last week, you'll be pleased to
find the talk's slides attached to this newsletter.
This week's talk is by *Ocado Technology*, who'll be guiding you
through *Legacy
Land*. Why are legacy systems so frustrating? How do you leave a positive
software legacy? At this talk, you'll find out.
Then, it's our *Geek Night*, a talk on by *CoreFiling on continuous
deployment* and our third Learn to Code session.
Have a great week,
*Edward and the rest of the committee*
P.S. Don't forget to sign up for the 40th Anniversary Dinner
<https://www.facebook.com/events/601485016909802/>!
Events Geek Night 2 <https://www.facebook.com/events/315559422285996/>
*19:00 Saturday 2nd Week – Undergraduate Social Area, Department of
Computer Science*
Bring your laptop for an evening of relaxing, chatting, games, coding and a
selection of food and drink. This week's theme is the triumphal return of
cheese.
Tech talk with Ocado Technology: Landing in Legacy Land
<https://www.facebook.com/events/1075648285910242/>
*19:00 Wednesday 2nd Week – Lecture Theatre A, Department of Computer
Science*
*Abstract.* Why are legacy systems so frustrating? Why do we ponder about
its complexities and constraints? Why does it knock us down so hard when we
come across it in our new jobs. Well, we can’t answer all your questions
about Legacy Land, but we can surely provide some useful insight on how to
deal with it. Most importantly, making it fun and creating the legacy
everyone will talk about.
*Bio.* Anna Miedzianowska (Head of Product at Ocado Technology) and Bruno
Patriota (Product Owner at Ocado Technology) are passionate product
professionals working at Ocado Technology. They are both strong advocates
of a user-centric approach and customer dialogue, and in trying to bring a
little order to chaos wherever possible.
Anna* – *LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankamiedzianka/) | Twitter (
http://twitter.com/@ankamiedzianka)
Bruno* – *LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/bruno-patriota-a8a95292/) |
Twitter (https://twitter.com/@DigdaProduct)
Learn to Code 2: Control structures
<https://www.facebook.com/events/173211989952029/?event_time_id=173212259952…>
*19:00 Thursday 3rd Week – Lecture Theatres A & B, Department of Computer
Science*
Learn to Code is back! If you've ever wanted to learn the basics of
programming, refresh your Python knowledge, or get an idea of what computer
scientists actually do all day then this is going to be a great course for
you ☺️.
We aren't going to assume any prior programming experience, although to get
the best out of the sessions we highly recommend that you bring a laptop so
that you can follow along with some of the examples.
In this second session we will be looking at executing different code based
on conditions (if/elif/else) and looping (for/while).
Both Thomas and Sauyon's sessions will cover the same content, but you may
wish to go to the same session as last week for continuity.
We do expect demand to be very high for this course, so please try to
arrive before the advertised start time as we need to register everyone
(for fire regulations). You'll need to enter via the back door on Parks
Road; there are CompSoc signs up at the department.
If you're a CS student with a little spare time and enthusiasm, please
consider volunteering by contacting the committee.
Geek Night 3 <https://www.facebook.com/events/392785764515391/>
*19:00 Saturday 3rd Week – Undergraduate Social Area, Department of
Computer Science*
Bring your laptop for an evening of relaxing, chatting, games, coding and a
selection of food and drink. This week's Geek Night theme is pizza which
arrives on time.
Tech talk with CoreFiling: Continuous deployment
<https://www.facebook.com/events/2021121251489386/>
*19:00 Wednesday 4th Week – Lecture Theatre A, Department of Computer
Science*
David North will talk about CoreFiling’s journey from product releases
every six weeks, to every two weeks, to every week, and finally to a
continuous deployment process where changes to our web apps can go live
within hours of coding and testing being completed. He’ll talk about both
the technology that made it possible, and the business processes and
challenges involved.
Learn to Code 3: Loops and functions
<https://www.facebook.com/events/173211989952029/?event_time_id=173212263285…>
*19:00 Thursday 4th Week – Lecture Theatre A, Department of Computer
Science*
In the third session we're going to continue looking at while loops by
building a number guessing game before learning how to write your own
functions. Like this second session, much of the session will require you
to work on a laptop, so we highly recommend taking one.
------------------------------
The Oxford University Computer Society (CompSoc) aims to organise meetings
and events for our members to use and further their computing interests.
See all of our upcoming events on our Facebook Page
<https://facebook.com/oxcompsoc/> or visit our Website
<https://ox.compsoc.net> for more information about the society.
Edward Hart
Secretary - Oxford University Computer Society
secretary(a)ox.compsoc.net
Hi everyone,
This week it's our *first Learn to Code class*. We'll start off by
introducing programming in general, then the Python language and its basic
structures. We've had unprecedented demand, so:
- *Arrive early* to ensure you can attend! Due to fire regulations, we
have a maximum of 200-or-so attendees and we'll be registering everyone who
enters.
- *Don't forget your laptop!*
- If you're a CS student and can spare a little time and enthusiasm, *please
considering volunteering* as a TA. We'd appreciate as much help as we
can get. It doesn't matter if you can only help out at a few sessions, it
all goes a long way to getting people interested in programming and helping
them learn effectively. Join the Learn to Code Helpers group
<https://www.facebook.com/groups/OXLearnToCodeHelpers/> if you're
interested.
This week's talk is by *Metaswitch*. *What's so cool about Rust?* A lot.
We'll learn how Rust hopes to replace C++ through advances in static
analysis and smart type systems, making code with memory bugs uncompilable.
After that, it's our usual *Geek Night* and a *tech talk with Ocado
Technology* on dealing with legacy software.
You can still register for BAE's *Capture the Flag* event this Saturday.
The location has now been confirmed as Doctorow Hall in Teddy Hall and
OUEngSoc has now published a *Facebook event*
<https://www.facebook.com/events/650907481966992/>.
Finally, the Oxford University's *Summer Internship* and *Micro-Internship*
programmes have opened for applications, with a variety of opportunities in
technology sector. Applications start closing from the middle of February.
Have a great week,
*Edward and the rest of the committee*
P.S. Don't forget to sign up for the 40th Anniversary Dinner
<https://www.facebook.com/events/601485016909802/>!
Events Tech talk with Metaswitch: "Rust: making the Internet more secure,
statically" <https://www.facebook.com/events/288090265048260/>
*19:00 Wednesday 2nd Week – Lecture Theatre A, Department of Computer
Science*
Rust is a relatively new programming language which is rapidly gaining
traction in industry. It aims to replace C++, using a smart type system and
static analysis to enforce safe use of pointers while retaining the
efficiency required for systems programming. Buffer overflows and incorrect
memory management are responsible for a large fraction of recent security
vulnerabilities; Rust simply makes these impossible to compile. It’s a
great example of how the concepts of Computer Science are making a
practical difference to modern software engineering.
Bio: Keith Wansbrough is a Software Engineer at Metaswitch Networks Ltd.
Learn to Code 1: Introduction to Python
<https://www.facebook.com/events/173211989952029/?event_time_id=173212266618…>
*19:00 Thursday 2nd Week – Lecture Theatres A & B, Department of Computer
Science*
Learn to Code is back! If you've ever wanted to learn the basics of
programming, refresh your Python knowledge, or get an idea of what computer
scientists actually do all day then this is going to be a great course for
you ☺️.
We aren't going to assume any prior programming experience, although to get
the best out of the sessions we highly recommend that you bring a laptop so
that you can follow along with some of the examples. It doesn't matter
whether you use Windows, Mac, or Linux, and in the first session we'll
explain how to get started on any of these platforms.
In this course we are going to be using the programming language Python,
which is one of the easiest languages to pick up if you've never programmed
before and it is widely used in the technology industry – YouTube, NASA,
and Wikipedia are just three examples. If you need to learn R at some point
during your degree you may find that an introduction to Python will help
you pick up basic computational thinking ideas faster.
We do expect demand to be very high for this course, so please try to
arrive before the advertised start time as we need to register everyone
(for fire regulations). You'll need to enter via the back door on Parks
Road; there are CompSoc signs up at the department.
Geek Night 2 <https://www.facebook.com/events/315559422285996/>
*19:00 Saturday 2nd Week – Undergraduate Social Area, Department of
Computer Science*
Bring your laptop for an evening of relaxing, chatting, games, coding and a
selection of food and drink. This week's Geek Night theme is pizza which
arrives on time.
By the way, locked out? If you're a member of the CS Department, you can
enter after hours by swiping your Bod card and enter the secret code
(genuine hint: this
<https://www.youtube.com/embed/OR4N5OhcY9s?start=13&end=19> plus #).
Tech talk with Ocado Technology: Landing in Legacy Land
<https://www.facebook.com/events/1075648285910242/>
*19:00 Wednesday 2nd Week - Lecture Theatre A, Department of Computer
Science*
Anna Miedzianowska (Head of Product at Ocado Technology) & Bruno Patriota
(Product Owner at Ocado Technology)
Anna & Bruno are passionate product professionals working at Ocado
Technology. They are both strong advocates of a user-centric approach and
customer dialogue, and in trying to bring a little order to chaos wherever
possible.
Their 'Legacy Land' talk will cover - "Why are Legacy systems so
frustrating? Why do we ponder about its complexities and constraints? Why
does it knock us down so hard when we come across it in our new jobs. Well,
we can’t answer all your questions about Legacy Land, but we can surely
provide some useful insight on how to deal with it. Most importantly,
making it fun and creating the Legacy everyone will talk about."
Anna - LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankamiedzianka/) | Twitter (
http://twitter.com/@ankamiedzianka) Bruno - LinkedIn (
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bruno-patriota-a8a95292/) | Twitter (
https://twitter.com/@DigdaProduct)
Learn to Code 2: Control structures
<https://www.facebook.com/events/173211989952029/?event_time_id=173212259952…>
*19:00 Thursday 3rd Week – Lecture Theatres A & B, Department of Computer
Science*
Learn to Code is back! If you've ever wanted to learn the basics of
programming, refresh your Python knowledge, or get an idea of what computer
scientists actually do all day then this is going to be a great course for
you :).
We aren't going to assume any prior programming experience, although to get
the best out of the sessions we highly recommend that you bring a laptop so
that you can follow along with some of the examples.
In this second session we will be looking at executing different code based
on conditions (if/elif/else) and looping (for/while).
Both Thomas and Sauyon's sessions will cover the same content, but you may
wish to go to the same session as last week for continuity.
We do expect demand to be very high for this course, so please try to
arrive before the advertised start time as we need to register everyone
(for fire regulations). You'll need to enter via the back door on Parks
Road; there are CompSoc signs up at the department.
If you're a CS student with a little spare time and enthusiasm, please
consider volunteering by contacting the committee.
Other notices BAE Capture the Flag
<https://www.facebook.com/events/650907481966992/>
*09:30–16:30, Saturday 2nd Week – Doctorow Hall, St Edmund Hall*
OUEngSoc have kindly shared this event with us:
This is a team-based challenge for teams of 2 to 6 players, but individual
entries are also fine and teams will be assigned later. The challenges will
involve breaking into vulnerable websites, cracking ciphers, forensic
searches, reverse engineering and much more. No previous experience of
these kinds of challenge is necessary; they are designed for students who
like taking things apart and seeing how they work.
Lunch will be provided and there will be prizes for the winners!
*For more information or to sign up, email ctf(a)baesystems.com
<ctf(a)baesystems.com>.*
Internship Office Summer and Micro internships 2018
Oxford University’s exclusive Micro-Internship Programme
<http://www.careers.ox.ac.uk/micro-internships/> and Summer Oxford
University Internship Programme
<http://www.careers.ox.ac.uk/about-our-internships/> are now *open for
applications*! Whether you’re looking for a short-term, project-based
placement or an immersive work experience abroad over the summer, we have a
huge range of placements available to suit you.
*Micro-Internship Programme*
Keen to enhance your CV with work experience? The Micro-Internship Programme
<https://www.careers.ox.ac.uk/micro-internships/> facilitates 2-5 day work
experience placements in 9th and 10th week of every term. Applications are
OPEN and the deadline is *midday, Monday 29th January*. Please see our
handy sector/location
<http://www.careers.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/MIP-HT18-Sector-Loca…>
lists to browse micro-internship opportunities in the IT and Computing
sector
<http://www.careers.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/MIP-HT18-IT-Computin…>
.
*Summer Internship Programme*
The 2018 Summer Internship Programme
<http://www.careers.ox.ac.uk/about-our-internships/> offers a whole host of
exciting summer experiences all over the world. Whether you are interested
in consulting in Japan, sustainability research in Chile, teaching in
Singapore or working in a castle museum in the Czech Republic, there are
tons of opportunities to choose from. See our sector and locations list
<http://www.careers.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/International-Intern…>
for highlighted opportunities in the Computing and Technology sector
<http://www.careers.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Computing-and-Techno…>
.
You can apply for three internships through the current batch of
international internships via CareerConnect, with an application deadline
of 19th February 2018. More international internships will be available
through the programme after April. Our UK internships will be advertised
from 20th February.
*Looking for guidance with your application?*
The Internship Office offers weekly Application Support Sessions which can
be booked through CareerConnect
<http://www.careers.ox.ac.uk/using-careerconnect/>. We also have a
comprehensive application support guide
<http://www.careers.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Application-support.…>
to help you with your application. Plus, for micro-internships, previous
hosts have given helpful application feedback and advice
<http://www.careers.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Employer-Feedback-on…>.
Stay up to date with our internship programmes by signing up to the Internship
Office email alerts <http://bit.ly/2hUWOHY> and visiting the Internship
Office Facebook page. For any questions please email either
micro-internships(a)careers.ox.ac.uk or internships(a)careers.ox.ac.uk.
------------------------------
The Oxford University Computer Society (CompSoc) aims to organise meetings
and events for our members to use and further their computing interests.
See all of our upcoming events on our Facebook Page
<https://facebook.com/oxcompsoc/> or visit our Website
<https://ox.compsoc.net> for more information about the society.
Edward Hart
Secretary - Oxford University Computer Society
secretary(a)ox.compsoc.net
Hi everyone,
This week, CompSoc is hosting a *workshop with Semmle*, where we'll be
using their QL query language to *find security vulnerabilities*.
Tonight we will be hosting a semi-informal dinner with *David Malan*, a
Harvard professor that runs their CS50 course - an introductory programming
course that has over 1200 attendees each year. He's interested in chatting
with current CS students about Oxford's CS course.
After that, it's our usual *Geek Night* and a *tech talk with Metaswitch* on
how the *Rust*'s type system and static analysis is making the internet
safer for us all.
*Learn to Code* is fast approaching and if you have programming experience
with Python and would like to share some of your time and enthusiasm, let
us know or join the *CompSoc helper Facebook group*
<https://www.facebook.com/groups/OXLearnToCodeHelpers/>.
Other upcoming events in Oxford include a *drinks event on Big Data* at
Somerville College and a *Capture the Flag* event with BAE Systems and
OUEngSoc in Week 2.
Graduating? Want to start your future right? *Bloomberg* are taking
applications for their 2018 *software engineer graduate scheme*.
See you soon,
*Thomas and the rest of the committee*
P.S. Don't forget to sign up for the 40th Anniversary Dinner
<https://www.facebook.com/events/601485016909802/>!
EventsDavid Malan and Patrick Rebeschini
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdakcq2902_Ot5m00-rpFmQWRqXlg6KGoU…>
*18:30 Monday 1st Week - Undergraduate Social Area, Department of Computer
Science (location provisional)*
David Malan runs the CS50 course <http://cs50.harvard.edu/> at Harvard, and
Patrick Rebeschini (now at Oxford in the Stats department) previously ran
the course at Yale. They are interested in meeting with Oxford CS students
to discuss our course structure and to discuss the possibility of running a
similar course at Oxford. If you're passionate about CS education or you're
planning to volunteer with Learn to Code then this could be a great
opportunity.
We're provisionally going to meet at 18:30 in the UGSA but the venue might
change, so please RSVP here
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdakcq2902_Ot5m00-rpFmQWRqXlg6KGoU…>
-
we will e-mail later today if there is a change in venue. Food and drinks
will be provided.
Workshop with Semmle: The Zero-Day Machine
<https://www.facebook.com/events/172334296854579>
*19:00 Wednesday 1st Week – Undergraduate Social Area, Department of
Computer Science*
On Wednesday of 1st week (17 January), engineers from Oxford University
spin-off Semmle will visit CompSoc to give a workshop (with competition!)
about *code security analysis using the QL query language*. Using QL, it is
possible to write accurate and intricate queries that find security
vulnerabilities and various other problems in code. We started as a
research group at the Department of Computer Science, and have grown to an
international company with offices in Oxford, San Francisco, Seattle, New
York, Copenhagen, and Valencia. The QL language and analyses are now *used
on a daily basis* by security teams *at both Google and Microsoft* (among
many others) to find security vulnerabilities in their code.
*We recently made our analysis technology freely available for open source
projects*; find your own favourite projects on https://lgtm.com! As of
today, lgtm has analysed over 10 million commits by more than 300,000
developers to over 55,000 open source projects. Our security researchers
are constantly working with the community to find and disclose new
vulnerabilities; have a look on https://lgtm.com/blog for some examples.
Our queries are open source and available on GitHub:
https://github.com/lgtmhq.
The workshop will be given by recent Oxford Comp Sci graduates Sam Lanning
and Aditya Sharad. We'll start with an introduction to lgtm.com and QL, and
tell you about *some of the technological challenges we faced* when
developing the query language and engine. After that, there'll be a *workshop
on how to write queries to find your own security vulnerabilities*. Various
*prizes* will be awarded, and of course there'll be *drinks and pizzas*.
See you all at on 17 January at 19:00 in the Social Area!
Geek Night 1 <https://www.facebook.com/events/1793249247643632/>
*19:00 Saturday 2nd Week – Lecture Theatre A, Department of Computer
Science*
Bring your laptop for an evening of relaxing, chatting, games, coding and a
selection of food and drink. This week's Geek Night theme is pizza which
arrives on time.
By the way, locked out? If you're a member of the CS Department, you can
enter after hours by swiping your Bod card and enter the secret code
(genuine hint: this
<https://www.youtube.com/embed/OR4N5OhcY9s?start=13&end=19> plus #).
Tech talk with Metaswitch: "Rust: making the Internet more secure,
statically" <https://www.facebook.com/events/288090265048260/>
*19:00 Wednesday 2nd Week – Lecture Theatre A, Department of Computer
Science*
Rust is a relatively new programming language which is rapidly gaining
traction in industry. It aims to replace C++, using a smart type system and
static analysis to enforce safe use of pointers while retaining the
efficiency required for systems programming. Buffer overflows and incorrect
memory management are responsible for a large fraction of recent security
vulnerabilities; Rust simply makes these impossible to compile. It’s a
great example of how the concepts of Computer Science are making a
practical difference to modern software engineering.
Bio: Keith Wansbrough is a Software Engineer at Metaswitch Networks Ltd.
Learn to Code 1: Introduction to Python
<https://www.facebook.com/events/173211989952029/>
*19:00 Thursday from 2nd Week – Lecture Theatres A & B, Department of
Computer Science*
Learn to Code is back! If you've ever wanted to learn the basics of
programming, refresh your Python knowledge, or get an idea of what computer
scientists actually do all day then this is going to be a great course for
you ☺️.
We aren't going to assume any prior programming experience, although to get
the best out of the sessions we highly recommend that you bring a laptop so
that you can follow along with some of the examples. It doesn't matter
whether you use Windows, Mac, or Linux, and in the first session we'll
explain how to get started on any of these platforms.
In this course we are going to be using the programming language Python,
which is one of the easiest languages to pick up if you've never programmed
before and it is widely used in the technology industry – YouTube, NASA,
and Wikipedia are just three examples. If you need to learn R at some point
during your degree you may find that an introduction to Python will help
you pick up basic computational thinking ideas faster.
We do expect demand to be very high for this course, so please try to
arrive before the advertised start time as we need to register everyone
(for fire regulations). You'll need to enter via the back door on Parks
Road; there are CompSoc signs up at the department.
Other noticesThe True Value of Big Data
*15:30–19:00, Friday 1st Week – Flora Anderson Hall, Somerville College*
‘Big Data’ as a term is hot property but what does it actually mean... to
you? To business? To society?
Join Met Office and Alibaba Cloud as we cut through the ambiguity of Big
Data and demonstrate the real-life value of analytics, algorithms and
balloons(!) at Somerville College on Friday, 19th January.
Speakers include Alberto Arribas, Head of UK Informatics Lab at Met Office,
Dr Wang Ning, Senior Research Fellow at Oxford University and Data
Scientists from Alibaba Cloud.
Includes drinks and canapés.
*Sign up here.* <http://bit.ly/BigDataEvent-Oxford>
*Agenda*
- 15:30: Welcome Reception
- 16:00–18:10: Presentations by Oxford University, Met Office & Alibaba
Cloud
- 18:10: Introduction to Future Challenge data mining contest
- 18:25–19:30: Contest registration, drinks and networking
BAE Capture the Flag
*09:30–16:30, Saturday 2nd Week – location TBC*
OUEngSoc have kindly shared this event with us:
This is a team-based challenge for teams of 2 to 6 players, but individual
entries are also fine and teams will be assigned later. The challenges will
involve breaking into vulnerable websites, cracking ciphers, forensic
searches, reverse engineering and much more. *No previous experience* of
these kinds of challenge is *necessary*; they are designed *for students
who like taking things apart and seeing how they work*.
*Lunch* will be provided and there will be *prizes* for the winners!
*For more information or to sign up, email ctf(a)baesystems.com
<ctf(a)baesystems.com>.*
Sponsor noticesBloomberg 2018 Software Engineer Graduate Program
*Ready to solve problems that others can't?*
At Bloomberg, we find answers and make connections that improve our world.
It's our purpose. What's yours?
We develop impactful solutions to complex, real-world problems. With new
systems being rolled out daily, we make an innovative impact on global
markets and we look for the best software engineers to build them.
The 2018 grad scheme is full time, permanent employment based at
Bloomberg's new London HQ. Training classes start in May, August and
November. *Find out more and apply
at https://careers.bloomberg.com/job/detail/61273
<https://careers.bloomberg.com/job/detail/61273>.*
------------------------------
The Oxford University Computer Society (CompSoc) aims to organise meetings
and events for our members to use and further their computing interests.
See all of our upcoming events on our Facebook Page
<https://facebook.com/oxcompsoc/> or visit our Website
<https://ox.compsoc.net/> for more information about the society.
Welcome back!
There's a lot to look forward to this term, with exciting *talks*, *Learn
to Code* and a *40th Anniversary dinner*!
Learn to Code is our annual introductory Python programming course. If
you've never programmed before, then this is going to be a fantastic
opportunity to get started. The course starts on Thursday Week 2 and will
continue until seventh week, by which point we'll have introduced core
programming concepts.
As this mailing list goes out to CompSoc members, I'm sure that many of you
have experience programming in Python. If you would like to share some of
your time and enthusiasm please get in contact with us or join the *CompSoc
helper Facebook group*
<https://www.facebook.com/groups/OXLearnToCodeHelpers/>, as we'd love to
see as many volunteers as possible.
Next week, we'll be hosting a workshop by *Semmle*, a code analysis firm
based in Oxford, where we'll be using their QL query language to *find
security vulnerabilities*. Those who do best will get *prizes*.
Other upcoming events in Oxford include a *drinks event on Big Data* at
Somerville College and a *Capture the Flag* event with BAE Systems and
OUEngSoc in Week 2.
Also, our sponsor Microsoft is opening registrations for the *Imagine Cup*.
See you soon,
*Edward and the rest of the committee*
Events Geek Night 0 <https://www.facebook.com/events/1677877558914732/>
*19:00 Saturday 0th Week – Undergraduate Social Area, Department of
Computer Science*
Celebrate surviving your Hilary collections by joining us for a well-earnt,
relaxing evening of chatting, programming and pizza.
Workshop with Semmle: The Zero-Day Machine
<https://www.facebook.com/events/172334296854579>
*19:00 Wednesday 1st Week – Undergraduate Social Area, Department of
Computer Science*
On Wednesday of 1st week (17 January), engineers from Oxford University
spin-off Semmle will visit CompSoc to give a workshop (with competition!)
about *code security analysis using the QL query language*. Using QL, it is
possible to write accurate and intricate queries that find security
vulnerabilities and various other problems in code. We started as a
research group at the Department of Computer Science, and have grown to an
international company with offices in Oxford, San Francisco, Seattle, New
York, Copenhagen, and Valencia. The QL language and analyses are now *used
on a daily basis* by security teams *at both Google and Microsoft* (among
many others) to find security vulnerabilities in their code.
*We recently made our analysis technology freely available for open source
projects*; find your own favourite projects on https://lgtm.com! As of
today, lgtm has analysed over 10 million commits by more than 300,000
developers to over 55,000 open source projects. Our security researchers
are constantly working with the community to find and disclose new
vulnerabilities; have a look on https://lgtm.com/blog for some examples.
Our queries are open source and available on GitHub:
https://github.com/lgtmhq.
The workshop will be given by recent Oxford Comp Sci graduates Sam Lanning
and Aditya Sharad. We'll start with an introduction to lgtm.com and QL, and
tell you about *some of the technological challenges we faced* when
developing the query language and engine. After that, there'll be a *workshop
on how to write queries to find your own security vulnerabilities*. Various
*prizes* will be awarded, and of course there'll be *drinks and pizzas*.
See you all at on 17 January at 19:00 in the Social Area!
Future events Learn to Code
*19:00 Thursdays from 2nd Week – Lecture Theatres A & B, Department of
Computer Science*
Learn to Code is back! If you've ever wanted to learn the basics of
programming, refresh your Python knowledge, or get an idea of what computer
scientists actually do all day then this is going to be a great course for
you ☺️.
We aren't going to assume any prior programming experience, although to get
the best out of the sessions we highly recommend that you bring a laptop so
that you can follow along with some of the examples. It doesn't matter
whether you use Windows, Mac, or Linux, and in the first session we'll
explain how to get started on any of these platforms.
In this course we are going to be using the programming language Python,
which is one of the easiest languages to pick up if you've never programmed
before and it is widely used in the technology industry – YouTube, NASA,
and Wikipedia are just three examples. If you need to learn R at some point
during your degree you may find that an introduction to Python will help
you pick up basic computational thinking ideas faster.
We do expect demand to be very high for this course, so please try to
arrive before the advertised start time as we need to register everyone
(for fire regulations). You'll need to enter via the back door on Parks
Road; there are CompSoc signs up at the department.
40th Anniversary Dinner <https://www.facebook.com/events/601485016909802/>
*Drinks reception from 19:00, Wednesday 8th Week – Foyer B, St Anne's
College*
CompSoc turns 40 next year and we're celebrating in style! A sumptuous
three-course dinner at St Anne's (Domino's was booked up), joined by
CompSoc members spanning the society's 40-year history. All for just
£20. Reserve
your place here <https://ox.compsoc.net/dinner/> (don't worry about the
donation bit –that's just for old members who are in full-time employment).
There are a limited number of places, so act quickly!
Other notices The True Value of Big Data
*15:30–19:00, Friday 1st Week – Flora Anderson Hall, Somerville College*
‘Big Data’ as a term is hot property but what does it actually mean... to
you? To business? To society?
Join Met Office and Alibaba Cloud as we cut through the ambiguity of Big
Data and demonstrate the real-life value of analytics, algorithms and
balloons(!) at Somerville College on Friday, 19th January.
Speakers include Alberto Arribas, Head of UK Informatics Lab at Met Office,
Dr Wang Ning, Senior Research Fellow at Oxford University and Data
Scientists from Alibaba Cloud.
Includes drinks and canapés.
*Sign up here.* <http://bit.ly/BigDataEvent-Oxford>
*Agenda*
- 15:30: Welcome Reception
- 16:00–18:10: Presentations by Oxford University, Met Office & Alibaba
Cloud
- 18:10: Introduction to Future Challenge data mining contest
- 18:25–19:30: Contest registration, drinks and networking
BAE Capture the Flag
*09:30–16:30, Saturday 2nd Week – location TBC*
OUEngSoc have kindly shared this event with us:
This is a team-based challenge for teams of 2 to 6 players, but individual
entries are also fine and teams will be assigned later. The challenges will
involve breaking into vulnerable websites, cracking ciphers, forensic
searches, reverse engineering and much more. *No previous experience* of
these kinds of challenge is *necessary*; they are designed *for students
who like taking things apart and seeing how they work*.
*Lunch* will be provided and there will be *prizes* for the winners!
*For more information or to sign up, email ctf(a)baesystems.com
<ctf(a)baesystems.com>.*
Sponsor notices The Microsoft Imagine Cup
The Imagine Cup is back for its 16th year and you can be part of it! Want
to be in with the chance of winning the latest *Xbox One X console* and *cash
prizes* at the UK National Finals? Or do you think you can bag up to
*$100,000* at the Worldwide Finals in Seattle? Enter Microsoft’s annual
student developer competition to find out…
*How to enter:*
- Create your team (1 to 3 people)
- Register <http://aka.ms/UKimaginecup>
- Develop a project that utilises Microsoft Azure
- Submit your entry before the 16th of March 2018 – 00:00 GMT
Previous years have seen games, charitable applications, education services
and many more enter the competition. It is a great opportunity for you as a
student developer to showcase your idea, whether that be a great hackathon
submission, a University project, or even a start-up idea. Form your team
and enter... What have you got to lose! See what the 2017 Worldwide Finals
were like.
<https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Imagine-Cup/Imagine-Cup-World-Finals-2017>
*Enter here.* <https://imagine.microsoft.com/en-us/uk>
------------------------------
The Oxford University Computer Society (CompSoc) aims to organise meetings
and events for our members to use and further their computing interests.
See all of our upcoming events on our Facebook Page
<https://facebook.com/oxcompsoc/> or visit our Website
<https://ox.compsoc.net> for more information about the society.
Edward Hart
Secretary - Oxford University Computer Society
secretary(a)ox.compsoc.net
