Greetings, fellow CompSoc-ers,

The final week of term has dawned. Five days remain. Fear not, however — there's still time to get stuck into some CompSoc events before we all run away for the vacation!

We have two events this week for your delectation, kicking off today with a competitive programming contest! Join us in the Undergraduate Social Area from 7:30-9:30pm tonight for the final competitive programming contest of the term.

Finally, on Wednesday, we'll round off a hectic term with a spot of bubble tea! Join us from 5:30-6:30pm as we head off down to Fantastea to chill out with bubble tea and lively conversation.

In addition, FLOSS@Oxford are this Thursday hosting a talk on GNU Emacs. If computing in freedom interests you, head on down to find a link to join the video call! The call will run from 6-7pm.

Everything that begins must someday end, and the sun has finally begun to set upon my tenure as CompSoc's newsletter writer. I hope you've enjoyed the riveting prose and the captivating fun facts, and are looking forward to a new dawn of (possibly less verbose) newsletters. That's all from me — see you around! :)

— Declan, CompSoc Secretary

Fun Computing Fact: In my first ever CompSoc newsletter, I told you all about the amusing 'lp0 on fire' error message used in Unix-like operating systems, which originally alerted an operator to a printer physically catching fire (something that could and did happen!)

However, did you know that, in some Linux kernels, a thermal failure in the CPU can result in the appropriate error message 'CPU#<n>: Possible thermal failure (CPU on fire ?)'? Given that some earlier CPUs actually could go up in smoke without sufficient cooling before thermal throttling at high temperatures became common (see it happening!), this error message is actually quite appropriate!

At last Saturday's Annual General Meeting, members elected the new Committee to lead CompSoc through 2026/27. Please welcome the following individuals!

Still not a member? How?! Membership only costs £1 for LIFE, with tons of benefits - discounts on merch and tickets, free food at all socials, our exclusive Discord server and more - so it's definitely worth signing up!

or, go to https://ox.compsoc.net/product/lifetime-membership/

The final Monday of term has arrived, and the final competitive programming contest has also arrived alongside! Join us this Monday from 7:30-9:30pm as we head on down to the Undergraduate Social Area one last time to face off under the supervision of our two new Competitive Programming Officers...

When: 7:30-9:30pm, Monday 9^th March

Where: Undergraduate Social Area, Department of Computer Science 7 Parks Rd, Oxford OX1 3QG

Click 'Going' here: https://fb.me/e/9nUv0DJ3C

This Wednesday, we're headed down to Fantastea for our final event of the term! Join us from 5:30-6:30pm, as we chill out with some bubble tea at CompSoc's expense and say hi and goodbye to everyone one last time before we retire for the vacation. Come along to relax and indulge in some free drinks on us!

When: 5:30-6:30pm, Wednesday 11^th March

Where: Fantastea 36 High St, Oxford OX1 4AN

Click 'Going' here: https://fb.me/e/4cO4ZB7T7

An event hosted by FLOSS@Oxford:

"In this presentation I will tell you how to do much of your computing with the help of GNU Emacs. Emacs is a programmable text editor that can be used to do programming, manage your agenda, write emails, read the news, and more. All of this is done in an integrated and coherent way, while respecting your freedom." - Prot

Attending

Open to anyone, technical or not, whether a free software expert or newbie.
Just follow this videocall link; no registration required!

Speaker Bio

Protesilaos Stavrou (any pronoun) is a philosopher living in the mountains of Cyprus at a house they built themself which they affectionately call “the hut.” They spend their free time programming on GNU Emacs, writing essays on a wide range of life issues, and doing infrastructure work around their house.

They are also a self-taught programmer who enjoys learning by doing. They maintain more than 20 Emacs packages and continue to make contributions to the benefit of the Emacs community and free software at-large. Find all the relevant projects here: https://protesilaos.com/emacs.

On 2022-03-19 the Free Software Foundation awarded Prot the 2021 Award for Outstanding New Free Software Contributor. They received it in their mail in late August 2022. Here is the announcement, which also includes all links to the backstory, as well as a video of Prot showing the physical item: https://protesilaos.com/codelog/2022-09-01-emacs-fsf-award/ (pictures too!).

In May 2023 they received the Google Open Source Peer Bonus Program award for their Emacs modus-themes  package: https://opensource.googleblog.com/2023/05/google-open-source-peer-bonus-program-announces-first-group-of-winners-2023.html. Prot's relevant essay on Accessibility and software freedom: https://protesilaos.com/codelog/2023-05-11-accessibility-software-freedom/.

When: 6-7pm, Thursday 12^th March

Where: Online video call

Join the call here: https://ogeer.org/ox/meet/emacs/

Make sure to join OxWoCS (Oxford Women in CS), a society we're working closely with, if you identify as a woman or woman-adjacent person in CS! They have a host of wonderful events on, including talks, panels and socials. Computer Science is unfortunately a subject with one of the biggest gender gaps in Oxford and worldwide, and addressing this is at the core of OxWoCS.

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