Bienvenue, Pizza Aficionados,

Welcome to Week 4! We're almost half way through the term now, and I again have to find more excited ways to tell you that we have plenty of events this week. Alas, I'm out of ideas, so let's skip to the actual contents.

Firstly, it was great to see so many of you turn up and enter submissions for our esolang hackathon! Voting is now open to determine the winner of the contest — click here to vote!

And now, onto the week ahead. This Monday, we kick off the week with our second competitive programming contest of the term! Come along from 5:30-7:30pm in the Undergraduate Social Area as usual to compete against friends and foes.

This Saturday, we have a triple header extravaganza! First, we'll be holding a capture-the-flag evening from 5-7pm in the Undergraduate Social Area! Concurrently (but in a thread-safe manner!), we'll also be holding the third instalment in our Learn to Code series from 5:30-6:30pm at Jesus College. Finally, we'll be collaborating with the peeps at Oxford's Jet Lag society for a truly special Saturday social! Join us from 7pm for something all-new!

Finally, two notices — if you signed up for ice skating and were fortunate enough to get a place, don't forget to join us tomorrow at the Oxford Ice Rink! Secondly, the talk on programming languages scheduled for this week will now be held next week. Sorry for the inconvenience!

— Declan, CompSoc Secretary

Fun Computing Fact: After our language-themed hackathon last week, how about a language-themed fun fact? Perhaps you've puzzled in the past over why JavaScript bears 'Java' as part of its name, given it has no relation to... well, Java. The story goes back to the language's inception; the company Netscape in the mid-90s wanted to solve the issue of web pages being only static, and pursued two avenues to add a programming language to their Netscape Navigator browser.

One was an attempt to embed Java into the browser, in collaboration with Sun Microsystems, Java's contemporaenous developer. The second involved hiring Brendan Eich (later of Mozilla infamy!) to embed Scheme into the browser instead. The company soon shelved both approaches, asking Eich to instead develop one new language with syntax closer to Java, which was becoming a sensation following its inception in the same decade. The new language was originally called LiveScript, but was later renamed to JavaScript. A homage to its origins, a comment on its design or a marketing tactic? You decide...

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/

It was great to see so many people turn up to take part in our first mini-hackathon as a society in quite some time! Alas, now, we have to pit your wonderful submissions against each other — it's voting time. Click the link below to see each of our fifteen submissions (along with videos of any presentations given) and rate them out of three categories. Voting will close on Friday, with the results (and prizes) to be announced on Saturday. Good luck!

Vote here: https://forms.gle/sPAQLus2fzd7SGqv8

Links to the projects:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DBWpumtOl0M2SqHfl7TgO-9iz3XuIm5_QndpHjuoNnc/edit?tab=t.0

Are you recharged and ready to compete again after last week's competitive programming bootcamp? No? Too bad! After dipping our toes into contests a fortnight ago, we'll be holding our second contest of the term this Monday! Come along from 7:30-9:30pm in the Undergraduate Social Area, when we'll be battling against each other in search of prizes.

When: 7:30-9:30pm, Monday 3rd November

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

Click 'Going' here: https://fb.me/e/5qGVIbOH5

This Saturday, we're kicking off our triple header with something a little different — an evening capture-the-flag session! Join us before our Saturday Social from 5-7pmfor a rare in-person session in the Undergraduate Social Area where we'll be taking part in CTFs.

When: 5-7pm, Saturday 8th November

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

Click 'Going' here: https://fb.me/e/aR79ALv9E

It's Saturday, and it's time for Learn to Code! We'll be continuing to dive deeper into the realm of Python this week in the third session of our Learn to Code series. If you're a complete novice looking to pick up a new skill, come and join us! As in previous weeks, we'll be in Jesus College's Digital Hub from 5:30-6:30pm.

When: 5:30-6:30pm, Saturday 8th November

Where: Digital Hub, Jesus College Turl St, Oxford OX1 3DW

Click 'Going' here: https://fb.me/e/8xJAq7u7D

We end this Saturday's triple header and mark this week's Saturday Social with a truly unique collaboration! This week, we'll be joined by Jet Lag: Oxford, a society based on the Jet Lag: The Game web series. They'll be running a game with us within the Department of Computer Science — come and join us down in the Undergraduate Social Area at 7pm on Saturday for an experience guaranteed to be entertaining!

When: 7pm, Saturday 8th November

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

Click 'Going' here: https://fb.me/e/7izPc61LE

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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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