Bonjour, One and All,

Out with First Week, it's Second Week time! We're back this week with some classic CompSoc events in store for you.

We'll be kicking off this term's competitive programming events on Monday! We'll be down in the Undergraduate Social Area from 7:30-9:30pm to face off in typical competitive programming style.

On Saturday, we'll also be hosting this term's presentation night! If there's a topic you're really passionate about and want to give a talk on, make sure to sign up here — it doesn't have to be computer science related! We'll be in the Department from 7pm onwards to listen to your talks.

If you're interested in running for CompSoc's Committee, we now have an election guide available! Check it out here. If you've got a role in mind to run for, head on over to our form and register your interest!

Finally, we have more on the STEM ball, along with some interesting events relating to free, libre and open-source software. See below for details! We also now have a Minecraft server, the address for which can be found in our Discord server.

— Declan, CompSoc Secretary

Fun Computing Fact: As we now have a Minecraft server again, let's do a Minecraft fun fact! Did you know that, up until Minecraft Beta 1.7.3, travelling over 12.8 million blocks away from spawn brought you to the Far Lands, a realm where terrain generation breaks down to create gargantuan cliffs (and lots of lag).

This happens because Minecraft terrain is generated using Perlin noise generators, which essentially smooth the output from a random number generator in a 3D grid to create plausible terrain. Several noise generators in Minecraft are combined to create all of the characteristics of the game's terrain. The Far Lands first begin when an integer overflow occurs on the low and high noise generators. The bug was fixed in Beta 1.8 by changing the way world coordinates are scaled, meaning the world border is reached long before the Far Lands would begin.

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/

A message on tickets for the STEM ball:

Hi Everyone! I am excited to share that PhysSoc, Invariants, CompSoc, Mirzakhani, OxWIE, OxWEST, OxWOCS, OUCB, OxMatSoc and OUGS are collaborating to bring you Oxford’s first ever STEM Ball, in bloom at the Randolph Friday 6th March First release tickets drop this Wednesday, check out the instagram @oustemball for more updates! We would love to see you there 👀🌸

See the post here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DT6DziLjdiZ

Now that you've learned the (advanced) basics, it's time to get stuck into a contest! Come along to the Undergraduate Social Area this Monday, when we'll be kicking off our term of competitive programming contests. We'll be going head to head from 7:30-9:30pm — whether you're a beginner or competitive programming aficionado, don't miss it!

When: 7:30-9:30pm, Monday 26^th January

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

Click 'Going' here: https://fb.me/e/6F8Dgc2hr

It's Hilary Term, and that means it's time for our termly student presentation night! This Saturday, we're giving you (yes, you!) the spotlight by letting you give a ten-minute talk on any topic that takes your fancy! Talks may be on anything you find interesting — they don't have to be computer science related! If you're interested in giving a talk or listening to our array of talks, come on down to the Undergraduate Social Area from 7pm onwards. If you want to give a talk, make sure to sign up below!

When: 7pm, Saturday 31^st January

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

Sign up here: https://forms.gle/C28DxcZrX6Q6x2dK8

Click 'Going' here: https://fb.me/e/6ileQkYeu

A message from Oliver Geer and Laura Fortunado:

Dear All,

Have you ever thought about how the software we use affects our autonomy and right-to-repair the devices we increasingly rely on? Our privacy? The reproducibility of our research?

This Hilary term (January-March 2026) we are hosting a series of events on various non-technical and technical aspects of free, libre and open source software (FLOSS). Dates, and soon venues, are available on our website. Come along to learn about the practical, legal, and research-related implications of FLOSS, including:

why and how to self-host your FLOSS services

a guided, social workshop to contribute to FLOSS (via any of bug reporting, triaging, programming, translation, community-building, and so on --- no technical skills needed!)

an introduction to the programmable text editor and wider productivity tool, Emacs

copyleft and protecting users’ right to repair

teaching high school students research computing

an introduction to a bioinformatics community and code library

There are both in-person events in Oxford and online ones. Everyone is welcome, including students, academics, staff, and people unaffiliated to a University. You are welcome to just turn up (as long as you follow our code of conduct), since no registration is required.

To enable broad participation, we have scheduled events on different days on a weekly basis, and at different times --- feel free to join as many as you are able to, and please share this widely! A poster is attached to help with this.

If you have any questions, please email oliver.geer@hertford.ox.ac.uk and laura.fortunato@anthro.ox.ac.uk, or look at our website.

Kind regards,

Oliver Geer (Hertford College, Computer Science and Philosophy) and Laura Fortunato (Magdalen College, Anthropology, Software Freedom Conservancy), with support from others on our mailing list.

Header image* CC-BY-SA 4.0 MotionEnsemble.de for FSFE*

A message from our sponsors at Jane Street:

GJoin us for a Day in the Life session about our Strategy and Product Internship! Whether you joined us last term or this is your first Jane Street SP event, this session will give you an overview of our SP internship and share what a day in the life really looks like - so you can get a genuine sense of the role.

SPs work at the intersection of technology, finance, and business strategy. You'll learn how we tackle challenging problems across departments, support the firm's growth, and gain a holistic perspective of our business. If you've never thought about a career in finance, you're in good company. Many of us were in the same position before working here. If you have a curious mind, a collaborative spirit, and a passion for solving interesting problems, we have a feeling you'll fit right in.

See attached flyer for more details and submit this form to register! 

Thursday, 29th January @ 3:30pm - with Oxford Women in Engineering (Engineering & CompSci) 

Wednesday, 11th February @ 7:00pm - with Oxford Physics Society (Natural Sciences)

A message from our sponsors at Perplexity:

Students get free Perplexity Pro and exclusive student features like flashcards and quizzes when you verify your student status. Sign up at perplexity.ai/students

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.

or, contact us at committee@ox.compsoc.net

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