Guten Tag, Acquaintance,

Emerging undaunted from Week 5, here we are in Week 6! We have a range of events this week new and old.

This Thursday, we're catering to the graduates amongst us with a brand new graduate social! We'll be at the Oxford Retreat from 8pm for a night tailored just for graduates. If you're interested, make sure to sign up and register your interest below!

Our ever-present duo is back on Saturday with a double bill of Learn to Code and a Saturday Social! At 5:30pm, we'll be in the Department's Seminar Room 051 to delve into the antiquated and yet curious world of COBOL. Afterwards, at 7pm, we'll be in the Undergraduate Social Area to kick back and relax with a hot slice of pizza in a classic Saturday Social.

Finally, we're now accepting motions for our upcoming Annual General Meeting! If you'd like to help shape the future of CompSoc, you can submit a motion to be voted on – just join our Discord server and post it in our #motions channel.

— Declan, your loquacious CompSoc envoy

Fun Computing Fact: It's common amongst some to think of a computer's CPU as an infallible oracle, but this wasn't the case back in 1994! In December 1994, Intel issued the first ever full recall for a chip after faults were discovered in the floating point unit of their flagship Pentium processor. The bug occurred due to new optimisations for floating point operations, which failed due to missing values in an embedded lookup table.

The scope of the error was small – in most cases, the error in the result would only reach up to the ninth significant digit. Efforts were made to patch the issue in software – up to XP, Windows would offer to disable the floating point unit if a faulty CPU was detected and use software emulation. After the bug, the use of formal verification for hardware designs increased to avoid similar such problems.

On Saturday 8th March, we'll be holding CompSoc's Annual General Meeting to elect a new committee! We're seeking candidates to fill the eleven roles up for grabs in the brand new incarnation of the committee. Those positions are:

If you'd like to learn more, including what each position entails, check out the guide written by our President and our former Vice-President here.

If you're interested in standing for election, please fill out this form.

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/

Our Annual General Meeting is next Friday, and we're looking for your help to expand and develop our by-laws! If you want to leave your mark and help shape the future of CompSoc, this is your chance to submit a motion to be voted on by CompSoc members at the AGM. Any member can submit a motion – you don't need to be on Committee!

Motions must be proposed by a member who is present at the AGM – if you submit a motion, make sure you attend for it to be voted on! If you're interested, join our Discord – members can post motions in our #motions channel.

Join our Discord server: https://discord.com/invite/cUZFPG5WZ6

If you're a graduate feeling left out from our usual event offering, we have an event this week just for you! Join us at 8pm on Thursday for an all-new graduate social! We'll be down at the Oxford Retreat for a night of socialising and scintillating conversation. If you're interested, sign up with the link below!

When: 8pm, Thursday 27th February

Where: The Oxford Retreat 1-2 Hythe Bridge St, Oxford OX1 2EW

Sign up here: https://forms.gle/jA5CH6NYKccSd8EDA

Have you ever dreamed of maintaining legacy government and business financial systems? If so, our Learn to Code session this Saturday is just for you! Come along this Saturday at 5:30pm as we delve into the mysterious world of COBOL, the language which has driven business mainframes for decades and which thrives to this day.

When: 5:30-6:30pm, Saturday 1st March

Where: Seminar Room 051, Department of Computer Science 7 Parks Rd, Oxford OX1 3QG

Click 'Going' here: https://fb.me/e/izXA32b3w

After the trepidation and thrill of our game jam last week, let's take a step back and relax! Join us this Saturday after Learn to Code at 7pm for a classic CompSoc Saturday Social experience! We'll be kicking back in the Undergraduate Social with snacks, light conversation and, most importantly, pizza! Make sure to come along for a peaceful end to the week.

When: 7pm, Saturday 1st March

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

Click 'Going' here: https://fb.me/e/3IewOetD1

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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