Guten Tag, Wisened One,

Welcome back to another week of CompSoc! We have three events for you this week — one old, one familiar and one rather new!

Today, we're headed to the Undergraduate Social Area again for our penultimate competitive programming contest of the term. Join us from 7:30-9:30pm for problems, pizza and honour.

On Saturday, we have a double header again for your delectation. From 5:30-6:30pm, we'll be in Seminar Room 051 for a specialised Learn to Code session on Rust. If memory safety is the object of your desires, make sure to come along!

Later in the evening, we'll retire for SIGSEGV, a brand new satirical conference. Join us from 7pm on Saturday in the Undergraduate Social Area as we prepare for a night of debate and papers, along with the customary pizza. Make sure to fill in our forms if you'd like to submit a paper or give an opinion on your favourite operating system!

Finally, a reminder that we'll be holding our Annual General Meeting on Saturday of Seventh Week (7^th March). If you're interested in running for CompSoc's Committee, check out our election guide and register your interest. Our motions channel is also open — if you'd like to submit a motion, join our Discord server and make a post in our motions channel.

— Declan, CompSoc Secretary

Fun Computing Fact: We take the ability of our computers to handle decimal points for granted nowadays, but did you know that, even through to the early 90s, this couldn't be taken for granted? In many older processors, including early Intel x86 processors, floating-point operations were implemented in hardware through separate co-processors which had to be bought separately.

The floating-point co-processor for x86 machines was the x87, which boasted a whopping 80 bits of precision, helping maintain accuracy over multiple calculations. The x87 co-processor didn't become part of the main CPU until the introduction of the i486 range in 1989. For i486 CPUs without x87 included, Intel sold the i487SX upgrade, which actually included a full i486 CPU, and which took over all CPU operations when installed.

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/

You know the drill — it's competitive programming Monday again! Join us today in the Undergraduate Social Area and battle for prestige against your peers in the penultimate competitive programming contest of the term. We'll be around from 7:30-9:30pm, with ample pizza to be provided.

When: 7:30-9:30pm, Monday 23^rd February

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

Click 'Going' here: https://fb.me/e/blya9PeP5

Getting rusty with memory management? Why not forgo all that and learn a language which puts memory safety first? Join us this Saturday, when we'll be down in the Department's Seminar Room 051 to learn the basics of Rust, a new language taking the programming world by storm — even making it into the Linux kernel! We'll be around from 5:30-6:30pm.

When: 5:30-6:30pm, Saturday 28^th February

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

Click 'Going' here: https://fb.me/e/71UUsUGim

This week brings something entirely new... the launch of our satirical conference, SIGSEGV! This Saturday, we'll be down in the Undergraduate Social Area from 7pm to engage in a night of silly debates over operating systems and even sillier papers. If you'd like to submit a paper or give an opinion on your favourite operating system (the wackier the better), check out the links below! After the dust has settled, we'll produce printed and bound proceedings for this groundbreaking conference.

If silly debates don't titillate you, we'll still be supplying all the usual accoutrements of a CompSoc Saturday Social. Pop along for some pizza, snacks and conversation (probably of the silly variety).

When: 7pm, Saturday 28^th February

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

Submit a paper: https://forms.gle/cBVhaKo5QKPTBtdn6

Tell us your favourite operating system: https://forms.gle/mtQgEdEDt6vfindi8

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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