Good Afternoon, Team,

Week 5 is here at last, and CompSoc is here to help you fight off those Fifth Week blues! Depending on which of our mailing lists you're on, this may be the first newsletter you've received — if so, welcome! We have fun facts. You may (but probably won't) receive this newsletter twice. If so, we apologise; we're trying to work out the gremlins in our mailing list system.

Now for the events! This Monday, we have yet another competitive programming bootcamp! Whether you're looking to get into competitive programming for the first time or hone your skills, come along from 7:30-9:30pm in the Undergraduate Social Area.

On Tuesday, it's time for another student talk! Between 5-6pm, we'll be in the Bill Roscoe Lecture Theatre for a talk on how to write a programming language. If you're interested, make sure to come along — pizza guaranteed!

We're back with another double header this Saturday! First, we'll be at Jesus College from 5:30-6:30pm for the fourth session in our Learn to Code series! Afterwards, we'll be in the Undergraduate Social Area from 7pm for a few relaxed hours playing some board games together, with pizza and snacks as ever.

On Tuesday next week, we have a coding challenge, hosted in collaboration with our sponsors at QRT! Running from 5-8pm with free pizza and big prizes, check it out and sign up if you're interested below.

Finally, we announced the winners of our esolang hackathon last Saturday! Find out who the lucky few were below.

— Declan, CompSoc Secretary

Fun Computing Fact: Before Visual Basic .NET, the malingering beginner language some of you may remember from school, came Microsoft's classic Visual Basic language! Lacking the flexible object-oriented characteristics and .NET capabilities of its successor, classic VB debuted as an easier way to write Windows GUI applications in 1991 and was formally discontinued with Visual Basic 6 in 1998.

Despite its discontinuation, however, the spectre of VB6 lingers to this day. Along with various reimplementation efforts, and continuing support on Windows under the It Just Works policy, classic VB has lived another life through Microsoft Office's macro system. Macros can be written in Visual Basic for Applications, a descendant of VB6 with Office integration. Through VBA, classic VB now has 64-bit support and even runs on macOS!

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/

We were delighted to announce the winners of our Week 3 mini hackathon last Saturday! Without further ado, your prize winners are...

Congratulations to the lucky few! Keep your eyes peeled for future CompSoc hackathons.

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

It's that time of the week again! This Monday, we're back in the Undergraduate Social Area for the third competitive programming bootcamp session of this term. Whether you're new to the realm of competitive programming or just want some practice, make sure to come along! We'll be around with food from 7:30-9:30pm.

When: 7:30-9:30pm, Monday 10th November

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

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

On Tuesday, we have the third of our four student talks this term! Delayed but not dismayed, we'll be in Lecture Theatre B(ill Roscoe) this week to hear an intriguing talk on making a programming language. We'll be around from 5-6pm for the talk, after which we'll retire for traditional CompSoc pizza!

When: 5-6pm, Tuesday 11th November

Where: Lecture Theatre B(ill Roscoe), Department of Computer Science 7 Parks Rd, Oxford OX1 3QG

Click 'Going' here: https://fb.me/e/1PZsXp3sgp

Guess what time it is? Time for Learn to Code! For the first event in our double header this Saturday, we'll be back at Jesus College's Digital Hub for the fourth session in our Learn to Code series this term. Come along from 5:30-6:30pm to continue your journey into the world of Python programming!

When: 5:30-6:30pm, Saturday 15th November

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

Click 'Going' here: https://fb.me/e/84iFo4CCC

This Saturday, it's time to relax! For the second event in our double header this week, we'll be back in the Undergraduate Social Area as usual for a familiar Saturday Social — a board game night! From 7pm onwards, we'll kick back and enjoy some of CompSoc's wide range of board games, aided and abetted by pizza and snacks. Who could say no?

When: 7pm, Saturday 15th November

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

Click 'Going' here: https://fb.me/e/3YCo5qszY

Next week, we'll be joining with our sponsors at QRT for a brand new opportunity! On Tuesday next week, we'll be playing host to QRT's C3 Coding Challenge at the Department of Computer Science, from 5pm onwards! Come along with teams of up to four and solve problems together!

If you're interested in coding, winning prizes, or looking into opportunities with QRT, make sure to sign up with our form below. We'll have pizza to satiate your hunger and QRT will also provide tokens for LLM usage during the challenge. Winners will be announced at 8pm.

When: 5-8pm, Tuesday 18th November

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

Sign up here: https://forms.gle/ke4FgNRbCGPQ15xH8

Some opportunities from our sponsors at Jane Street:

FOCUS: (7 - 10 Jan in LDN) Created for students currently enrolled in university who identify with an underrepresented ethnic or racial minority group, FOCUS gives attendees an in-depth look at the work Jane Street does across our trading, software engineering, and business development teams. Jane Street will cover all travel expenses to and from London, including housing, meals, and a variety of social events throughout the programme. Deadline to apply is Sunday, 30th November.

INSIGHT: (13 - 18 April in LDN) INSIGHT is a programme for students who identify as women, transgender or gender-expansive to learn about our work through a set of trading and programming classes and activities. Attendees will receive an in-depth look into the ways Jane Street uses math and computer science to solve problems.Jane Street will cover all travel to and from London, including meals, housing, and a variety of social events. Deadline to apply is Sunday, 11th January.

FTTP: (7 - 11 April in LDN) Our First-year Trading and Technology Programme (FTTP) is intended for first-year undergraduate students planning to study math, physics, computer science, or other STEM-related majors. Attendees will learn more about Jane Street’s work through a series of interactive classes and a team-based mock trading simulation game.Jane Street will cover all travel expenses to and from London, including housing and meals. Deadline to apply is Sunday, 18th January. 

If you are interested in multiple opportunities, we welcome you to apply to both!

Check out a hackathon in the local area!

This is a fantastic opportunity for students, coders, data enthusiasts, and problem-solvers, to collaborate, analyse environmental data, and develop solutions that could make a real positive impact on local rivers. It is being delivered by a local rivers trust, Thames21, as part of the Horizon Europe-funded GovAqua project.

Participants will form teams, choose “wicked questions” about local rivers, and work with open-source data from the Oxford Rivers Portal. The hackathon will culminate in presentations to experts from the Environment Agency, Thames Water and UKCEH. There is a £500 cash prize for the winning team, and all teams have the chance to see their work showcased on the Oxford Rivers Portal.

When: 2 weeks, kick-off event 13th Nov, closing event 27th Nov, both 6.30-8.30pm

Where: Gallery Space (downstairs), Makespace Oxford Jericho, Oxford OX2 6TP(Paid bar + free snacks and soft drinks)

Book here: https://book.plinth.org.uk/e/uETSQt0PHsiMImSxDav2

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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