Hi Everybody! Thanks to everyone who came to the games night. It was probably our best attended event yet with around 40 people coming along, and of course the £500 worth of pizza from BoAML was nice.

On Monday (*TOMORROW!*) one of our sponsors, Red Gate, is hosting a talk on real-world software development in the Rewley House Lecture Theatre. Details are below.

This week we also have something which we hope will be as popular as last week's event. Google are doing a talk on user privacy, which is obviously an important topic, and with Google being arguably the most important company on the internet their take and expertise on it should be particularly interesting and relevant. Details below.

Also this week OxHUG is meeting - this a group of Oxford-based people who use Haskell. It's an opportunity to chat about functional programming in general over a pint. They meet once a month so if you think you might be interested now you should go along on Tuesday and check it out.

Cheers, Pete

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Red Gate - Life, the universe and software development: how software is made in the real world https://www.facebook.com/events/100715570095760/

Monday 19th November, 18:00 Rewley House Lecture Theatre, Rewley House, Wellington Square, Oxford

*Summary:*

Calling all technophiles! Want to know what working in software development is really like in a software development company? We'll tell you all about it; the ups, the downs, the zig zags and all...If you have a passion for coding or technology, and agree that geek is the new black, this is the talk for you.

*Full description**:*

Two of our previous graduates (1 software engineer, 1 test engineer) will be talking to you about what it's really like to build software outside of the classroom. We'll explain how, at Red Gate Software, we go about taking an idea and launching it into a project, how our teams all hang together and how we get to the end result of a world-class piece of software. Software development is the crux of our business; software is our product, our life-blood, our very soul! So we know what we're talking about...most of the time...we like to think...

We'll also have plenty of information for you on the different kinds of opportunities we have here and the kind of people we seek out to join us. We don't just hire software developers -- we take people from various backgrounds into a range of technical areas such as testing, technical communications and user experience. This talk will probably interest final year comp scis and students from a technical, numerate or scientific background with an interest in technology or programming.

*Facebook Event:* https://www.facebook.com/events/100715570095760/

Google: Privacy and why it's hard http://compsoc.net/termcards/2012/michaelmas/Google_Privacy_and_Why_its_Hard/

Wednesday 21st November, 18:30 Department Of Computer Science - Lecture Theatre A

Abstract: Google engineers are striving every day to do what's best for the user, and often it is hard. Nick will give 3 real examples of practical problems that have come up for him as a Googler, and how we try to engineer them to give the best possible result for every user. Oh, and a few ridiculously big numbers, and a bit about Google's amazing work environment :-)

Short Bio: Studied Maths & Computation at Oxford and in Compsoc 1995-1998. Since then worked at a research lab, hedge funds and investments banks, and now at Google in London where I'm on the Android team.

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/573717905974966/

OxHUG

Tuesday 20th November, 20:00 The Mitre - High Street

We meet once a month to chat about functional programming in general, and it's a great opportunity to bring students, academics, hobbyists and professionals who use Haskell together over a pint.

You can find the group on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/513158558704025/

The next meeting is due to happen at 8pm on Tuesday, 20th November at the Mitre on High Street: http://www.facebook.com/events/127460294074611/

All are welcome to attend!