Termcard for Michaelmas Term 2008

Freshers Meet

Thursday 16th October, 19:00
Prestwich Room, St John's

Free food, and a chance to chat to current members and the committee to find out more about CompSoc.

OUCS Tour

Tuesday 21st October, 17:30
OUCS

Somewhat of a CompSoc tradition, we'll be having a tour of OUCS' machine room, with several mostly-willing OUCS people on hand to show you around, answer questions, and suchlike.

It's normally a great insight into the bowels of this most important of departments, and offers many great challenges (such as figuring out quite what their naming scheme is).

Meet at the main OUCS entrance on Banbury Road for 17:30; there will be a sign up so you know you're at the right place.

N.B. You must have a valid University Card with you in order to be admitted to the OUCS Building.

Pubmeet

Tuesday 21st October, 20:00
Lamb and Flag

We'll all be meeting up in the Lamb and Flag for a friendly welcome and introduction to the term and society.

There will be someone on the look-out for people in case you can't find us, although we're usually quite easy to spot...

Oxford Geek Night 9

Wednesday 22nd October, 19:30
Jericho Tavern

The Oxford Geek Night isn't a Compsoc event, but is still worth attending; the event consists of two 15 minute 'keynote' talks, followed by several microslots (normally around 5 minutes each).

The event runs at a reasonably relaxed pace, and there's plenty of chance to get a drink from the upstairs bar (note that the whole event is upstairs - don't get confused by the JT looking perfectly normal downstairs that day).

If you want more information, take a look at their website

Game Development

Speaker: Richard Fine

Thursday 30th October, 20:00
Roy Griffiths Room, Keble College

Richard 'Superpig' Fine, of gamedev.net will talk about game development.

More details should be posted here nearer the time. If you have a specific aspect of game development you'd like to hear about, drop an email to the committee via committee@ox.compsoc.net.

Terabit Networking

Speaker: Simon Chatterjee

Thursday 6th November, 20:00
Morley Fletcher Room, Worcester

What sits behind the familiar Ethernet port or ADSL modem, that somehow connects a planet exchanging over 350 petabytes a day? After a century dominated by the telephone, all global networks today are changing to be based on Internet-inspired technology. At their heart are devices that can cost millions of pounds, and require cutting-edge custom silicon, optics, and millions of lines of software.

This talk is an accessible introduction to large-scale networking today, from both real-world and computer science perspectives.

The presenter is CTO of Ensoft_Ltd, whose experience includes helping bringing the Guinness Book of Records' "World's Highest Capacity Internet Router" into existence.

Introduction to the Google Web Toolkit

Speaker: Martin Hutchinson

Wednesday 12th November, 20:00
Pusey Room, Keble College

Martin Hutchinson, of DecisionSoft, will give an introduction to the Google Web Toolkit (GWT).

The Google Web Toolkit allows DHTML and AJAX components to be written in the Java programming language. This talk gives an easy introduction to the features of GWT, using small examples to demonstrate the simplicity of using the toolkit.

The presenter is the lead developer of Yeti, an AJAX taxonomy viewer written in GWT.

The CompSoc Network

Speaker: David North

Wednesday 26th November, 20:00
Lecture Room B, Worcester

CompSoc's chief sysadmin, David North, will talk about CompSoc's network of machines, their history, what they do now, and how you can get involved.

There'll be people at the Worcester College lodge to direct you to the room.

TGM and Christmas Party

Thursday 4th December, 20:00
The Big Bang

The Termly General Meeting, the pinnacle of democracy. We'll go over the term, make sure everything is in order, check our Treasurer hasn't fled to a foreign country with CompSoc's fortune, and hopefully get it over with in a reasonably short amount of time.

The TGM-slash-general-Christmas-social will be in the Big Bang, which is near the bottom end of Jericho; see that Openguides link for details. Afterwards, we'll be following the finest CompSoc tradition and finding a pub.

New members should note that we hold the TGM between ordering the meal at the Big Bang, and eating it, and we often have plenty of time to spare, to show exactly how long these meetings are...