Termcard for Michaelmas Term 2009

OUCS Tour

Thursday 15th October, 17:30
OUCS (see below)

This coming Thursday (the 15th) the staff at Oxford University Computing Services have graciously invited us on a tour of their data centre. The tour starts at 17:30, and YOU MUST BRING YOUR BOD CARD otherwise the receptionist will not let you in. You will get the opportunity to:

• See lots of computers, flashing lights, cables, air conditioning ducts
• See the amazing robot arm that moves hard disks around and then punches you in the face
• Ask awkward questions about file sharing (don't do this)
• Complain about nexus email (don't do this either)
• Ask genuinely interesting questions about sysadmin/operating systems/bandwidth

Afterwards, we will go to the pub, where you can talk to people who won't glaze over if you start talking about something vaguely technical. The person to ask the best question(s) on the tour gets a free drink at the pub afterwards!

Hope to see you there,

Jon

ps it's roughly here: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/place?cid=10883277605289908082&q=oucs&hl=en

Bletchley Park Trip

Saturday 31st October, 09:15
Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes

The importance of Bletchley Park in the outcome of the Second World War doesn't need to noted here. On top of the code-breaking history, the site is also a host to the British Computer Museum, so the trip has double relevance for Compsoc.

We're also hoping to meet up with University College, London's Computer Society while at Bletchley. All in all, this promises to be quite a memorable event.

We will be catching the X5 bus to Milton Keynes (at a cost of £10.50 for a return ticket) and then taking a 10 minute train trip (at a cost of £3.10 for a return ticket) to Bletchley. Entry to Bletchley park is £8 if you have a BOD card, £10 otherwise. Once you have bought a ticket you can in fact use the ticket for up to 12 months after it was bought.

We will meet at Gloucester Green bus station on George Street at 9:15am on Saturday, and will probably be back in Oxford by 6 or 7pm (when we leave is generally left up to consensus).

Bletchley park is an amazing place to visit, and if you think you might want to come please email Jon so that we have a rough idea of numbers :)

FEST Workshop

Tuesday 3rd November, 12:00
e-Science Buliding, 7 Keble Road

This event is being organised by Females in Engineering, Science and Technology (FEST), but it should be of interest to those interested in Compsoc as well.

FEST is pleased to host a workshop for IBM on 3rd November at 12 noon. There will be a presentation on opportunities at IBM and tips on personal branding, as well as free lunch. IBM is not just about computers - there are opportunities for women and men from all courses of study. All are welcome, and women undergraduates in science and engineering are especially encouraged to attend.

Places are limited: RSVP to fest@herald.ox.ac.uk. More details are available on Facebook.

Ensoft

Thursday 5th November, 19:00
TBC

CANCELLED - WILL BE RESCHEDULED

The committee apologises for the inconvenience

Doctor Who Society: Rob Shearman

Thursday 12th November, 20:00
St. John's College MCR

The Doctor Who Society has invited us to the event below.

Cost: Free to members of DocSoc, £2 to non-members

Rob Shearman, award-winning author of Doctor Who episode "Dalek", will be visiting to talk, in Q&A format, about writing sci-fi for the BBC and anything else that might interest us. Often described as the "licensed dissenter" of the Russell T Davies era, he is sure to give us some interesting insights.

Double Negative Careers in Film Visual Effects

Tuesday 17th November, 19:30
Lindemann Lecture Theatre, Clarendon Laboratory

In an event jointly organised with the Engineering, Physics, Maths and FEST socieites, Eugénie von Tunzelmann, Nicola Hoyle and Jeff Clifford of Double Negative will talk about the opportunities for technically-minded people for careers in film. This promises to be an excellent talk for those of you already considering a career in film. For those who haven't thought about working in film yet, you'll have an opportunity to find out all about it.

The London-based visual effects company Double Negative has provided visual effcts for some, if not most, of the major blockbusters of recent years (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Angels and Demons, The Soloist, The Boat that Rocked, Fast & Furious, The Dark Night, Quantum of Solace ... )

Visual Effects: Using science and maths in the film industry

Have you ever considered working in the film industry? A career in visual effects can be an ideal path for people who want to do something creative with their science and maths skills. On Tuesday night, three industry professionals - Eugénie von Tunzelmann, Nicola Hoyle and Jeff Clifford - will be coming to talk about roles for scientists and mathematicians in the VFX world, and how their technical skills have been used in films such as The Dark Knight, 2012, Hellboy II and the Harry Potter series.

Oxford Geek Night 15

Wednesday 25th November, 19:30
Jericho Tavern

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

The first keynote speaker is Jeni Tennison, an expert on the semantic web whose talk is titled Linked data on data.gov.uk. Three of the microsolt speakers have been confirmed, but there's still one spot open. If you're feeling particularly daring, you can attend without trying to find out beforehand what all the talks will be about. If you're feeling entirely reckless, you can volunteer for a microslot yourself.

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 the Oxford Geek Nights website

The Geek Quiz

Thursday 26th November, 20:00
St. John's College Location TBC

The Doctor Who Society has invited us to the event below.

A bit of an Oxford institution, this one; the geek societies of Oxford all getting together to fight for the title of the brainiest of geekdoms. Individuals are invited to bring a short round of questions about anything they like, although rounds should not focus too heavily on a particular team's specialty. Unusual formats (eg picture / audio) are particularly encouraged.

I don't think that Compsoc has attended before, so we could attempt to really make a mark.

Termly General Meeting

Thursday 3rd December, 19:00
Lamb and Flag

The Termly General Meeting will be held this evening at 7pm at the Lamb
and Flag pub. Hope to see you there!