November 2013 - csc-general

CSC Shirts! and other reminders
by Computer Science Club 26 Nov '13

26 Nov '13

Greetings programs, CSC SHIRTS --- After much delay, shirts are ready for ordering. They will be black American Apparel shirts, silkscreened with the winning design of our t-shirt contest. See the attached images for the AVL-tree design, courtesy of our winner, Holly Xu. Final pricing and pickup date have not yet been determined, as these are dependent on the number of shirts that will be ordered. Price will be no more than $15 (we hope to price around $10), and shirts will be available for pickup in the CSC office (MC 3036/3037) no later than mid-exam period. You can order them on the webform at http://goo.gl/ypaHRZ Responses will be accepted no later than 12PM noon on Friday, Nov. 29th. OTHER REMINDERS --- Our last event of the term is running today at 5:00PM in MC 2038. Zak Blacher will be presenting his talk on "Disk Encryption." Bob Jonkman invites CSCers to his presentation on encrypting email with Enigmail and Thunderbird, followed by a keysigning party, on Dec. 2 at 7:00PM. More details on the event, hosted by the KWLUG, can be found here: http://kwlug.org/node/909 Our end-of-term party, CTRL-D, has not yet been scheduled. Stay tuned for more details... and let us know if you'd like to host! Cheers, and good luck on your final exams, -- Elana Hashman President Computer Science Club University of Waterloo ehashman(a)uwaterloo.ca

1 0

Fwd: Volunteer for CS4U Day / Event Reminders (Nov. 22, 26)
by Computer Science Club 22 Nov '13

22 Nov '13

Salutations, membership! Sorry for the delay---an email regarding t-shirts will be sent out on Monday. We have picked a winning design and are working out logistics. Here are your weekly announcements: VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY: CS4U Day, December 4th --- The School of Computer Science passed this on to us. You can sign up by emailing cs-ur-co(a)uwaterloo.ca. ``Help high school students learn how computer science affects and impacts their everyday lives! Ways to get involved: Greet visitors -- Register participants -- Help with wayfinding -- Assist with lunch. All volunteers will receive a free shirt and lunch!'' Orientation session is Nov. 27, 4:30 - 5:30 in DC 1304, with provided snacks. HACKATHON-CODE PARTY!! (MORE FREE FOOD): Fri. Nov. 22, 6:30 PM, Comfy Lounge (MC 3001) --- Join us for a night of code, food, and caffeine. There will be plenty of edibles and hacking for your enjoyment, including real food for consumption in addition to snacks. You are also free to come and work on your homework or eat the food. Two projects will be provided for you to work on---no technical skills required: An OpenHatch <openhatch.org> mentor will be present at the code party to help you get you started in joining the wonderful world of open source. In addition, the UWaterloo Games Institute and SiG@Waterloo will be joining us, introducing their Social Innovation Simulation Design Jam. <http://uwaterloo.ca/games-institute/events/social-innovation-simulation-des…> SECURITY & PRIVACY LECTURE 06, Disk Encryption: Tue. Nov. 26, 5:00PM, MC 2038 --- Our last Security lecture is presented by Zak Blacher: ``In Zak's talk, "Disk Encryption: Digital Forensic Analysis & Full Volume Encryption", he aims to cover filesystem forensic analysis and counter forensics by addressing the entire design stack; starting with filesystem construction, design, and theory, and drilling down to the inner workings of hard drives (modern platter hdds, as well as mlc-ssds). This talk leads in to a discussion on full volume encryption, and how this helps to protect one's data.'' Email exec(a)csclub.uwaterloo.ca with any questions you might have. EXTERMINATE, -- Nik Black Programme Committee Computer Science Club University of Waterloo nablack(a)uwaterloo.ca

1 0

Office Cleaning & Reminders / Sec Lecture 05 & C++ Night 0x05 / Hackathon
by Computer Science Club 11 Nov '13

11 Nov '13

Hello, csc-general! As the term wraps up, our events wrap up as well. We have a few more left, so make sure you come out! First, a couple notices and reminders. CSC-SHIRT DESIGN CONTEST WRAPS UP --- All entries are due this Wednesday, Nov. 13! Winners will be informed by November 15 and the next csc-general email will contain an application for shirts with a link to the winning design. OFFICE CLEANING NOTICE: Get your crap out of the office! --- A note from the office manager. You MUST have your personal belongings out of the office by the deadline. ``We will be cleaning out the office at some point during the exam period. We will be doing a complete inventory and getting rid of anything we do not wish to keep. If you have any personal belongings in the office, please remove them by Dec. 1st or we may throw them out or repossess them.'' I will note that MathSoc lockers this term do not require a signup, so you may choose to use them for storage. TORONTO ERLANG FACTORY LITE CONFERENCE SIGNUPS: Nov. 23 --- Don't forget to sign up on the web form to coordinate with the rest of the group! (http://goo.gl/8XOELB) SECURITY & PRIVACY LECTURE 05, Trust in ISPs: Tue. Nov. 12, 5:00PM, MC 4060 --- Note the topic change. Zak's talk has been moved to Nov. 26. Abstract: Bell's recent announcement of their use of Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) brings to light a long-standing issue: your internet service provider (ISP) pwns you. They control your IP allocation, your DNS, your ARP, the AS paths. The question has never been about ability---it's about trust. Whether Rogers, AT&T, Virgin, Telus, Vodafone or Wind, your onramp to the internet is your first and most potent point of security failure. Founding member of the Canadian Cybersecurity Institute and employee of local ISP Sentex Sean Howard will vividly demo the reasons you need to be ble to trust your internet provider. Come for the talk, stay for the pizza! C++ GOINGNATIVE LECTURE 0x05 (FREE FOOD!): Thurs. Nov. 21, 6:30 PM, PHY 150 --- Our last C++ lecture is presented by Sean Parent, entitled "C++ Seasoning." Abstract: ``A look at many of the new features in C++ and a couple of old features you may not have known about. With the goal of correctness in mind, we'll see how to utilize these features to create simple, clear, and beautiful code. Just a little pinch can really spice things up.'' HACKATHON-CODE PARTY!! (MORE FREE FOOD): Fri. Nov. 22, 6:30 PM, Comfy Lounge (MC 3001) --- Join us for a night of code, food, and caffeine. There will be plenty of edibles and hacking for your enjoyment, including real food for consumption in addition to snacks. If you're not sure what to work on or you are interested in getting involved in Open Source, there will be mentors on hand to get you started. You are also free to come and work on your homework or eat the food. EXTERMINATE, -- Elana Hashman President Computer Science Club University of Waterloo ehashman(a)uwaterloo.ca

1 0

PGP Seminar, Cryptoparty and CAKE Tomorrow / C++ Night 0x04 Thursday / Hackathon Nov. 22 / Erlang Conf. Nov. 23
by Computer Science Club 04 Nov '13

04 Nov '13

Greetings, programs! Are you ready for the cake cryptoparty?! SECURITY & PRIVACY SEMINAR 04, Hands-on Seminar on Public Key Crypto: Tues. Nov. 5, 6:00PM, Comfy Lounge (MC 3001) --- The event is tomorrow! It will be awesome! Bring your laptops! Reasons to attend: - balloons - cake - curry, naan, and rice - PGP-themed cake - balloons - did I mention cake? Seminar will be followed by a keysigning party. We have the Comfy until 9 so feel free to bring code and the like to hack on. C++ GOINGNATIVE LECTURE 0x04 (FREE FOOD!): Thurs. Nov. 7, 6:30 PM, PHY 150 --- This week's C++ lecture is presented by Andrei Alexandrescu, entitled "Writing Quick Code in C++, Quickly." Abstract: ``Contemporary computer architectures make it possible for slow code to work reasonably well. They also make it difficult to write really fast code that exploits the CPU amenities to their fullest. And the smart money is on fast code---we're running out of cool things to do with slow code, and the battle will be on doing really interesting and challenging things at the envelope of what the computing fabric endures. ``This talk is an attempt to set forth a few pieces of tactical advice for writing quick code in C++. Applying these is not guaranteed to produce optimal code, but is likely to put it reasonably within the ballpark.'' HACKATHON-CODE PARTY!! (MORE FREE FOOD): Fri. Nov. 22, 6:30 PM, Comfy Lounge (MC 3001) --- Code party has been officially scheduled! Join us for a night of code, food, and caffeine. There will be plenty of edibles and hacking for your enjoyment, including real food for consumption in addition to snacks. If you're not sure what to work on or you are interested in getting involved in Open Source, there will be mentors on hand to get you started. You are also free to come and work on your homework or eat the food. TORONTO ERLANG FACTORY LITE CONFERENCE SIGNUPS: Nov. 23 --- Given the initial low demand, we will be submitting a MEF proposal to cover each individual's transportation costs up to $30 (you must arrange it). Feel free to purchase your bus tickets and pay your conference fee, and if the MEF proposal is approved, you will be able to present your tickets/receipt and conference badge for travel reimbursement. Please sign up on the web form (http://goo.gl/8XOELB) so we have an estimate of CSC-affiliated attendees for the proposal. Send questions, comments, concerns, and deep, dark secrets to exec(a)csclub.uwaterloo.ca. -- Elana Hashman President Computer Science Club University of Waterloo ehashman(a)uwaterloo.ca

1 0