- csc-general - CSC Mailman

Office Staff Training for W10
by Computer Science Club 22 Jan '10

22 Jan '10

Hello CSCers, Do you find yourself in our office often? If so you may want to consider attending our first office staff training session. We will be choosing our office staff partially based on attendance at this meeting. Even if you are experienced, there are a few procedures we would like to clarify. If you intend to be an office staff this term you must go through training. The session will be held this Sunday at 2:30 pm in MC 2065. Hope to see you there.

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Call for member talks!
by Computer Science Club 19 Jan '10

19 Jan '10

Hi everyone, This term we (myself and the volunteers who help me run events) are planning on organizing a series (3-4) of talks by you all (the members) about things you want to talk about. I know that a lot of you have various personal side projects, have taken strange courses (or even done reading on the side) about interesting topics, and are generally very outspoken. So, if you would like to present your ideas (or what you've learned) in a more formal setting to a large audience (not that formal and not that large, don't be scared) please reply with your idea, preferably as a title and an abstract (short summary) for the talk you'd like to give. We will in some fair manner (probably a poll conducted somehow, that or heated debate in a smoke filled back room) which talks get selected. If you've never given a talk before but are interested, don't worry; someone on the program committee will help you through the process, things from presentation tips to making sure that the room is booked and has the materials you need. A final piece of information for all of you potential talk-givers who are itching to write an abstract: the club has typically held talks around 4:30pm on Tuesday or Thursday. This time just seems to work well. Tentative dates are the following Tuesdays: Feb 9, Mar 2, Mar 16, and Mar 30. If these days don't work for you but you'd still like to speak, just say so in your message and we'll see what we can do. -- Edgar Bering, Vice President ebering at uwaterloo dot ca Computer Science Club http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~ebering Mathematics Society MC 3036, (519)888-4567,x33870 University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario CANADA N2L 3G1

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CS Club talk on 'Wilderness Programming' by Paul Lutus
by Computer Science Club 14 Jan '10

14 Jan '10

Hello, the CSC is hosting a talk on 'Wilderness Programming' on 2010-01-18 at 15:30 PM in MC2066. It will be presented by Paul Lutus. Paul Lutus describes his early Apple II software development days, conducted from the far end of a 1200-foot power cord, in a tiny Oregon cabin. Paul describes how he wrote a best-seller (Apple Writer) in assembly language, while dealing with power outages, lightning storms and the occasional curious bear. Paul also describes his subsequent four-year solo around-the-world sail in a 31-foot boat. And be ready with your inquiries -- Paul will answer your questions. Paul Lutus has a wide background in science and technology. He designed spacecraft components for the NASA Space Shuttle and created a mathematical model of the solar system used during the Viking Mars lander program. Then, at the beginning of the personal computer revolution, Lutus switched career paths and took up computer science. His best-known program is "Apple Writer," an internationally successful word processing program for the early Apple computers. Hope to see you there. If you have any questions about the event e-mail the executive or check http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca.

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Notes for a new term
by Computer Science Club 11 Jan '10

11 Jan '10

Hello CSC'ers! This is your CRO (Chief Returning Officer), and former President, Jacob Parker. A few things to say as we get going with the new term: (-2) Renewals Are you a member this term? If you haven't paid your $2 this term we would appreciate your renewal. Your $2 helps us getting funding from MathSoc to run cool events, gives you access to our terminals and servers (better than student.cs? You decide!) and office (if you can squeeze in.) Already a member? Encourage your friends to join! No friends? Come hang out in our office! (-1) Elections! We will be holding elections at our first (and only) meeting this Wednesday! If you are a member this term please come out to vote and ask silly questions of the candidates. If you would like to join (or learn about) the various committees (such as progcom) make sure to show up. Where: the MC Comfy Lounge When: Wednesday, 5:00pm More information, including distance-voting: http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~j3parker/elections (0) Upcoming event: A talk by Geoffrey Hinton The CS Club is hosting a talk by Geoffrey Hinton, from the University of Toronto and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, in which he will discuss some of his latest work in learning networks and artificial intelligence. The talk will be accessable, so don't hesitate to come out. An email in the coming future will have more details Where: DC 1302 When: Jan 26th, 5:00pm. (1) Unix Tutorials The ever-popular Unix tutorials will be happening in the near future. Details to be decided. If you would like to volunteer (we would love you) send an email progcom(a)csclub.uwaterloo.ca (2) Cosmos Movie Nights Due to the great success of last terms "Feynman Nights", where we showed recordings of Richard Feynman lecturing, the Physics Club will be hosting "Cosmos Nights", showing episodes of Carl Segan's "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage". Information on the show can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan's_Cosmos Come out for a nice relaxing night of science. Snacks and refreshments will be provided. Where: PHYS 150 When: Wednesdays at 6:30pm for 13 weeks (3) Other Events Have ideas for events we should run? We are all ears! An Idea that has been discussed is having a "CSC invades Toronto" bus trip, where we all go down to Toronto, possibly to meet up with a UofT/etc. club and go to a pub/other activity. We are interested in hosting lectures given by our members, so if you have an idea come talk to us. If you are interested in this type of planning please show up at our elections on wednesday where these matters will be discussed. If you have questions, just hit reply.

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CS 240 full time tutor needed
by Computer Science Club 28 Nov '09

28 Nov '09

Hey everyone, ISG (Instructional Support Group) would like to let you know that they are currently looking for full time tutor for CS 240 next term. The job description is below. To apply for this position, please send your resume to Fenglian Qiu (f2qiu(a)uwaterloo.ca) Job Description The Instructional Support Group requires a tutor to assist in the delivery of CS240. A tutor serves as a consultant for the students of the course through consulting hours and as a manager to co-ordinate the activities of the graduate teaching assistants assigned to the course. This position may be of particular interest to students who are considering graduate school and ultimately teaching at the post-secondary level. There may be an opportunity to gain teaching experience by giving tutorials. The tutor may also develop tutorials for the students. Other duties may include creation of model solutions and marking schemes, creation of scripts needed for assignment submission, testing and auto-marking, and assisting in proctoring and marking. Good communication and interpersonal skills are required, as is familiarity with UNIX. Students currently enrolled in the courses are encouraged to apply.

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Code Party!!11!!
by Computer Science Club 23 Nov '09

23 Nov '09

Hello, the CSC is hosting a Code Party!!11!! on 2009-11-27 at 7:00 PM in Comfy Lounge. Facebook has been generous enough to sponsor the event, and will be bringing food as well as a few former Facebook coops to hang out. So come join us for a night of coding. Get in touch with more experianced coders, advertize for/bug squash on your favourite open source project, write that personal project you were planning to do for a while but haven't found the time. Don't have any ideas but want to sit and hack? Try your hand at the Facebook puzzles, write a new app, or just chill and watch scifi. Hope to see you there. If you have any questions about the event e-mail the executive or check http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca.

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Club/Office Projects Day
by Computer Science Club 19 Nov '09

19 Nov '09

Hi everyone, This Sunday, from 10am to whenever, we (the executive and librarian) will be in the Club office, working on the following club projects: Office Cleaning: - The Treasurer, Michael Spang, did a lot of this last weekend, but there are still things to be cleaned/organized. Office Staff Training: - If you would like to be one of the trusted members who is charged with keeping the office open, please come help with cleaning, we will go over what is expected of office staff, make sure all office staffers know eachother, and the need to know items for office staff. Library Work: - Our Librarian, Sapphyre Gervais, will be around to direct either work on the software that drives our library or the physical organization. Video Archival: - I will be working on transfering some of our recent videos from the miniDV tapes to the website, as well as working on creating an indexed archive for posterity of both talks and related materials. This is a work day, if you attend please be prepared to do work for the club. Thanks, -- Edgar Bering, Vice President ebering at uwaterloo dot ca Computer Science Club http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~ebering Mathematics Society MC 3036, (519)888-4567,x33870 University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario CANADA N2L 3G1

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In the Beginning, or: How to write a Bootloader
by Computer Science Club 03 Nov '09

03 Nov '09

Hello, the CSC is hosting a talk entitled "In the Beginning" by Dr. Bill Cowan on 2009-11-05 at 4:30 PM in MC2065. To most CS students an OS kernel is pretty low level. But there is something even lower, the instructions that must be executed to get the CPU ready to accept a kernel. That is, if you look at any processor's reference manual there is a page or two describing the state of the CPU when it powered on. This talk describes what needs to happen next, up to the point where the first kernel instruction executes. This part of execution is extremely architecture-dependent. Those of you who have any experience with this aspect of CS probably know the x86 architecture, and think it's horrible, which it is. I am going to talk about the ARM architecture, which is inside almost all mobile phones, and which allows us to look at a simple implementation that includes all the essentials. Hope to see you there. If you have any questions about the event e-mail the executive or check http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca.

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Computer Science Upper Year Course Information
by Computer Science Club 23 Oct '09

23 Oct '09

The School of Computer Science is holding an information session on upper year courses this Monday. Professors will describe the third and fourth year courses (there are many!) to assist you in your choices. You should probably take CS 452! Choo choo! Still in first year? Getting an idea of what you will want to take ahead of time will still be useful! Refreshments provided! ;) Monday Oct. 26 (This monday) 3:30-5:30pm DC 1302

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CSC Goes To Dooly's
by Computer Science Club 15 Oct '09

15 Oct '09

Hello, the CSC is going to Dooly's on 2009-10-20, leaving from the office (MC3036) at 04:30 PM to arrive there at 5:00PM. We're going to Dooly's to play pool. What more do you want from us? Come to the Club office and we'll all bus there together. We've got discount tables for club members so be sure to be there. Hope to see you there. If you have any questions about the event e-mail the executive or check http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca.

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Code Party and Contest Finale
by Computer Science Club 14 Oct '09

14 Oct '09

Hello, the CSC is hosting a Code Party and Contest Finale on 2009-10-16 at 7:00 PM in Comfy Lounge. Come on out for a night of code, contests, and energy drinks. Join the Computer Scinece Club for the finale of the Google AI Challenge and an all night code party. Finish up your entry, or start it (its not too late). Not interested in the contest? Come out anyway for a night of coding and comradarie with us. Included in the party will be the contest finale and awards cerimony, so if you've entered be sure to stick arround to collect the spoils of victory, or see just who that person you couldn't edge off is. There will be free snacks, free energy drinks, and loud music, and you don't have to code to attend! Hope to see you there. If you have any questions about the event e-mail the executive or check http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca.

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Feynman Nights
by Computer Science Club 06 Oct '09

06 Oct '09

Hello CSC members! The Computer Science Club along with the Physics Undergraduate Club will be hosting "Feynman Nights". We will be showing recordings of lectures that the physicist Richard Feynman gave at Cornell in 1964. They can be viewed online at the following address: http://research.microsoft.com/apps/tools/tuva/ Relevant info: - There will be snacks/refreshments (this week will be popcorn, chips, pop... maybe pizza, who knows! We will take suggestions for future dates if people give them.) - Admission is free (of course)! - Open to everyone, and accessible to everyone! (They are lectures accessible to the general public.) - There will be 7 happening weekly on Wednesdays at 7-8PM. You don't have to attend them all! (but you should!) - PHYS 150. That is the physics building, in one of the theatre rooms. NOTE: Yes, the first one is this Wednesday. i.e. TODAY. It is ok to come to the second if you miss the first. Bonus marks (there are no marks) for coming to the first, though. Try to come early to get a seat! Bring your friends, meet new people and generally be awesome. Schedule Oct. 7th: Law of Gravitation - An Example of Physical Law Oct. 14th: The Relation of Mathematics and Physics Oct. 21st: The Great Conservation Principles Oct. 28th: Symmetry in Physical Law Nov 4th: The Distinction of Past and Future Nov 11th: Probability and Uncertainty - The Quantum Mechanical View Nov 18th: Seeking New Laws We have some snazzy posters up around MC/PHYS, an online copy can be found at http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~j3parker/feynman/poster.pdf As always, any questions can be sent to exec(a)csclub.uwaterloo.ca

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UNIX 103
by Computer Science Club 05 Oct '09

05 Oct '09

Hello, the CSC is hosting UNIX 103 on 2009-10-08 at 4:30 PM in MC3003. In this long-awaited third installment of the popular Unix Tutorials the friendly experts of the CSC will teach you the simple art of version control. You will learn the purpose and use of two different Version Control Systems (git and subversion). This tutorial will advise you in the discipline of managing the source code of your projects and enable you to quickly learn new Version Control Systems in the work place -- a skill that is much sought after by employers. Hope to see you there. If you have any questions about the event e-mail the executive or check http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca.

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Linux Install Fest
by Computer Science Club 29 Sep '09

29 Sep '09

Hello, the CSC is hosting Linux Install Fest on 2009-10-03 at 10:00 AM - 3:30 PM in DC1301 FishBowl. Interested in trying Linux but don't know where to start? Come to the Linux install fest to demo Linux, get help installing it on your computer, either stand alone or a dual boot, and help setting up your fresh install. Have lunch and hang around if you like, or just come in for a minute and grab a CD. Hope to see you there. If you have any questions about the event e-mail the executive or check http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca.

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UNIX 102
by Computer Science Club 25 Sep '09

25 Sep '09

Hello, the CSC is hosting UNIX 102 on 2009-10-01 at 4:30 PM in MC3003. Unix 102 is a follow up to Unix 101, requiring basic knowledge of the shell. If you missed Unix 101 but still know your way around you should be fine. Topics covered include: "real" editors, document typesetting with LaTeX (great for assignments!), bulk editing, spellchecking, and printing in the student environment and elsewhere. If you aren't interested or feel comfortable with these taskes, watch out for Unix 103 and 104 to get more depth in power programming tools on Unix. Hope to see you there. If you have any questions about the event e-mail the executive or check http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca.

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AI Programming Contest sponsored by Google
by Computer Science Club 24 Sep '09

24 Sep '09

Hello, the CSC is hosting an AI Programming Contest. The contest opens on 2009-09-28 at 4:30 PM, with a start party in MC3003 (free food!) and submissions will be accepted until 11:59pm 2009-10-09. A closing party and award cerimony will start at 7pm in the Comfy on the last day of the contest, along side a code party to give you a chance to finish those last minute entries or those assignments you neglected to write the winning entry. So come learn how to write an intelligent game-playing program. No past experience necessary. Submit your program using the online web interface to watch it battle against other people's programs. Beginners and experts welcome! The contest is sponsored by Google, so be sure to compete for a chance to get noticed by them. Prizes for the top programs: * $100 in Cash Prizes * Google t-shirts * Fame and recognition * Your resume directly to a Google recruiter Hope to see you there. If you have any questions about the event e-mail the executive or check http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca.

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Event: UNIX 101
by Computer Science Club 21 Sep '09

21 Sep '09

Hello, the CSC is hosting UNIX 101 on 2009-09-24 at 4:30 PM in MC3003. New to Unix? No problem, we'll teach you to power use circles around your friends! This first tutorial is an introduction to the Unix shell environment, both on the student servers and on other Unix environments. Topics covered include: using the shell, both basic interaction and advanced topics like scripting and job control, the filesystem and manipulating it, and ssh. If you feel you're already familiar with these topics don't hesitate to come to Unix 102 to learn about documents, editing, and other related tasks, or watch out for Unix 103 and 104 that get much more in depth into power programming tools on Unix. Hope to see you there. If you have any questions about the event e-mail the executive or check http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca.

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Event: UNIX 101
by Computer Science Club 21 Sep '09

21 Sep '09

Hello, the CSC is hosting UNIX 101 on 2009-09-24 at 4:30 PM in MC3003. New to Unix? No problem, we'll teach you to power use circles around your friends! This first tutorial is an introduction to the Unix shell environment, both on the student servers and on other Unix environments. Topics covered include: using the shell, both basic interaction and advanced topics like scripting and job control, the filesystem and manipulating it, and ssh. If you feel you're already familiar with these topics don't hesitate to come to Unix 102 to learn about documents, editing, and other related tasks, or watch out for Unix 103 and 104 that get much more in depth into power programming tools on Unix. Hope to see you there. If you have any questions about the event e-mail the executive or check http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca.

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[csc-general] Event: Computing as if People Mattered
by Computer Science Club General Announcements 18 Sep '09

18 Sep '09

Hello CSCers! WHAT, WHEN AND WHERE?: This saturday (tomorrow!) The Working Centre (with assistance from the Computer Science Club) will be holding the event "Computing as if People Mattered" to celebrate Software Freedom Day. The event at the Working Centre in Kitchener and is from 10:00am until 4:00pm. You are welcome to show up and leave at any time. WHY (YOU SHOULD ATTEND): Considering using linux? Need more information, or ready to take the plunge (with assistance!) this saturday? There will be short info workshops (see site) and, if you want to bring your computer and get linux working there will be people there to assist you in installing and configuring (and showing you how to use) the new software. Again, see the website for specifics. Are you a first year student? The event will be held in Kitchener. This is a great chance to get out and see the town. We realize that this can be hard for people new to the city (especially in the first week of classes!) so we have developed a solution. See the "how" section. Once you are in Kitchener, you don't have to stay at the event. There is plenty to do in downtown Kitchener, see the extra information page for a link to a website which describes this (the Buisness Listings page in particular is informative.) As an example of something that you can do downtown, tomorrow only the Children's Museum (fun for adults as well!) is holding their first "Cupcake Camp". Yes, cupcakes. You pay $6. This allows you to eat one (1) cupcake of your choosing (extra cupcakes are $1) and you have free access to the entire museum for the rest of the day! Pretty sweet deal! See the link below for more information. For specific information on what is happening (e.g. workshops) at which time, please see the link "Computing as if People Mattered" in the extra information section. HOW: If you are a first year, you may be wondering or worried about how to get to Kitchener. Did you know that your WatCard can be used to get on the city busses for free*? To assist people in getting to the event, the Computer Science Club will be taking caravans of people to the bus stop and travelling with them to the event. We will be making two organized trips. We will meet outside the Comfy Lounge on the 3rd floor of MC at the times listed below: 10:00am - Taking the 10:12 iXpress from DC 12:00pm - Taking the 12:12 iXpress from DC Please be there BEFORE the listed times. We will not wait. Note: You do not need to use our guides, and you can (and are encouraged to) come with us even if you are an upper year (or already know your way.) The more the merrier! Note: If you plan to wander off on your own, you might want to consider printing out a map from Google. Or not (adventures are cool.) * Not really free as you paid for it in your student fees. Might as well make use of it! EXTRA INFORMATION: Computing as if People Mattered: http://www.theworkingcentre.org/at/comp_recycling/sfd09/sfd09.html Software Freedom Day: http://softwarefreedomday.org/ The Working Centre: http://www.theworkingcentre.org Downtown Kitchener: http://www.kitchenerdowntown.com Cupcake Camp: http://cupcakecampkw.ca/how-it-works/ Hope to see plenty of you there! p.s. Sorry for the short notice :( !

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[csc-general] Test Mark 2
by Computer Science Club General Announcements 17 Sep '09

17 Sep '09

This should do it. -- Edgar Bering, Vice President ebering at uwaterloo dot ca Computer Science Club http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~ebering Mathematics Society MC 3036, (519)888-4567,x33870 University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario CANADA N2L 3G1

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[csc-general] Usenet Bridge Test
by CS Club general list, has *everyone* 17 Sep '09

17 Sep '09

Testing mailman usenet bridge. -- Edgar Bering, Vice President ebering at uwaterloo dot ca Computer Science Club http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~ebering Mathematics Society MC 3036, (519)888-4567,x33870 University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario CANADA N2L 3G1

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