- csc-general - CSC Mailman

Machine Learning talk by Professor Shai Ben-David
by Computer Science Club 14 Jun '17

14 Jun '17

Hello everyone, Professor Shai Ben-David will be holding a talk on Machine Learning tomorrow June 15th at 6pm at MC4060! Abstract We are all aware that we live in the era of ("big") data. In contrast to classical scientists that devoted much of their resources to collecting data, nowadays researchers are flooded with data and the focus has switched to trying to make sense of and utilize the big and complex available data. Machine learning is aimed to use computer power to do just that. It is therefore no wonder that machine learning is currently a hot topic. Evidence is all over the map, from NYTimes articles to being a top priority for research investments by Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook. Throughout its (short) history, machine learning has enjoyed fruitful interactions between theory and practice. The growing awareness to its power keeps stimulating research towards new applications to the field, which in turn spur the development of algorithms and inspire new frontiers for our theoretical pursuit. In this talk Professor Shai Ben-David will explain the basic principles behind machine learning and how these principles relate to some of headline-making practical tools. Ben-David will also describe some of the major research challenges and research directions that address the fast expanding scope of potential machine learning applications. Regards, Bo Mo Secretary, Computer Science Club

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Office Training Spring 2017
by Computer Science Club 30 May '17

30 May '17

Hello Everyone, I will be conducting office training on Tuesday June the 6th at 4:00 pm in the CSClub office (MC 3036). Please attend if you would like to become office staff. If you cannot make it at the given time, please contact me directly. Thank you, - Uday Barar (ubarar) Office Manager IMAPD

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Unix 102 Tutorial
by Computer Science Club 29 May '17

29 May '17

Hello everyone, Fatema Boxwala will be holding a Unix 102 talk at MC 3003 from 6pm - 8pm on June 1, 2017. Abstract Finished the bash unit in CS246 and still don't see what's great about Unix? Want to gain some more in-depth knowledge, or some less well-known tips and tricks for using the command line? Unix 102 is the event for you! Fatema is "kind of successful" and "knows things about Unix" and you can be too! Topics covered will be: users, groups and permissions, ez string manipulation, additional skills, tips and tricks. Bring a computer with Minecraft installed if you have one. Bo Mo Secretary

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Spring 2017 - Election Results
by Computer Science Club 17 May '17

17 May '17

Hello everyone, Your Spring 2017 executive team has been selected. All positions were acclaimed. President: Felix Bauckholt (fbauckho) Vice-President: Zichuan Wei (z34wei) Treasurer: Laura Song (lhsong) Secretary: Bo Mo (bzmo) Zachary Seguin (ztseguin) was appointed and ratified as the Systems Administrator. Additionally, the following people were appointed: Office Manager: Uday Barar (ubarar) Librarian: Patrick Melanson (pj2melan) Imapd: Uday Barar (ubarar) Thank you to everyone who participated in the election process. Zachary Seguin Chief Returning Officer cro(a)csclub.uwaterloo.ca

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Spring 2017 - Elections on Wed., May 17 at 6:00pm
by Computer Science Club 16 May '17

16 May '17

Hello everyone, The nomination period for this term's elections has closed. The nominees for elected positions are: President: - fbauckho - hsivasub - jj2baile - jmgagnie Vice-President: - fbauckho - jj2baile - s455wang - z34wei Treasurer: - hsivasub - lhsong (+1 unknown username starting with "aksh") Secretary: - bzmo - z34wei (+1 unknown username starting with "aksh") The following people have expressed interest in the appointed positions: Systems Administrator: - ztseguin Office Manager: - fbauckho - m3koo - ubarar Librarian: - fbauckho - ymusleh IMAPD (Fridge Regent): - hsivasub - ischtche - ubarar Nominations for elected positions can be declined at any time prior to the vote. You may express your interest for appointed positions at the elections. The elections will take place on Wednesday, May 17th at 6:00pm in the MC Comfy Lounge (MC 3001). If you have not renewed your membership, you may do so at the elections. Voting is restricted to current club members who are Social Members of the Mathematics Society. Voting will use the approval voting system. This means that you can vote for as many candidates as you want for any position. At the meeting, votes will be conducted in a heads-down, hands-up fashion. Absentee votes can be emailed to cro(a)csclub.uwaterloo.ca until 30 minutes before the elections (5:30pm). For more information on the election procedures, please see https://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/about/constitution#officers. I hope to see you at our elections tomorrow. Zachary Seguin Chief Returning Officer Computer Science Club | University of Waterloo cro(a)csclub.uwaterloo.ca

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Spring 2017 Elections on Wednesday, May 17 at 6:00pm in the Comfy Lounge
by Computer Science Club 04 May '17

04 May '17

Hello everyone, The Computer Science Club will be holding elections for the Spring 2017 term on Wednesday, May 17th at 6:00pm in the MC Comfy Lounge (MC 3001). The following positions will be elected: President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary. The following positions will be appointed: Systems Administrator (to be ratified at the meeting), Office Manager and Librarian. If you would like to run or nominate someone for any of the elected positions, you can put your/their name on the whiteboard in the CSC office (MC 3036/3037) or by sending an email to the Chief Returning Officer (Zachary) at cro(a)csclub.uwaterloo.ca. Please note that executive positions are restricted to MathSoc social members. A list of current nominations will be available on the whiteboard in the office and at https://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/elections. Nominations will close at 6:00pm on Tuesday, May 16th (24 hours prior to the start of elections). Voting will be done in a heads-down, hands-up manner and is restricted to MathSoc social members. A full description of the roles and the election procedure are listed in our Constitution, available at https://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/about/constitution. Any questions related to the election can be directed to cro(a)csclub.uwaterloo.ca. Thanks, Zachary Seguin Chief Returning Officer Computer Science Club | University of Waterloo cro(a)csclub.uwaterloo.ca

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Code Party this Wednesday in STC 0060
by Computer Science Club 04 Apr '17

04 Apr '17

Hello everyone! The CS Club is hosting an end of term Code Party tomorrow (Wednesday April 5th) from 5:00pm until late in the evening in STC 0060! This will be our last event of the term. Come code with us, eat some food, do some things. Personal projects you want to work on? Homework projects you need to finish? Or want some time to explore some new technology and chat about it? You can join us at Code Party 1 and do it, with great company and great food. Come any time after 5pm, but if you come earlier your food preferences are more likely to be accounted for, and there's more time for coding! - Tristan Hume Vice President Computer Science Club

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Hotspot JVM talk and rescheduled Unix 201
by Computer Science Club 10 Mar '17

10 Mar '17

Hey everyone, WiCS is hosting a talk this Tuesday March 14th that should be of general interest to CSC members: # Hotspot Virtual Machine's Execution by Monica Beckwith Abstract: Monica Beckwith has worked with the Java Virtual Machine for more than a decade not just optimizing the JVM heuristics, but also improving the Just-in-time(JIT) code quality for various processor architectures as well as working with the garbage collectors and improving garbage collection for server systems. During this talk, Monica will cover a few JIT and Runtime optimizations and she will dive into the HotSpot garbage collection and provide an overview of the various garbage collectors available in HotSpot. The talk is open to everyone and is happening in STC 0040 at 6pm on Tuesday. You can register for free tickets here https://www.eventbrite.com/e/monica-beckwith-hotspot-virtual-machines-execu… # Unix 201 Rescheduled In other news, the Unix 201 event I mentioned in my last csc-general email has been rescheduled from Thursday and is now probably going to be on Wednesday March 22nd at 6pm. Check the CS Club website before then for further updates and room number. Reminder: Unix 201 is a talk and demo about more advanced Unix tricks and tools than are taught in our regular Unix 101 events. Topics may include customizing your prompt, the ranger console file manager, fancy shells, htop, rsync and using terminal escape sequences in your programs. - Tristan Hume Vice President Computer Science Club

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Upcoming Events: Alt+Tab Talks, Workshops and Unix 201
by Computer Science Club 06 Mar '17

06 Mar '17

Hello everyone! There’s a few different CS Club events coming up this week and afterwards: # Alt+Tab Talks Thursday, March 9th at 6pm in MC 4042 Come watch interesting 10-15 minute talks by CS Club members. Talks so far are: - "Online database migrations at scale” by Shirley Miao - "Stitching spaces in subdivision surfaces” by Luke Franceschini - "Stepping into math: building a step-by-step algebra solver” by Evy Kassirer - “How your text editor does syntax highlighting” by Tristan Hume - “Theory of computation” by Bryan Coutts http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/events/MC_4042-2017-03-09-6:00_pm # Road to Node Workshops Tuesday, March 7 at 7pm in STC 0020 + Tues, March 14 @ 7 + Tues, March 21 @ 7pm Three workshops introducing the Node.js framework for people of all skill levels. Starting with an introduction to Javascript and ES6 this Tuesday and continuing with further sessions on Node.js, promises and the Express framework. See the Facebook event for details: https://www.facebook.com/events/1415253851840971/ # Unix 201 Thursday, March 16th at 6pm A talk and demo about more advanced Unix tricks and tools than are taught in our regular Unix 101 events. Topics may include customizing your prompt, the ranger console file manager, rsync and using terminal escape sequences in your programs. Check the CSC website before the event next week for a room number. Remember to mark your calendars! - Tristan Hume Vice President Computer Science Club

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Possible service interruption Sat., Feb. 18 - Mon., Feb. 20
by Computer Science Club 16 Feb '17

16 Feb '17

Hello Everyone, This is a notice of a possible interruption to CSC services on Saturday, Feb. 18 through Monday, Feb. 20. We have been informed that the air conditioning will be turned off in the MC machine room (where our machines are located). While alternative cooling options are planned, it may become necessary to turn off some machines to reduce heat and protect our machines from damage. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Systems Committee at syscom(a)csclub.uwaterloo.ca <mailto:syscom@csclub.uwaterloo.ca>. Thanks, Systems Committee | Computer Science Club University of Waterloo syscom(a)csclub.uwaterloo.ca

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