- csc-general - CSC Mailman

Talk: "The Best Algorithms are Randomized Algorithms"
by Computer Science Club 21 Feb '10

21 Feb '10

Hello, the CSC is hosting a talk entitled "The Best Algorithms are Randomized Algorithms" on 2010-02-23 at 04:30 PM in MC5136B. It will be presented by Dr. Nicholas Harvey. Talk Abstract: For many problems, randomized algorithms are either the fastest algorithm or the simplest algorithm; sometimes they even provide the only known algorithm. Randomized algorithms have become so prevalent that deterministic algorithms could be viewed as a curious special case. In this talk I will describe some startling examples of randomized algorithms for solving some optimization problems on graphs. Light refreshments will be provided and I 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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Member Talk: An Introduction to Vector Graphics Libraries with Cairo
by Computer Science Club 08 Feb '10

08 Feb '10

Hello, the CSC is hosting a talk entitled "An Introduction to Vector Graphics Libraries with Cairo" on 2010-02-09 at 4:30 PM in DC1304. It will be presented by club member Nathaniel Sherry. Cairo is an open source, cross platform, vector graphics library with the ability to output to many kinds of surfaces, including PDF, SVG and PNG surfaces, as well as X-Window, Win32 and Quartz 2D backends. Unlike the raster graphics used with programmes and libraries such as The Gimp and ImageMagick, vector graphics are not defined by grids of pixels, but rather by a collection of drawing operations. These operations detail how to draw lines, fill shapes, and even set text to create the desired image. This has the advantages of being infinitely scalable, smaller in file size, and simpler to express within a computer programme. This talk will be an introduction to the concepts and metaphors used by vector graphics libraries in general and Cairo in particular. 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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2010 Intelligent Systems Challenge: Call for Participation
by Computer Science Club 04 Feb '10

04 Feb '10

The Canadian Artificial Intelligence Association (CAIAC) and Precarn Inc are inviting students at all levels (high school, college and university) to participate in the 2010 Intelligent Systems Challenge. Computer professionals in industry and academia are also invited to pass this message to interested students and to consider advising a student team. The challenge is a programming contest where students are asked to write a program that is able to automatically characterize events reported in news media, particularly when there are multiple data sources providing context for the information. This year's challenge was proposed by CAE. CAE is a world leader in providing modelling and simulation technologies and integrated training solutions for the civil aviation industry, defence forces, public security agencies, and healthcare organizations around the globe. To participate, please visit the challenge website: http://www.intelligent-systems-challenge.ca. Download the full problem description and start programming today! Registration is currently open (until Feb 28). Cash prizes will be awarded to the best solutions in each student category (high school/college, undergraduate and graduate levels). Winners will be announced at the 2010 Intelligent Systems Collaborative Conference in Ottawa, Ontario which runs from May 31-June 2. The challenge is a joint initiative of the Canadian Artificial Intelligence Association (CAIAC) and Precarn Inc. The goal of this annual competition is to promote innovation in Canada; establish and strengthen contacts between academia and industry in Canada; increase the awareness of and interest in technologies and methods from the areas of artificial intelligence and intelligent systems for addressing the challenges faced by Canadian industry, organizations and society as a whole; contribute to the development of students’ aptitude and ability through solving challenging real world problems. -- Kate Larson, University of Waterloo Froduald Kabanza, Universite de Sherbrooke Michael Horsch, University of Saskatchewan (The 2010 IS Challenge Organizing Committee) and Holger H. Hoos, University of British Columbia (on behalf of the IS Challenge Steering Committee)

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UNIX 101, Two Sessions
by Computer Science Club 04 Feb '10

04 Feb '10

Hello, the CSC is hosting UNIX 101 on 2010-02-10 at 4:30 PM in MC3003, with an encore presentation on 2010-02-11 at 4:30 PM in MC3005. New to Unix? No problem, we'll teach you to power use circles around your friends! We will run two sessions of the popular tutorial, in case you can't make one. 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 can't make either tutorial, or want to read ahead, check out: http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/unix/ If you have any questions about the event e-mail the executive or check http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca.

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Movie Night: Tron and Hackers. 7pm Thursday in the Comfy Lounge
by Computer Science Club 02 Feb '10

02 Feb '10

Hi everyone, This week we're helping MathSoc run their movie night, and as such we get to pick the movies. So, if you want to watch some classic films about computer culture and enjoy free popcorn come to the Comfy Lounge this Thursday at 7pm for Tron and 8:45pm for Hackers. Bring your friends! -- 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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Programming contest starts today in MC3003
by Computer Science Club 01 Feb '10

01 Feb '10

Hi everyone, come out today to the contest kickoff event in MC3003 at 4:30PM. The contest this year is being run in conjunction with Google, who will be promoting it worldwide, but its being run by us, and it would certainly be a shame if we lost. Can't make the kickoff? Just check out the website and get started! Learn how to create an intelligent game-playing program. No past experience necessary. Submit your code online to watch it compete with programs written by other students from around the world. Follow your ranking on the Global Leaderboard. Beginners and experts welcome! Cash prizes will be awarded to the top entries. There is a special prize for the top entry by a first-year student. Check out the website for everything that you need to get started today! contest.csclub.uwaterloo.ca Google AI Challenge Organized by the University of Waterloo Computer Science Club Feb 1 to February 27 contest.csclub.uwaterloo.ca -- 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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"Deep learning with multiplicative interactions" a talk by Dr. Geoff Hinton
by Computer Science Club 24 Jan '10

24 Jan '10

Hello, the CSC is hosting a talk entitled "Deep learning with multiplicative interactions" on 2010-01-26 at 05:00 PM in DC1302. It will be presented by Geoffrey Hinton. Geoffrey Hinton, from the University of Toronto and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, 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. More information about Dr. Hinton's research can be found on his website[1]. The detailed abstract: Deep networks can be learned efficiently from unlabeled data. The layers of representation are learned one at a time using a simple learning module, called a "Restricted Boltzmann Machine" that has only one layer of latent variables. The values of the latent variables of one module form the data for training the next module. Although deep networks have been quite successful for tasks such as object recognition, information retrieval, and modeling motion capture data, the simple learning modules do not have multiplicative interactions which are very useful for some types of data. The talk will show how a third-order energy function can be factorized to yield a simple learning module that retains advantageous properties of a Restricted Boltzmann Machine such as very simple exact inference and a very simple learning rule based on pair-wise statistics. The new module contains multiplicative interactions that are useful for a variety of unsupervised learning tasks. Researchers at the University of Toronto have been using this type of module to extract oriented energy from image patches and dense flow fields from image sequences. The new module can also be used to allow motions of a particular style to be achieved by blending autoregressive models of motion capture data. Hope to see you there. If you have any questions about the event e-mail the executive or check http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca. [1] http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~hinton/

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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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