Greetings Programs,

We will be having our first prof talk of the term with Professor Richard Mann on November 5, 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM, in MC 4063. He will be talking about the BBC micro:bit - an embedded computer that's popular with hobbyists and comes with a variety of peripherals.

We are also looking for speakers for Alt-tab! Have something you want talk about? Want to rant about {X technology} to a captive audience? If yes, then email vice-president@csclub.uwaterloo.ca with an abstract. Alt-Tab is the CSC's lightning talk event (albeit slightly longer), and talks are 10-15 minutes long. Read below for more details!

(Details for both of these events follow)

========== Prof. Talk ==========

Abstract:

BBC micro:bit (microbit.org) was introduced in 2015 and has since become popular with educators and hobbyists.

Micro:bit uses an ARM Cortex M0 processor running the "mbed" OS/runtime (mbed.arm.com). It has a built in LED 7x7 array, two buttons, compass, accelerometer, infra red transceivers, and low power wireless communication. Most importantly, it has multiple analog and digital pins to connect to the external world.

Web based tools compile gui/blocks, javascript, or python to executable (HEX) files that run on the device. The device appears as a USB drive. It is programmed by copying (dragging) the HEX image to the device. Once programmed, the device runs standalone and communicates with the the host computer via a serial port API.

All of this is great fun and a gateway into electronics and real time programming.

In this talk I will present a brief introduction to micro:bit, electronics, and electronic signal measurement (voltmeter, function generator, oscilloscope).

We will measure the run time performance of the micro:bit, in particular the operation of the analog inputs and outputs and the response time/latency of the device and consider its suitability for user interface, music and audio projects.

========================= Call for Alt-Tab Speakers =========================

CSC will be hosting Alt-Tab, a slightly longer version of lightning talks. It will be a night full of friendly talks during the week of November 26.

We need speakers! Contact vice-president@edu.uwaterloo.ca, with your tentative talk title and a short abstract if you would like to give a talk. Slides are not required. Please aim for a 10-15 minute talk. I'll send an email with the list of talks closer to the date of the event. Please send titles and abstract by November 19th.

Here are some topics that our members have presented before. The titles make them seem more technical than they actually were.

- Overview of SAT solvers - Communication complexity - Register allocation in compilers as graph colouring - Web application security - PXE booting - UI and UX - Train signalling and sensing - Typed Racket - Modern GPU architecture - The comment that took Stack Exchange down and the algorithm that could have saved them - Register Allocation With Graphs

-- Neil Parikh AVP Computer Science Club