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 :( !