Yearly archives: 2014


Superoptimization and Supercomputing

The BCS OSSG is hosting two talks which look at “super” themes.

Venue: The Prince Philip room, Royal Society of Arts, 8 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6EZ (N.B. Note the change of venue to the RSA)
Date: Wednesday 26 November
Time: 6:00pm for 6:30pm start

This event is free to attend for both BCS Members and non-members but booking is required.

Superoptimization: How fast can your code go

Speaker: James Pallister, University of Bristol

Super TuxModern compiler optimization can take almost any code and produce a reasonably efficient binary at the end. However compiler “optimization” doesn’t make your code “optimal”, just better.

In contrast, superoptimization can produce perfect code – the fastest, the smallest or the most energy efficient code. The technique, first introduced in the late 80s found in some cases it could do 25% better than the best assembly programmer, and 40% better than the best compiler at the time.

Free software has always played a central role in superoptimization research, with the GNU Superoptimizer being one of the very first tools constructed.

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OpenCon 2014 – London 26/11/2014

OpenCon 2014

OpenCon 2014 is the student and early career researcher conference on Open Access, Open Education, and Open Data.

OpenCon 2014 London will feature leading speakers from across the Open Access, Open Education, and Open Data movements, including a combination of live speakers and videos from the OpenCon 2014 Washington event.

The talks will be interspersed with interactive group discussions themed around the session topic.

OpenCon 2014 London is a half-day event hosted by Imperial College London (at the Huxley building on 180 Queen’s Gate) with discussions continuing at a nearby pub/restaurant in the evening.

For more details, and to register for a free place, please see the eventbrite page at: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/opencon-2014-london-tickets-13952172323

Interested but not able to make it to London? Attend a satellite event near you (or the OpenCon2014 conference itself in Washington, USA) here: http://opencon2014.org/takepart


OWASP Winter Code Sprint

Winter Code SprintThe second round of the OWASP Winter Code Sprint is now open to mid October and is looking for students to work on current open source security projects

The OWASP Winter Code Sprint (OWCS) is a program to involve students with Security projects. By participating in OWCS a student can get real life experience while contributing to an open source project and getting university credits.

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Maximising your opportunities with Open Source – Telford 16/10/2014

The BCS Shropshire Specialist Group, in Association with Shropshire Linux Users Group and Telford College of Arts and Technology are hosting a talk discussing how to use Open Source software to its full extent.

The event will be held on Wednesday 16th October 2014 at Telford College of Arts and Technology, Haybridge Road, Wellington, Telford, Shropshire, from 5:30 pm.

Have you ever wondered whether you are using Open Source enough? Is it the smart thing to do? Is it relevant to my business or career? Is it just for geeks? Are there risks? Well this is the event to attend full of informed students and experienced business professionals. Expect big discussions seeded by concise talks describing how Open Source is used in Startups, Corporates, and what exciting tools and benefits it can offer you.

There are some incredible technologies out there, and they are good, and free. However to get the best out of them, one needs an open and informed mind. This event promises to be a hotbed of discussion with a great mix of IT students and practitioners from companies of all sizes.

This event is free to attend for both BCS Members and non-members but booking is required.


Open Source Chips and AGM – London 23/10/2014 1

Open Source HardwareThe BCS OSSG and the OSHUG are hosting three talks which look at the design of Open Source chips and Open Source tools and materials to support their design.

The event will be held on Thursday 23rd October at BCS HQ –  5 Southampton Street, London, WC2E 7HA and will be preceded by the OSSG Annual General Meeting.

This event is free to attend for both BCS Members and non-members but booking is required.

The timetable for the evening will be:

  • 17:30 – Registration & refreshments
  • 18:00 – AGM (BCS OSSG members only)
  • 18:30 – Open Source Chips talks (BCS members + non-members)
  • 20:00 – Sandwiches + Networking
  • 20:30 – Close

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Wikipedia Editathons, Women In Technology – Southampton 14/10/2014 and 27/11/2014

Wikipedia logoThe BCS Hampshire Branch, Southampton Solent University, Open Source Specialist Group  (OSSG), the E-learning Specialist Group, the Women Specialist Group are hosting a joint meeting for editing Women in Technologies entries in Wikipedia.

The even will take place at Southampton Solent University, East Park Terrace, Southampton, Hampshire, SO14 0RD (room to be confirmed) starting at 5:30, on Tuesday 14 October (International Ada Lovelace Day) and also Thursday 27 November (anniversary of her death in 1852).

This event is free to attend for both BCS Members and non BCS members but booking is required, sending an email to Nick.Whitelegg@solent.ac.uk.  We are using a laboratory, so there is no need to bring your own equipment, put please BCS Hampshire Editathon October or November in the subject link. We can make arrangements if you need to arrive late – just let us know your approximate arrival time when you book.

The even will be presented by Richard Nevell from Wikipedia.

Get involved, as a researcher or a techie (you only need to be able to handle drop down windows). This is not just for women – no prior knowledge required.

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Who’s Stalking You? – Greenwich 12/11/2014

Here is information of the second BCS OSSG joint event with BCS Hampshire Branch, BCS e-learning SG and BCSWomen.

Date: Wednesday 15th October  2014

Subject: Who’s Stalking You?

Speakers: Dr Diane Gan, Principal lecturer, co-founder and director of the C-SAFE Centre at the University of Greenwich and Lily Jenkins, a graduate from the University of Greenwich.

Time: Registration & refreshments at 18:00 with talks commencing at 18:30. Finishing around 20:00. 
 
Venue:
 Southampton Solent University, East Park Terrace, Southampton, Hampshire, SO14 0RD in the Reginald Mitchell Building, third floor, room RM 326  (This is about 5 minutes walk from the Southampton Central Station)

Synopsis:
 This will be jointly with the Hampshire Branch, BCS e-learning SG, BCS Open Source SG,  BCS Cybercrime Forensic SG, BCSWomen SGs  and Southampton Solent University.

The risks from Tweeting and Social Media, from a potential stalker using free open source software !

Genuine case studies will be discussed.

The aim of this work was to determine how much information could be obtained about an individual using only social networking sites and a number of  freely available tools. The results were: home address, pictures of the individual, their friends and family, and most worrying of all, their routine daily movements. Most teenagers have a “profile” on a number of social networking sites, such as Facebook or Twitter, and use them without realizing how much they are revealing about themselves.

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Who’s Stalking You? – Greenwich 15/10/2014

Here is information of the first BCS OSSG joint event with BCS Hampshire Branch, BCS e-learning SG and BCSWomen.

(A second, repeated event will be held on 12th November in Greenwich.)

Date: Wednesday 15th October  2014

Subject: Who’s Stalking You?

Speakers: Dr Diane Gan, Principal lecturer, co-founder and director of the C-SAFE Centre at the University of Greenwich and Lily Jenkins, a graduate from the University of Greenwich.

Time: Registration & refreshments at 18:00 with talks commencing at 18:30. Finishing around 20:00. 
 
Venue:
 Southampton Solent University, East Park Terrace, Southampton, Hampshire, SO14 0RD in the Reginald Mitchell Building, third floor, room RM 326  (This is about 5 minutes walk from the Southampton Central Station)

Synopsis:
 This will be jointly with the Hampshire Branch, BCS e-learning SG, BCS Open Source SG,  BCS Cybercrime Forensic SG, BCSWomen SGs  and Southampton Solent University.

The risks from Tweeting and Social Media, from a potential stalker using free open source software !

Genuine case studies will be discussed.

The aim of this work was to determine how much information could be obtained about an individual using only social networking sites and a number of  freely available tools. The results were: home address, pictures of the individual, their friends and family, and most worrying of all, their routine daily movements. Most teenagers have a “profile” on a number of social networking sites, such as Facebook or Twitter, and use them without realizing how much they are revealing about themselves.

(more…)