Yearly archives: 2013


Open Source Compilers – London 23/1/2014

The Open Source Specialist Group  (OSSG)  will be holding a meeting dedicated to Open Source compilers.

The even will take place at the BCS Central London Offices, First Floor, The Davidson Building, 5 Southampton Street, London WC2E 7HA betwen 5:30pm and 8 :30pm.

Please register to attend.

The current sessions are:

  • LLVM, Simon Cook, Embecosm
  • Verilator: An open source Verilog to C++ compiler, Jeremy Bennett
  • Compiler optimization for energy minimization, James Pallister, University of Bristol

(more…)


Richard Stallman talks – Lincoln 29/11/2013 and London 30/11/2013

RMS and Assange

Richard Stallman will be in UK giving one talk in the University of Lincoln (29th November) and one in London, at BitcoinExpo (30th November).

At Lincoln, Richart Stallman will be talking on “A Free Digital Society” (registration recommended). The event will take place 06:00 PM to 08:00 PM in the Jackson Lecture Theatre (MB0603), Main Admin Building (MAB), Brayford Pool Campus, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool.

In London, he will be talking about “Software Freedom, Internet Freedom, and Bitcoin” (registration needed). The event will take place 5:20 PM to 6:20 PM at Cafe 1001, 91 Brick Lane, E1, London.

Richard Stallman is best known for launching the GNU Project in 1983, to create a “Unix-like computer operating system composed entirely of free software”. This is the foundation of Linux as we know it (or more correctly, GNU/Linux). Today, he continues his work with the GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation.


Speed (overclocking, souped-up BBC Micro, compiler optimisation) – London 28/11/2014

OSHUGThe Open Source Hardware Group will be holding a meeting dedicated to the quest for computing speed. It will feature talks on a hardware design to aid overclocking, retrofitting a 30+ year old microcomputer with modern processors, and compiler optimisation.

The even will take place on the 28th November 201318:00 – 20:00 at Erlang Solutions, New Loom House, 101 Back Church Lane, London, E1 1LU, UK [map] (51.512889-0.067243)

Please register to attend and share on Lanyrd.


Fast and Furious: Overclocking chips for fun and profit

Due to the variance in silicon manufacturing technologies, integrated circuits used in everyday designs are usually spec’ed at lower speeds than their actual capabilities. It is, therefore, not unlikely for chips to run faster than their advertised speeds, sometimes at significant margins with a little push. The umbrella term used for this practice is overclocking and it encapsulates a variety of techniques from simply increasing the clock speed to employing elaborate systems with liquid nitrogen cooling.

This talk will provide an overview of overclocking and overvolting techniques — investigating the effects of forcing chips to run faster on the silicon level — and present vftweak: an open source hardware design that aims to simplify experimenting with circuits by providing a programmable interface and monitoring tools.

Omer Kilic works on Erlang Embedded, a Knowledge Transfer Partnership project in collaboration with University of Kent and Erlang Solutions. The aim of this project is to bring the benefits of concurrent systems development using Erlang to the field of embedded systems; through investigation, analysis, software development and evaluation.

Before joining Erlang Solutions, Omer was a research student in the Embedded Systems Lab at the University of Kent, working on a reconfigurable heterogeneous computing framework.

Omer likes tiny computers, things that ‘just work’ and real beer.

Souping up the BBC Micro

This talk will introduce a selection of projects which allow modern processors to be used with a 30+ year old BBC Micro, before exploring in more detail the speaker’s own open hardware contribution to the options available.

Jason Flynn creates open electronics designs for the amateur radio and retro computing. His main areas of interest are digital TV, microwave, satellite and most things related to Acorn and ARM. He previously held a post on the RSGB Data Communications Committee, is an honorary member of SSETI, has been committee of Martlesham Radio Society for 7 years, and is presently involved in setting up a hackspace in Ipswich. (more…)


FLOSS UK – Spring 2014

Old Ship Inn Brighton

18th March – 20st March 2014

FLOSS UK’s annual Spring conference will take place in Brighton from the 18th to the 20st March 2014.

This is the UK’s only conference aimed specifically at systems and network administrators. It attracts a large number of professionals from sites of all shapes and sizes. As well as the technical talks, the conference provides a friendly environment for delegates to meet, learn, and enjoy lively debate on a host of subjects.

If you would like to offer a half day workshop that might interest our target audience, or if you have a novel solution to a problem, experience of a particular application or hardware platform, tips and tricks for fellow systems administrators, or a favourite tool you could talk about, please submit a proposal or a paper for consideration by the programme committee.

There will be a prize for the best talk.

Initial closing date for abstracts: 15th November 2013

There is a Twitter event on lanyrd.

Also see the conference website here  for further details such as:

  • Call for Papers
  • Schedule / Timetable
  • Booking
  • Speakers
  • Sponsorship Opportunities
  • Accommodation
  • Venue
  • Travel
  • etc.

BCS OSSG AGM + talk on Brooks’ Law in a Free Software context on 13th November 2013 at 6:30pm – BCS HQ

The BCS OSSG AGM is to be held on the 13th November from 6:30pm  followed by a talk on FLOSS research by Dr Andrea Capiluppi, Brunel University London and Dr. Paul James Adams from KDAB.

Venue: BCS, First Floor, The Davidson Building, 5 Southampton Street, London, WC2E 7HA

You will need to book a place this event using the booking link  for the evening event: https://events.bcs.org/book/853/

Closing date for bookings is Tuesday 12 November 2013 at 11:59pm. No more bookings will be taken after this date.

There will be  tea and coffee before the meeting starts followed by sandwiches after the FLOSS talk.

The timetable for the evening will be:

  • 18:00 – Registration & refreshments
  • 18:30 – AGM
  • 18:45 – FLOSS Talk
  • 19:45 – Q&A
  • 20:00 – Networking
  • 21:30 – Close

(more…)


FLOSS UK Unconference 2013

FLOSS UK unconference hosted by BCS Open Source SG (OSSG)

09:00 – 17:00 Saturday 26th October 2013

Venue: BCS, 5 Southampton Street, London WC2E 7HA

Online booking: https://events.bcs.org/book/815/ (free, but registration required).

See map and travel information at: http://www.bcs.org/upload/pdf/london-office-guide.pdf

On Twitter? We have an event on lanyrd.

FLOSS UK page here: 

This is our fourth un-conference and is once again very kindly being hosted by BCS OSSG.

What is an unconference? An unconference is a conference where what happens is organised by the delegates on the day. The event organisers have to arrange something, the main one being a venue, but the rest is down to the delegates. So all the hassle of talk submissions, review and scheduling is taken away.

Typically:

  • at the start of the day everyone gets up in turn and says who they are, what their interests are and what they’d like to do
  • based on this people write proposals on PostIt notes and stick these on a board
  • a moderator may read out the proposals in turn to gauge interest, and if sufficient the proposal will be put on a scheduling board
  • delegates may adjust the schedule to avoid clashes, etc.

The unconference starts…

Experience shows that the unconference format results in high quality sessions focussed on what delegates want.

Everyone should be able to afford to come, and as it is a one-day event you will not need to incur accommodation costs, though several hotels are nearby for anyone who wishes to stay over.

Why attend?

There are lots of reasons to attend the FLOSS UK Unconference 2013, including:

  • Keep abreast with new/emerging technologies
  • Network with some of the people who are responsible for developing critical applications
  • Become part of the UK Open Source community – build up informal relationships that can be invaluable in problem solving
  • Benefit from the experience of delegates with similar interests

Refreshments

There will be coffee, tea, and juice throughout the day.There will a buffet lunch.

The usual wifi will be available


Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSSG) Hackathon

FOSS4G 2013 Nottingham
Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial
East Midlands Conference Centre, Nottingham, UK, 17th – 21st September
Are you interested in using open source tools and new sources of data to build something useful whilst also helping with environmental issues?
Perhaps you are keen to find out about the latest sources of freely available open data, or just interested in meeting new people and helping to design useful and innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems?

Geohack Logo

The Global Geohack

The Global Geohack is a free, two-day event taking place in the GeoCamp during the run-up to this year’s FOSS4G conference in Nottingham.
See the geohack menu for more information on the event challenges and also for frequently asked questions.
To help us gauge numbers and to register your interest, visit our web page.
You do not have to be attending FOSS4G to participate, but you will have to arrange accommodation if you plan to stay overnight.
For more information, go to www.geohack.org

Open Source Intelligence and Reporting – London 25/09/2013

The Open Source Specialist Group (OSSG) will be holding a 1 day workshop on Open Source Intelligence and Reporting.

The workshop will take place at the BCS Central London Offices, First Floor, The Davidson Building, 5 Southampton Street, London WC2E 7HA betwen 10:00am and 4 :30pm.

Participants should bring laptops so they can run browser software and any Open Source tools they wish to demonstrate and that can be accessed live over the internet.

The current sessions so far are:

This bookable event is free and open to all with buffet and refreshments.