h3. CompSoc Minutes - 2004/04/23

Fri 23 Apr Meeting Minutes

Present

Apologies

Minutes

Congratulations

to zx64 for slicing his thumb open within 3 hours of receiving a new tool.

LAN

H0.58 and H0.60 booked. Still waiting for word from the campus electrical people (Neil Williams, 22563) to Si1entDave. PlanarPlatypus will need to ask room bookings about tables once power is sorted. Cooling is an issue (no external windows). If members have any desk fans available, these need bringing.

BFL is booked, no impending issues so far. An IRC server has been suggested, but previously nobody used this. Also suggested was a scratchpad on the front page of the music server, and a god-mike.

State of society

Si1entDave asked all old exec to speak up if anything they did was not covered by someone on the new exec. The only serious handover issues remaining were from Draconas to Zephran, including a pile of games (cmb to record all the keys), and some money in a bag. The exec thanked Draconas for his donation of a few extra pennies found on his desk. Paper records were also handed over. There is more detail on this in a post Draconas made to the exec list.

The yellow form for union exec status was filled in. Once PlanarPlatypus has signed this it will need handing in at union reception.

There are several courses that the union requires some of the exec to attend, and several more that would be useful and/or sensible. Various people volunteered for various courses. Details in joblist.

Concern over running of society

There have apparently been several members concerned that the society is projecting an excessively gaming-oriented and/or geek-oriented image, and losing members this way. We need to bear this in mind and ensure that sufficient publicity is given to the various services and events (both academic and social) that dispel this image.

There is also concern over insufficient openness and transparency, especially given that a large proportion of the exec is in one house next year, with others very nearby. We need to ensure that members can view and get involved in the running of the society.

Thoughts on either of these issues to the exec list please.

Advertising

Billboard by security hut: noted to be investigated for future events, of similar size to the Kevin Warwick lecture for example. Effectiveness of advertising for Kevin Warwick: 40 to 50 people attended, in the middle of an exam period. This was largely felt to be a success.

Advertising budget should be spent on raw materials to ensure we can advertise events at short notice.

We will have a flyer in the Piazza folder next term. Si1entDave will check whether this was sorted in the end.

There was a suggestion to put up general society posters in first few days of term.

BBQ

Needs organising NOW. Especially booking. Compsoc has budget for coal, utensils, paper plates. People should bring their own food. NeXuS7 will be booking this for Sunday afternoon of week 9.

Other socials

People need to post their exam dates to the exec list to give an idea of availability.

Two ideas were suggested: a film and a meal. NeXuS7 will be looking at both. Draconas also advertised paintball at the end of week 10. This cuts into the BFL, at which the exec must be present.

Abuse of tov / TOS

Si1entDave will be talking privately to several members about abuse of molotov for trolling on EFNET.

There has been concern about whether we have an adequate Terms Of Service document. We do have one for molotov. Mishima, PlanarPlatypus and bucko will be reviewing this. Changes if any will be announced in advance.

The JinglyBOT has been nick-hijacked and impersonated a lot, and its NickServ registration needs reviewing. Also variants should be registered or G-lined.

Any more complaints on any of these issues should be sent privately to Si1entDave. Also, Si1entDave will make president@warwickcompsoc.co.uk and similar addresses work.

Si1entDave pointed out a document known as the Tao of IRC, not so much a rulebook as a set of guidelines. CompSoc should have a similar document.

Freshers’ Fayre

We must start planning this. Draconas points out that we will have zero money from the union in the first 4/5 weeks of the first term. Last year was rushed, cluttered, and appeared very geeky. So no excessive hardware. More photos. Fewer people at the table. More wandering, perhaps. Crazy_Piglet offered help. Phil suggested more people working on this in a team. Crazy_Piglet to put things together initially, then, grabbing more helpers as required. Ideas to the exec list and Crazy_Piglet.

Web redesign

bucko is doing this over summer. Phil has been doing some graphics of suggested new designs. Crazy_Piglet has more ideas. Ideas to bucko before the end of term. There will be a logo competition judged by the exec and Sar. Mish suggests more info on insomnia and games servers. The server list is already there so we will improve that.

Gaming

ITS0.11 being closed after tonight’s and tomorrow’s sessions! We need a new venue. There’s a room on the science concourse; turn left before you would turn left for L3. Spec about the same, same capabilities. Si1entDave will be signing for this. We’ll need to reduce the noise due to the filmsoc queue and increased visibility.

Alton Towers: this was suggested, but it’s too late to organise it.

Tech stuff

Muchly tech stuff is happening. We now have a cupboard in DCS. The tech team will be grabbing Roger Packwood for the key and network settings, and bong, igor, tovV3 will move into DCS.

New URL schemes for members websites will be set up for various reasons, including security. Old URLs will continue to work, but will redirect before the request enters a member’s control.

Spam on the mailing lists to be fixed.

Newsletter

There will be a newsletter within the next 48 hours (Sunday night). Si1entDave will be putting it together. Anything that ought to be in the newsletter should be mailed to the exec list with “newsletter” in the subject. The impending TOS change will be pointed out here.

Also, this Wednesday, the lug meeting will be hijacked for tech Q & A. Changes from the original upgrade plan: few. There will now be an IRC network across several servers. NTP is also being poked by Dave. Insomnia still has the DMA corruption issue, but a 2.6 upgrade may fix it.

LUG

This will be hijacked next week as mentioned above, but more quick demos are being planned.

Academic

Not much is happening due to exams. The team is aware of tutorial ideas, they will happen at some point. The programming competition is also being planned.

Pubs

More will be tried on Monday. The future venue is still undecided. NeXuS7 to ensure the website reflects reality.