AMD's Quad Core Processors
Frank Hudziak, Technical Staff at AMD
2008-04-15 3:00pm Science Building 010
[Note the non-standard time: 3pm]

Frank Hudziak from AMD will present a talk on AMD's new monolithic quad core Opteron processor. Topics will include architectural enhancements over the dual core Opteron, hardware assisted virtualization features, and the road map for future AMD processors.

How to Design and Build Your Own Computer
Vic Matthews
2008-02-11 3:30pm North Hall 253

Vic Matthews' email address:

Handout from Vic's talk (PDF)

Have you ever wanted to design and build your own computer from scratch? Find out how!

Speaker: Vic Matthews
When: Monday, February 11 from 3:30pm to 5:00pm
Where: North Hall 253

Everyone is welcome, including alumni. No prior knowledge or coursework necessary. Includes refreshments.

Vic will cover the following topics:

• Picking the memory, motherboard, and processor
  • Buses, memory controllers, and slots
  • Video Cards: planned obsolescence
  • Firewire and USB considerations
• Selecting the Case and Power Supply
  • Power Supply considerations
  • Fans and Airflow
• Hard Drives, Optical Drives and Floppies
  • PATA vs SATA and SATA II
  • Floppies and PS/2 Devices
  • Tech note on external floppies
• Integrating the System
  • Processor, fan and memory
  • Installation tip: Neatness is next to godliness
• Raising the Dead: What to do if it doesn't start.

This tutorial is sponsored by Abstraction.

C4 Winners Announced

First place team members:

• Brian Speelman
• Jon Roshko
• Zach Miller
• Ethan Van Andel

Second place team members:

• Jonathan Lovelace
• Jess Vriesema
• Caleb King
• Greg Clark

C4: The Calvin College Coding Challenge
2008-01-12 1:00pm Science Building 352 (U-Lab)

You're invited to participate in C4: The Calvin College Coding Challenge, a fun, team-based programming contest that will test your creative problem-solving skills. C4 takes place on Saturday, January 12 at 1pm in the U-Lab (SB 352).

This "battle of the brains" will force you and your team to use ingenuity in solving real-world problems in a battle against the clock. Your team will be presented with a handful of problems ranging in difficulty and your team's goal is to program solutions for as many of the problems as you can in a limited time.

C4 is open to all Calvin College students. (Non-computer science majors are encouraged to participate.)

You do NOT need to have a team of people assembled before C4 begins; instead, you will be paired with other students to form a team.

The winning team will earn $75 in prize money. Plus, there's free food for everyone.

What: C4: Calvin College Coding Challenge
Who: You! and other students
When: Saturday, January 12 from 1pm to 4pm
Where: U-Lab (SB 352)

C4 is hosted by Abstraction. If you have questions, please email abstraction@calvin.edu.