The Harvard Computer Society has been a "driving force" in the development and deployment of computers at Harvard since well before the fall of the Soviet Union (or the very least, we've met weekly to talk about computers and technology and eat pizza since at least 1983). We do whatever we're interested in (and, by proxy, whatever you're interested in, if you join us) but we have a number of ongoing and currently active projects that tend to consume our time. They're listed below: if any of them strike your fancy, come visit us! We usually hold office hours on Tuesday nights at 8pm in Hilles (room 307).

Projects

Systems
HCS runs the web server www.hcs.harvard.edu, and the mailing list server lists.hcs.harvard.edu. This means that most student groups on campus use our Linux machines to host their web sites and administer their email lists. More info on Systems can be found on the Systems page. Thanks to a recent grant from FAS IT, we're even rebuilding our systems from the ground up - you could help design the next generation of student computing resources at Harvard.

Account Services
All those student groups have accounts on our servers, and the account services team is the group of people that makes their user experience as pleasant as possible. Like helping people? Want a fun, easy way to put off doing your homework? Account Services might very well be your cup of tea.

Seminars
In the past, and hopefully in the future, HCS has given talks to interested students about computer-related topics ranging from UNIX to web design. At the very least, we give annual talks to student groups about the cool services we offer such as access to Content Management Systems, like Drupal, which was used to create this web site. This year we even integrated some of our efforts with the CS50 curriculum, and helped students out with PHP and MySQL. If you like to teach, or want to learn yourself, this might be a good way to get involved!

Speakers
HCS often brings big-name speakers to campus. In 1993, we had Steve Ballmer for a visit. In the more recent past, we've had Steve Wozniak , Stephen Wolfram (Steve, Steve, and Steven - if you're reading this, we'd love to have you back), Paul Graham, and Cory Doctorow (neither of whom is named Steve, but we'd love to have them back anyway). In general, we try to contact well-known people in the computer and technology sectors and bring them on campus to interact with students.

Advocacy for Good Computing at Harvard
Harvard is a great place with a great computer network, but its policies need to be mindful of students' fair access to computing resources while protecting their privacy and security. We keep an ongoing dialogue with the people in power on campus and we try and talk through policy changes with them to encourage transparency and student-friendly rules and regulations.

Other Projects
We work closely with a lot of organizations at Harvard to promote the visible use of advanced technology. Some of our more important collaborative projects receive credit here. Other ideas? Just stop by. We're always looking for new project ideas.

Like what you see? Join us! You can either visit us at our office hours or join our weekly Announce mailing list. Really want to get the whole vibe? Join our higher-traffic discussion list Can't make office hours? Contact Us!