A team of students from the University of Limerick have emerged victorious at this year’s National Robocode Competition which was held as part of the 2024 Games Fleadh at the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS), in Thurles County Tipperary.
ICT Learning Centre Director Mr Clem O’Donnell with National Robocode champions Mr Lewis Ubebe, Mr Maksims Gerkis and Mr Nathan Ndlovu.
The triumphant ‘UL_SeeSaw’ team, comprised of three Computer Science students from the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems (CSIS), namely Mr Nathan Ndlovu, Mr Lewis Ubebe and Mr Maksims Gerkis.
The team faced tough competition from other rival teams representing three higher education institutions in the region, TUS Thurles (Tipperary), TUS Moylish (Limerick) and the South East Technological University (SETU), (Carlow).
Robocode is an annual programming contest open to first year full-time undergraduate students. It provides a platform for participants to showcase their programming prowess and enhance their skills in graphical user interface (GUI) programming, application programming interface (API) usage, and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Using Java programming language, each team develops strategies for their tanks, which must autonomously navigate the battlefield, dodging enemy fire while seeking out and eliminating opponents without manual intervention.
Mr Clem O’Donnell, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Learning Centre Director at UL, reflected on the victory, which he said highlights the University’s commitment to fostering students’ ICT skills and promoting active learning. He stated, “Since 2010, UL ICT students’ participation in this competition and other similar annual competitions has been organised and managed by the ICT Learning Centre as part of our aim to enhance and broaden the students’ ICT skill-sets, promote active and student-centred learning, and to promote ICT as a career path. We are very proud of our students’ achievement, given that UL’s last victory in this competition dates back to 2016.”
Speaking on behalf of the winning team Mr Nathan Ndlovu said: “I think Robocode is an amazing competition as it allows you to demonstrate your skills using API, and also gives you experience of using Java for other purposes – we are delighted with the win!”
This year’s competition featured one team from each of the four represented institutions, engaging in intense battles throughout the morning. UL_SeeSaw’s robotic tank navigated through individual skirmishes to reach the semi-finals, where they faced off against TUS (Moylish), prevailing in a nail-biting match with a score of 7-5. This victory propelled them into the final showdown against TUS (Thurles), where UL emerged victorious with a final score of 9-6.
Video game developers to showcase skills at 21st All Ireland Games Fleadh on the TUS Thurles Campus during 2024 Games Fleadh.
Games Fleadh 2024 open to the public for free. Online registration is available at www.gamesfleadh.ie.
Unique insights being offered into this €165-billion euro industry; to all/any visiting second and third-level students.
Games Fleadh 2024 is sponsored by TUS, EA and FiServ.
Students with ambitions in the gaming industry will get a unique insight into the €165 billion industry and access to some of the world’s most successful gaming companies and representative bodies at this year’s All Ireland Games Fleadh in the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) Thurles Campus on Wednesday March 6, 2024.
Games Fleadh Mascots pictured with Dr Liam Noonan, TUS and James Fogarty, TUS. Pic: Alan Place
In its 21st year, Games Fleadh continues to lead the way in recognising the brightest and best among the country’s university student game developers, while also bringing together the collective knowledge of some of the leading names in the gaming industry.
Up to 1,400 students have competed in the competition since its inception, according to the event organiser Dr Liam Noonan(TUS Software Development and Games Programming Lecturer).
“As well as being a hotly contested competition, Games Fleadh is a unique opportunity for third level students to demonstrate their games to industry veterans and gain valuable feedback on their creations,” said Dr Noonan, explaining that some of the country’s leading software developers and international gaming companies will be in attendance once again. Games Fleadh 2024 features competitions such as a Game Studio ‘Start with Nothing’ themed competition and Robocode. Competitors will be in with a chance to win one of the many EA title prizes available.
Every year this free event, which is open to the public, also attracts second level students from all over Ireland with an interest in studying Computer Science or a future career in this competitive industry.
“The video games market is larger than the music and movie business combined, with revenues recently surpassing 180 billion dollars (approximately €165 billion) as reported by UK-based market intelligence firm Pelham Smithers. Games Fleadh continues to be a fantastic networking opportunity for the Irish game development sector. We believe that it also offers a fantastic networking opportunity for teachers to engage with third level institutions and explore best practice in teaching coding concepts,” added Dr Noonan.
Dr. Janice O’Connell(Head of Department of Information Technology at TUS) said, “The Games Fleadh is a fantastic event which integrates multiple different aspects of IT, innovation and creativity. Through the originality and imagination of Games, this unique event brings together industry, academia, current students, and future students. Special thanks to all our industry partners for their continued support, to the participants, and the staff in Thurles for making this event possible. Sincere thanks to Dr. Liam Noonan, who champions Games Fleadh every year.”
NOTE: The TUS Thurles Co. Tipperary Campus caters for students studying for qualifications in Applied Sports Science, Agricultural Science and Environmental Science, Business, Social Care Work, and Games Design.
Tomorrow, Tuesday February 6th, 2024, is ‘Safer Internet Day’.
Safer Internet Day (SID) is an EU wide initiative to promote a safer internet for all users, especially young people. Webwise is the Irish Internet Safety Awareness Centre, funded by the Department of Education and co-funded by the European Commission. They provide excellent information and support for parents on how to promote safer internet use, so do visit HERE.
Another helpful site can be viewed HERE, which provides up-to-date information on movies, apps, podcasts, games and other media aimed at kids.
Please watch the YouTube video hereunder, for a previous talk given by Avril Ronan on Gaming Safety and Kids.
For Safer Internet Day 2024, Avril Ronan, from Trend Micro (a global cybersecurity leader), is offering a free webinar for parents, teachers and other adults working with young people, on ‘Let’s Talk Kids, Teens and Screen Time Challenges’.
Her talk will explore the screen time battles and challenges faced by so many parents today and it will offer practical advice, top tips, and a question and answer session.
This event is totally free and takes place on Tuesday 7th February 2024 at 7:00pm. It will last approximately 1 hour followed by 30 minutes of question and answer time. You can register to attend this Zoom webinar from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, or Android device: https://www.trendmicro.com/internet-safety/eventsie. [Please note also that Irish Sign language interpreters will sign at this event.]
The Allied Irish Bank Fraud Prevention Unit (Mr Tom Mullen) points to the ‘Seven Deadly Scams‘ currently known to be in operation during this festive Xmas season; warning that criminals don’t take holidays and are finding smarter ways to steal your money.
Hereunder, the Allied Irish Bank Fraud Prevention Unit point out just seven of the ways to avoid being scammed this Xmas holiday period.
Being bombarded with texts containing links? Don’t click on that link. Take a moment and ask yourself does this seem legitimate. If in doubt, contact the sender on a verified number to check its legitimacy.
Taxi collecting your card? AIB will never send a taxi or courier to collect your physical card, PIN, or any security details. Always keep these details in your possession.
Offer to fix your PC? A helpful caller wants to fix broadband or account issues or give you a refund, but needs to take control of your device. Stop. Do not download software or applications (apps) that can allow a scammer access to your personal device. Never provide one time pass codes or card reader codes to any cold caller.
Investment Opportunity too good to be true? Then it generally is just that. Be cautious of ads advertising high returns on investments. Make sure that you’re dealing with the real provider. Always verify the provider is regulated and seek independent financial advice before parting with your money.
Checking in on your accounts? Always login to your account by using our website at AIB.ie or by using our secure Mobile App on your phone. Browsing the internet for login pages can be unsafe and may result in you landing on non-AIB sites.
Security Codes being requested? Always be cautious when providing codes from your AIB security device. Be familiar with when these are required. Do not provide extra codes when requested out of the blue.
Received an email with payment instructions? Never make a payment on the back of an email instruction. Verbally confirm the details with the sender on a known and trusted contact number.
Please do discuss the above information with elderly parents, relatives and friends who, because of age, may not be fully IT literate.
If you are a frequent online shopper, there is every chance that you’ve come across a site called Temu. It’s a Chinese-owned digital marketplace. Customer who have purchased items from the Temu Ireland website, should not be surprised if they get an image shown below in their Email accounts.
First note the picture above and also retain in your memory that something which views as too good to be true, most likely is untrue; note: Temu do not send Mystery Boxes to their customers.
This is a Spam Text Message and Phishing at its very best, attempting to seeking personal detail and on no account should you click on the links requested on every line of the notification.
In yet another picture, shown immediately above, you will be asked to unsubscribe. Should you attempt to do so you will again be asked for personal details, so refrain from doing so.
Today, we contacted Temu [help@support.temu.com], re. the hacking of email data on their website and received the following reply in the form of a rather ‘limp apology’.
A portion of their reply message read: [Temu Ticket 1699871874096499] “Thank you for contacting the Temu Customer Service Team. We care deeply about privacy and data protection. We strictly abide to our Privacy and Cookies Policy. We believe in transparency and are committed to keeping your information safe. From the picture information you provided. After verification, this is indeed not an official website and our team is currently taking necessary measures to resolve the issue. We have already filed a complaint to the Message publishing platform.”
But of course they have failed to kept personal email data/information safe, as proven by the images shown above. They now join the ranks of Adobe, Dropbox, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, to name but a few, who in the past have each allowed Email addresses, Employers, Geographic locations, Job titles, Names, and Social media profile data to be compromised.
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