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Martin Postranecky | 9 Feb 14:59
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Sponsor a Valve on Colossus

In case you may have not spotted this...:

Sponsor a Valve on Colossus
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Please sponsor a valve on Colossus ( from £10 ) and help create a 
marvelous new gallery for the world's first modern computer. Colossus was 
built by Tommy Flowers specifically to help crack the Lorenz codes of 
German High Command during World War II. There were 10 working Colossi and 
each had 2,500 valves that performed the code-cracking calculations. The 
rebuilt and working Colossus will be on permanent display again at TNMOC 
in March. You can sponsor as many pixels as you like and add your logo or 
your name or nickname and url

http://tnmoc.org/36/section.aspx/232

http://www.colossusonline.org/index.php

http://www.colossusonline.org/get_pixels.php

http://www.colossusonline.org/pixel_list.php
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Martin Postranecky | 8 Feb 19:52
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Government rejects a pardon for computer genius Alan Turing

Wednesday 08 February 2012

Government rejects a pardon for computer genius Alan Turing
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Martin Wainwright

But the campaign goes on in his centenary year, with support from all over 
the world. Leading US mathematician calls for 'hullabaloo in the UK' over 
the decision

The government has given an initial rebuff to the campaign for a pardon 
for Alan Turing, the brilliant British 'father of the computer' whose 
career ended in tragedy after a gross indecency conviction at a time when 
gay sex was against the law.

Signatures are gathering on an e-petition for a pardon but the justice 
minister Lord McNally used the precedent argument to discourage the notion 
in the House of Lords..../snip/


http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2012/feb/07/alan-turing-pardon-lord-mcnally-lord-sharkey-computers

http://www.i-programmer.info/news/82-heritage/3735-widespread-celebrations-but-no-pardon-for-turing.html

http://blog.jgc.org/2012/02/uk-government-declines-to-pardon-alan.html

http://blog.jgc.org/2011/11/why-im-not-supporting-campaign-for.html
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Martin Postranecky | 26 Jan 12:41
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Alan Turing petition & associated articles in The Guardian...

Posted by Martin Wainwright
Monday 5 December 2011
guardian.co.uk 

Pressure grows for a Turing pardon
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Supporters are clicking on a new e-petition for the man whose brilliance 
underlies the laptops, mobiles and computer world which we often take for 
granted

An e-petition to the Government to end the long if now somewhat 
theoretical disgrace of Alan Turing is rapidly gathering signatures after 
only a few days..../snip/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2011/dec/05/alan-turing-universityofmanchester?intcmp=239

https://submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/23526

Monday 19 December 2011
guardian.co.uk 

Alan Turing : My Favourite Scientist
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Mathematician, master codebreaker and father of computer science, Alan 
Turing was a genius touched by tragedy..../snip/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/grrlscientist/2011/dec/19/1?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487

http://youtu.be/u3Ue7r5Xsyo
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Martin Postranecky | 11 Jan 14:46
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from 'MTB 102 Newsletter', Autumn 2011

from 'MTB 102 Newsletter', Autumn 2011 :

1-4 September 2011
ADLS ( Association of Dunkirk Little Ships ) Veterans Cruise

.....WW II VETS

On Sunday morning our WW2 guests arrived and were allocated their boats 
for the day. MTB102 usually has Royal Navy Veterans on board, and this 
year they were joined by an ex Wren who spent some of her war at Bletchley 
Park. They all have interesting stories to tell..../snip/


http://www.mtb102.com/NewsletterAutumn2011(A4).pdf

http://www.mtb102.com
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Martin Postranecky | 8 Jan 21:13
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Bletchley Park's information hub wins Grade II listing

Saturday 7 January 2012

Bletchley Park's information hub wins Grade II listing
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Derelict block seen as birthplace of modern computer processing gains 
heritage protection

Stephen Bates

To look at, it is a distinctly undistinguished and desolate-looking piece 
of utilitarian 1940s architecture. There is a failed concrete roof, water 
seeping in, pigeons nesting and vegetation growing through the cracks in 
the brickwork.

But in context, the long overlooked and derelict Block C at Bletchley 
Park, the second world war codebreaking headquarters in Buckinghamshire, 
may be one of the most significant buildings of the 20th century and on 
Friday the government gave it Grade II listed status to preserve it for 
posterity.

It joins most other buildings on the site, including the famous wooden 
huts in which scientists, intelligence officers and civil servants, led by 
figures such as Alan Turing, initially worked to break the Nazis' 
supposedly impenetrable Enigma code. Their success shortened the war by as 
much as four years, by some accounts....../snip/


http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2012/jan/06/bletchley-park-grade-ii-listing
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Martin Postranecky | 14 Dec 13:22
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Google donates £550,000 to Bletchley Park Trust (fwd)

NEWS RELEASE

14 December 2011

GOOGLE DONATES £550,000 TO HELP ACCOMPLISH BLETCHLEY PARK RESTORATION VISION

Bletchley Park Trust significantly closer to raising match funding needed to
unlock Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £4.6 million for restoration of WW2
Codebreaking Huts Search engine Google, has announced a very generous donation
of £550,000 towards the match funding needed for the Bletchley Park Trust to
embark on the first stage of a £15 million project to transform the site into a
world-class heritage and education centre.

Google's backing draws the Bletchley Park Trust nearer to its goal of developing
the site, both to educate and inspire generations to come and as a permanent
testament to the brilliant people who worked there.  Once the remaining funding
is in place the Trust will get underway with the restoration of iconic
codebreaking huts 1, 3 and 6 and create a world-class visitor centre and
exhibition in the currently derelict Block C.  This development will not only
conserve buildings of highly-significant heritage value and but also
considerably improve the educational offering and visitor experience at
Bletchley Park.

Peter Barron, Director of External Relations for Google, said, "The Bletchley
Park Trust has been doing great work to honour Alan Turing and the codebreakers
who helped shorten the second world war and to educate the next generation about
the history of modern computing.  We are delighted to make this charitable
donation to help support the next phase of this important project"

Simon Greenish, CEO of the Bletchley Park Trust, said, "We are tremendously
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Martin Postranecky | 22 Nov 20:34
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OBITUARY : Lieutenant-Commander Geoffrey Jones

Tuesday 22 Nov 2011

OBITUARY : Lieutenant-Commander Geoffrey Jones
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Lieutenant-Commander Geoffrey Jones, who has died aged 95, was awarded a 
DSM for his service with the Royal Navy in 1940 and ended his career as a 
headmaster in Sussex.

In April 1940 Jones was a signal rating in the Lowestoft drifter Tritonia 
( which had been taken up from trade for minesweeping duties and was based 
at Scapa Flow ) when the captured German trawler Schiff 26 was brought 
into harbour.

Disguised as a Dutch ship, Schiff 26 was carrying arms to the German Army 
which had invaded Norway when she was captured by a boarding party from 
the British destroyer Griffin. Naval intelligence officers found important 
papers, among them pages from an Enigma cipher pad. These presented one of 
the first major hauls of the German naval code, including the key for five 
days ( April 22 to 27 ) and the procedures for scrambling the rotors on 
the encryption machines.

Using clear text and cipher text found in Schiff 26, Bletchley Park was 
able to read April's naval Enigma traffic and tested the first bombe ( a 
high speed key-finding aid )...../snip/


....He published his wartime memoirs, Signalman Jones, in 2010; it 
included a foreword by one of his former pupils at St Andrew's, 
Rear-Admiral John Lippiett.
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Martin Postranecky | 21 Nov 12:57
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Why is Google in love with Bletchley Park ? (fwd)

16 November 2011

Why is Google in love with Bletchley Park ?
-------------------------------------------

By Gordon Corera Security correspondent, BBC News

Technology giant Google normally has its eyes fixed firmly on the future. 
But it has turned its attention to an old house in England to help 
preserve a slice of computing history.

For nearly half a century after World War II, a Victorian manor house in 
Buckinghamshire lay neglected and unloved, its dilapidated buildings 
falling into disrepair.

By the early 90s, plans even emerged to tear down the assorted boarded-up 
huts around the house and erect a supermarket in their place.

For reasons of national security, a veil of secrecy shrouded Bletchley 
Park. Only in the last 20 years has the extraordinary story of breaking 
the code of the German Enigma machine finally become well-known...../snip/


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15739984
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Martin Postranecky | 21 Nov 12:56
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June 23, 2012, is the Centenary of Alan Turing's birth in London

June 23, 2012, is the Centenary of Alan Turing's birth in London. During 
his relatively brief life, Turing made a unique impact on the history of 
computing, computer science, artificial intelligence, developmental 
biology, and the mathematical theory of computability.

2012 will be a celebration of Turing's life and scientific impact, with 
a number of major events taking place throughout the year. Most of these 
will be linked to places with special significance in Turing's life, 
such as Cambridge, Manchester and Bletchley Park.

The Turing Year is coordinated by the Turing Centenary Advisory Committee 
( TCAC ), representing a range of expertise and organisational involvement 
in the 2012 celebrations. Organisations and individuals wanting to 
contribute ideas or support for the Turing Year are invited to contact any 
of the current TCAC members..../snip/


http://www.turingcentenary.eu/

http://www.mathcomp.leeds.ac.uk/turing2012/

http://www.turing100.manchester.ac.uk/

http://www.i-programmer.info/news/82-heritage/3363-alan-turing-year-new-documentary-and-lots-of-events.html
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Martin Postranecky | 20 Nov 17:25
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Monday 21st November - Ch4 TV : Britain's Greatest Codebreaker

MONDAY 21 NOVEMBER 2011
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CRITIC'S CHOICE : Britain's Greatest Codebreaker
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Channel 4, 9.00pm

London-born mathematician Alan Turing was the genius instrumental in 
cracking the German Naval Enigma Code, arguably shortening the Second 
World War by two years and saving millions of lives. He was also a 
visionary thinker who played a part in the birth of the digital age and 
pioneered artificial intelligence. Sadly, these achievements went 
unrecognised during his lifetime. Instead, this hero ended up a common 
criminal, after being convicted of gross indecency with another man in 
1952, a time when homosexuality was considered a crime. He was forced to 
undergo chemical castration and two years later, aged just 41, he 
committed suicide with cyanide - driven to an early death by the society 
he'd done so much to save. Two years ago, Prime Minister Gordon Brown 
issued an official public apology for the way Turing was treated. This 
drama-documentary, in which Turing is played by Ed Stoppard, 
chronicles both the brilliance and destruction of one of the 20th 
century's greatest minds. In his last 18 months, Turing visited 
psychiatrist Dr Franz Greenbaum and their therapy sessions are movingly 
recreated. Also, we hear why technology has only just begun to explore the 
potential of Turing's ideas. MH 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/5602956/TV-highlights.html
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Martin Postranecky | 16 Nov 14:26
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Churchill would have been proud !

15th November 2011

Churchill would have been proud ! Moment battling Bletchley Park baroness, 
89, gave two-finger salute to fellow peer who said WW2 veterans like her 
looked 'pretty old'

    * Baroness Trumpington was hitting back at comments about her age
    * Video of gesture becomes internet hit

By Kirsty Walker

She proved a match for Nazi Germany when she broke Hitler's codes at 
Bletchley Park, so Lord King of Bridgwater should have known better than 
to comment on the advancing years of Baroness Trumpington of Sandwich.

The formidable 89-year-old Conservative life peer was unimpressed when her 
relatively junior colleague gestured towards her to illustrate his point 
about the extreme age of World War II veterans.

Lady Trumpington hit back against his patronising reference with a 
distinctly unparliamentary gesture of her own - commonly known as the 
two-finger salute and reminiscent of Winston Churchill's famed V for 
Victory' sign.

The extraordinary scene unfolded while Lord King was making a speech about 
the passing of the wartime generation during the Remembrance Day debate in 
the Lords on Thursday.

Lady Trumpington appeared to be minding her own business peering down at 
some papers over her spectacles as the former Defence Secretary paid
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Gmane