A-Z of computing: M is for Monopoly

Posted on by March 20, 2013

Alan Turing Monopoly, to be precise. Board game maker Winning Moves has produced an Alan Turing edition of the long-standing family favourite. Alan Turing had a theory about Monopoly, believing there was a code-based way to win. He tried out his theory on a Cambridge-focussed hand-drawn version of the board created by the sons of brilliant mathematician and friend of Turing Max Newman, but lost – isn’t theory a wonderful thing?

It’s rather lovely that William Newman, who drew that original, has collaborated with the Bletchley Park Trust to produce the new edition (which includes a copy of that childish original). As well as locations significant to Turing, the utilities have been replaced with the Enigma Machine and the Enigma code-deciphering Bombe. In a nod towards to current move to have Turing’s face put onto the £10 note, Turing’s face appears on the Monopoly £10 note.

Google has paid for production of the first 1000 sets, which go on sale in November via Bletchley Park (order HERE).

Guardian Alan Turing page

BBC article on the Turing Edition Monopoly

TechRepublic article with images of the board

A-Z of computing: L is for Linux

Posted on by March 4, 2014

Linux: it had to be. We’ll spare you the technical background. What you need to know is that it’s a leading operating system: more than 90% of the 500 fastest supercomputers use one flavour or another of Linux, including the 10 fastest. It’s in fondleslabs, TVs and games consoles and is the basis of the Android system.

Mainstream, even mandatory

Linux is becoming mainstream and even establishment. Local and national governments have embraced it, to the point of its uptake being mandatory in Kerala’s schools. However, as Jeff Hoogland says on his blog, “Linux is still a largely unknown thing to many people” despite the fact that

Almost every adult who uses technology in today’s world uses or has used something that is Linux powered.

The article, which is well worth a read, goes on to talk about various companies that use Linux including Gap, Disney, Dreamworks, PlayStation, T-Mobile, Google, Amazon and on and on and on…

Linux: Open Source icon

Apart from its technical pedigree, Linux is, to quote Wikipedia, “one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration”. It’s certainly been the poster boy for open source and for good reason.

Linux.com

A-Z of computing: K is for K-9

Posted on by March 20, 2013

Our A-Z of computing has reached K for K-9, no, not a German u-boat (as this makeuseof.com article suggests) but an open source email client for Android, used extensively by OpenSure on Android phones and tablets. Lifehacker recommends it for its flexibility and, er, configurability, commenting thus:

Managing email is one of those things that we all have a specific way of doing, and K-9 lets you do it your way rather than forcing you to make do with the features it has. For that reason, it’s our favorite IMAP client on the Android platform.

We’d have to agree that it’s an occasional pain not being able to search for messages on the server, but we live in hope. For us, K-9 is a method of keeping tabs on email, and we switch to our beefier Zimbra system if we need to search our email archive.

Makeuseof.com says “K-9 Mail comes close to being a complete email client package for Android”, citing its lack of threaded conversations as its main drawback, but this is a personal thing and not something that has ever caused me any problem. Overall, K-9’s willingness to allow the user to organise their set-up how it best suits them wins out time after time and has made it massively successful.

Lifehacker K9 review

Android Tapp review