Posts Tagged ‘Bletchley Park’
Poll: Have you ever restored a vintage computer?
Friday, August 20th, 2010Built by engineer Tommy Flowers in 1943, the Colossus computer was the first digital, programmable, and electronic computing device. The machine was used by British code breakers during World War II to help decipher messages encrypted with the German Lorenz SZ40/42 machine.
In 1993, Tony Sale started the Colossus Rebuild Project and in 1994 a team led by Sale began to recreate the massive machine at The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park in the UK. On June 6th, 1996, the recreated Colossus was first switched on, and by 2007 a fully functional replica of the Colossus Mark 2 was completed.
You can read the rest of the article at Poll: Have you ever restored a vintage computer?
Vintage Computer Festival 2010 – What a weekend!
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010Last weekend saw the first Vintage Computer Festival in the UK. It was hosted at Bletchley Park by The National Museum of Computing.
Over the weekend, I was volunteering for The Centre for Computing History who are a computer museum that is currently situated in Haverhill, Suffolk.
Vintage Computer Festival 2010 is this weekend!
Thursday, June 17th, 2010This weekend (19th and 20th June) sees the Vintage Computer Festival visiting the UK for the very first time. This event has been held in the United States and Germany in the past.
The event will be held at a very important place that helps us deeply during the second world war – Bletchley Park. The event is being organised by “The National Museum Of Computing” who are based at Bletchley Park. Chris Searle, presenter of BBC’s 1980s The Computer Programme will be opening the event.
There are many fun and interesting things to see and do during the two day event. Highlights include…
- Exhibition of private collections
- Guest lectures and presentations about old and some new technology
- Machine demonstrations
- Vintage flea market
There are a few speakers who I would like to go and see if I get the time. They are
- Sophie Wilson talking about Acorn
- Adam Bradley talking about Cray super computers
- Tony Sale talking about Colossus
…and many more. (If I can briefly leave my display!)
Another highlight of the weekend that I will be definitely attending is the OMD session on Saturday. I was very lucky to obtain a ticket as they sold out very quickly – many thanks to Dave Moore for getting mine.
Be sure that you come and say hi to me if you are at the event. I will be working on The Centre for Computing History stand in the Mansion. We will have a excellent display of computers from Amstrad and Sinclair. We will have some of the more popular machines from these companies, and a few rarities too!
You can read more about the event on the following website.
OMD at VCF – All tickets sold out!
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010I’m afraid to announce that all tickets to see OMD at the Vintage Computer Festival have sold out. Please don’t ask me if I have any tickets for sale – I don’t'!
OMD to play at VCF
Monday, April 26th, 2010
More details about the event have been released. See the following release from Simon Hewitt, the VCF lead orgainser.
Two of the pioneers of British synthesiser music, OMD frontmen Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys, will be appearing at Britain’s first Vintage Computer Festival (VCF). Held at The National Museum of Computing (TNMOC) at Bletchley Park, McCluskey and Humphreys will play and talk on the Saturday of the two-day weekend event.
“This first VCF in Britain is attracting huge interest from participants and visitors alike,” says Simon Hewitt, VCF lead organiser. “Already in the line-up are Sophie Wilson – co-designer of the BBC micro – author Christine Finn, Tony Sale and other well-known speakers. There will also be displays from vintage brands such as Acorn World and Amiga user groups. Tickets have just gone on sale and we are anticipating large attendances on both days.”
On the Saturday of the VCF, OMD frontmen Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys will talk about their musical influences, style, and early career, which stemmed from the legendary Eric’s nightclub in Liverpool. There will be an audience Q&A, and they will play some of their best-known hits, as well as premiering a few tracks from “History of Modern”, the band’s first new album in 14 years.
McCluskey and Humphreys have been at the forefront of British pop music for over thirty years. As Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, they named themselves after one of their own early songs. They developed a unique style of intelligent, electronic pop melodies which led to a string of hits including Electricity, Messages, Enola Gay and Maid of Orleans. More recently the band has reformed to play live, appear with philharmonic orchestras and create art installations. Their new album, “The History of Modern”, is due for release in September this year.
“We are delighted to be playing at Bletchley Park and celebrating British computer history at The National Museum of Computing,” says McCluskey. “We all have our ‘geek’ side.”
Tickets to see McCluskey and Humphreys in the intimate Bletchley Park Mansion cost £20. Tickets are strictly limited and must be booked in advance from http://www.facebook.com/l/65956;www.etickets.to/buy/?e=4677 (Entry to the performance is separate from VCF entrance).
Tickets for the whole VCF weekend cost only £10 (excluding the OMD gig) and will be available separately soon. Members of TNMOC will have free entry to the VCF. Anyone can join TNMOC for only £45 at http://www.facebook.com/l/65956;www.tnmoc.org/supp-menu/membership.aspx and will receive a range of other benefits
Latest information about VCF: http://www.facebook.com/l/65956;tnmoc.org/39/section.aspx/124 and http://www.tnmoc.org/vcf-gb.aspx
Request for Help looking after the Historic Bombe Rebuild Machine at Bletchley Park
Monday, November 30th, 2009
(Original posting) 30 November 2009
Summary: Help wanted maintaining and demonstration the Bombe machine – a request from John Harper.
Bletchley Park is constantly in the news and is a growing historic site with museums on codebreaking and on computers – and one of the main exhibits is a fully working operational Bombe machine. This machine is the result of a remarkable rebuild project led by John Harper and earlier in the year won the prestigious IMechE Heritage Award.
The Bombe Rebuild Team now has a fully working and reliable machine but do not have enough resources to demonstrate it on a regular basis. We are now looking for volunteers to operate and demonstrate after appropriate training has been given. Demonstrations are most needed at weekends.