Pharmacies in France are useful places. They offer a wide range of medicines and advice. However, the same is true of pharmacies elsewhere in the world… but they don’t have signs like French pharmacy signs. This one was filmed in Lille, but is typical of many. Continue reading “Why are French pharmacy signs so animated?”
Category: Travel
Blackpool trams are going places. Blackpool can too
I love Blackpool, mainly because of the rides, from sedate Blackpool trams to the rides at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, culminating in the enormous Big One. There is surely no finer Blackpool experience than plummeting towards the promenade at 87mph, as the sun shines on the sea. Continue reading “Blackpool trams are going places. Blackpool can too”
The National Museum of Computing – Acorns, Colossi, Spectrums and a Witch
I recently visited the National Museum of Computing for a Guardian Government Computing article, which you can read here. I also took a lot of photos – here are some of my highlights, all of which are mentioned in the article. Click on an image for a larger version and caption.
If you’re interested in the history of computing, both Bletchley Park in general and the museum specifically are well worth a visit. It’s also worth finding out more about Alan Turing, genius, key contributor to the invention of computing at Bletchley Park and owner of Porgy (top-left): his centenary is on 23 June.
I’ve previously written about the history of computing, specifically on Parc Xerox and the word email.
Update, 25 July: due the popularity of the picture of Porgy, Alan Turing’s teddy bear, here’s the chance to meet the bear face to face. More about him here (see end of post).
If you’re interested in Alan Turing, a private members bill has been introduced into parliament to pardon him for ‘gross indecency’ (in other words, being a gay man). More from co-sponsor John Leech MP here, and this is where you can sign the e-petition.
Bletchley Park: where government started computing
The wartime codebreaking centre is preserving the British government’s leading role in creating and developing electronic computers
See also this blogpost – and the photos above. Continue reading “Bletchley Park: where government started computing”
Did v-mail lead to email?
Parisian museums have a lot of mentions of ’email’, but usually that is because it is French for the enamel of which an exhibit is made. But the excellent Musée de l’Armée within Les Invalides has an exhibit showing an earlier kind of paperless communication: v-mail. Continue reading “Did v-mail lead to email?”