British Computer Society ( Northampton and Bedford ): Bletchley Park The National Museum of Computing Family Day

Taken from: http://northampton.bcs.org/events.php?menu_id=4

Doors open at 10.30am for an 11.00am start

You are warmly invited to take part in a Family Day in July at Bletchley Parks National Museum of Computing (TNMOC) on Sunday 19 July. Bring all the family – there will be activities suitable for children of all ages.

This event is for members of BCS Bedford and Northampton branches and their families. 

TNMOC enables visitors to follow the development of computing from the ultra-secret pioneering efforts of the 1940s through the mainframes of the 1960s and 1970s, and the rise of personal computing in the 1980s - including a newly rebuilt and fully operational Colossus, the world’s first electronic programmable computer.

TNMOC receives no government or lottery funding and you will be impressed by the enthusiasm of the staff involved in the project including the many volunteers who regularly give up their valuable time to ensure that this ever growing collection is restored and maintained.

It would be a good idea to register NOW since the number is limited to a maximum of 50 (25 people from each branch) and the event is heavily subsidised by the BCS. Note that children below the age of 6 years are welcome but will not be included in these numbers (but we still need their details for catering purposes). The cost per person (6 years and over) for the whole day is £10 and this includes a finger/sandwich buffet lunch. Registration is only available to BCS members.

A base room will be made available for use during the day with tea, coffee and water freely available all day. The LEGO will be kept in this room so that those who do not complete the competition in the morning will have the opportunity to try it in the afternoon.

Northampton Members Registration

TNMOC Directions

Bletchley Park

Event Flyer

If you'd like to find out more about Computing at the University of Northampton go to: www.computing.northampton.ac.uk. All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with

BCS event (Bedford and Northants branches) Family Day visit to Bletchley Park

British Computer Society (Bedford and Northants branches) Visit to Bletchley Park – Family Day

 

 

Date: Sunday, 20 July 2014

 

Theme: Bletchley Park – The National Museum of Computing – Family Day

 

Time:  Doors open at 10.30am for an 11.00am start

 

Location:  The National Museum of Computing, Bletchley, Milton Keynes MK3 6EB (http://www.tnmoc.org/)

 

Abstract

 

You are warmly invited to take part in a Family Day in July at Bletchley Park’s National Museum of Computing (TNMOC) on Sunday 20 July.  Bring all the family – there will be activities suitable for children of all ages..

 

This event is for members of BCS Bedford and Northampton branches and their families. 

 

 

TNMOC enables visitors to follow the development of computing from the ultra-secret pioneering efforts of the 1940s through the mainframes of the 1960s and 1970s, and the rise of personal computing in the 1980s - including a newly rebuilt and fully operational Colossus, the world’s first electronic programmable computer.

 

TNMOC receives no government or lottery funding and you will be impressed by the enthusiasm of the staff involved in the project including the many volunteers who regularly give up their valuable time to ensure that this ever growing collection is restored and maintained.

 

You will need to register at http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/date/111246.  It would be a good idea to register NOW since the event is completely free for the first 40 people who register (20 people from each branch).  Note that children below the age of 6 years are welcome but will not be included in these numbers (we still need their details for catering purposes). 

 

There will be a small charge for people who wish to attend above this number (unless there are cancellations).  If you are unable to register free on the www.ticketsource.co.uk website, you can register your interest on the British Computer Society website’s https://events.bcs.org/book/1166/ .

 

Parents attending with children under 6 year olds will need to send a separate email to groups@hq.bcs.org.uk with the Subject Line: BCS Bedford Bletchley Park Event with the following details

Name:

Any special requirements such as dietary: 

 

Luncheon and drinks will be provided free of charge.

 

A base room will be made available for use during the day with tea, coffee and water freely available all day.  The LEGO will be kept in this room so that those who do not complete the competition in the morning will have the opportunity to try it in the afternoon. 

 

Agenda

 

10.30am       Registration and refreshments

 

11.00am       Welcome

Tour of the LEGO-DUPLO Building with activities for children including a LEGO competition (build a vintage  computer from LEGO blocks)

OR

Guided Tour of ‘The National Museum of Computing’

 

12.30am       Luncheon

 

After lunch       

• Free-flow through ‘The National Museum of Computing’.  You are free to wander at will and enjoy all the interactive displays.  There are a multitude of activities suitable for all ages - not least vintage games consoles, a host of other games and also coding opportunities on the BBC Micro, in Scratch and on the Raspberry Pi (in its Fuze guise).
• Tour of the Colossus and Tunny Galleries
• View of the world's oldest original working digital computer – the Harwell Dekatron computer aka ‘WITCH’
• Women in Computing                         

 

The agenda is still being finalised but will include a family quiz between Bedford and Northants branches.  Let’s hope that the sun continues to shine so we can get out the giant lawn chess set!  

 

 

How to get there

The National Museum of Computing is located on the Bletchley Park Estate, near Milton Keynes.  The post code is MK3 6EB.  When using a sat-nav please enter Sherwood Drive, Bletchley, as the postcode may take you to the wrong location.

 

At the Main Gate of Bletchley Park ask for The National Museum of Computing in Block H.  There are parking spaces there and parking is free.

 

For further information see http://www.tnmoc.org/visit/getting-here.

 

Disabled Access

The museum has wheelchair access to all galleries and displays, and there is a unisex disabled toilet near the TNMOC Shop.

update: BCS: New Colossus Gallery, Bletchley Park

24th January 2013 - New Colossus Gallery at Bletchley Park

Time: 7pm , for a tour start at 7:30pm finishing at approx.. 9pm.

Presenter: Barney Duffy

Venue: Bletchley Park, Sherwood Drive, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, MK3 6EB.

Synopsis: 

Visiting the new Colossus Gallery with the ability to walk around the system. Colossus, the world's first programmable electronic computer, had a single purpose: to help decipher the Lorenz-encrypted (Tunny) messages between Hitler and his generals during World War II. The Colossus Gallery housing the rebuild of Colossus tells that remarkable story. Colossus reduced the time to work out the Lorenz chi-wheel settings and enabled more messages to be deciphered and the whole code-breaking operation to be accelerated. The information gleaned from the decrypted messages is widely acknowledged to have shortened the war by many months, saving tens of thousands of lives. The cipher text was input via paper tape and the 2500 valves of Colossus would find the Lorenz machine chi-wheel settings. By the end of the war, 63 million characters of high-grade German communications had been decrypted by 550 people helped by the ten Colossus computers. Plus a look at the NPL gallery, how the internet was built. 

Directions

BCS: New Colossus Gallery, Bletchley Park

23rd or 24th January 2013 - New Colossus Gallery at Bletchley Park

Time: 7pm , for a tour start at 7:30pm finishing at approx.. 9pm.

Presenter: Barney Duffy Chair, BCS Northampton (2012-2013)

Venue: Bletchley Park, Sherwood Drive, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, MK3 6EB.

Synopsis: 

Visiting the new Colossus Gallery with the ability to walk around the system. Colossus, the world's first programmable electronic computer, had a single purpose: to help decipher the Lorenz-encrypted (Tunny) messages between Hitler and his generals during World War II. The Colossus Gallery housing the rebuild of Colossus tells that remarkable story. Colossus reduced the time to work out the Lorenz chi-wheel settings and enabled more messages to be deciphered and the whole code-breaking operation to be accelerated. The information gleaned from the decrypted messages is widely acknowledged to have shortened the war by many months, saving tens of thousands of lives. The cipher text was input via paper tape and the 2500 valves of Colossus would find the Lorenz machine chi-wheel settings. By the end of the war, 63 million characters of high-grade German communications had been decrypted by 550 people helped by the ten Colossus computers. Plus a look at the NPL gallery, how the internet was built. 

Directions

Computing Now |Alan Turing and Bletchley Park

Alan Turing and Bletchley Park by Charles Severance This month marks the 100th anniversary of Alan Turing's birth. His ground-breaking work in the 1940s continues to have an impact on computer science as we know it. The video below is an interview with Paul Kellar, Kevin Murrell, and Joel Greenberg of the National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park, which is celebrating the 100th anniversary of Alan Turing's birth. READ FULL ARTICLE (pdf) » Computing Now | July 2012 | What's New | Alan Turing and Bletchley Park

BCS: National Museum of Computing (Bletchley Park) - “Acorn/BBC/Doomsday Book

The BCS Northampton committee is please to announce the next event:

July 24th 2011

Visit The National Museum of Computing (Bletchley Park) and Talk on “Acorn/BBC/Doomsday Book”

Following our last two hugely popular visits, this year’s event will be held on a Sunday, which should cater for any members, and their family members, who were unable to make the previous evening events. The running order for the day is currently:-

· 10:30 Tea/coffee

· 10:45 Colossus/Tunny

· 11:15 Tour of Main Frame Gallery, Analogue computing exhibit, Powers Samas Punched Card kit and PC Gallery

· 12:30 Lunch

· 13:30 Presentation of Acorn/BBC/Doomsday Project with Chris Monk

· 15:30 Tea/coffee

· 16:00 Depart

Owing to the number of available guides there has to be a limit of 30 guests only for this event. You will be required to register in order to attend this event. A registration link is available on the branch website. There will be a £5 charge to BCS members, £10 for non members.

Catering cannot be provided on site, so you will need to bring a packed lunch.

10.30am for 10.45am

Link to branch website for the event

The National Museum of Computing

Bletchley Park

Milton Keynes

MK3 6EB

Directions

International Conference comes to Northampton

The 7th China-Europe International Symposium on Software Engineering Education was here in Northampton. This is the first time that the conference came to the UK.

The feedback we received so far is extremely positive. One delegate said: "this is an overwhelming experience" and others " I enjoyed the conference",  "Congratulations for the excellent organisation of CEISIE'11 in Northampton"  and "I am so happy to have met all of you in UK"

Other than about 30 papers from Europe and China, three key note speakers who informed the attendees about the HE, ethical and governmental aspects of Green Computing.

The programme included a visit to Bletchley Park, part of which was the National Museum of Computing, including a guide tour of Colossus. The  closing ceremony for the conference was held there too.

Sun Zhigang from Harbin Institute of Technology, china was awarded the  “Best Paper of CEISIE2011” prize. 

The conference was sponsored HP and NEP (ex NEL).