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One of the first mass-produced computers getting new life in UK museum
While Howdy Doody and Buffalo Bob Smith were regaling America's youth with Western-themed puppet antics and the Cold War was starting to get serious, British businessmen were employing one of the world's first out-of-the-laboratory computers: the ICT 1301. The massive computer, which resembles a prop from Lost's underground bunker more than something you'd see in modern times, is getting a new life from the National Museum of Computing in the UK's historic Bletchley Park. The University of London is providing the ICT 1301 (last used for grading tests, apparently), which is nicknamed "Flossie." Apparently TNMOC is hoping to have it on display by some point in 2016, and the machine is said to still work. It was purchased by the university back in the '60s, not long after the initial rollout of ICT 1301 computers took place. Just 150 iterations of the machine exist, and Flossie is said to be the last functioning model. It's been a struggle getting Flossie into the museum, despite its history -- the machine spent nine years being rehabbed, among other challenges. Hilariously, other copies of the ICT 1301 were used as props in various UK productions throughout the years, from Doctor Who to James Bond. And the first of you to spot one in an old episode and send us an image gets a banana sticker! And very likely a cat GIF!
Google brings Bletchley Park to its Cultural Institute (video)
For an unsentimental Silicon Valley giant, Google does have a soft spot for Bletchley Park, the wartime home of Alan Turing and his codebreakers. Having previously donated $850,000 to help restore the site, which now houses the National Museum of Computing, Mountain View has now welcomed pictures and testimony from those who were there to its own online museum, the Google Cultural Institute. There's video after the break, and you can head down to the source links to find out more about the vital work that took place.
Harwell Dekatron revived as the world's oldest working, original digital computer
Over 60 years since the first digital computers switched on, the chances of seeing one of these pioneers in action have grown incredibly slim as time (and recycling) takes its toll. Take a visit to Britain's National Museum of Computing in Bletchley Park as of today, however, and you'll see one working. A finished 3-year restoration effort lets the Harwell Dekatron -- at one point renamed the Wolverhampton Instrument for Teaching Computation from Harwell, or WITCH -- claim the title of the world's oldest functional digital computer still using its original design. Aside from its room-filling dimensions, the 1951-era mainframe may be worth the trip just for recalling a time when there were no hard and fast rules in computing: the Dekatron operates in its namesake decimal system, not binary, and puts most of its components on full display. The computer is part of the regular exhibit lineup and should be easy to see; the daunting part may be realizing that virtually any chip in a 2012 smartphone could outmuscle the Dekatron without breaking a sweat.
Google donates $850,000 to restore home of the codebreakers
Google has donated £550,000 ($850,000) towards the £15 million project to renovate Bletchley Park. The donation from Mountain View is part of a $100 million charitable program that's previously helped rescue Alan Turing's personal papers. The country estate is the former home of Station X and the British Government's Code and Cypher School, which was where the World War Two model of the Enigma Machine was decrypted. Turing, its most famous alumnus went on to pioneer computer science and artificial intelligence during his short life and the complex now houses the National Museum of Computing. Unfortunately the buildings are rapidly collapsing and enormous investment is still required to transform the site into a museum, attraction and fitting tribute to the work of the codebreakers.
60 year-old remote-controlled robot made from scrap parts makes a dramatic, beautiful comeback
This is George. He's a six-foot tall robot handmade from the aluminum scraps of a crashed bomber in 1950. George is remote controlled, and was built by Tony Sale, the same man who recently resurrected the nearly forgotten robotic darling from the storage shed where he's spent the last 45 years or so. Some oil and batteries were all it took to get George up and walking again, and he'll now have a permanent home at the National Museum of Computing in Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, England. And that's the next museum we'll be visiting, because we cannot get enough of this giant. Tear-inducing video is after the break. [Image Credit: Geoff Robinson, Daily Mail]
