Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Somewhat at Random, An Appology to Alan Turing

So this is a bit of a random bit to blog, I picked up the story from TWIT, and followed it over to homepage of the British Prime Minister. The site does a better job then I will, but here is a bit of a synopsis, Alan Turing, father of computers, and British WWII hero,without whom the Alias may never have cracked Enigma or the myriad of other Nazi codes.

After the war, Turing was persecuted by the government for being gay, which was illegal in his era. In the end he was used by his government and then discard, treated monstrously, and finally committed suicide.

A grass roots movement started by programmer and author John Graham-Cumming brought to the Prime Ministers attention this long standing injustice, not just against Turing, but thousands of other gay men, including Oscar Wilde.

On the 10th the Prime Minster released a formal apology that was uncharacteristically earnest and honest from the government. I'm not usually a fan of the posthumous apology, but for a group still largely persecuted even to this day, and for Turing whom made possible so many of the technological things we use today, it is fitting.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Avast Autumn

I woke this morning to a crisp fall smell in the air (with a hint of pulled pork wafting up from the kitchen), and a day of fun ahead. Bryan was goofing with his mom as they woke me from a good nights rest (one of the few we've gotten this week.) So a happy ITLAPD day to you all, and enjoy the weather, go for a walk at the farmers market (like we did) or a hike through a park, anything just get outside.

Its a busy day between D&D, Pirates, and Bardonfest! TTYL

PS This blog post is an aberration and not an indication of more to come at any great rate :P