Alan Turing Chess Program

I was told a really interesting story toward the end of last week - not sure if you guys are aware of it. Apparently in 1948-50 Turing wrote the first ever computer chess program, even though there weren't any computers in existence that could actually run it. Lacking a computer, Turing had to run the program manually, logically following the procedural steps to play chess (and taking about half an hour to make each move).

The coolest thing of all is the name he gave to his program without a computer... "Turbo Champ."

Vantage Point

I went to see a band called Vantage Point on Sunday - a guy from work's the drummer. Not my usual kind of thing but totally enjoyed it. The audience were great too - interesting how aggressive, heavy thrash metal attracts really nice people, while casuals etc tend to go for lovey dovey dance music.

My dog's got two noses...

How does it smell?

Er, pretty well actually.

(Can this be real?)

My wife's gone to the West Indies...

More Mindfulness

Here's a link to Mindfulness in Plain English - really worthwhile I think.