Alan Turing: The Life and Times

The announcement of ‘The Alan Turing institute,’ got me thinking about the legendary genius. Who was he, how did he live his life and what was his legacy?

Anybody who readers the OliverRawlings blog knows that I have a major interest in technology. The way technology changes our world with every new discovery, every practical application, fascinates me. That’s why I’ve long been interested in the life and times of Alan Turing.

His name has entered popular discourse in recent years due to his personal life. Alan Turing was gay in a time where it was illegal to be gay in Britain, and got caught. He was tried, convicted and chemically castrated in 1952. He died from cyanide poisoning at the age of 42 in 1954.

This injustice has led in recent times to a campaign to strike down Turing’s 1952  conviction for homosexuality, based on both the fact that it is now no longer illegal and on the great work he did that changed the world forever. He received a posthumous royal pardon. What was that great work?

Essentially, Turing was a mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, computer scientist and philosopher. He is perhaps most famous as being a significant contributor to the moderncomputer, through his ‘Turing Machine.’ This means that he’s basically regarded as the father of modern computer science.

The implications of this are enormous. Think about how much the computer has contributed to our world. So much modern technology depends on computer science, that without it, this world would still be stuck in the 19^th Century. Forget smartphones and laptops, we never even would have got the basic computer.

This wasn’t Turing’s only contribution to the world in his lifetime. During the Second World War, he worked at Bletchley Park, the government’s infamous code breaking headquarters. He was vital to the effort to develop the Enigma machine, the device which enabled the allies to understand and manipulate coded Nazi messages.

Again, the magnitude of this work on the modern world is astounding. Have you ever read one of those dystopic novels about how the world went to hell in a hand basket because the Nazi’s won the Second World War?  Yeah… Alan Turing had a large role in stopping that.

Despite his tragic and undeserved end, Alan Turing was a great British hero, and his work influenced modern life in numerous ways. I’m glad that the man himself is being remembered and celebrated as the genius he undoubtedly was. 

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Black Friday Madness Hits British Shores

Anyone who reads the Oliver Rawlings Blog knows that I find modern culture fascinating; some of the things that people do in the modern world defy belief and they make fascinating subjects to debate and analyse.

That’s why the American concept of Black Friday has fascinated me for years. For those of you out there who’ve ever watched an American Thanksgiving special, you’ll know what Black Friday is.  It’s the day after Thanksgiving where American stores put on the craziest, most aggressive of discounts in order to draw in the American shopping public. It always works; after all American’s love a good bargain. It’s basically a day in the year where American companies find new ways to sell stuff. It is a tradition that has been around for years; however it’s only been known as Black Friday for the past two decades. It has now become the most lucrative shopping day of the year.

This is something we’re used to by now; we hear about it every time this time of year rolls around. What we’re not used to is Black Friday hitting our stores. Yes, that’s right; we’ve officially been taken over. It started with Cyber Monday, a similar online tradition to Black Friday where online retailers offer similar types of deals for customers. That one’s gained a little traction over here. Now we’ve got Black Friday. Asda, the supermarket chain owned by American giant Wal-Mart can be particularly noted for putting on Black Friday offers. People have been practically biting Asda’s hands off this year to take advantage of these amazing deals.

On the one hand this is certainly a good thing for our economy. We are only just recovering from the global economic crash that devastated us all in 2008. Consumerism drives the economy; it always has. America has benefitted economically from Black Friday for years; the fact it’s the biggest shopping day of the year means that in this one day alone millions of dollars are injected into the American market every time Black Friday rolls around.

However there is a dark side to it. Every year in America there are always instances of violence attached to Black Friday, without fail. This year alone there were at least two incidents on Black Friday across the pond that involved the use of guns. This year we’ve seen a few incidents of violence here that police have had to come in and sort out. Consumers can get violent when they really want something. Do we really want this spreading over to us?

Whether we want it or not, Black Friday is crossing over to Britain; there’s little we can do to stop it. Progress always brings trouble; however by its very definition it also brings growth and change. Considering the fact our economy is only just beginning to recover, maybe it’s something we need right now?

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Oliver Rawlings Asks Everyone to Remember to Use Technology Responsibly

I think the vast majority of us, especially the author of the Oliver Rawlings Blog, agree that the internet is a wonderful thing. Before the internet, life was so much more complicated; we had to walk to the post office or bank to pay bills, we had to pick up a phone if we wanted a chat with our best mate, we had to turn to an encyclopaedia if we wanted to check something. Now, with the internet, all of this is at our fingertips. Need to pay a bill? Online banking! Want to catch up with a mate in Australia? Skype them! Want to look up the answer to a question on a game show? Wikipedia it! The internet has changed our lives so much we even look for love there these days, however we tend to forget just how dangerous a place it can be, especially for teenagers who haven’t quite learned how to use it responsibly yet.

So why am I bringing this up? It may seem odd seeing as I haven’t been a teenager for a few years now. I’m a (somewhat) functioning adult who knows how to handle myself online. However Iwas on the BBC News website this morning (Monday 21^st October) and I saw an article that highlighted just how much of a problem this is among a younger demographic. The article presents the argument that children between 9 and 11 are engaging in extremely risky behaviour online. It backed this up with survey figures drawn up by ISC2 IT Security Education group, which suggests that these children are playing online games meant for a much older, often adult audience and that many are sharing personal information online.

Also the survey highlighted that 18% of the 1,162 children surveyed said that they had arranged real world meetings with friends online and also that a staggering 55% of children accept cyber bullying as a part of everyday life. For anyone, these figures are shocking. I’m all for young people using the internet; I certainly did, even if it wasn’t quite as advanced back then. But I never used it like this; I was taught how to use it responsibly. The real danger here is twofold. Firstly, this could lead them into real danger, especially as they are the more vulnerable members of society; they don’t know how to handle this sort of thing responsibly. Secondly, they could develop bad online habits; even when you’re my age, agreeing to share all your details online is a bad idea.

I am, as you all know by now, a huge technology enthusiast. I believe it’s a good thing. However, it needs to be used responsibly. I learned how to use the internet, like many of us did, through my IT lessons at school. I learned to be careful, to use this medium responsibly. It seems that maybe the lesson to take from these stats is to start educating kids younger.

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