Tag: Alan Turing

Update

11th September 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

Just read this really cool thing on BBC News. Most of you know already, that this website is dedicate to Alan Turing.

Some of you will remember a couple of months ago, I was experimenting with some budget adventures.

The other Sunday, I got the chance to complete one, that had evaded me for some time. For £4.40, its possible to get a return from Chester to Southport (its like I always say, adventure is everywhere, you just have to look).

I haven’t been there, in something like 14 years, but it was a pretty cool place. It was very family orientated. Although families aren’t really my thing, it was this focus that removed the tackiness and which is normally associated with places like Blackpool.

I broke the rule of Sunter, and didn’t actually take an spare trainers or anything like that.

We even had lunch at MacDonald’s, and Coffee at Nero (for budget adventuring, this would normally been a distinct no-no, but finances have change, and I just haven’t eaten a MacDonald’s in ages !.

We wandered around the promenade, which was spotlessly clean, and then headed for the beach (okay, it could have been sunnier !).

As we wandered towards the Ocean (Amelia came with me) I realised that the actual Sea, is about 2 miles out from the beach !.

The last time I stood in such a vast open space, was in the Moroccan desert.

Last weekend, I spent Saturday afternoon in the cinema. I went to see District 9. I want say anything else about this film, but if you haven’t seen it, you really should.

I hate it when pretentious people describe something as excellent on many levels, but in this case that was completely it.

As a drama, thriller, action flick and public commentary, this film scores, in just about every category.

On another subject, one thing I really hate in films, is when there is a really great premise for a film, but the end product, just waste’s it completely. A film I watched with Love film recently (21) was exactly like this.

The basic premise, is that a group of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the most genius University’s in the world) go to Vegas, and attempt to beat the system and make a fortune.

Overly long, it really was just a wast of my time.

In other Media recently.

Great news: Big brother is being canceled. Thank God. It symbolizes, for me, everything that’s wrong with society.

Bad news: Oasis have split up. Although don’t live there anymore, Ill always be a son of Manchester (although the thing is, I still thing that the Smiths are the best things to come out of the city !)

Ive been watching True Blood. I thought the premise sounded a bit iffy, but its one of the best programs to appear on HBO in a while. Season 6 of House commences on the 21st of September.

Jude and Nathan are on holiday at the moment. Since Ive recorded about 25 episodes of Family Guy, and the Cats and I, are working our way through them.

Sunday morning, I wen for a walk around Chester and took a couple of pictures. On my way back from the Forest, I visited the Racecourse and took this picture.

This weekend (ie Tomorrow) is Chester Races, so Ill be sure to hide in my house).

The good news, is that there are loads of cool places to explore and relax in, which the visiting “Mongol Hoards” don’t know about. This is one of my favorite places (I wont say where it is, for obvious reasons) and I come and sit, and read here all the time.

After this, I popped over to Bar Lounge, where my friend Julian was exhibiting one of his paintings. Unfortunately, it was ticket only, so I never got to see it.

Well, Ill get going now, but near and far take care and hope to hear from you all soon.

Update

12th July 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

Firstly, profound apologies for not updating the website for a while, I have just had loads of things going on. I’m still seeking employment, and I have a 3rd interview on Tuesday for a fantastic job. It isn’t exaggerating to say, that if I get that job, it will quite literally change my life (so no pressure!).

Ive been switching on my old mobile (the one I use for travelling) and Ive noticed that a few of you, have been sending texts to my old number. As most of you know, I know use an IPhone, and my number has changed.

If the number you are using does not end 320, drop me a line, and Ill give you the new one.

In terms of the website, I know that some of the sections under About, need completing and I haven’t setup old johnsunter with the original site yet. Myself, and that son of toil Henrik, are working desperately to fix this as you read.

Congratulations to Mark. Wasn’t able to join him on his stag do, due to a minor venue conflict, but everyone here at johnsunter.com wish to congratulate him on his impending/already completed wedding. Life as a married man, will require a level of financial stability, so may we provide a shameless piece of biased advertising.

If you need the services of a photographer, have a look here I can highly recommend him.

Sometimes its the simple things in life that bring you pleasure. In Tesco, I used to shop for my packed lunches, and noticed some Tesco own brand chocolate wafers (a sort of rip off Kitkat). The thing that was interesting, is that they were available in a mint chocolate flavour, which the “real” Kitkats arent.

They were dirt cheap, tasted delicious, and you can imagine my disappointment, when they stopped selling them several months ago.

“Insiders” at Tesco (my friends who work there, and cant be named due to draconian hr rules and blogging) tipped me the nod the other day, that they are back on the shelves. Although Im trying to lose weight, I ate an entire packet, in one sitting.

On the technology front, Ive been keeping myself busy at home.

Finaly built my VM Ware server. Some of the stuff you can do on it is amazing, and its all the more spectacular for the fact that it runs on my home computer.

Learning a product called Appsense. Its amazing, it enables virtual desktop and hybrid networks to run worldwide roving profiles, in near realtime.

Finaly, a hilarious story about my Auntie Marjorie.

Most people know of the tragic events of Manchester United and the Munich air disaster. There are streets named after the fallen players all over the city.

On the approach to the City of Manchester stadium (the stadium built to house the commonwealth games, which later became the home of Manchester City) there is a road called Alan Turing way (the road was there, 6 years before the stadium was built).

My Auntie believed that it was named after one of the United players (a strange choice at any rate, United players, on the approach to City’s ground !).

In reality, Alan Turing had nothing to do with football, he was the famous wartime code breaker, and johsunter.com is dedicated to his memory.

Well, I’ll get going now, but near and far have fun and never stop searching for adventure…

WW2 U Boat and Birkenhead Park

25th April 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

I’ve always been fascinated by the story of the German U boats in WW2, and Alan Turing’s attempt to catch them by decrypting the Enigma code.

I caught the train to Hamilton Square. The U-Boat story exhibition is just nearby. The main things to see, were various artifacts which had been recovered from the Sub, and the Sub itself, which had been cut into sections to enable it to be viewed more easily.

At the center of this picture, is the rear section of the sub, which show damage inflicted by anti-submarine planes, which ultimately sunk the sub.

At the end of the war, the German high command, ordered all submarines to surrender. Its still unknown, why U534 (the submarine featured in the exhibition) didn’t. It was sunk by the RAF, but its mission always remained a mystery. It was theorised it was carrying hi ranking officers to South America, that it had gold and jewelry, and one other theory, is that its experimental torpedoes were being taken to Japan, to continue the war effort.

Karsten Ree, believed it contained treasure, and decided to raise it. There wasn’t any treasure in the normal sense, but endless information about U-boats and life on-board, which the exhibition attempts (and I believe achieves) to capture.

A working Enigma machine (the Sub carried two, one in general use, and one in storage. The one in storage was in near perfect condition).

Looking inside the sub, you could see just how tiny it was. This section shows the engine room, but in other places, there were 2 small hobs, where food was cooked in shifts, around the clock.

It was said that life on board was very hard (52 men in an area the size of a small terraced house). When they weren’t working they were either sleeping or eating. There was always plenty of food to eat, to keep moral high.

I spent about an hour there and then moved on. About half an hour’s walk away, is the famous Birkenhead park.

Its famous, because quite simply it was the first public park, open in the word. Central Park in new York one of the worlds more obviously famous parks, is based on it, and from the air, the 2 are almost identical.

Using my Iphone, and the trusty google maps, I was able to find the entrance without much trouble. It was much bigger than I expected. On a beautiful day like this one, there are few things more fun than wandering around and exploring in the outdoors.

I continued on through the park, and passed the boathouse, alongside the parks lake. Bit further along, they have re-opened the victorian tea house (I think the Victorians would have been pretty unhappy, as its now called Cappuccino’s. I stop and have the now ubiquitous coffee, and a chocolate muffin.

I spend another hour wandering around the park, and then back to Hamilton Square. Ive passed through the underground station at Hamilton Square many times, but never seen the outside. Apparently, some of the best Edwardian buildings in the country are located there.