Last night, after work, I was lucky enough to be able to go to one of the Technology highlights of the year, the annual Turing Lecture (2008). Obviously named after Alan Turing, the Computing Science pioneer, who along with being one of the main participants at Bletchley Park leading the war effort in breaking German ciphers and codes, invented both Turing Machines and the Turing Test.
The lecture was called 'Target Earth' and I thought it was excellent and well worth attending. I won't divulge the lecture details to you, as it's still got two nights to go, first at Manchester tonight (the 20th of February) and then at Glasgow (the 21st of February), and I wouldn't want to spoil it for those who plan to attend (although I'll probably do a proper review in a few days once it's finished it's 'tour').
I was pleased to say that I was not the only Sun person to attend, as I was joined by Nick Baker, one of our most senior Storage Consultants in the UK. We hadn't planned it that way, we both saw each other on the guest list and 'bumped into' each other when we arrived.
Target Earth lecture synopsis:
The problem of global warming is now widely known about. There are 12 megaproblems, like global warming, which must be urgently dealt with. All of these have potential solutions, but most of them are largely ignored. It is desirable to set targets so that we can measure the progression towards solutions. If we deal with these megaproblems in time, the 21st century could bring a magnificent future.
And the speaker was Dr. James Martin, short bio. here:
Dr. James Martin founded the James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization at the University of Oxford, and then the extraordinary 21st Century School at that University. He is also a Senior Fellow of the James Martin Center for Non-Proliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute in California.Martin is Pulitzer nominee for his book The Wired Society. He has written 103 major textbooks - more than any other living person. Many have been seminal in their field. His latest book, published in 2006, is The Meaning of the 21st Century, now being made into a major film. In addition to a D.Litt from the University of Oxford, Martin has honorary doctorates from all six continents. He is renowned as a riveting lecturer.
Martin is a social entrepreneur in the fields of education, technology and international development. He founded James Martin Associates in London, and the company quickly became global. A follow-on company, James Martin and Co., is now called Headstrong, develops ultra-complex systems for corporations, worldwide.
Martin was a member of the software Scientific Advisory Board of the U.S. Department of Defense. He was ranked 4th in Computer World's 25th Anniversary Edition's most influential people in computer technology.
Also tonight is the London Open Solaris User Group's (LOSUG) monthly get together, where tonight's guest speaker is James Hughes, Sun Fellow and VP of Sun Microsystems. James is the CTO of the Solaris Operating System at Sun where he has influence over the future direction of one of the most deployed operating systems today, I'm sure he would be very happy to see you and answer any questions you might have.
Relevant links:
Turing Lecture - IET Website
- Turing Lecture 2008 (19th of February) IET London: http://www.theiet.org/events/2008/turing-london.cfm
- Turing Lecture 2008 (20th of February) IET Manchester: http://www.theiet.org/events/2008/turing-manchester.cfm
- Turing Lecture 2008 (21st of February) IET Glasgow: http://www.theiet.org/events/2008/turing-glasgow.cfm
- Watch the last few Turing Lectures on IET.tv (search for "turing lecture"): http://www.iet.tv/
Dr. James Martin
- Dr. James Martin website: http://www.jamesmartin.com/
- Dr. James Martin on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Martin_(author)
- Books written by Dr. James Martin: http://www.jamesmartin.com/about/books_written.cfm
Alan Turing
- Alan Turing on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_turing
University of Manchester, School of Computer Science site
- Manchester Turing Lecture site: http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/events/Turing/
- 2008 lecture 'Target Earth' with Dr. James Martin: http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/events/Turing/08-James-Martin/
- 2007 lecture 'The promise, the limits, and the beauty of software' with Grady Booch (Chief Scientist IBM): http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/events/Turing/07-Grady-Booch/
- Grady Booch lecture video (High res): http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/media/events07/Turing_07/Videos/turing07_hi.ram
- Grady Booch lecture video (Low res): http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/media/events07/Turing_07/Videos/turing07_lo.ram
- 2006 lecture 'Lifestyle access for the disabled - adding positive drift to the random walk with technology' with Chris Mairs: http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/events/Turing/06-Chris-Mayers/
- Chris Mairs lecture video: http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/media/events-06/turing-06/tl-06-cm_lo.ram
- 2005 lecture 'Collaboration and Telecollaboration in Design' with Professor Frederick P Brooks Jr. FREng, Dist. FBCS: http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/events/Turing/05-Fred-Brooks/
- Fred Brooks lecture video: http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/media/events-05/turing05.ram
