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<pre>Ben Keeley said 'Welcome to the Kent Linux User Group website. If you are interested in <br>joining our friendly group of Open Source Software enthusiasts please <br>signup to our mailing list.'<br> <br>Friendly?<br><br>Ha Ha <br><br>I went through a similar period of puzzlement as a disagreement,<br> on much stronger terms, broke out when I first joined KLUG mailing list<br>I've come to the conclusion that these folks know each other well enough to know where <u>their</u> boundaries are,<br>but sometimes forget [?] how open the whole internet facade is to others, not so well known to the group<br>It still comes across as riddled with pedantry, but <b>is</b> very informative<br><br>I posted my support for the Turing partition, as, were it not for the posting,<br>A) I wouldn't have known about it, or the Bletchley show<br>B) I wouldn't have been able to put it on the Puppylinux forum and get more support from there<br><br>Thanks, James!<br><br>Somehow I can't help wondering if it might have been better for the family, if an alternate petition<br>for an honorary professorship might have been better?<br>I still don't quite believe the suicide story - we had another one of them recently, Dr David Kelly,<br>that seemed part of 'the way things are done'<br><br>On a more positive note, and as a matter of interest, I had a brief use of the 'secret bunker' war rooms <br>at Dollis Hill, [GPO research station] many years ago, which we used as a recording studio, <br>though it is pretty well unknown that this was where the British computer was built by a team <br>led by Tommy Flowers that was later used at Bletchley Park for code breaking by Turing & team<br>It was an amazing place in its own right, being a [2nd WW] 'bomb-proof' shelter, <br>with its own huge Rolls Royce 3 phase generator, and 10,000 line telephone exchange<br>The air conditioning gas filter room was 1/2 the size of a football pitch - wink<br>More info:<br>http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/p/paddock/index.shtml<br><br>My view on the posting - right on<br>If pedantry becomes narrowing of interest to the exclusion of alternates, <br>then linux is dead, and the world is lost IMHO<br><br>Aitch :)<br>===================================================<br></pre>> Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 19:30:38 +0100<br>> From: box@yeleek.co.uk<br>> To: kent@mailman.lug.org.uk<br>> Subject: Re: [Klug-general] Alan Turing Pardon Petition<br>> <br>> 'Welcome to the Kent Linux User Group website. If you are interested in <br>> joining our friendly group of Open Source Software enthusiasts please <br>> signup to our mailing list.'<br>> <br>> Friendly?<br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> George Prowse wrote:<br>> > James Blake wrote:<br>> > <br>> >> Hi All<br>> >><br>> >> I've been campaigning for a long time for an official pardon for<br>> >> Turing who, when facing prosecution in the UK for being homosexual,<br>> >> committed suicide rather than face chemical castration. My father was<br>> >> the headmaster of Wavendon School in the grounds of Bletchley Park<br>> >> where Turing worked to crack the German Enigma code (among others), so<br>> >> I've always had an interest in the man and his work. I know that this<br>> >> is a little 'off list' but if it wasn't for Turing we'd all still be<br>> >> using mechanical calculators and signing Deutschland über alles every<br>> >> morning...<br>> >><br>> >> Alan Turing was one of our country's national heros hastening the end<br>> >> of the Second World War and, along with Von Neumann, making some of<br>> >> greatest contributions to the developing what is now considered a<br>> >> computer.<br>> >><br>> >> A petition on the same site to save Bletchley Park elicited a direct<br>> >> response from the Prime Minister, it would be great if all of those<br>> >> interested in this great man and the shameful way he was treated could<br>> >> take the time to sign this petition.<br>> >><br>> >> For those interested in cryptoanalysis and the part it played in<br>> >> defeating the Nazis in the Second World War, there is an exhibition<br>> >> this coming weekend at Bletchley Park celebrating the 70th anniversary<br>> >> of Turing's arrival:<br>> >><br>> >> http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/calendar/event_detail.rhtm?cat=special&recID=567861<br>> >><br>> >> If you're interested in Turing there have been several books written<br>> >> about him, but one of the best is David Leavitt's "The Man Who Knew<br>> >> Too Much: Alan Turing and the Invention of the Computer" (ISBN<br>> >> 978-0393052367)<br>> >><br>> >> The petition for an official pardon for Turing can be found at:<br>> >><br>> >> http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/turing/<br>> >><br>> >><br>> >> James<br>> >><br>> >> <br>> ><br>> > There are some things that are close enough to the topic to warrant a<br>> > slight deviation but getting people to sign up for things - no matter<br>> > what the subject - is too far.<br>> ><br>> > This subject is already on the klug website by you, why did you think it<br>> > warranted a second inclusion?<br>> ><br>> > Also, can people STOP replying to emails and then changing the subject<br>> > to reflect another completely different subject, you need to create a<br>> > new email.<br>> ><br>> > George<br>> ><br>> ><br>> > _______________________________________________<br>> > Kent mailing list<br>> > Kent@mailman.lug.org.uk<br>> > https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/kent<br>> ><br>> > <br>> <br>> _______________________________________________<br>> Kent mailing list<br>> Kent@mailman.lug.org.uk<br>> https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/kent<br><br /><hr />Use Hotmail to send and receive mail from your different email accounts. <a href='http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/167688463/direct/01/' target='_new'>Find out how.</a></body>
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