Alan Turing, the Inventor of Software 371
Roland Piquepaille writes "BusinessWeek celebrates its anniversary with a series of articles about the great thinkers and innovators from the past 75 years. The series stars with a profile of Alan Turing, "Thinking Up Computers." In case you forgot, Turing is the man who created the concept of a "universal machine" which would perform various and diverse actions when given various sets of instructions. In other words, he laid out in the 1920s the foundations of software. You'll find the introduction of Turing's profile, plus more details, photographs and references in this overview."
Ah, but is it a real article... (Score:4, Funny)
Alan Turing! (Score:3, Funny)
Comment removed (Score:3, Funny)
Give Credit Where It's Due (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Turing was also... (Score:3, Funny)
There are actually several mentions of Turing's sexual orientation within the linked article, including the horrendous treatment he received as a result of the increasingly open displays of his homosexuality he exhibited later in his life. It is a disgrace that such a key figure in the eventual overthrow of the Nazi regime (due to his contributions in cracking the Enigma code) could be subjected to such degrading mistreatment, not even ten years after the conclusion of the war.
What the article does not cover, however, is if Turing were alive today, would he prefer the elaborate menu-driven splendor of dselect, or the minimalist elegance of dpkg. That's what I would like to see the media pay some attention to.
Re:Turing was also... (Score:4, Funny)
And then you stopped? Yeah, right ;-)
Alan Turing: The Movie. (Score:5, Funny)
Starring Halle Barry as his love interest, Lady Ada Lovelace. Famous for its one-liners used during gun battles with Enigma Nazis: "Code This!" and *BLAM!* BLAM!* "You failed the Turing Test.". Directed by Jerry Bruckheimer, it features Enigma machines that blow up like the Hindenburg whenever the wrong code is entered.
Negotiations are underway with Barry Sonnenfeld's production company to bring back the giant robot spider from "Wild Wild West" to make an appearance as the very first computer bug.
Young Turing (Score:3, Funny)
I think you are referring to the "Young Turing" movie "biography" starring Yahoo Serious. This details Turing's life growing up in Australia where he rassles crocodiles and invents shoelaces and joins a rock and roll band. Later, when he grows up, he invents computing when he figures out how to crack RIAA encryption in order to download the latest "Wyld Stallyns" tunes.
Gay ?? Onion spoof (Score:4, Funny)
Alan Mathison Turing was one of the great, gay pioneers of the computer field.
He inspired the now common terms of "The Turing Machine" and "Turing's Test.", and preferred the company of men to women. As a mathematician he applied the concept of the algorithm to digital computers, and liked to kiss and hold other men.
The homosexual's research into the relationships between machines and nature created the field of artificial intelligence. His intelligence and foresight made him one of the first to step into the information age. His sexual preference was for men.
Re:Turing was also... (Score:2, Funny)
The series starts with a profile of Alan "Big Gay Al" Turing, "Gaying Up Computers." In case you forgot, Turing is the gay man who came up with the gay concept of a "universal gay machine" which would perform lots of gay calculations while being tastefully decorated to match the curtains. Turing did a lot of gay codebreaking during WWII and contributed to the foundations of gay software and gay computer science. Fabulous!
Re:Alan Turing: The Movie. (Score:3, Funny)
Turing: "Time for some Extreme Programming!" (loads shotgun with a loud ka-chink)
Re:As I learned it (Score:3, Funny)
lifes odd (Score:2, Funny)