Daily Activity Log

Monday, July 6:
I woke up at 9:00 and took a shower. Afterwards I caught up on all of my laundry for the week, which consisted of two loads. While the washing machines were running I took the opportunity to finish up all of my reading for this week’s classes. At 12:45, I went to class. After class, I returned to the dorms and picked up some mail that I received from home. I spent the next few hours in my room napping. At 6:45, I joined up with others for a tour around “Shakespeare’s London”. The tour was fascinating, with several interesting sites including the Clink prison, the monument to the fire that burned London, and others. I returned to the dorms around 10:30 and went to bed at 11:00.

Tuesday, July 7:
I woke up at 10:00 and began working on some homework. At 11:00 I met up with a friend and went to the British Museum. The museum had several interesting exhibits, from Aztec artifacts to sculptures from ancient Greece and Rome. We spent several hours in the museum, including 45 minutes for lunch at the museum’s café. The food was quite good, and also surprisingly affordable. At 3:00 we left the museum and went to a comic book shop and a large PC store. We returned to Astor at 4:30 where we spent the rest of the afternoon comparing the function of my Dell PC to my friend’s Apple Macbook. At 7:30 I finished up the reading response paper for tomorrow’s class, and spent the rest of the night surfing the web until bed.

Wednesday, July 8:
Today was my 21st birthday. I woke up at 10:00 and took a shower. I then got online and did some classwork for about an hour, and spent the rest of my time watching the Onion News Network. At 12:45, I went to class. After class, I went to Subway and picked up a foot long sandwich to serve as my lunch/dinner for the evening. When I returned to Astor College, I met up with a friend and went to Tesco where I picked up some more food essentials, including Diet Coke and potato chips. On the way back, I stopped in a bakery and picked up a cupcake in celebration of my birthday. At about 6:00, I went with two friends to get their Britrail passes validated. I then spent the rest of the evening finishing up some work and surfing the web, until 10:00. At 10:00, I walked to the Goodge Street tube station with a friend and picked up a paper. We got back about 10:30, and I went to sleep for the evening.

Thursday, July 9:
I woke up at 8:00 and got ready to leave for the day’s field trip. At about 9:40 we left for Euston Station where we then traveled to Bletchley Park. Bletchley had many interesting exhibits, including a rebuilt version of the Colossus computer, a museum on the history of computing, and several other exhibits on WWII. We took a guided tour around the museum, and the guide had many interesting stories to tell. At about 12:50, we ate lunch at the park’s cafeteria, and then spent the rest of the time wandering around the exhibits. At about 3:40, we boarded the train back to London. Upon returning to Astor College, I took a shower and surfed the web until I went out to dinner with friends at 7:30. We then returned to Astor where we had some cake in celebration of my birthday. I went to bed immediately after returning.

Friday, July 10:
I woke up at 7:00 and prepared to leave for the trip to Oxford. We left at 8:00 and traveled to Oxford by train via Euston Station. We arrived in Oxford about 10:00, and stayed there until about 4:00. Oxford was an interesting city, and it was interesting to see several of the colleges that make up the famous university. The trip was perhaps more enjoyable for Harry Potter fans, as several scenes from the movies were filmed in Oxford. We returned to London at about 5:30, where I picked up some dinner and spent the rest of the night relaxing in my room.

Saturday, July 11:
I woke up at 6:00 and prepared to travel to York with friends. We left at 7:20 and traveled to York by train via Kings Cross Station. We arrived in York at about 10:00, and stayed there until 5:00. York was fascinating. We took a guided tour of York Minster, and spent about half an hour walking the medieval wall that surrounds the city. We spent the majority of our time simply wandering the streets and taking in the atmosphere. We ate lunch in a pub at about 1:30. At about 2:30, I purchased a souvenir keychain made from a recycled PC motherboard. We returned to London at about 7:00, where I ate dinner and spent the rest of the evening in my room relaxing. I went to bed at about 10:30.

Sunday, July 12:
I woke up at 9:30 after an uneventful night of sleep. I spent most of the day in my room catching up on schoolwork. At about 1:30, I went out for lunch. At 6:30 I ate dinner. I went to bed at about 12:00.

Fieldtrip to Bletchley Park

This post covers my impressions about the class field trip to Bletchley Park. Bletchley was probably the most memorable place that I've visited so far on this trip. Before even arriving at the park, I was fascinated with the fact that the British government had been able to keep it a secret for so long. In an age where information leaks like a sieve from almost every conceivable source, it is remarkable to contemplate that the people who worked at Bletchley didn't reveal what they had been doing for 30 years after the war was over. After arriving at the Park, I was able to better understand how much of this secrecy may have been achieved from the information that even the workers themselves were kept from knowing more than the absolute minimum about what they were doing. The fact that the entire operation remained a secret for so long is still amazing though.

I found the Park itself to be remarkable, and imagined that it would have been a fascinating place to work. The grounds were beautiful, and there was an interesting contrast between the gardens and the drab war-era buildings they surrounded. As our guide for the tour told stories about the installation, it was interesting to imagine being a part of an operation whose actions were so vital to the war, but that was kept absolutely secret.

As far as the actual exhibits themselves, it was thrilling to see an actual rebuilt version of the Colossus that worked. It's still amazing that such a machine could function, and function well, despite its use of paper tape and valves. The speed at which it functioned was also remarkable, carrying out its tasks at roughly the same speed as a modern computer. I was also very interested in the rest of the computing museum, particularly the exhibit on personal computers. The fact that so many of them were actually in working order, and that we were encouraged to use them, was a thrill.

Chapter 15 Thoughts

This post details my impressions about chapter 15 of the textbook. This chapter focused on the construction of the Harvard Mark 1 by IBM. One of the first interesting thoughts I had after reading this chapter was that if Thomas Watson hadn't taken the risk to continue production during depression, IBM wouldn't have had enough money to construct the Harvard Mark 1. Without IBM, it seems unlikely that Aiken would have been able to actually construct the computer that he dreamed of. A second point that I found interesting was that Aiken had very little to do with the actual construction of his machine, yet was reluctant to give IBM the credit it deserved. A final point that I found interesting was that the Mark 1 was technically inferior to Babbage's designs for the Analytical Engine. This fact truly speaks to the level of Babbage's genius, that he was so far ahead of his time design-wise that a machine he designed with 19th century components was more advanced than a machine that was constructed nearly 100 years later.

Chapter 14 Thoughts

This post details my thoughts about chapter 14 of the textbook. This chapter covered the early life of Howard Aiken and the events that led to his design of the Harvard Mark 1. One of the first aspects that I found interesting about this chapter was how the problem Babbage was attempting to solve with his Engines was what Aiken was attempting to solve with his computer. This was the problem that mathematical and scientific exploration was limited by the inability to complete the massive calculations manually. This problem leads one to wonder what might have happened if Aiken (and the other computer scientists who were working simultaneously) hadn't ever completed a working computer. What would have been the limit at which point science and technology would have come to a halt? Certainly monumental achievements like space travel would have been impossible without computers (or other computing devices). In addition, everyday devices like cellphones, computer-controlled functions in automobiles, and microwave ovens all would have been impossible without computers to control them and to aid in their design. A second point that I found interesting in the chapter was how Aiken, like Babbage, was keenly aware of the historical significance of his achievement. This is interesting when compared to inventors like Jacquard and Hollerith who seemed to have little interest in the historical nature of their inventions and were more concerned with their practicality and usefulness for their given tasks.

Chapter 13 Thoughts

This post covers my thoughts about chapter 13 of the textbook. This chapter examined the role of Thomas Watson's leadership in making IBM a massive success. It was fascinating to examine how IBM was able to prosper in the midst of adversity and depression. It's difficult not to marvel at Watson's courage in overriding the board to keep production going throughout the depression. It's also interesting how he trained his salesmen to know the ins and outs of the products they were selling. He didn't just require a lot from his salesmen, he also provided them with the means to be successful. His loyalty to his employees is also interesting, as he refused to institute widespread layoffs. Despite his obvious ruthlessness when it came to most matters of business, it's fascinating that Watson truly practiced the loyalty he preached to his workers.

Chapter 12 Thoughts

This post details my thoughts about chapter 12 of the textbook. This chapter covered how Hollerith's tabulating machine company eventually evolved into the powerhouse IBM. It's interesting to note that Hollerith was a genius inventor, but that his genius didn't translate into the realm of business. Instead, it took the vision of entrepreneurs like Flint and Watson to transform the Tabulating Machine Company into what would become the world's most powerful business machine corporation. Another interesting aspect of the chapter was the fact that technological dominance didn't ensure business success. Hollerith's products were consistently the best in the industry, from the machines themselves to the cards they processed. Yet he was consistently challenged by competitors at every turn and had to fight to win each and every contract (including ones which he had previously held, like the census). In addition to leading-edge technology, a strong business infrastructure, pioneering leadership, and a remarkable sales force were also necessary to achieve dominance within the industry.

Chapter 11 Thoughts

This post details my thoughts about chapter 11 of the textbook. This chapter covered Hollerith's invention of his tabulator, sorter, and pantographic punch, and also covered how the new technology was spread throughout the world. The first interesting point of the chapter was that Hollerith didn't just invent a single machine to carry out all of the tasks of processing the data. Instead he invented three machines intended to work together as part of a system. This approach is reminiscent of the setup of the modern computer, where the computer itself interacts with various I/O devices such as printers, etc. Another interesting point in the chapter was the speed at which Hollerith's devices were able to process data. It's amazing that a device whose purpose was to process paper cards was able to function without consistently ripping the cards, having the cards jam in the mechanism, and accidentally pulling in multiple cards at the same time. A final interesting point about the chapter was that private businesses were initially reluctant to accept the new technology. Business was booming in America during the late 1800's and early 1900's, and it seems strange that such competitive and enterprising businessmen would not have jumped at the chance to reduce cost and increase productivity so greatly.