I have just changed the settings disabling anonymous comments. We have had a lot of spammers recently, and this is the only real option we have to limit this.

With the help of Karsten Lundqvist’s Elgg to WordPress utility I haves moved my blog from Redgloo to WordPress.org - http://shirleyearley.wordpress.com 
I’ve enjoyed the Redgloo years, having started before Facebook came to the UK it offered an academic social network within the University of Reading.

We will be running a short workshop on programming Android native apps. It will happen from 2PM-5PM on the 15th and 16th of June (Wednesday and Thursday) in lab G21. 

The purpose of this workshop is to create a (very) simple Android game from which participants can create their own (not-so-simple) games, as well as having skills for other applications.

The code will be based on the code structure of my two games Rune Escape and BoB lite,and they are examples of two very different games that has been created on top of this code basis.

To get the full benefit of this you should come to both sessions, and you should have plenty of programming experience  (preferable with Java using Eclipse, but that is not a requirement.)

You register by making a comment on this blog post, and what degree you are doing (and the year if undergraduate).

YOU CAN FIND THE TUTORIAL AT: http://oster-lundqvist.com/karsten/?p=4886

I published another game of mine yesterday evening. It is called Rune Escape, it is a fast paced Mahjong style game.

The twist is, that the game is Adfreeable, which means that players can gain awards from in-game achievements and by fighting other players. If they win 70 Rune Awards the game will become adfree.

After visiting Bletchley Park and the National Museum of Computing a colleague lent me Neal Stephenson’s “cryptonomicon”, at almost a 1000 pages this was not a light book but it was brilliantly written. The plot follows two timelines, essentially one following the work of Lawrence Waterhouse a war time crytographer (and more). The other following his grandson Randolph (Randy), a gifted programmer. The plot moves around the world with the two men and the story intertwines and is linked through code. The link to Bletchley Park is that Lawrence spends some time working there. There is a wonderful description of Lawrence and his duffle bag arriving at Bletchley station. Both in the US and Bletchley Lawrence is suppose to work with Alan Turing and some of the stories of Turing match those told by the guide at Bletchley Park.
You probably need to be a geek to truly appreciate this book but Stephenson writes so well there is entertainment available even in the description of eating of breakfast cereal.

James Bradley’s “The Resurrectionist” is described in the blurb as: “A classically claustrophobic Gothic chiller”. I’m afraid I found it too claustophobic and even after endeavouring I could not get into it, so I put it to one side, and have bow decided that it would be a chore to finish it - so I won’t.

Kate Atkinson’s “Started Early, Took My Dog” is much more my sort of books, I have nejoyed earlier mysteries by her and this was equally good, lots of twists in the plot, which once again links to the line of missing and murdered girls.

I bought Jonathan Kellerman’s “The Conspiracy Club” because Amazon offered it at a very good price, and it turned out to be a very good buy, quite readable and lots of twists in the plot.

I’ve fallen behind with noting what I have read:

“Ordinary Thunderstorms” by Williams Boyd is an exciting thriller placed in London, the hero is Adam Kindred, a young academic  (a climatologist) in London for a interview as a Research Assistant. A chance meeting changes his life and he has to disappear, the plot is full of twists - brilliant read.

Roma Tearne’s “Mosquito” is set in Sri Lanka, which still suffers from earlier strife, it interlinks the life of a writer and an artist against a backdrop of violence. Really well written

The National Museum of Computing is based in Bletchley Park, and having spent the morning visiting the Bletchley Park exhibits we moved in to the National Museum of Computing.

The museum is fantastic with so many things I remember that I will write a few separate posts linked to the photos.
There are lots of volunteers around willing to talk in detail about the exhibits, and to listen to visitors’ tales of what they used to use.
Lots of what they have actually works and the volunteers are making efforts to get other things actually working.
It so great that there is a place like this or otherwise we would find that these machines just disappeared.

I went to Bletchley Park yesterday with a group of research students and a colleague.

I hadn't visited before and I was really impressed by the wealth of exhibits and the way in which everything was presented.
Our volunteer guide (John) really knew about the place and the history and bought life to the whole experience, we spent about 90 minutes going round from our start in the block where Alan Turing worked, via Mansion, the Post Office, the Bombe and finishing up at Colossus.
I know there was lots that I didn’t see, but my ticket is valid for a year so I will have to go again.