Back to Bishy!
Thank you to Robin, Becky and the team for a great welcome back to Bishopstone, to the very classroom where so many technological adventures were had all those years ago!
0 Comments
December 7, 2023
Timeline of Tech
This website was so useful in helping Year 7 to make sense of what innovations happened, when!
March 21, 2022
Polygon universe
Back in the day there was a space flight simulator that created a huge field of destinations in which to explore, trade and navigate – if you would like to try it out, here is an emulator and the original .exe:
September 8, 2020
The Computer Museum in Swindon
Where old tech is made available for all to enjoy again. We loved it.
February 22, 2020
Radio Phone
Dad loved this phone. I used to get in trouble for borrowing it. Before there were “cordless” phones and well before many people had mobile phones, this was an early “I’m in the garden” device.!
December 1, 2019
Wooden Computer
..when your son is so determined to have some bonus screen time, he builds his own computer out of wood and paper.!
August 1, 2019
Cambridge Algorithm Fun
Immersed in the wonderful world of historical tech at The Centre For Computing History, in Cambridge.
My thanks to Anjali and Chris for a fascinating insight into engaging techniques for the teaching of algorithms.
Their delivery of this NCCE Accelerator course was inspirational, in every sense!
Also rather enjoyed the chance to explore the adjoining facilities at lunchtime and then to have the immense space, crammed with humming / beeping / clicking tech to enjoy – until it was time to catch the bus back.!
April 6, 2019
Apple IIc reboot
The continuing mission to seek out new ways to get my Dad’s old Apple IIc working – an update.
Looks like a capacitor on the main board might be the culprit. All chips now re-seated (first time using ‘spodging’ tools!)
December 23, 2018
Makey Makey, meet The Electric Window
the oldest and most broken MaKey MaKey board is now re-soldered and ready to connect with an earlier item of salvaged switch-gear: the Electric Window unit. Connected coding fun to follow..
October 31, 2018
Safety Spoken
This is our Primary School audio recording of some steps to take to stay safe online..
October 31, 2018
Pond probe
What every discerning newt desires: a pond probe to illuminate the deepest reaches of the wild with:
sample bottle, spikes, absorbent foam, Velcro and a magnet to collect deep water samples and:
a {on-borrowed-time} bulb, lump of fool’s gold and a cat’s eye to shine / reflect so that location can be determined.
sorry newts!
September 22, 2018
Calculator reboot
What to do with a calculator that has sustained damage resulting in some missing buttons?
Remove most of the remaining buttons then create a game with a complex dossier of rules that seek (not entirely successfully) to put the ‘fun’ into ‘functionality’!
September 22, 2018
Early gaming
It doesn’t get much earlier than Pong – my thanks to my sisters who, on occasion, let me loose the family gaming system. This required:
a/ nobody being able to watch tv for the next hour
b/ a hunt around for new C size batteries
c/ twiddling the tuning button with extraordinary patience until the flickering on the tv resolved into white lines on a black background
- tis still a mesmerizing prospect!
PS there is an Apple Watch pong now!
Honorable mentions must go to Tomy and Nintendo for these gems too (albeit 10 years later):
September 22, 2018
286 / 486 beginnings
here’s one from the archives: my first PC, a 286 running at 16mhz
(Turbo, 8mhz otherwise) a full 1 MB of RAM and a whopping 10MB RLL hard disk! In 1992 the KB was still a thing.
Once the hdd got too full it was time to run ‘Stacker’ which compressed that precious space to squeeze more on.
After some upgrading fun, this hulking machine became a 486 (sx) with 4 MB of ram and 420 MB IDE of storage. Not much by today’s standards but quite a transformation, resulting in the ability to run Windows 3.1 and, eventually even Encarta ’96 !
September 22, 2018
