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Coordinate conundrum puzzles and vector graphics
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)

Coordinate conundrum puzzles and vector graphics

by Paul Curzon, Queen Mary University of London One way computers store images is as a set of points (as coordinates) that make up lines and shapes. This is the...

Mary Ann Horton and the invention of email attachments
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)

Mary Ann Horton and the invention of email attachments

Edie Schlain Windsor was a senior systems programmer at IBM. There is more to life than computing though. She led the landmark US Supreme Court Case that was a...

From Egyptian Survey puzzles to computational thinking
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)

From Egyptian Survey puzzles to computational thinking

by Paul Curzon, Queen Mary University of London One way to use logical thinking is to deduce new facts but then turn them into IF-THEN rules. They tell us an action...

Pac-Man and Games for Girls
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)

Pac-Man and Games for Girls

by Paul Curzon, Queen Mary University of London In the beginning video games were for boys…and then came Pac-Man. Before mobile games, game consoles and PC based...

T. V. Raman and his virtual guide dogs
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)

T. V. Raman and his virtual guide dogs

by Daniel Gill, Queen Mary University of London It’s 1989, a year with lots of milestones in Computer Science. In March, Tim Berners-Lee puts down in writing the...

Designing for autistic people
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)

Designing for autistic people

by Daniel Gill and Paul Curzon, Queen Mary University of London What should you be thinking about when designing for a specific group with specific needs, suchContinue...

Testing AIs in Minecraft
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)

Testing AIs in Minecraft

by Paul Curzon, Queen Mary University of London What makes a good environment for child AI learning development? Possibly the same as for human child learning development...

Neurodiversity and what it takes to be a good programmer
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)

Neurodiversity and what it takes to be a good programmer

by Paul Curzon, Queen Mary University of London People often suggest neurodiverse people make good computer scientists. For example, one of the most famous autistic...

The top 10 bugs
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)

The top 10 bugs

by Paul Curzon, Queen Mary University of London (updated from the archive) Bugs are everywhere, but why not learn from the mistakes of others. Here are some common...

Do something computationally funny for money
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)

Do something computationally funny for money

by Paul Curzon, Queen Mary University of London It is Red nose day in the UK  the day of raising money for the comic relief charity by buying and wearing red noses...

Calculating Pi for Pi Day
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)

Calculating Pi for Pi Day

by Paul Curzon, Queen Mary University of London Today is Pi Day (14 March: 3.14) so we should look at how on earth you compute a number like Pi (3.1.4159….). It...

Could AI end science?
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)

Could AI end science?

by Nick Ballou, Oxford Internet Institute Scientific fraud is worryingly common, though rarely talked about. It has been happening for years, but now Artificial...

A visit to the Turing Machine: a short story
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)

A visit to the Turing Machine: a short story

by Greg Michaelson Greg Michaelson is an Emeritus professor of computer science at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. He is also a novelist and a short storyContinue...

Lego Computer Science: Turing Machines Part 3: the program
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)

Lego Computer Science: Turing Machines Part 3: the program

by Paul Curzon, Queen Mary University of London We have so far built the hardware of a Lego Turing Machine. Next we need the crucial part: software. It needs aContinue...

Lego Computer Science: Turing Machines Part 2: the controller
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)

Lego Computer Science: Turing Machines Part 2: the controller

by Paul Curzon, Queen Mary University of London Last time we started to build a working computer out of Lego: a Turing Machine. So far we have seen that we canContinue...

Lego Computer Science: Turing Machines Part 1: the tape
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)

Lego Computer Science: Turing Machines Part 1: the tape

by Paul Curzon, Queen Mary University of London It it possible to make a working computer out of lego and you do not even have to pay for an expensive robot Mindstorm...

Virtual reality goggles for mice
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)

Virtual reality goggles for mice

To become a Jedi Knight you must have complete control of your thoughts. As you feel the force you start to control your surroundings and make objects move just...

Exploring mazes, inventing algorithms (part I) 
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)

Exploring mazes, inventing algorithms (part I) 

To become a Jedi Knight you must have complete control of your thoughts. As you feel the force you start to control your surroundings and make objects move just...

Competitive Zen
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)

Competitive Zen

To become a Jedi Knight you must have complete control of your thoughts. As you feel the force you start to control your surroundings and make objects move just...

Pit-stop heart surgery
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)

Pit-stop heart surgery

The Formula 1 car screams to a stop in the pit-lane. Seven seconds later, it has roared away again, back into the race. In those few seconds it has been refuelled...
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