Alan! Alan!
this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2025
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Their apology is worth exactly the paper it's printed on, interesting.
Well.. if the paper is worth what it says on it, then it's about 18 billion pound sterling in total for all the 50 notes printed.
I'm glad he's on money but something more often seen would have been better. Although with inflation the 50 might be the new 20
I did not know they did this although to be honest I can't remember the last time I saw a bank of England note never mind a 50
Explanation: One of the key scientists in the construction of early codebreaking computers in WW2 was Alan Turing (yes, of Turing Test fame), a gay man. While it was not immediately after WW2, in the 1950s, he inadvertently admitted to a cop that he was homosexual when being interviewed about a burglary at his house (cops, even on the occasions they are useful, are NOT your friends). His key work in defeating the literal fucking Nazis was disregarded in favor of chemically castrating him after he pled guilty to the charge.
It is suspected that this was a major cause of his subsequent suspected suicide by biting into a cyanide-laced apple (though some still hold that the apple incident was an accident).
At the time Turing (arguably) killed himself, the "Ultra" project was still a state secret that nobody publicly knew anything about. However, people like Churchill did know all about it and they knew exactly the magnitude of Turing's contribution to it, and yet they did nothing to defend Turing although they could have without revealing the Ultra secrets. Absolutely shameful.
It wasn't disregarded; it was never mentioned because it was still a state secret.
Allegedly also the Apple logo is derived from that.
His story always angers me so much. Like, dude just wanted to live and do math, can't you fucking let him?
NO. He will do MATHS or nothing.
1+0 = ok
1+1 = straight to jail
He did the math. They did not let him :(
Let's also mention that Alan Turing was absolutely brilliant, mind bogglingly so.
Wasn’t it more so that his work was still highly classified rather than actively disregarded? There were definitely those that could have intervened that didn’t though. Really shameful
So WTF does queer mean?! Our man was simply gay, homosexual, we have words for that. That's a sincere question BTW. As an old cis guy, "queer" seems to mean whatever the fuck people want it to mean, seen a few definitions. Somebody help?
I personally use queer as a shorthand for lgbtqia+ because saying that in conversation is a bit unwieldy
Then the math breaks
Q = lgbtQia+
0 = - Q + lgbtQia
0 = -Q(lgbtia - 1)
So lgbtia = 1 or Q = 0
Like the other person said, these days queer is usually used as a sort of catch-all for any one not cisgendered and straight, although sometimes people identify as simply queer if they don't feel they fit neatly in any of the predefined lgbt+ etc categories.
or even if they do fit neatly and they just don't want to explain their specifics (because it can be wicked burdensome/gets old/folks want you to justify your identity)
Drag can definitely understand why someone with an identity like drag's wouldn't broadcast it. A lot of people on the right wing feel enraged when they see someone with a weird identity, and they get the cause and effect mixed around and think the identity is designed to make them angry, so they call drag a troll. One guy even sexually harassed himself with an alt account and tried to convince people drag made the alt, and people believed it for a few months before he started using the same trick on everyone else he disagreed with.
Bible humpers now: STOP FORCEFULLY FEMINIZING MEN
Bible humpers back then:
"The Immitation Game" is well worth a watch.
It's a horrific character assassination.
The only two things it gets right are: there was a second world war; Alan Turing worked at Bletchley.
Very much so. I watched it back when benedict cumberbatch was The Guy, and it was more than i expected. It may have radicalised me a bit haha
Why would i watch an immitation when I could watch the original instead?
The Original Game?
And Cryptonomicon is well worth a read.
Hell, yeah my friend recommended that to me after I told him I had just started snow crash and I was loving the fuck out of it
Snow Crash is so weird. It's great. If you want another one along the same lines as far as zaniness goes you should read The Big U.
Cryptonomicon and the System of the World trilogy and Reamde and Anathem and the rest of them are more serious (but probably also better works objectively (but there's nothing wrong with the fun ones)).
Alan Turing is in Cryptonomicon though, also the whole book is excellent. I'm due for a reread.
I second that