Shades of Early Science Fiction

What looks like a piece of equipment from a 1930s-1940s science fiction 'Flash Gordon' or 'Buck Rogers' film has taken up residency in the Computer & Communications Museum of Ireland located at the University of Galway and supported by my workplace of the Insight Research Ireland Centre for Data Analytics.

Designed and made by Pat Murphy in 1987 as his final year project for the B.Tech in Education at Thomond College (University of Limerick), it is actually a computer desk housing a Commodore 64 microcomputer, monitor, tape deck and a library of cassettes. The 64 was then one of the world's top selling computers in the business, educational and domestic markets.
But this wooden unit is more than just a computer desk- it is a beautifully crafted structure combining practicality with artistic design which I am sure was inspired by early science fiction.
Pat is still teaching carpentry as part of Construction Studies in a Dublin secondary school.
Photo shows a very happy John Murphy (Pat's brother) standing beside this desk just after he got the computer, tape deck and monitor fully operational.
We thank Pat and John for loaning this exquisite piece of equipment to the museum.

Pacman- Happy 40th Birthday!

One of the greatest video games of all time, Pacman is 40 years old this month and yet remains as popular as ever.
Created by Toru Iwatani and a team at the Japanese game company Namco, it was released on May 22nd 1980. It was the first game written to appeal to a female audience. Iwatani saw that the whole video games industry catered only for men and concentrated on sport and violent war themes. Only boys seem to populate the arcade machine halls. So he decided to develop a game with cute, happy looking bright coloured characters based around colourful foods such as deserts and sweets. One of the inspirations for the Pacman image was a pizza with a slice removed. The ghosts in the game were inspired by the television series Casper the Friendly Ghost.

A fully operational Apple Macintosh joins the Museum!

A working Macintosh SE (System Expansion) from the late 1980s has been added to our new interactive Apple zone.

This personal computer is part of an initiative to make the museum even more 'hands-on' in readiness for the museum being opened every Saturday from next month onwards.
It will also form part of a major exhibition to be launched in April entitled "A Byte of the Apple”.

This particular SE comes with an array of business and games software including MacDraw, Excel and Star Wars.
It was secured from Adrian in Waterford.
The black wooden display unit on which the new Mac proudly sits was donated by Tom Callanan. The Mac Carry Bag was supplied by Pat Anderson.
So a big 'Bualadh Bos' (Irish =round of applause) to Adrian, Tom and Pat!!

Launched in March 1987 the SE was the first Macintosh to come with an internal drive bay for a hard disk or a second floppy drive and was the first compact Macintosh that featured an expansion slot

Colin donates his favourite Pet to the museum!

 What a great start to 2020! We are pleased to announce that Colin Lafferty, one of museum’s most recent volunteers, has generously gifted us a working 1979-1980 Commodore PET 3032 computer complete with a C2N-B datasette cassette recorder, a Commodore 4040 5.25 inch floppy disk dual drive and a bundle of business and games software.

This is an amazing and welcome addition to our ‘hands-on’ collection the Age of the Microcomputer’.

The PET series is truly one of the great icons of the computing world, its distinctive shape forever associated with television and movies, especially of the science fiction genre, during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

For more information on this remarkable computer check out Colin’s blog at http://laffertycolin.blogspot.com

I would like to also point out that my good friend Colin could be referred to as a pioneering advocate of electronics communications and computing in Galway.  He was a founding member (vice-auditor) of the Computer Society (CompSoc) in 1978 at what was then the University College Galway/UCG (now NUI Galway/NUIG) and became its auditor in 1980.

Highlights of Galway Science & Technology Festival- 'Today's Stories,Told Yesterday...'

The launch of the 1960s-1970s Science Fiction comics/films took place during the Galway Science and Technology Festival to complement the 'Secret Science of Superheroes' talks at Insight, Data Science Institute NUI Galway.
But also because, as the Festival's theme was "Climate Action", it was worth reminding people that current issues such as the devastation of oceanic pollution on marine life, environmental protests and man-made Global Catastrophe were also the concerns of teenagers and children fifty and forty years ago.

Climate Action - 'Makers & Fixers' give a new lease of life to a 1980s MicroVax

Well done Gerry Kavanagh for bringing back to life a 1980 MicroVax mincomputer system manufactured by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC).
Gerry assisted by Pat Moran has the computer running DEC's VMS (Virtual Memory System) operating system.
We hope to have the full system up and running at the museum by the end of next month.
In line with the Climate Action theme of the Galway Science and Technology Festival, our recent batch of recycling and upcycling repair projects at the museum are designed to reduce eWaste and to make computers and other communications equipment, that was otherwise considered obsolete and worthless, usable again.

My friend Chris Coughlan - The Legend and the Legacy.

Thanks Mayor Niall McNelis for making such a wonderful speech and unveiling a plaque at the Computer & Communications Museum NUI Galway in honour of my friend Dr. Chris Coughlan - The Legend and the Legacy., co-founder of this important technology heritage learning facility.
I was honoured on the night to follow the speech of the Mayor by saying a few words of my own on the legend that was Chris Coughlan.
He was truly a giant amongst men and has left a powerful beneficial legacy on so many fronts in Galway that will last for generations to come.

Chris was instrumental in establishing the TULCA Festival of Visual Arts, the Galway Technology Centre, WestBic, the Digital Entreprise Research Centre (DERI) NUI Galway as well as the computer museum that we co-founded along with Liam Ferrie (Celtic Rambler), Pat Moran, Frank McCurry and Tom Frawley. He was a director of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Galway, adjunct Professor of Business at NUI Galway, former President of the Galway Chamber of Commerce, former President of the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland and former chairperson of the Galway Civic Trust.
A man on a mission with a powerful vision of where Galway needed to be, Chris did not take fools gladly and was refreshingly honest, blunt and forthright in his views. He had a generosity of spirit that was unique and he served as an important mentor to so many people from the world of business to that of the arts. Chris also had a deep sense of social responsibility and secured for instance the provision of computer facilities to a number of educational establishments in disadvantaged communities over so many years. He and myself would agree to disagree on a number of political issues but that never got in the way of us seeing a common goal or aspiration that we worked towards for the good of society. Anyway he told me often that he looked on himself sometimes as a bit like me, “a good natured Bolshie” which pleased me no end! We shared a lot of other things in common too including early careers in our youth as managers of small computer stores! 

I am proud to have known Chris, to have worked with him, to have been inspired by him and to have called him a close friend.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam.

Classic Games Galore for Culture Night

 25 vintage consoles, arcade cabinets, microcomputers offering nearly 1200 classic games.
Step back in time to the early days of computer gaming and enjoy the sights and sounds of the great classics of Asteroids, Space Invaders, Pong, Pacman, Super Mario, Tetris, Fifa 99 and Sonic on renowned vintage consoles such as Atari, Nintendo, Sega Mega Drive and Playstation 1.

Pacman's Revenge!

What promises to be Ireland’s biggest ever Retro Gaming event will take place from 7pm until 9.30pm on national Culture Night (Sept 18) in the Computer and Communications Museum of Ireland located in the Insight Centre for Data Analytics at NUI Galway.   

Attendees will enjoy the thrills of playing the great classic arcade and video games of the 1970s through to the 1990s such as Asteroids, Pacman, Space Invaders, Super Mario, Sonic, Crash Bandicoot and Pong on legendary vintage consoles and computers such as Atari, Amiga, Commodore Amiga, Sega Megadrive and Nintendo. 

Mentors from Insight and local digital maker clubs will introduce visitors to the coding behind their own creative projects and help visitors to create their own games.

So come along to an event that promises to be a wonderful technology experience full of creativity, nostalgia, fun and excitement.

Galway is ‘Youth Coding Capital’ of Europe

Coderdojo session, NUI Galway

An information and registration event for both young people and parents interested in having their children learn computer coding will take place from 2pm-3pm in the Insight Centre for Data Analytics in the Dangan Business Park, NUI Galway.

Coderdojo session, NUI Galway

The event will introduce attendees to the programming and electronics courses being provided in a relaxed social environment from mid October by Coderdojo, Ireland’s fastest growing youth movement. Sessions will be held in the IT Building and at Insight in the university. At a dojo (Japanese term for training centre), young people between the ages of five and seventeen learn how to code, develop websites, apps, programs and games. Dojos are set up, managed and taught by volunteers. The first Coderdojo was established in Cork in June 2011 by James Whelton and Bill Liao. Since then it has become an Irish technology export success story active in forty-three countries.

Coderdojo session, NUI Galway

According to Brendan Smith, one of Coderdojo Galway’s co-founders, “There is a real appetite amongst our young people to learn how to code. They want to move on from playing computer games to making their own versions. This is shown by the fact that every Saturday, in towns across Galway including Athenry, Clifden, Eyrecourt, Kinvara, Loughrea, Mountbellew and Tuam as well as in NUI Galway, hundreds of enthusiastic children and teenagers create their very own games, digital stories and web applications facilitated by volunteer Coderdojo mentors. 

Coderdojo session, NUI Galway

The language used for beginners to coding is Scratch. Developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Scratch is the most popular computer language for young people worldwide, being a significant catalyst in the huge uptake in coding across the world over the last few years. It has a cross-disciplinary ethos and structure that combines mathematics with elements of arts, engineering and personal development. So we are using this opportunity to encourage our young coders or ‘ninjas’ to showcase their projects to the general public.” 

Computer Coding class in Galway Primary School, mentored by Insight volunteer

Brendan goes on to say that “Coding is the new literacy of the 21^st century. It will be as important for our children to learn how to programme as it is how to read and to write. It is the foundation stone on which the modern technology age is being built. Hence for Ireland to develop a sustainable knowledge economy and society, it is vital that we harness the creativity of our youth to innovate the beneficial products and processes that the world needs. Thankfully there is at present a convergence of a diverse range of digital initiatives happening in this region that could transform Galway into becoming the Youth Coding Capital of Ireland and indeed of Europe.  The success can be demonstrated by the fact that during the inaugural Europe Coding Week held last November, not only was Ireland the most active country but Galway city and county hosted the highest concentration of events of any location in Europe.

The region has elements that could allow it to become known as the ‘Silicon Galway Bay’, a European version of California’s Silicon Valley. Many of the world’s leading corporations in the biomedical and information technology sectors such as Avaya, Boston Scientific, Cisco, Electronic Arts, Hewlett-Packard, Medtronic and SAP, are already based here. These industries have developed links to research centres located in GMIT and NUIG such as Insight, Ryan and REMEDI which are providing the scientific expertise to sustain their presence in Galway and underpin their status as leaders in cutting edge product development. Insight at NUI Galway for instance is part of a cross Ireland university research centre designed to provide a national ICT research platform based on world-class research programmes that will serve as a global beacon for the science and application of Big Data Analytics. 

Digital Female Solidarity: 'Rail Girls' workshop Insight NUI Galway June 2014

There is also the presence locally of Irish-owned high tech manufacturing and services industries such as Creganna and Storm Technologies. But we can be even better than Silicon Valley in many respects. For whilst the San Francisco Bay area is the world’s premier powerhouse of leading edge industries, technological innovation and research, nevertheless there are serious social and economic problems that  manifests itself in a high income disparity, a disconnect between businesses and local communities as well a low percentage of quality opportunities available for the indigenous population with approximately 50% of the jobs in the high tech sector being taken by people from outside the United States. Yet Galway has traditions and characteristics that, supported by new government education policies, should ensure that our local school-going populations and communities secure the maximum benefit vis-à-vis employment and services. 

091 Labs stand at the Galway Science & Technology Festival, NUI Galway

Key to this development is the teaching of coding to our young people in schools and clubs, which is happening at a higher level here than anywhere else in Ireland thanks to the volunteerism and deep sense of ‘community solidarity’ that is such a strong feature of Galway society. 
This is epitomized by the actions of the prime ‘movers and shakers’ in the industrial, political, educational and local government sectors who have over the years collaborated under the auspices of the Galway Education Centre, Junior Achievement and the Galway Science and Technology Festival, to deliver important learning initiatives in schools and colleges across the Western region. 

Computer Coding class in Mayo Post-Primary School, mentored by Insight volunteer

Modern version of Meitheal reaching into schools
 In a modern industrial urban version of ‘Meitheal’ that was once the hallmark of traditional Irish rural community support, these visionaries have promoted and harnessed an army of young professional mentors from industry and third level colleges who give their time and energies to teach in primary and post-primary classrooms delivering science courses whilst acting as positive ‘role models’ for our young generation.  

School Mentors, Hewlett Packard

Over the last year, volunteer tutors from Hewlett Packard, GMIT and NUI Galway have worked together to coordinate the delivery of computer programming courses to thousands of pupils and students in over sixty primary and post-primary schools across counties Mayo, Westmeath and Galway.

Local young people’s clubs such as ‘091 Labs’ and the Coderdojos are providing informal after-school digital makers’ environments. 

Ciaran Cannon TD for east Galway and former Minister of State at the Dept of Education has taken a very pro-active ‘hand-ons’ approach in promoting digital creativity in schools and amongst communities. Government educational reform has ensured that five decades after the tentative introduction of computing into Irish schools, coding will soon become part of the national post-primary curriculum at junior cycle level.  We are therefore witnessing the birth of the first generation of Irish children that can code, people who are truly ‘digital creators’ rather than just passive ‘digital users’.

Bernard Kirk(director of Galway Education Centre; Dáire Smith (Coláiste Iognáid); Brendan Smith (Insight & Coderdojo) & Ciaran Cannon TD)

There is a vibrant digital buzz about Galway that is found no where else in Ireland which also finds expression not just through youth-based coding clubs, high tech manufacturing sector; business associations such as ITAG; presence of world renowned IT research third level institutes but also through perpetual trophies such as ‘John Cunningham Memorial Coderdojo Awards’; the annual ‘Rails Girls’ conference which highlights the role of women in technology; and the popularity of the NUIG-based ‘Computer and Communications Museum of Ireland’ which give due recognition to the strong historical connections of Galway with the origins of the global village and its five decades long associations with leading edge computing.”

Computer & Communications Museum of Ireland, Insight NUI Galway

Using Arcade Games To Inspire New Generation of Programmers & Innovators

What promises to be an exciting night of Retro Gaming will take place from 6pm until 8pm this Friday (Sept 23^rd) in the National Computer and Communications Museum located in the Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI) at NUI Galway.

This event is being held as part of ‘National Culture Night’ and visitors will be able to enjoy playing video Arcade classics including Pacman, Asteroids and Space Invaders on renowned vintage consoles and computers such as Atari, Amiga and Sinclair ZX81.

The sights and sounds on offer will try to capture the essence of the early days of computer gaming of the 1970s and 1980 which made a major contribution in the overall development of digital sound and graphics.

But attendees will also be introduced to the software coding that constitutes the games. They will be allowed to actually input these computer programmes line by line, to experiment with the code and to make their own creative enhancements. This should give participants a better understanding of how digital technology actually works. For a key aim of this event is be part of a process of introducing young people in particular to the software infrastructure behind popular devices such as smart phones, sensors and laptops thus hopefully inspiring them to consider careers in computer science and engineering which are essential prerequisites in creating a sustainable knowledge-based innovative society that will help secure a niche for Ireland in an ever-changing world.

It must be remembered that a previous young generation enthusiastically took on similar challenges during the early days of computing and created many of the technologies that we use today. They became innovators and entrepreneurs combining youthful imagination, artistic skills with a scientific understanding.

When microcomputers such as Sinclairs, BBCs and Apple 11s were first introduced into Irish schools during the early nineteen eighties, children often had to write their own programmes as there were few affordable applications available. Sadly this ability to be taught how to make things in IT classes has been replaced in the intervening decades by a policy of only teaching pupils to use applications such as word-processing and databases. Whilst this is a laudable exercise, nevertheless we must re-educate our young people in the lost art of computer coding which should be considered a life skill that forms part of the national educational curriculum. Otherwise we will remain, what in literary parlance could be referred to, as a nation of readers rather than of writers.

Over the last year, DERI mentors have provided computer programming courses to primary and post-primary schools in Connacht. In partnership with the Galway Education Centre and other stakeholders, we intend to roll out courses in programming to as many schools as possible over the next year. We will also be promoting the setting up of an inter-schools’ students Computer Club and encouraging participants to draw inspiration from visits to Ireland’s only museum which highlights the important but oftentimes hidden role of Irish people, women and young people in the history of world communications.

Star Trek's Science Fiction Inspired Today's Technologies

“…To Explore…Seek Out…To Boldly Go

Where No One Has Gone Before…”

Science Fiction has motivated generations of young people to invent future technologies from robots to space stations. This is commented on by the European Space Agency (ESA) in their Science Fiction, Science Fact video, part of the Space-in-Byte  educational schools series,  which discusses the impact of science fiction writers such as Arthur C. Clarke, H.G. Wells and Jules Verne on the development of space travel. 
But none has had more universal appeal and greater inspirational success than the Gene Roddenberry's original 1960s Star Trek television series which was the catalyst for many of today’s gadgetry such as hand-held medical scanners, iPad, video conferencing screens & the mobile phone.

(I put together the following article which will form a) the framework for a permanent exhibit in the DERI-based Communications & Computer Museum of Ireland and b) for project work with schools for the primary purpose of motivating and inspiring young people to consider careers in science, technology, creative arts, entrepreneurism and innovation).

"On Screen, Mr Spock"

CISCO’s CEO John Chambers stated in 2007 that its Telepresence technologies were inspired by the large video communication screens used on the USS Enterprise, which were a far cry from the small monitors of previous science fiction programmes.

Mobile ‘Phone - "Beam Me Up Scotty!"

Dr. Martin Cooper, inventor of the modern mobile phone, credits the Star Trek hand-held communicator as being his inspiration for the technology

Vic-20: First Computer with 1 million+ Sales

World’s first million selling computer, Commodore VIC-20, was popularised by 1982 TV commercials featuring William Shatner (‘Captain Kirk’ of Star Trek) which successfully encouraged parents to recognise its advanced learning applications.

Handheld Scanners

In 2007, Purdue University’s Graham Cooks demonstrated a portable instrument for immediately identifying any substance which he compared to Star Trek’s handheld Tricorder that could scan, analyze and determine the precise chemical composition of a substance non-invasively.

Georgia Tech in 2008 launched a hand-held multi-spectral imaging device, which aids in the detection of internal injuries and was also compared to the Tricorder.

World’s First Microcomputer- from a distant galaxy

With its computer bus design and Microsoft first’s Basic programming language, the Altair 8800 computer kit was the world’s first personal computer. It was sold in 1975 through the Popular Electronics magazine whose editor’s 12 yr old daughter responded to his request for a name by suggesting Altair as that was the galaxy that Star Trek's Enterprise was going to that night.

iPad

Not surprisingly Apple used Star Trek footage in their official iPad launch as a flat, hand-held keyboard-less portable control panel was a regular item used in all Star Trek series, particularly from The Next Generation when the thin touch screen table computer was known as the PADDs (Personal Access Data Display).

Computer Chess

The Fidelity Chess Challenger was the first chess electronic unit available to the generl public. Based on a Z80 8-bit micro-processor, it started production in 1977 with its most popular model, the Fidelity Chess Challenger 7, selling over 600,000 units. Its inventor Sidney Samole got the idea for computer chess after watching an episode of Star Trek in 1976 where Spock played chess against the starship's computer. 

Universal Language Translator - 'First Contact'

“Our universal translator hasn't reached all the capabilities you know from Star Trek quite yet but we're definitely headed in that direction. Universally accessible and accurate translation is a lofty goal, but we're committed to it.”

Franz Och, Principal Scientist, Google Translator

Star Trek also used futuristic technologies that are now commonplace in the 21st century including Global Positioning System (GPS), wireless earpiece, voice generated computing, laser beams and virtual reality.

Public Popularity of Star Trek Influenced Space Shuttle programme
The  Space Shuttle was NASA's most successful and longest running programme. It was based around a fleet of manned re-usable orbital spacecrafts that flew 135 missions between 1981 and 2011.
The first orbiter commissioned in 1976 was to be called the Constitution in recognition of the 200th anniversary of the American Constitution. But the US President Gerald Ford changed the name to Enterprise as a result of a mass letter writing campaign by fans of the Star Trek series who wanted it called after Kirk's starship.  

The space shuttle Discovery's last mission ended in March 2011. On the final day of their stay at the International Space Station (ISS), the crew were woken up by the sounds of an amended version of the Star Trek theme.   William Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk, provided a special message to the crew editing the original introduction to, "Space, the final frontier. These have been the voyages of the Space Shuttle Discovery. Her 30 year mission: To seek out new science. To build new outposts. To bring nations together on the final frontier. To boldly go, and do, what no spacecraft has done before."
The Discovery's last mission was the first time that the public had been given the opportunity to vote for the wakeup songs. Such has been the enormous influence of this science fiction series on the attitude of the American people to science and space exploration, that the theme from Star Trek received the second highest number of votes.

Role Model for Females in Science & Technology

The fictional character, Lieutenant Nyoto Uhura who was Chief Communications Officer on the USS Enterprise in the science fiction series Star Trek that originally appeared in 1966. Though not a real character, nevertheless her appearance in this very popular television series during the 1960s broke important sexual and racial barriers, showing women of the future as proficient in engineering with positions of responsibility and command involving high technology. Uhura became an important Role Model for Black Afro-American women in particular.

Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura, was used by NASA in a campaign to encourage African Americans to join the service. Dr Mae Jemison. the first black American to fly aboard the Space Shuttle, said that Star Trek was a major influence in her decision to join NASA.

The name 'Uhura' comes from the Swahili word 'Uhuru' meaning 'Freedom'.

Vision of a Better More Equitable Future

The original series of Star Trek appeared in 1966, in an America and a world vastly different than today. The Cold War between the USA and the Soviet Union was at its height with space exploration being seen as a race with military overtones between these two superpowers; street opposition to the Vietnam War, race riots and a growing feminist movement were symptomatic of a divisive America where racial and sex segregation were part of everyday life.

So the crew and the mission of the spaceship from the future must have come as welcome news to progressive forces and a slap in the face to large elements of the establishment in 1960s United States.

The USS Enterprise foretold of a time when wars between nations of Earth would be a dim and distant memory, when all races and sexes would be treated with respect and equality.

Its mixed crew comprised many different nationalities including bitter former (Japanese) and present (Soviet Union/Russia) enemies commanded by officers that included women and blacks, all following the so-called 'prime directive' which meant non-interference in the affairs of less developed civilisations that represented the very antithesis of the history of humanity.

Borg: Internet & Cybernetics

The Borg, a race of cybernetic aliens, show how electronics components can be integrated within living organisms to become part of the body's functions, a common occurrence today via body sensors and heart pacemakers.

Another interesting aspect of the Borg was their communications technologies with all individuals being interconnected through an electronic wireless network that allowed the 'collective' to know where each and every member was located. This has mirrored recent developments in the Internet & Online Social Networks.

However it should also alert us of the dangers that it could have on the loss of individualism, personal control and threats to privacy. Assimilation is not the way forward for humanity!

Children from Galway Educate National School dressed up as Klingons and Borg at their very popular Star Trek stand in the National Computer and Communications Museum of Ireland that was temporarily hosted in Áras na Mic Léinn NUI Galway during the 2010 Galway Science & Technology Festival exhibition. The facility is housed permanently at the Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI).

Science Fiction Becomes Today’s Reality