In the beginning...

Should I be ashamed that in a long career in IT it's taken me until now to write a blog? Perhaps, but there's been too much excitement -- not all fun! -- for me to find a few moments to spare.

It all started with a few lectures in the Mathematical Laboratory in Cambridge. There were even practicals (on Brunsviga hand calculators) in methods of repetitive calculations, and an introduction to programming in EDSAC II autocode. As undergraduates we didn't get to see the computer itself or even to run our elementary programs, and perhaps that's why I had a wish to get my hands on after graduating.