John Barry, RIP

A soundtracking genius - whether it was tv (The Persuaders) or film (Midnight Cowboy, Out of Africa) his distinctive sound always gave the final product an extra boost of class. The producers of James Bond owe him a pint not only for keeping their monster series afloat, but for inventing Cold War Spy Music in the classic film The Ipcress File. The man could not be cooler unless he had his own jazz band and shared a house with Michael Caine. Oh wait, he did. RIP.

Computer

I have recently been reading up about the EDSAC, the first practical stored-program computer. This is because a replica has been commissioned to be built at Bletchley Park. Of course, it was one of those room-sized beasts, tended to by blokes in overalls and thick, round spectacles. Reading the specs, I see that it used 3000 valves/tubes, and therefore used 12kW of power. Seen as though an electric fire uses just 1kW, it is going to get pretty hot in that room. I'm thinking they should maybe build one for show that has pretend valves lit with LEDs, and have someone sitting inside it with the transistor equivalent in a shoebox on his lap.