Categories: Science & Technology

Tony Sale’s life commemorated with an award for the best computer restoration project

Anthony Edgar “Tony” Sale’s life is to be commemorated with an award for the best computer restoration project.

British pioneering computer conservationist Tony Sale is best known for the mammoth project that resulted in the re-creation of the Colossus computer.

At Bletchley Park, the original Colossus cracked messages sent by Adolf Hitler’s generals during World War II.

The award will recognize the project that has made a singular engineering achievement in restoration.

Overseen by the Computer Conservation Society (CCS) and backed by Google, the award will seek out those projects carried out in the same spirit that Tony Sale brought to his work, said David Hartley, chairman of the CCS.

Anthony Edgar “Tony” Sale’s life is to be commemorated with an award for the best computer restoration project

Dr. David Hartley said the idea for the award emerged soon after Tony Sale’s unexpected death in August 2011.

“This has all been stimulated by Tony Sale,” he said.

“We hope it will be a fitting tribute to him.”

Prior to embarking on the Colossus rebuild, Tony Sale worked at the Science Museum and, with Doron Swade, drove the recreation of other pioneering computers and helped found the CCS. He was also involved in the campaign to save Bletchley Park and was one of the founders of the National Museum of Computing.

To be considered for the award, a restoration project would have to demonstrate how it advanced understanding of how older machines were built and worked, said Kevin Murrell, secretary of the CCS.

“Computer history gets lost very quickly and it can be a very forensic job to piece all the information together,” he said.

The design process and inner workings of relatively modern machines and game consoles were often not well known, he said.

“Tony Sale would expect to see good research and the understanding of the machine as well as a working replica built in either software or hardware,” he said.

Potential candidates for the award are the restoration of the PDP 1 at the Computer History Museum or the recreation of Konrad Zuse’s Z1.

The closing date for nominations is 31 July.

 

Nancy Clayson

Nancy is a young, full of life lady who joined the team shortly after the BelleNews site started to run. She is focused on bringing up to light all the latest news from the technology industry. In her opinion the hi-tech expresses the humanity intellectual level. Nancy is an active person; she enjoys sports and delights herself in doing gardening in her spare time, as well as reading, always searching for new topics for her articles.

Recent Posts

Quincy Jones Dead at 91

Quincy Jones, the celebrated musician and producer who worked with Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Ray…

5 hours ago

White House 2024: Voter Fraud Claims Flood Social Media

Misleading allegations, rumours and outright lies about voting and fraud are flooding online spaces in…

2 days ago

Spain: At Least 158 Killed In The Country’s Worst Flooding Disaster

At least 158 people have died in Spain's worst flooding disaster in generations. On October…

4 days ago

Russia Fines Google $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, Surpassing Global GDP

Google has been fined two undecillion (a two followed by 36 zeroes) roubles by a…

4 days ago

Financing Your Home Remodel: 7 Tips for Success

Embarking on a home remodel is an exciting journey, promising enhanced comfort, increased property value,…

2 weeks ago

Donald Trump Serves Up McDonald’s Fries While Kamala Harris Celebrates 60th Birthday with Church Choir

The US presidential candidates continued to campaign across key swing states on October 20. Footage…

2 weeks ago