Computer Pioneer and Codebreaker Alan Turing To Appear On UK Money (bbc.com) 114
sandbagger writes: Computer pioneer and codebreaker Alan Turing will feature on the new design of the Bank of England's 50 pound note. He is celebrated for his code-cracking work that proved vital to the Allies in World War Two. The 50 pound note will be the last of the Bank of England collection to switch from paper to polymer when it enters circulation by the end of 2021. The note was once described as the "currency of corrupt elites" and is the least used in daily transactions. However, there are still 344 million 50 pound notes in circulation, with a combined value of 17.2bn pound, according to the Bank of England's banknote circulation figures. "Alan Turing was an outstanding mathematician whose work has had an enormous impact on how we live today," said Bank of England governor Mark Carney.
Fifty quids don't seem too big to use daily (Score:1)
I have finally found the hidden reason behind Brexit. If 50 pounds is the currency of corrupt elites, I cannot imagine what a 500 euros note would be.
Re:Fifty quids don't seem too big to use daily (Score:4, Insightful)
The "elite" are not the only people that have a need for anonymous transactions, and a desire for privacy does not make one "corrupt".
Notice the weasel words in TFA: The note was once described as the "currency of corrupt elites"
"Was once described as"? Really? Described by whom?
Why is the BBC manipulating public opinion to see anyone who uses or keeps cash as a criminal?
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But at the same time it is the largest note you presently find in common circulation.
This has nothing to do with the present, it used to be only the elite and criminals would carry these large denominations.
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Out of curiousity when I've possessed and carried fifty pound notes was I acting corruptly or am I actually elite?
I think there may be a third option that you're clearly too fucking stupid to consider.
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Re:Fifty quids don't seem too big to use daily (Score:5, Informative)
"Was once described as"? Really? Described by whom?
Why is the BBC manipulating public opinion to see anyone who uses or keeps cash as a criminal?
Meanwhile, on a thing you may have heard of called the internet: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/mo... [telegraph.co.uk]
TL;DR it was Peter Sands, former chief executive of Standard Chartered bank, in 2016.
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"Was once described as"? Really? Described by whom?
By the US Federal Reserve. They were upset about the dollar being knocked out of first place.
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The 10,000 yen note (the "ichi man") in Japan is widely circulated and accepted everywhere, from convenience stores to museum entrances -- I used one to get into the Tokyo Edo museum in May this year, getting 9,560 yen in change since I had a 120-yen-off voucher. The ichi man is worth over 90 dollars US or 70 pounds UK, more than the 50 pound note that is the subject of the Fine Article.
Benedict Comberbatch (Score:5, Funny)
What are the chances this is actually an excuse to get Benedict Comberbatch on the 50 pound note.
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Why not... Cumberbatch seems to show up in everything else.
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The other way around, they were ESCAPING the religious nutcases.
They were both religious extremists, and escaping other religious extremists in some instances. And some were political extremists escaping from political extremists. It was pretty messy in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland in the 17th century, and in fact Europe as a whole.
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Alan was greatly mistreated due to religious bullshit. It's good to see some in the UK are finally waking up from a medieval world view.
I think we woke up to that long before we woke up to the fact that £20 isn't very much any more and £50 notes are useless what with being incredibly widely forged and not accepted anywhere.
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Alan Mathison Tu
About time (Score:3, Insightful)
A question mark because these old British laws are still enforced in some of the ex-colonies in Africa and Asia.
Maybe an idea to pay their narrow-minded and corrupt politicians exclusively in the new notes
Re:About time (Score:4, Insightful)
Most countries still have laws against homosexuality to this day, actually. Only a few actually allow it (mostly western countries), and even fewer allow homosexual marriage.
Reason is most religions don't accept it (and practically all major religions), and theology unfortunately controls a lot of politics, even in non-theocratic countries (see the patchwork that is the US).
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Please do not belittle Turing (Score:3, Insightful)
As for the UK's former colonies as independent nations they have had plenty of opportunity to change those laws. The fact that they have chosen not to do so pu
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So deny the truth? got it. Nothing shows respect for some then denying what they went through
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Pioneer (Score:4, Insightful)
Computer pioneer? He basically created the modern field of computer science. It's like calling Newton a pioneer of physics. Bit of an understatement.
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Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace deserve a big chair at that table also. They created the first "general purpose"* computer design and wrote programming code for it.
The actual construction was never finished during their lifetimes. Konrad Zuse was the first known to actually build a working general purpose computer.
* Turing Complete
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* Turing Complete
Building a calculation engine nobody ever used pales into insignificance against the theoretical advances Turing made, quite apart from his additional contributions at Bletchley.
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It wasn't just a calculator. And they never used it because he was never able to finish it.
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You know I first read that headline as "Alan Turing to appear on 'UK Money'" as if that were the name of a TV show and was like "Wait he's dead, right?"
Language is so polluted with brand names today. Back in the days, brands had the decency to invent strange sounding new words like Bakolite. Nowadays any two or three word phrase could be the name of some daytime TV show or website purveying boner pills.
What is the a real sign of? (Score:1)
Doesn't money generally have government persons or related images? Or is this stating the tech industry (AI?) is to be the new rulers of the world?
Re:What is the a real sign of? (Score:4, Insightful)
Doesn't money generally have government persons or related images? Or is this stating the tech industry (AI?) is to be the new rulers of the world?
Turing worked in Bletchley Park, a government facility, for the war effort. I'd say he counts as a government person, and he directly contributed to shortening the war and saving lives. The 10 pound note has Jane Austen, the 20 with Adam Smith(changing to an artist), and the previous 50 has some industrialists. So he fits in both a technological achievement and cultural context.
Re:What is the a real sign of? (Score:5, Informative)
In the US, that's generally true, although not exclusively. Most paper money has presidents, with the notable exception of Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton, both of whom were founding fathers. Probably the most famous/important founding fathers not to be president. That's set to change to put Harriet Tubman on a bill.
In the UK, it's not. Historical figures of any type, most non-political ,are on bills. Past people on the fifty-pount note were Adam Smith and then Boulton/Watt (coinventors of the steam engine). Also gracing UK bills (of other denominations) are people like Shakespeare, Newton, Faraday, Dickens, Darwin and Jane Austin.
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In the UK, it's not. Historical figures of any type, most non-political ,are on bills. Past people on the fifty-pount note were Adam Smith and then Boulton/Watt (coinventors of the steam engine). Also gracing UK bills (of other denominations) are people like Shakespeare, Newton, Faraday, Dickens, Darwin and Jane Austin.
And the latter of those caused certain part of the internet to collectively shit themselves with rage.
UK Bills (Score:3)
In the UK, it's not. Historical figures of any type, most non-political ,are on bills.
That's not true. Generally, UK bills only show the amount owed, the company you owe it to and what it is for. They are usually pretty boring and utilitarian and I don't think I have ever seen any historical figure depicted on a UK bill. However, we do have historical figures on our banknotes and we do sometimes use those to pay our bills.
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You do realize you just made yourself look like an ignorant ass, right?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
almost like words can have more then one meaning.
Re:UK Bills (Score:4, Insightful)
Also, while I'm sure it was just a typo, the word you were trying to write is 'arse'. Sorry, perhaps that's being a tad pedantic but I'm almost beginning to think that the word English must clearly have a different meaning wherever you are from.
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"Ass" in "ignorant ass" is correct - it's insulting someone by comparing them to a donkey making a fool of itself. Putting "arse" there would make you look like, well, an ignorant ass.
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I never thought I would see this. It is very interesting.
In America, there is a dollar bill, a hundred dollar bill, etc. Sometimes it is shortened to dollar, sometimes it is shortened to bill. It is possible to be pedantic and insist on a differing definition of 'bill'. There are plenty of definitions for 'bill'.
In America, they call people an ass, after the animal. Loud, obnoxious, braying, etc.
Arse is not an American term, but it is known of and used somewhat in America. Your usage of the word 'arse' is c
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This was true until 1922, when the rule was changed to only allow presidents on currency, and only Presidents (and three non-presidents who had been grandfathered in) were allowed going forward.
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Doesn't money generally have government persons or related images? Or is this stating the tech industry (AI?) is to be the new rulers of the world?
Actually it has been common for awhile to have images of non-government people on bank notes. For example, before Germany converted to the Euro, it had writers, artists, and scientists on their mark-notes. [wikipedia.org] Mathematician/physicist Carl Friederick Gauss was on the 10-mark note, Clara Weich (famous pianist/composer and wife of composer Robert Schumann) was on the 100-mark note, and other non-politician luminaries appeared on the rest.
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Every British banknote issued in my lifetime has had the head of state pictured on it.
Which really upsets the feminists, who seem to want to claim that most banknotes have men on them, even though they all have a woman.
Excellent AI trick! (Score:2)
Lol I thought "UK Money" was a TV show.
Typography (Score:1)
Wow! Is that Times New Roman!? The outlined and filled version, "Bank of England" and "Fifty Pounds" looks very cheesy and unprofessional. Looks like web banners I made in 1998!
Relation to cryptocurrency (Score:2)
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I wouldnâ(TM)t be surprised if Satoshi gets to appear
So, you're telling me that this [usethebitcoin.com] isn't him? On the Internet, nobody knows if you are a dog.
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Sorry if you don't like it. Alan Turing did everything for the UK and the UK tortured and IMHO murdered him for his trouble.
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Surely he's the ideal candidate for a nine bob note.
Hope there's an apology on the back (Score:1)
For you know, his conviction for gross indecency, his forced injection of quack pharmaceuticals by the authorities, and his possible suicide as a result
"Thousands of people have come together to demand justice for Alan Turing and recognition of the appalling way he was treated. While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time and we can't put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him .
Disgusting (Score:2)
They drive the man to kill himself, now they are going to use his image for their purposes? Disgusting.