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If you watched the imitation game you probably think that computers started with the invention of Alan Turing's Bombe machine, However Turing was inspired by someone else's invention that kick-started the road to inventing the modern computer

The inspiration of the computer came from a man in England during the 1840's , A mathematician and inventor named Charles Babbage. I learned of Charles Babbage after watching an old documentary hosted by Jeremy Clarkson. Where he takes us on the road of how the modern computer came to being.

A computer in the most simplest form can be understood as a calculator, Yes the very calculator that you use to add and subtract. That was the first use and design of a computer. Charles Babbage had this idea of supplying banks and factories with a machine that could easily count large numbers which other wise had to be added manually.

From an early age Charles Babbage was obsessed with numbers, order and symmetry. His entire Life was characterized by this obsession which historians argue was one of the reasons he was so great. And so he invented the difference engine or a computer. The difference engine was a mechanical calculator with cogs and gears mechanically programed so that you could add and multiply large amounts of numbers with a 100% accuracy.

At the time people in England relied on a time table or an encyclopedia of numbers which contained multiplication tables that was used in banking, science, navigation and so on. however there were many errors as the multiplication table was calculated by hand and so these errors translated into disasters in the banking system, ocean navigation and science. Babbage realized that something more optimal needed to be created. What Babbage created was a machine that could calculate. At a demonstration Charles Babbage raised the hairs of the British government as nothing like this had been seen before. Babbage received a fund of 17000 Pounds which was a large sum at the time, in order to perfect his machine. However Babbage continuously made changes to his designs, hired different engineers and in the end he ran out of funds before he was able to complete his machine. Had he succeeded, his machine would be have been used in world war one where projectile travel would be calculated to precisely eliminate targets. One of the first things that America done after the invention of the electric computer in the 1940's was to develop gunnery tables for object projectiles. Unfortunately Charles Babbage's ideas and blue prints remained on paper and was never completed until a group of engineers decided to bring the idea to life in 1993. However had he succeeded, Britain would be way ahead of its time.

Sadly in 1871 Babbage died and his brilliant ideas went away with him.

Around 80 years later World War II started. Radio transmission was the norm of communication but was easily intercepted by enemies. Therefore nations developed their own codes as a means of communication so the enemies overhearing could not know what message was being delivered. Mathematicians were tasked to break theses codes and in many instances they were broken. However the Germans created something called the Enigma machine. It looked like a typewriter (image below) and the way it worked was to assign a letter to a different letter and then to another letter. By this method the machine had about 159 million million million possible settings. It was impossible to crack even with the most gifted of minds. In addition to the Enigma code a more difficult code was used by the Germans..The Lorenz cipher. The British had to be a step ahead, they needed to know what the Germans were planning and where they planned to attack so they could stop them. Information was key. And it was Alan Turing that broke the Enigma code by developing the code breaking machine named the Bombe, and prevented a U boat invasion. The Bombe was inspired by Charles Babbage's ideas and is the reason it came to life

Even though the Enigma code was broken, the Lorenz Cipher was not and this is where a post office engineer by the name of Tommy Flowers comes in. Alan Turing's machine worked but it still took time. What was needed was a machine that could take two inputs simultaneously. Tommy Flowers machine was designed for this purpose but was dismissed by the British government because they did not believe it could be done. However, Tommy Flowers built it anyway on his own with some of his own funds. In the end he managed to build his machine, called Colossus, and yeah it was huge, a whole room kind of huge. And it worked!

The British government ordered 10 machines and prevented the potential slaughter of thousands of lives on D Day. Historians argue that it shortened the war by 1-2 years. Sadly though after the war, the Colossus machine was taken by the British Government and never heard of again. It was regarded a top secret by the British government and since the machines made my Turing and Flowers were now both classified, so were the efforts of the men themselves, Neither Turing nor Flowers got the Fame they deserved. Turing was ostracized as he was criminally charged for homosexuality. Some time later he sadly committed suicide. Who knew what great things he could have achieved for mankind had he lived on. Although Flowers lived on he's work was never recognized and was only gifted with a 1000 pounds for his service. No one knew that he was a hero who saved so many and nor could he speak of his good deed because his machine was classified. He had to hold it all inside and consequently hardly anyone has heard of him or his achievements

For many years later the computer was only used for the military and later on in America, California, the PC was born. If we are to thank someone for the piece of Tech in your hands right now...Let us thank the three, Charles Babbage, Alan Turing and Tommy Flowers,

Reference List:

• Copeland, B.. (2004). Colossus: Its origins and originators. Annals of the History of Computing, IEEE. 26. 38 - 45. 10.1109/MAHC.2004.26.

• Copeland, B.. (2004). Colossus: Its origins and originators. Annals of the History of Computing, IEEE. 26. 38 - 45. 10.1109/MAHC.2004.26.

• Skulrattanakulchai, Ampaiporn. (2017). Charles Babbage, A Man before His Time.

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Pretty much anything can be found on the net to purchase from a Rolex watch to an electric car, Although we all know (mostly) to be careful on the net with the potential of being scammed there are still less obvious mistakes that we can make. We have compiled a list of what you should not buy on the internet

Expensive watches: It may be tempting to purchase a fancy looking watch online without the hassle of going to the store, furthermore the idea of receiving something in the post can be very exciting and addictive. However its best to be careful with watches and there are a few reasons why. Firstly you could be buying a fake or counterfeit item not manufactured by an authorized manufacture. In the watch world there are numerous fake and counterfeit watches produced each year and the problem is they getting better and better at producing items that look and feel identical to the real thing. So even if it looks and feels real you may never know it is a fake, however in the end you are still buying a fake or counterfeit item and you are being cheated. That being said only purchase a watch from an authorized seller. If you are buying watches on Amazon make sure that the vendor is an authorized seller if you are not sure then don't risk it.

Secondly, you don't know what it really looks and feels like. Expensive and premium watches have a certain feel and look to them. And you are not going to be sure of how the watch actually feels unless you try it on in person, even though you have seen pictures of the watch, but that's just a picture that's been through editing . So if you do decide to buy online you may end up disappointed.

Electric motorcycles and cars: There are a few places where you can get electric motor cycles and cars online and many were gifted with an items that does not work, was defective, missing parts, or a completely different product that was advertised. Unless you are buying from an authorized company with a good reputation, don't risk it.

Products you have not researched: Every product on the net is inflated in terms of its value and advertised as being better than it actually is. since you are not there in person inspecting the product you can be easily misguided into purchasing an item you would not have purchased had you seen it in person. Therefore you should rely on researching the product and reading reviews.

Speaking of reviews: There are many fake reviews out there, these fake reviews I suspect are written by individuals who are paid to write great reviews. Sometimes they can be easily noticed and sometimes not. Some say that spelling mistakes are an indicator of a fake review, well I will disagree as a misspelled and incorrect language usage is not the best red flag of a fake review, since we all can make a mistake and not everyone speaks English fluently. But it should make you suspicious nonetheless. Fake reviews are very generic and simplistic with not much detail such as "great product" "lovely service, works great" and so on. If a review has fine details it is less likely to be fake. Such as mentioning certain mechanisms, the texture and quality and some negative feedback of the item.

Just because a product comes from a well known site such as Amazon does not guarantee that the review is genuine. While browsing Amazon you can see many reviews that are just fake so...Stay frosty.

Branded Products: Unless its from an authorized seller don't buy it. For the same reason you should not buy an expensive watch online, as there are many fake branded items sold online including Amazon. This is hard for Amazon to prevent because Amazon cannot check every single product that is listed , thus sneaky vendors can pass through unchecked.

While there is a lot of excitement to buy anything online you have to be careful and not fall into a trap or a scam that will end up in disappointment. As long as you do proper research and you are confident... you should be good to go