"And this afternoon's good news is, chaps, that Australia have been bowled out for 160."

Harry, aged 5, looking up, "By what?"

"By what? By Broady and Swanny."

Harry, clenching both fists and punching the air, "Yes!"

"Bean-bag, the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain are playing in December. Do you want to go and see them again?"

Daniel, pauses momentarily, "Is at the Symphony Hall again?"

"It wasn't the Symphony Hall, chum, it was the Town Hall."

Daniel, immediately, "Can we have ice cream?"

"I don't think we need to plan that far ahead."

Got my Cotswold Audax brevet card back in the post a few days ago. Audaxes are conducted under the regulations of the Audax Club Parisien. As you go around the route, you get your card stamped at each checkpoint. At the finish (or arrivée in Audax-speak), your card is send off to be validated. I don't know quite what the entails, but I'd like to think that somewhere in France a Gallic cycle-elf had to write out a little index card with my name on the top of it.

Not sure when I'll next do an Audax, but am toying with the idea of doing a 50km ride on the 8 Freight with Hal-baby in the back. Slightly worried other riders might think I'm taking the micky.

On November 7th 2009, the ACCU will be holding a one day conference at Bletchley Park, home of the legendary World War II 'Enigma' code breakers, and the site at which the world's first digital computer went operational.

Confirmed speakers (alphabetical order) include:

• Tony Sale, lead on the working reconstruction of 'Colossus', the world's first digital computer. The original was used to break the German 'Lorenz' code, and played a vital role in the the run up to the Allied invasion of Europe. Personal web site at http://www.codesandciphers.org.uk/
• Simon Singh, author, journalist and TV producer, specialising in science and mathematics, and author of 'The Code Book', a history of codes and code breaking from Ancient Egypt to the Internet. Personal web site at http://www.simonsingh.net/
• Phil Zimmermann, the original creator of the PGP e-mail encryption package, which despite three years of government persecution became the most widely used e-mail encryption software in the world. Personal web site at http://www.philzimmermann.com/EN/background/index.html

The Conference will be held in the elegant Victorian Bletchley Park Mansion, at the centre of Bletchley Park itself, allowing conference attendees the opportunity to visit the exhibits on show at the National Museum of Computing and the rest of Bletchley Park. Bletchley Park is home to a number of unique artifacts, including the Colossus, the Bombe (including the mock-up that featured in the film 'Enigma'), original Enigma machines, and a Lorenz coding machine. The Bletchley Park web site is at http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/. The National Museum of Computing web site is at http://www.tnmoc.org/

The conference is organised by the ACCU. The ACCU is an organisation of programmers who care about professionalism in programming and are dedicated to raising the standard of programming. The proceeds of the conference will go to the Bletchley Park Trust to help with the upkeep of Bletchley Park. Conference rates have not yet been finalised, but will be in the region of £95/person. The ACCU web site is at http://accu.org/. A full schedule will be available on the ACCU web site shortly.

For further information contact: Astrid Byro, or Alan Lenton

April 14-17, 2010. Barcelo Oxford Hotel, Oxford, UK
http://www.accu.org/conference
Submission deadline: 30th of September 2009
Highlight: Special track on software testing, please read on
Email proposals to: Giovanni Asproni, conference@accu.org

We would like to invite you to present a session at this leading software development conference.

We have a long tradition of high quality sessions covering many aspects of software development, from programming languages (e.g., C, C++, Java, C#, Ruby, Groovy, Python, Erlang, Haskell, etc.), and technologies (libraries, frameworks, databases, etc.) to subjects about the wider development environment such as testing, development process, design, analysis, patterns, project management, and softer aspects such as team building, communication and leadership.

In particular, this year we are going to have a special track on software testing--we are interested in experience reports, techniques, lessons learned, etc.

Sessions may be either tutorial-based, presentations of case studies, or take the form of interactive workshops. We are always open to novel formats, so please contact us with your idea.

The standard length of a session is 90 minutes, with some exceptions. In order to allow less experienced speakers to speak at the conference without the pressure of filling a full 90 minutes, we reserve a number of shorter 45 minute sessions.

If you would like to run a session please let us know by emailing your proposals to conference@accu.org by the 30th of September 2009 at the latest.

Please include the following to support your proposal:

• Title (a working title if necessary)
• Type (tutorial, workshop, case study, etc.)
• Duration (45/90 min)
• Speaker name(s)
• Speaker biography (max 150 words)
• Description (approx 250 words)

Proposals about specific products and technologies will be taken under consideration only if they are open source and available for free (at least for non-commercial use). If you are interested in talking about a proprietary technology, there is the possibility of "sponsored sessions" which are presented outside the standard conference schedule. Please email conference@accu.org for more information.

If you are interested in knowing more about the conference you may like to consult the website for previous years' editions at www.accu.org/conference for background information.

Speakers running one or more full 90 minute sessions receive a special conference attendance package including free attendance, and assistance with their travel and accommodation costs. Speakers filling a 45 minute slot qualify for free conference attendance on the day of their session.

The conference has always benefited from the strength of its programme, making it the highlight of the year for many attendees. Please help us make 2010 another successful event.

I'm looking forward to seeing you there,
Giovanni Asproni
ACCU 2010 Conference Chair

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