It sets out to be a beginners guide to how computers work, but without all the cute analogies and pictures of 1′s and 0′s in pidgeon holes that seem to crop up in other texts like this.

It probably helps that I first encountered the author as my introduction to programming Windows. As I type this I’m unsure if I ever read all of his classic ‘Programming Windows’ (I was a student when I needed to, and probably borrowed it), but I certainly read large chunks. It has a clear, no-nonsense, style I enjoyed.

All you really need to understand to follow Code is how a relay works, and he explains that from first principles. He then works up to laying them out by the thousand to produce a computer recognisable today. One interesting observation is that much of the technology needed to create a computer was around a hundred years old before someone assembled one we would recognise. There’s a different path the world might have taken, if that had happened earlier!

I still see echos of the work the DirectShow team did in the 1990′s (I’m aware they were building on the work of others), and today I stumbled on this update from Geraint Davies, one of the original architects.

It was nice to learn what happened next – thanks Geraint!

Seasons Greetings. It seemed appropriate to use my Nexus 10 to take the picture, since this year has been one spent getting it, and products like it, ready to sell!

I’ve been taking pictures of this flag since 2002, and I still have a big smile on my face the first time I spot it as I approach.

I wonder how many times it’s needed replacing since 2002? It still looks as fresh.

(And a P.S. on my last post. I ended up cycling every workday in April. I skipped the weekends, mostly because they were so wet!)