Computer Science for Fun (CS4FN)
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cs4fn.bsky.social
Computer Science for Fun (CS4FN)
@cs4fn.bsky.social
630 followers 250 following 340 posts
CS4FN is currently an EPSRC funded project to inspire and educate about interdisciplinary computer science in a fun way. Read our blog at cs4fn.blog. Posts by Paul Curzon. Views are my own.
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cs4fn.bsky.social
Sounding out a Sensory Garden
How @qmuleecs.bsky.social 's Nela Brown added interactive sound to a sensory garden, aiming for it to be informal but have educational and social value, even though it was outside.
cs4fn.blog/2025/11/30/s...
(from the archive for disability history month)
Sounding out a Sensory Garden
Image by Joel santana Joelfotos from Pixabay When the construction of Norman Jackson Children’s Centre in London started, the local council commissioned artists to design a sensory garden ful…
cs4fn.blog
November 30, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Reposted by Computer Science for Fun (CS4FN)
tomgauld.bsky.social
My cartoon for this week’s @theguardian.com books.

Lots more here: www.theguardian.com/books/series/tom-gauld-s-cultural-cartoons
Panel 1. A character holding a mobile phone. Ping! An alert arrives: "Your order has been received!" (Image of happy-looking book) Panel 2. Ping! "Your item has been dispatched!" (Image of happy-looking van, driving along) Panel 3. Ping! "Your package has been delivered!" (Image of happy-looking box on doorstep) Panel 4. Ping! "Your book has been neglected: left on the shelf, unread and forgotten, gathering dust for several months." (Image of unhappy-looking book, dusty and covered with cobwebs, accompanied by a spider) Panel 5. The character looks sad and guilty about the unread book. Panel 6. Ping! "Your order has been received!" (Image of new, happy-looking book)
November 29, 2025 at 11:59 AM
cs4fn.bsky.social
Film Futures: Elf
For a bit of fun, in this series, we look at how movie plots could change if they involved Computer Science. Here we look at an alternative version of the Christmas film, Elf.
cs4fn.blog/2025/11/29/f...
Film Futures (Christmas Special): Elf
Image from pixabay Computer Scientists and digital artists are behind the fabulous special effects and computer generated imagery we see in today’s movies, but for a bit of fun, in this series, we …
cs4fn.blog
November 29, 2025 at 7:00 PM
cs4fn.bsky.social
For Disability History Month, find out about Adrian Stokes, who was born with spina bifida. He was one of the pioneers who originally created the world spanning Internet
cs4fn.blog/2025/01/11/a...
Adrian Stokes: Internet pioneer
Image by Paul Curzon We take the Internet for granted now, but it is not that long ago that it did not exist at all. Disabled from birth with spina bifida, Adrian Stokes, OBE was one of the people …
cs4fn.blog
November 26, 2025 at 8:27 PM
cs4fn.bsky.social
Scéalextric Stories by Tony Veale (from the archive)
Stories follow paths with surprising "twists" and "turns" along the way. The track often turns out to be circular, with the heroine finally returning to the beginning. Can use this race track idea to create stories?
cs4fn.blog/2025/11/24/s...
Scéalextric Stories
Woman archer image by Николай Ивненко from Pixabay If you watch a lot of movies you’ve probably noticed some recurring patterns in the way that popular cinematic stories are structured. Every…
cs4fn.blog
November 25, 2025 at 8:57 PM
cs4fn.bsky.social
Happy Dr Who Day...a day to also celebrate Delia Derbyshire, the amazing electronic music pioneer who created the theme tune long before pop stars were creating electronic music
cs4fn.blog/2025/05/05/s...
Delia Derbyshire: Say it sounds like singing
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay Many names stand out as pioneers of electronic music, combining computer science, electronics and music to create new and amazing sounds. Kraftwerk would top many…
cs4fn.blog
November 23, 2025 at 9:49 PM
cs4fn.bsky.social
Interested in music? Computer Scientists and Electronic Engineers do completely new things with it.
cs4fn.blog/music/
Music, Digital or Not
Where music mixes with computing Digital music took over from analogue music for recording long ago, because of the flexibility, but there are more ways that music and computing mix than just recor…
cs4fn.blog
November 23, 2025 at 8:58 PM
cs4fn.bsky.social
For disability History Month find out about how former Senior Lecturer at @qmuleecs.bsky.social Tony Stockman became an expert in data sonification, initially to make it possible to do his PhD
cs4fn.blog/2025/11/22/t...
Tony Stockman: Sonification
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay Tony Stockman, who was blind from birth, was a Senior Lecturer at QMUL until his retirement. A leading academic in the field of sonification of data, turning data…
cs4fn.blog
November 23, 2025 at 8:14 AM
cs4fn.bsky.social
It is global entrepreneurship week: read CS4FN stories about tech entrepreneurs from a variety of backgrounds on our blog
cs4fn.blog/tech-entrepr...
Tech Entrepreneurship
Wanna make a difference ? If you want to really make a difference (or just become rich), one way many computer scientists and electronic engineers have followed is to become an entrepreneur –…
cs4fn.blog
November 19, 2025 at 1:33 PM
cs4fn.bsky.social
Any budding computer scientist should read 'The Machine Stops', a short story published in 1909 by EM Forster of period drama fame. How reliant on computers should we become? How important is dependability? Here is my CS4FN article inspired by reading it in school English
cs4fn.blog/2025/11/16/t...
The Machine Stops: a review
Image by Amy from Pixabay How reliant on machines should we let ourself become? E.M. Forster is most famous for period dramas but he also wrote a brilliant Science Fiction short story, ‘The M…
cs4fn.blog
November 16, 2025 at 5:22 PM
cs4fn.bsky.social
Here is the CS4FN review of Going Postal by Terry Pratchett. The absolute most fun way to learn about Computer Networking on any planet in any universe whether real, imagined or riding through space on the backs of elephants standing on the back of a turtle.
cs4fn.blog/2025/11/15/g...
Going Postal: A review
Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay Any one claiming to be a hard-core Computer Scientist would be ashamed if they had to admit they hadn’t read Terry Pratchett. If you are and you…
cs4fn.blog
November 15, 2025 at 11:34 AM
cs4fn.bsky.social
Shh! Can you hear that diagram?
What does a diagram sound like? What does the shape of a sound feel like? Researchers at @qmuleecs.bsky.social explored how to help the visually impaired through multi-modal interfaces.
cs4fn.blog/2025/11/10/s...
(from the archive)
Shh! Can you hear that diagram?
Network image by Alexandra_Koch from Pixabay What does a diagram sound like? What does the shape of a sound feel like? Researchers at Queen Mary, University of London have been finding out. At firs…
cs4fn.blog
November 13, 2025 at 9:08 AM
cs4fn.bsky.social
How to spot a bad chef when you've never tasted the food (OR How to spot a bad quantum simulator when you do not know what the quantum circuit it is simulating is supposed to do.)
Read latest CS4FN blog written by Vasileios Klimis of @qmuleecs.bsky.social
cs4fn.blog/2025/11/12/t...
The Alien Cookbook
Image by CS4FN from original soup bowls by OpenClipart-Vectors and alien image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay How to spot a bad chef when you’ve never tasted the food (OR How to spo…
cs4fn.blog
November 12, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Reposted by Computer Science for Fun (CS4FN)
httcs.online
If you're free on Wednesday after school, why not boost your programming pedagogy with my online short course brought to you by OTSA.
#caschat #TeamCompSci #Computing #Programming #PRIMM
httcs.online Alan Harrison @httcs.online · Oct 24
Book now for my #Programming #Pedagogy short course from OTSA. Learn proven techniques like #PRIMM, #SemanticWaves, Parson’s Problems and the Notional Machine to help you teach programming more fluently in Secondary Schools.
Wed, 12 Nov 2025 16:00 - 17:30 GMT, £45. #TeamCompSci
bit.ly/otsaprog1
November 8, 2025 at 5:46 PM
cs4fn.bsky.social
It is Native American Heritage Month
Find out about Jerry Elliot High Eagle of the Cherokee Nation and his role in the greatest rescue in history: saving the crew of Apollo 13 cs4fn.blog/2025/11/05/j...
Jerry Elliot High Eagle: Saving Apollo 13
Image by NASA Public domain via Wikimedia Commons Jerry Elliot High Eagle was the first Native American to work in NASA mission control. He worked for NASA for over 40 years, from the Apollo moon l…
cs4fn.blog
November 6, 2025 at 7:27 AM
cs4fn.bsky.social
November is Native American Heritage Month
Navajo Code was used for secure
communications in WWII devised by Navajo code talkers it was never cracked
cs4fn.blog/2024/08/11/n...
Navajo Code Talkers
Navajo Code Talkers, from Wikipedia. Public Domain. Bletchley Park, the British code cracking centre helped win World War II, but it is not just breaking codes and ciphers that wins wars, creating …
cs4fn.blog
November 5, 2025 at 9:39 AM
cs4fn.bsky.social
Crystal ball coupons – what your data might be giving away
(from the CS4FN archive)
cs4fn.blog/2025/11/03/c...
Crystal ball coupons – what your data might be giving away
Big companies know far more about you than you think. You have very little privacy from their all-seeing algorithms. They may even have worked out some very, very personal things about you, that ev…
cs4fn.blog
November 5, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Reposted by Computer Science for Fun (CS4FN)
advanced-ict.info
Looking for guidance on how to resist AI mania in schools?
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Resisting School AI Mania Help Sheet
Help Sheet: Resisting AI Mania in Schools K-12 educators are under increasing pressure to use—and have students use—a wide range of AI tools. (The term “AI” is used loosely here, just as it is by man...
docs.google.com
November 3, 2025 at 9:01 PM
cs4fn.bsky.social
I just enjoyed reading the novel Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky (@aptshadow.bsky.social): a utopian or is it dystopian future where humans have outsourced everything to AI and robots allowing them to live a life of pleasure? Here is my Computer Science for Fun review:
cs4fn.blog/2025/11/03/s...
Service Model: a review
Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay Artificial Intelligences are just tools, that do nothing but follow their programming. They are not self-aware and have no ability for self-determination. …
cs4fn.blog
November 3, 2025 at 9:11 PM
cs4fn.bsky.social
Halloween also gives me an excuse to post favourite CS jokes
Why do computer scientists get confused between Halloween and Christmas?
Why is the number 237 magical?
What did the computer worry about most at Halloween?

ANSWERS

Because Oct 31 = Dec 25

Because it is Hex ED

A byte from a vampire
October 31, 2025 at 9:40 AM
cs4fn.bsky.social
For Halloween, read about where fictional Mummies came from and the link to AI
cs4fn.blog/2022/07/23/t...
The Mummy in an AI world: Jane Webb’s future
Image by albertr from Pixabay Inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, 17-year old Victorian orphan, Jane Webb secured her future by writing the first ever Mummy story. The 22nd century world…
cs4fn.blog
October 31, 2025 at 9:11 AM
cs4fn.bsky.social
DNA is the molecule of life. Our DNA stores the information of how to create us. It can be hacked. Read about it for cyber security awareness week...
cs4fn.blog/2025/10/29/h...
Hacking DNA
Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay DNA is the molecule of life. Our DNA stores the information of how to create us. Now it can be hacked. DNA consists of two strands coiling round each other in a dou…
cs4fn.blog
October 29, 2025 at 9:24 PM
cs4fn.bsky.social
Learn about Shannon's Information Entropy while finding out about what makes a good password for Cyber Security Awareness month (with help from XKCD) in today's CS4FN blog cs4fn.blog/2025/10/28/p...
Password strength and information entropy
CREDIT: Randall Munroe, xkcd.com – reprinted under a CC Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License How do you decide whether a password is strong? Computer scientists have a mathematical way to do…
cs4fn.blog
October 28, 2025 at 8:45 AM
cs4fn.bsky.social
Watch the robot that always wins ... at the game of chance Rock, Scissors, Stone (how technology becomes magic)
From the archive
cs4fn.blog/2025/10/27/t...
The robot always wins
Above: Janken (rock-paper-scissors) Robot with 100% winning rate (26 June 2012) Researchers in Japan have made a robot arm that always wins at rock, paper, scissors. Not with ultra-clever psycholog…
cs4fn.blog
October 27, 2025 at 4:51 PM
cs4fn.bsky.social
He attacked me with a dictionary: why following simple password rules about adding capitals, numbers and special symbols in a simple way still gives weak passwords (for #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth) cs4fn.blog/2025/10/26/h...
He attacked me with a dictionary!
Image by JL G from Pixabay You might be surprised at how many people have something short, simple (and stupid!) like ‘password’ as their password. Some people add a number to make it ha…
cs4fn.blog
October 26, 2025 at 4:52 PM