One of the coolest stands at the Gadget Show two weeks ago was The Gadget Hall of Fame, set-up by the Centre for Computing History.  It was full of gadgets and gizmos, showcasing products from the past 34 years.

The Center for Computing History was established to create a permanent public exhibition telling the story of the information age. The museum is based in Haverhill on the borders of Cambridgeshire, Essex and Suffolk, but is currently only viewable by appointment. I definitely think I should organize a GeekMeet during the summer to visit, cause it looks like they have a great collection of old computer hardware.

The stand at the Gadget Show was clearly a favourite among most of the visitors. The exhibit was arranged in such a way that there were different sections for each decade, with retro gadgets against the wall and (per decade) two featured game consoles (everybody of course wanted a go on those). The 1970’s section had the Binotone PONG game and the classic Atari 2600 console, the 1980’s had the Sinclair Spectrum and the Commodore 64, and the 1990’s had the Atari Jaguar and the Sony PlayStation. 

I was amazed how many of the gadgets featured there I still own: the NES (with the DuckHunt gun), the Donkey Kong Game & Watch, the Atari Lynx, the Atari Jaguar, the original GameBoy, the GameBoy Colour and the Sony PlayStation (not even mentioning the more newer consoles, like the Nintendo DS and the PS2, of which I’ve “owned” three different ones). It was great seeing some of them in action again, and makes me want to dig up some of my old consoles and play with them again.

There was also a video made of the event, and I’m actually in it! I’m seen playing the Jaguar (very concious that I was being filmed) at around the 3 minute mark:

[Watch the video on MissGeeky.com]

Btw, the Centre of Computing History is always interested in expanding their collection, including calculators, cables and books. Just check out their donations page. Anybody got anything obscure that deserves to go down in history?

This is such a great idea! Paint to transform a random wall into a white board!

I love white boards. I used to have one in my student flat, but never got around to getting one after moving to London. I always wanted a nice big one to be able to scribble anything I wanted on it. But an entire wall? I hadn’t even thought about that. It would be perfect!

Sadly though the price for IdeaPaint is on the high side: it’s $200 per 50 square feet. For that size I can easily find a much much cheaper solution.

Most of you must have seen the video I posted a couple of days ago about the T-Mobile “flashmob”. While I had my doubts about it, it turned out to be a great event! 

I turned up on Trafalgar Square at around 17:45 and it was already packed! I hadn’t imagined that so many people would come. A big screen was setup with on it a “warning” that T-Mobile was recording their latest advert and anyone who didn’t want in it should find a steward. I was able to make my way to the center of the crowd and saw that microphones were being handed out to anyone who wanted one. That’s when I started realizing what the “gimmick” this time would be. I declined, cause I had my camera in my hands and I knew there were going to be some great photo moments (and I was right).

At 18:00 it was announced that “this time you won’t be dancing, but singing!”. I was amazed at how many people hadn’t figured it out, and were totally surprised by it. And then everyone started singing along to “Hey Jude”. The atmosphere was brilliant! Everyone was smiling, singing along and even dancing along. I had to leave halfway, but still got to enjoy “Is This The Way To Amarillo” and “Baby One More Time”.

Here’s an early footage clip of the event: