The Game of Life, also known simply as Life, is a cellular automaton devised by the British mathematician John Horton Conway in 1970. It is a zero-player game, meaning that its evolution is determined by its initial state, requiring no further input. One interacts with the Game of Life by creating an initial configuration and observing how it evolves. It is Turing complete and can simulate a universal constructor or any other Turing machine.
An automaton is a relatively self-operating machine, or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions. Some automata, such as bellstrikers in mechanical clocks, are designed to give the illusion to the casual observer that they are operating under their own power. Since long ago, the term is commonly associated with automated puppets that resemble moving humans or animals, built to impress and/or to entertain people.
Television in Scotland mostly consists of UK-wide broadcasts, with regional variations at different times which are specific to Scotland. The BBC and ITV networks both began broadcasting in the country during the 1950s. There were further expansions in the early 1960s with the arrival of Grampian, Border and BBC2 television.
Alexander Hugh Norton is a Scottish actor. He is known for his roles as DCI Matt Burke in the STV detective drama series Taggart, Eric Baird in BBC Two sitcom Two Doors Down, DCS Wallace in Extremely Dangerous, Gerard Findlay in Waterloo Road and Eddie in the Renford Rejects. He has also had roles in internationally successful films including Braveheart, Local Hero and Les Misérables.
Salvage Squad is a British television programme, in which the "Salvage Squad" faced the challenge of restoring an item of classic machinery. The task was usually against a tight deadline, such as a public unveiling at a vehicle rally. In addition to vintage cars, lorries, railway engines, boats and aircraft, the challenges included the resurrection of a Hampshire water mill and a set of fairground gallopers.
Edward Martin Burgess FSA FBHI, known as Martin Burgess, is an English horologist and master clockmaker.
Jonathan Betts MBE is Curator Emeritus at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, a horological scholar and author, and an expert on the first marine timekeepers created by John Harrison in the middle of the 18th century. He was formerly Senior Specialist in horology at Greenwich. Between 2016 and 2019 he served on the board of trustees of the Institute of Conservation.
Angus Purden is a Scottish television presenter. A former Mr. Scotland and model, he wrote for a Scottish newspaper and is now best known for presenting do-it-yourself and Scottish lottery shows. One of the regular presenters for the BBC series Cash in the Attic since 2002, he also appeared in programmes such as Channel 4's Room For Improvement (2004-2010) and Ghost Towns (2005–2006) for Living TV, and he was a street prize presenter and public face of People's Postcode Lottery. In April 2010, Angus became the main host of STV gameshow Postcode Challenge.
Antiques Roadshow is a British television series produced by the BBC since 1979. Series 30 (2007/08) comprised 27 editions that were broadcast by the BBC from 2 September 2007 – 30 March 2008
Magistrate of Brussels is an unfinished oil painting or oil sketch by Anthony van Dyck, rediscovered in 2013 after being shown on episodes of the BBC television programme Antiques Roadshow.
The conservation and restoration of clocks refers to the care given to the physical and functional aspects of time measuring devices featuring “moving hands on a dial face” exclusive of watches. Care for clocks constitutes regulating the external environment, cleaning, winding, lubrication, pest-management, and repairing or replacing mechanical and aesthetic components to preserve or achieve the desired state as specified by the owner. Clocks are typically composed of multiple types of materials such as wood, metal, paint, plastic, etc., which have unique behaviors and environmental interactions, making treatment options complex. The materials used and the complexity of clockwork warrant having a Horological Conservator complete the work.
James May: The Reassembler is a BBC Four documentary programme focusing on the reassembly of various pieces of technology from the past. The host James May discusses the item, its place in society and the engineering principles of the part while he puts it back together.
Quest Red is a British free-to-air television channel in the United Kingdom broadcasting factual, lifestyle, crime and reality programming aimed at a female audience. The channel is operated by Warner Bros. Discovery and runs as a sibling to Discovery's established Freeview channel Quest, launched in 2009.
Simon Rollo Gillespie is a British conservator-restorer of fine art, and an art historian. He is known particularly for his work with Early British and Tudor portraits, although his practice extends across all periods from early paintings to contemporary artworks. Gillespie has been restoring art since 1978, and he appears frequently on the BBC Four series Britain's Lost Masterpieces, having previously appeared on the BBC1 art programme Fake or Fortune.
Cameron House, located on Loch Lomond near Balloch, Scotland, was first built in the mid-1700s, and later purchased by Sir James Smollett. The modern Baronial stone castle was built by William Spence in 1830, with peaked gables and decorative turrets.
The Repair Shop is a British daytime television show made by production company Ricochet that aired on BBC Two for series 1 to 3 and on BBC One for series 4 onwards, in which family heirlooms are restored for their owners by numerous experts with a broad range of specialisms. Furniture restorer Jay Blades acts as the foreman.
Salvage Hunters is a British television programme in which decorative salvage dealer Drew Pritchard travels throughout the country in search of antiques from shops, fairs and old mansions to re-sell online or in his shop.
The Clockwork Man is a hidden object adventure video game series developed by Greek development studio Total Eclipse Games. Featuring a steampunk setting, The Clockwork Man games typically require players to find a certain number of items hidden somewhere on a painted scene, as well as solve a variety of adventure and logical puzzles in order to progress through the game.
Maria Start is a British automata maker and restorer. She trained in Fashion design in Maidenhead, London, and now specialises in the conservation and restoration of antique automata, with a focus on 19th Century automata.
