Recursion comes around again!
The Midlands User Group normally meets on the third Saturday of odd months, but July is a particularly odd month because this year they’re meeting on the first Saturday instead.
It used to be that the group hosted their own RISC OS show in early July, and treated that as their meeting for the month – and that’s more or less what they still do, with the exception that their show is now a small area within a much bigger event that covers a great deal more than just RISC OS.
That show is the Recursion Computer Science Fair, which takes place on Saturday, 1st July, from 11:00am – with no entry fee – at:
RISC OS exhibitors joining the Midlands User Group at Recursion are AMCOG Games, Drag ‘n Drop magazine, Soft Rock Software, ROUGOL, and Ident Computer.
The group themselves have a number of exhibits for the show planned, including:
- Bell ringing,
- The Evolution of RISC OS,
- How to get started using RISC OS on a Raspberry Pi, in association with Soft Rock Software – featuring a newly prepared step by step video guide, a set of printed instructions to encourage people to try it out, and a Textease presentation.
- Programming with RISC OS,
- A Stirling Engine,
- Plus many more items, including a variety of RISC OS systems.
Tools with a Mission, The Midlands Group’s charity of choice, will also be present. Tools with a Mission is a UK-based charity that collects unwanted tools, and sends them around the world to places where they can be used to help create sustainable livelihoods.
As you might surmise from the “Computer Science” part of the title in conjunction with the venue Recursion is very much an educational event – it’s organised by Richard Barfoot, the school’s Head of Computing. As such, there will be a great deal more to see than just the RISC OS exhibitors, including:
- A Virtual Reality exhibit, featuring HTC Vive, Playstation VR, and Google DayDream.
- A section dedicated to the Micro:bit – the BBC’s answer to the Raspberry Pi and, arguably, its modern-day answer to the computer it commissioned back all those decades ago, the BBC Microcomputer!
- A Hackathon Marathon, in which teams will compete to make the best game in just four hours!
- Student Showcases, featuring a wide range of projects from local students.
- And much, much more.
So, if you have a free weekend, why not consider a day out in Stratford upon Avon, where there are plenty of interesting sights to see – and make a beeline for Recursion on Saturday as part of that?
