It is also unaffiliated with Alan Turing. I asked them about this - because it seems a bit weird to me to name yourself after someone without their estate's blessing. They pointed me to their FAQ, which opens with this:

My initial thought was "keep his name out of your mouth!"

You can argue whether you think the Turing Test is a suitable way to assess AI - but until it starts being used to give human rights to machines, I don't think it is fair to describe it as controversial.

Turing's attitude to his mugs may have made him unbearable to work with:

Bletchley Park

@bletchleypark

Alan Turing loved tea so much he chained his mug to the radiator to stop it being stolen. Visit his office at #BletchleyPark #NationalTeaDay pic.x.com/t9eizfx2i5

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But controversial?

Perhaps this text has got lost in translation? I questioned the founders on whether Turing was controversial. Their response was:

We, as the founders, aren't questioning the integrity and legitimacy of Turing. The whole context about our position on Turing is in the full article. Turing was abandoned by his home country for over 50 years and was just lately recognized as a hero (https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-25495315). So from the public perspective, his persona has some controversy (which is unfortunate as he should be recognized earlier).

I fundamentally disagree with this assertion. Alan Turing was hardly known about outside of academic circles in the 1950s. Thirteen years after his death, the law was amended and homosexual acts were (partly) decriminalised. The way he was treated was controversial - but the man himself was not.

The Turing Institute (a UK academic institution), says:

Turing’s life was tragically affected by the societal norms of his time: despite his pivotal part in ensuring the safety of the nation and saving countless lives, his homosexuality resulted in him being defined as a security risk, and he was harassed by police surveillance up until his untimely death in 1954. What Alan Turing means to us

In the USA, Turing.edu (a Non-Profit Organization) has this to say about Turing:

He was persecuted simply for being who he was, at the hands of his own government and died a year later, shortly before his 42nd birthday in 1954. What’s in a namesake? The Legacy of Alan Turing

So I return to my original point. Why would you name your company after someone you consider to be controversial?

If you'd like to honour Alan Turing's contributions to the world, the family of Alan Turing have created The Turing Trust which seeks to continue his legacy by donating computer equipment to students across Africa. You can donate computers and cryptocurrency directly.

Like many Brits, I learned about the Second World War at school. I devoured books - fiction and non - about the war. What interested me wasn't the tales of derring-do, of men fighting for their lives, bombs, guns, bullets and knives. No, what interested me was the idea about intelligence. The concept that by learning about your enemy you could understand and counteract their efforts.

I don't remember where I first heard about Bletchley Park and the Enigma Machine. I certainly remember it from Simon Singh's The Code Book and Neil Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. What I do remember is being astounded by the mathematical brilliance of the people involved in designing the first computers. That a bunch of mathematicians and - as we'd call them today - computer programers could shorten the war by an estimated 18 months. They never fired a single shot. They never dropped a bomb. They never designed a killing machine. They sat and thought. Then built. Then thought some more. Then they defeated their enemy. And they did it all an hour away from London. How could I resist the urge to go?

The event was unOrganised by Big Geek Day Out.

Big Geek Days Out are "unEvents" - one person organises a time and place for people to meet and that's it. Everything else is done by the people coming to the event.

An annual ticket to Bletchley Park is a mere £8.50. An utter bargain.

The tragedy of Bletchley is three-fold. The work it did was kept secret for so long that many of those involved died before they could receive proper recognition. The secrecy robbed Britain of a competitive advantage in designing the next generation of computers. Finally, the park has been ignored by the Government and been allowed to decay.

This is perhaps the only second world war battleground that exists on British soil. This museum is a national treasure and should be treated as such.

Here are some images and video from the day. You can also view the entire set on Flickr.

Alan Turing

It's no exaggeration to say that Turing is the father of the computer. It's also no exaggeration to say that he was betrayed by his government.

An Original Enigma Machine

Bletchley holds an original Enigma Machine. I was lucky enough to help one of the guides demonstrate its formidable encryption and decryption capabilities. Had the Wehrmacht better understood cryptography and its limitations, the Enigma could have been their deadliest weapon. As it was, the weaknesses were discovered and exploited by a remarkable team of people.

Russian Fialka M125 Cypher Machine

They also have an amazing array of historical encryption devices, including this Russian example.

Finally, the tour guides at Bletchley are quite magnificent. Here's our guide talking about Colossus.

If you have even the slightest interest in the history of computing, you owe it to yourself to visit Bletchley Park.