Okay we admit we are a bit geeky, but technology is all around us, some of us love it for it’s own sake, others love it because what it enables us to do…where ever you sit, we think Hull Digital is an absolute must go to event this year. It’s only in it’s second year, but it has already established a pretty impressive reputation, just take a butchers at the line up of speakers (eg Peter Barron, Director of Communications and Public Affairs for Google in North and Central Europe). It’s not all about being a tech expert, in fact we would recommend anyone who has an interest in really making an impact online to think about going!
We also hear there is some damn fine coffee through out the event, not that you’ll need the stimulation to keep you from slumbering!
To win a ticket, all you need to do is tell us in the comments box below, something interesting about Hull! The winner will be chosen by 15th September based on our favourite answer.
Hull Digital at the University of Hull, 4th November
Geek fact #1: John Venn – creator of the eponymous ‘Venn diagram’ – was born in Hull in 1834 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Venn) and had a building named after him on the campus of the university.
Geek fact #2: The Humber Bridge is 130ft longer than San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge at the Northern end of Silicon Valley!
The towers of the Humber Bridge are 1cm further apart at the top than the bottom to compensate for the curvature of the Earth.
Life expectancy in Hull was below that for England as a whole – 2.9 years below the national figure of 77.9 years for males and 2.5 years below that of 82.0 for females.
Hull is home to the UK’s (perhaps the World’s?) smallest window pane. It is located in the George Pub in the old town.
See picture here: http://infocoms.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/smallest-window.jpg
<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-440" title="surface-screen-capture" src="http://infocoms.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/smallest-window.jpg" alt="smallest-windo" width="242" height="181"
One of Hull’s premier attractions is the “Seven Seas Fish Trail” – followers of the trail hunt out pavement slabs engraved with images of popular and notable fish. The trail will lead players through interesting areas of the city – and upon completion players can claim a certificate from the tourist information (although an honour system is used to verify sightings of all the fish, and the system is often abused).
cyanobiphenyl liquid crystals are the primary factor in todays LCD Monitors ( possibly the one you are using right now) they were discoverd by George Gray and his team at the University of Hull in the 1960’d
Hull was the most severely bombed British city or town apart from London during the Second World War. It also boasts the worlds only ‘heritage listed bomb site’, a cinema on Beverley Road which has not been touched since the bomb hit!
Hull has its own Progress School http://hullprogressschool.eventbrite.com/
A total of 480,000 tonnes of concrete were used to build the bridge.
Thanks very much for running the competition Emma!
Interesting fact – Hull had the very first dedicated Vehicle Crime Unit with an Escort Cosworth no less as the lead pursuit car!
Best wishes,
Jon
The band Everything But The Girl took their name from a slogan painted on a furniture shop called Turners.
And went on to make some great lounge music. Comfy sofa anyone.