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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-CA link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>As a hard-nosed engineer who has been active in software design for almost 50 years I find the article one of the most insignificant pieces of c*ap that I have had the misfortune to waste my time reading. Before I expound on what I *<b>REALLY</b>* think, the article should be condemned as a crime against defenseless bits. I find it inconceivable that intelligent readers could do other than consign it to the dung heap of irrelevance. The worst part is that I suspect that she got funding for her drivel in preference to a fourth-rate computer science student’s project.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style='border:none;border-left:solid blue 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 4.0pt'><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> Members [mailto:members-bounces@lists.sigcis.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Nabeel Siddiqui<br><b>Sent:</b> Monday, August 17, 2015 5:55 PM<br><b>To:</b> Sigcis<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Is Unix racist?<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>I assign it in my course to discuss race with students, but it does have its problems, specifically correlation vs causality. While the article doesn't get into it, I think it adds to David Golumbia's <i>Cultural Logic of Computation</i> on how computation provides a set of ideas and metaphors for people to think about the world around them. The Digital Humanities part is actually a part that was tacked on and doesn't really add much to the article. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>Originally, the article was release as "U.S. Operating System at Mid-Century" in <i>Race After the Internet</i>, edited by Lisa Nakamura and Peter Chow-White. Link to the original article's pdf here: <a href="http://history.msu.edu/hst830/files/2014/01/McPherson_2012.pdf">http://history.msu.edu/hst830/files/2014/01/McPherson_2012.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal>On Mon, Aug 17, 2015 at 4:57 PM, Janet Abbate <<a href="mailto:abbate@vt.edu" target="_blank">abbate@vt.edu</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Anyone seen this piece by Tara Mcpherson? It starts with some interesting questions, but I found the follow-through to be disappointingly ahistorical. Again and again she argues that there must be a connection between the modularity of Unix and the compartmentalization of race within American culture, but then immediately admits that she has no evidence for any direct connection. As far as I can tell, the only reason she singles out Unix is because it coincides conveniently with the US Civil Rights era. I'm curious to know what others think.<br><br>"Why Are the Digital Humanities So White? or Thinking the Histories of Race and Computation."<br><a href="http://dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu/debates/text/29" target="_blank">http://dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu/debates/text/29</a><br><br>Janet<br><br><br>Dr. Janet Abbate<br>Associate Professor, Science & Technology in Society<br>Co-director, National Capital Region STS program<br>Virginia Tech<br><a href="http://www.sts.vt.edu/ncr" target="_blank">www.sts.vt.edu/ncr</a><br><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/groups/STS-Virginia-Tech-4565055" target="_blank">www.linkedin.com/groups/STS-Virginia-Tech-4565055</a><br><a href="http://www.facebook.com/VirginiaTechSTS" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/VirginiaTechSTS</a><br><br><br><br>_______________________________________________<br>This email is relayed from members at <a href="http://sigcis.org" target="_blank">sigcis.org</a>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at <a href="http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/" target="_blank">http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/</a> and you can change your subscription options at <a href="http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org" target="_blank">http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div></div></body></html>