October 2011 - Members - lists.sigcis.org

2010: SIGCIS's Year in Review
by Thomas Haigh 03 Nov '11

03 Nov '11

Dear SIGCIS members, I hope this end of year message finds you all well and in a relaxed holiday mood. SIGCIS has had another good year, reaching new heights on every measurable aspect of our activities. The number of members reached a new high (over 250), the number and quality of contributions to the email list was greater than ever before, we raised more money at our annual lunch with our book auctions and small than ever before ($1,486) and gave out more travel grants (www.sigcis.org/travelaward) to participants than ever before ($2,400). Our second annual workshop received more submissions than the first, and more people attended. The Mahoney Fund (www.sigcis.org/mahoney) holds its highest balance to date (over $8,000) after its best year of donations so far (at least $2,850). So does our operating account (around $3,500). For the most part, then, it was a year of consolidation and incremental growth. If something can be done annually for several years then it becomes a tradition, and perhaps the most crucial stumbling block is doing something twice. SIGCIS made the second Computer History Museum award (http://www.sigcis.org/chmprize) to Atsushi Akera for his book Computing a Natural World. The second SIGCIS Workshop, http://www.sigcis.org/workshop10, was a great success. See the full report at http://www.sigcis.org/node/13. We are already planning for next year's. SHOT's 2011 meeting is collocated with the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing editorial board meeting, as well as with several scholarly societies, and so we anticipate a particularly good turnout among the field's best known scholars. Despite our focus on institutional sustainability the SIGCIS team did launch several new projects. These fit with our philosophy of looking for simple, easy and low cost ways to strengthen the international scholarly community in history of computing. This year's breakout hit was the syllabus repository (http://www.sigcis.org/syllabi) It now holds around forty syllabi showcasing a broad range of approaches to teaching in the area. (Here's a new year resolution: if you have a new syllabus and are willing to share it please send a copy now to secretary(a)sigcis.org) Our team of international vice presidents added new resource guides for the history of computing in Britain (http://www.sigcis.org/britain) and Japan (http://www.sigcis.org/japan) We also added a new edition of Anne Fitzpatrick's Pioneers of Soviet Computing to the Member Contributions area (http://www.sigcis.org/contributions) Next year we will be looking for new ways to strengthen this part of the website. Another new initiative is currently unfolding. Behind the scenes we updated the site this year to use a current release of Drupal, fixing some glitches that had accumulated over the years. Our platform includes blogging and comment capabilities, and we have been experimenting with the best way to use it. Chris McDonald of Princeton and Marie Hicks of Duke have recently joined the SIGCIS executive committee (http://www.sigcis.org/node/6) and have taken special responsibility for this. Dag Spicer will also be blogging to keep us up to date with events at the Computer History Museum. You can see the latest from them at http://www.sigcis.org/blog. All SIGCIS members can login to post comments. If you would like your own blog on the site them please contact us. In the future we will be experimenting with ways to use blogs, wikis, and the email list together - for example by asking a question by email and then having answers accumulate on a blog page. Another good new year resolution: check your entry in our member directory at http://www.sigcis.org/members and make any updates needed by logging in at http://www.sigcis.org/user. Thanks to all of you who have contributed to SIGCIS over the past year, whether as email posters, organizers, donors, syllabus providers, bidders in the book auction, workshop attendees, or readers of our website and messages. If you have ideas on how to make 2011 another record breaking year for the SIG, or would like to get involved as a volunteer, then please get in touch. Happy holidays, Tom Haigh, SIGCIS chair www.tomandmaria.com/tom

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SHOT SIGCIS dinner--headcount needed! (Please respond by Tuesday at noon)
by Marie Hicks 31 Oct '11

31 Oct '11

Dear all, If you are planning to stay and have dinner Sunday night with the SIGCIS after the workshop, could you please shoot me a quick email so that I can get an accurate headcount? No need to email if you can't make it--only if you do plan to stay. In order to make sure we have the most accurate headcount possible at this point, I'd appreciate a quick confirmation email even if you have already previously mentioned to me that you planned to stay for dinner. Thanks for your help, have a safe trip to Cleveland, and don't forget to take a look at the papers for the dissertations-in-progress and works-in-progress sessions linked from the online program if you haven't already: www.sigcis.org Best, Marie _______________ Marie Hicks, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of History of Technology Lewis Department of the Humanities Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL mhicks1(a)iit.edu www.mariehicks.net

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More on WW II Computing
by John Impagliazzo 30 Oct '11

30 Oct '11

Hi all, I thought you might be interested in this BBC rendition of another part of computing history. Currently, it is available only in the UK. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Documentary that reveals the secret story behind one of the greatest intellectual feats of World War II, a feat that gave birth to the digital age. In 1943, a 24-year-old maths student and a GPO engineer combined to hack into Hitler's personal super-code machine - not Enigma but an even tougher system, which he called his 'secrets writer'. Their break turned the Battle of Kursk, powered the D-day landings and orchestrated the end of the conflict in Europe. But it was also to be used during the Cold War - which meant both men's achievements were hushed up and never officially recognised. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016ltm0 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX John John Impagliazzo, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, Hofstra University Editor-in-Chief, ACM Inroads; IEEE Life Fellow

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Friedrich A. Kittler, 1943-2011
by Bernard Dionysius Geoghegan 27 Oct '11

27 Oct '11

Dear Members, This list feels a little morose lately with all the death notices. I guess that the passing of so many founders says something about the historicity and age of the digital computer itself. Alas, we can one more to the list. One of our field's most eccentric historians and commentators, Friedrich A. Kittler, recently died. Though largely known as a literary critic and media theorist, he's also had (and has) a major impact on the historiography of technology and computing , particularly in Germany. I wrote an obituary for him. It's online at http://critinq.wordpress.com/2011/10/20/in-memoriam-friedrich-a-kittler-194… Best, Bernie Bernard Dionysius Geoghegan Institut für Kulturwissenschaft Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin www.bernardg.com

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SIGCIS 2011 Meeting: Read Works in Progress Online Now!
by Marie Hicks 26 Oct '11

26 Oct '11

Folks, I'm very pleased to be able to tell you that 5 out of the 6 works-in-progress papers for this year's SIGCIS workshop are now available online, linked from the online program. Please have a look at them before the conference and consider attending either the dissertations-in-progress session in the morning, or the works-in-progress session in the afternoon. The dissertation session, in particular, with works ranging over topics in disability studies, telegraph information infrastructure, and the history of gender and sexuality promises to engender a lively discussion, and the afternoon works-in-progress session, with papers looking at communities and networks in the development of computing will no doubt promote terrific discussion as well. The direct link for the papers is: http://mypages.iit.edu/~mhicks1/SIGCIS2011WIP/ I look forward to seeing many of you at SHOT in a few weeks. Best, Marie _______________ Marie Hicks, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of History of Technology Lewis Department of the Humanities Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL mhicks1(a)iit.edu www.mariehicks.net

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SHOT - donations needed for our book auction
by Thomas Haigh 17 Oct '11

17 Oct '11

Hello SIGCIS members, Another pre-SHOT ritual is the call for donations for our book auction. This is a centerpiece of our annual lunch meeting (37 people registered so far). This started five years ago as a way to get spare copies of history of computing books to good homes while raising money for the SIG in the process. Thanks to the enthusiastic support of our members, and the generosity of MIT Press (I'm told another well-stuffed box of books is on its way for us) we've been able to raise about $800 a year from the auction in recent years. This has been used for some of our graduate student travel awards (total funding this year over $2,000). One way to support the auction is just to bring your books to the lunch meeting. However several members (e.g. Jim Cortada and Paul Ceruzzi) have been kind enough to mail me books even when they weren't able to attend in person or didn't want to carry them there. When I get multiple copies of a single book I sometimes hold back some for the next year, not to flood the market. So, if there are history of computing books gathering dust on your shelf that you might be willing to donate then please let me know. On request I can note down the amount your books raise and acknowledge this as a charitable contribution to SHOT by the donor. Tom

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SHOT: Online Directory Entires & Registration
by Thomas Haigh 17 Oct '11

17 Oct '11

Hello everyone, It's that "two weeks to SHOT" time of year again. I'm looking forward to seeing many of you again, and to meeting some members for the first time. Look for more messages in the near future, including those summarizing material related to IT history at the SHOT meeting and the collocated 4S and HSS gatherings. One of the things we do is to collect the entries from our online directory at http://www.sigcis.org/members for everyone who we know is attending SHOT. These are printed in the SIGCIS booklet, as a way of helping people get together and of streamlining the lunch meeting so that only new members need introduce themselves verbally to the group. So please take a moment to check that your directory entry is still accurate, and to login and make any necessary updates. Some are rather minimalist, speak of events in 2007 in the present tense, etc. Another point: if you are coming to our full day Sunday workshop and have not yet registered for SHOT then the deadline is Friday. Details at http://www.sigcis.org/workshop11. One day registration is $70, for those not attending the full meeting. If you want to attend the SIGCIS workshop but aren't presenting at it then you can come to the workshop (and other SHOT sessions) without registering as long as you have registered for 4S or HSS. However, in this case we will have no record that you plan to attend. So if you registered for one of the other collocated meetings but are coming to the workshop then please let me know so that we add you to the email list for last minute announcements, submit an accurate count for our coffee break needs, etc. Tom

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Another tough loss: Dennis Ritchie
by Evan Koblentz 13 Oct '11

13 Oct '11

https://plus.google.com/u/0/101960720994009339267/posts/ENuEDDYfvKP?hl=en Rob Pike says Dennis Ritchie died this weekend. I'm writing a blog post tonight for Computerworld magazine. If anybody would like to share some thoughts about Dennis and/or the C language, then please email me privately ASAP tonight, evan(a)snarc.net.

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Koomey's Law findings first published in the Annals
by Jeffrey Yost 11 Oct '11

11 Oct '11

Writings on Koomey's Law have taken off over the past 30 days following the publication of Jonathan Koomey, Stephen Berard, Marla Sanchez and Henry Wong's research article "Implications of Historical Trends in the Electrical Efficiency of Computing" in IEEE Annals of the History of Computing (July-Sept 2011 vol. 33 no. 3.--issue was out in late August). In an age of pervasive mobile devices--many of these publications are citing it alongside, in comparison to, or even possibly superseding in importance Moore's Law (including The Economist article Tom sent and an article in Technology Review). (Only time will tell and it is an extremely steep hill to reach the level of Moore's insightful prediction/self-fulfilling prophecy--but a fascinating and important article in the Annals that I urge you read). Here are a few other examples of recent articles that cite the Annals breaking this critical research: (MIT's) Technology Review article from mid-Sept. http://www.technologyreview.com/printer_friendly_article.aspx?id=38548 Infoworld http://www.infoworld.com/t/green-it/koomeys-law-computing-efficiency-keeps-… Best, Jeff Jeffrey R. Yost, Ph.D. Associate Director, Charles Babbage Institute Editor-in-Chief, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing Faculty, History of Science, Technology and Medicine University of Minnesota > A deeper law than Moore's? > > Oct 10th 2011, 13:28 by The Economist online > > http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/10/computing-power > > There "IEEE Annals" is described as an "industry research journal," which > probably will attract 100x readers. > > Congrats! --Tom Misa > _______________________________________________ > This email is relayed from members(a)sigcis.org, the email discussion list > of SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at > http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/ and you can change your subscription > options at http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members > -- Jeffrey R. Yost, Ph.D. Associate Director, Charles Babbage Institute Faculty, Program in the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Editor-in-Chief, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 222 21st Avenue South University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN 55455 612 624 5050 Phone 612 625 8054 Fax

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IEEE ANNALS in The Economist
by Thomas J. Misa 11 Oct '11

11 Oct '11

An article from a recent annals is prominently featured in The Economist magazine. (Thanks to Dag Spicer for the early alert.) Computing power A deeper law than Moore's? Oct 10th 2011, 13:28 by The Economist online http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/10/computing-power There "IEEE Annals" is described as an "industry research journal," which probably will attract 100x readers. Congrats! --Tom Misa

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