November 2011 - Members - lists.sigcis.org

computer exhibit: request for help
by hemmendd＠union.edu 19 Nov '11

19 Nov '11

This message went to the ACM SIGCSE list. Can anyone in SIGCIS help him? David Hemmendinger hemmendd(a)union.edu Professor Emeritus http://athena.union.edu/~hemmendd Computer Science Dept. +1 518 346 4489 Union College, Schenectady, NY 12308 FAX: +1 518 388 6789 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- My department has received a donation of approximately 30 "antique" personal computers and associated paraphernalia , including a TRS80 with 8 inch floppies, a first generation IBM PC, a T1000 laptop, etc. We plan to display these in the foyer of our building. We are a bunch of computer scientists, however, with no expertise in buying or building display cabinets, securing the displays, etc. Does anyone out there is SIGCSE land have experience they care to share with setting up a personal computer museum display? Thanks, Stu Hansen ******************************************** * Stuart Hansen, Chair CS Department * UW-Parkside * (262) 595 - 3395 hansen(a)UWP.EDU

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CfP History and Philosophy of Programming -- IACAP/AISB world congress, July 2012
by Liesbeth De Mol 18 Nov '11

18 Nov '11

Dear all, I hope this conference will be of interest to some of you, best wishes, Liesbeth. ------------------APOLOGIES FOR MULTIPLE POSTINGS------------------- CALL FOR PAPERS Symposium on the History and Philosophy of Programming 5-6 July 2012 http://www.computing-conference.ugent.be/hapop12 as part of AISB/IACAP World Congress 2012 - Alan Turing 2012 2-6 July 2012 http://events.cs.bham.ac.uk/turing12/index.php ------------------------------------------------------------------ OCCASION As part of the AISB/IACAP World Congress programme, the Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science at Ghent University organizes a one day Symposium on the History and Philosophy of Programming. On the Occasion of the Turing Centennial, from 2-6 July 2012, the AISB (The Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour) and the IACAP (The International Association for Computing and Philosophy) merge their annual symposia/conferences to the AISB/IACAP World Congress. The Congress serves both as the year's AISB Convention and the year's IACAP conference. The Congress has been inspired by a desire to honour Alan Turing, and by the broad and deep significance of Turing's work to AI, to the philosophical ramifications of computing, and to philosophy and computing more generally. The Congress is one of the events forming the Alan Turing Year http://www.mathcomp.leeds.ac.uk/turing2012/ The intent of the Congress is to stimulate a particularly rich interchange between AI and Philosophy on any areas of mutual interest, whether directly addressing Turing's own research output or not. ------------------------------------------------------------------- SCOPE This Symposium follows the organization of the International Conference on History and Philosophy of Computing, held at the University of Ghent from 7 to 10 November 2011 www.computing-conference.ugent.be A historical awareness of the evolution of computing not only helps to clarify the complex structure of the computing sciences, but it also provides an insight in what computing was, is and maybe could be in the future. Philosophy, on the other hand, helps to tackle some of the fundamental problems of computing. The aim of this conference is to zoom into one fundamental aspect of computing, namely the foundational and the historical problems and developments related to the science of programming. Alan Turing himself was driven by the fundamental question of “what are the possible processes which can be carried out in computing a number” [Turing, 1936]. His answer today is well-known, and today we understand a program as a rather complex instance of what became known as the Turing Machine. What is less well-known, is that Turing also wrote one of the first programming manuals ever for the Ferranti Mark I, where one feels the symbolic machine hiding on the back of the Manchester hardware. This was only the beginning of a large research area that today involves logicians, programmers and engineers in the design, understanding and realization of programming languages. That a logico-mathematical-physical object called `program' is so controversial, even though its very nature is mostly hidden away, is rooted in the range of problems, processes and objects that can be solved, simulated, approximated and generated by way of its execution. Given its widespread impact on our lives, it becomes a responsibility of the philosopher and the historian to study the science of programming. ------------------------------------------------------------------- TOPICS The historical and philosophical reflection on the science of programming is the main topic at the core of this Symposium and we expect contributions about the following topics and their intersections: 1. The history of computational systems, machines and programs 2. Foundational issues and paradigms of programming (programming logics, semantics and proof-theories for distributed, secure, cloud, functional, object-oriented, etc.) Our wish is to bring forth to the scientific community a deep understanding and critical view of the problems related to the scientific paradigm represented by the science of programming. Possible and in no way exclusive questions that might be of relevance to this Symposium are: - What was and is the significance of hardware developments for the development of software (and vice versa)? - In how far can the analogue and special-purpose machines built before the 40s programs and what does this mean for our conception of “program” today? - How important has been the hands-off vs. the hands-on approach for the development of programming? - What is the influence of models of computability like Church's lambda-calculus on the development of programming languages? - Which case studies from the history of programming can tell us today something about future directions? - Is programming a science or a technology? - In how far does it make sense to speak about programming paradigms in the sense of Kuhn? - What are the novel and most interesting approaches to the design of programs? - What are the most interesting formal properties of procedural semantics, typed systems, etc? - What is correctness for a program? Issues in Type-checking, Model-checking, etc. - What is the common structure of Proofs and Programs? Logic of Proofs and Curry-Howard Isomorphism. - What are the current logical issues in programming? - How do we understand programs as syntactical-semantical objects? - What is the nature of the relation between algorithms and programs? - What is a program? - Which problems are the most pressing ones and why are they relevant to more than just programmers? - How can epistemology profit from the understanding of programs' behavior and structure? - What legal and socio-economical issues are involved in the creation, patenting or free-distribution of programs? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ SUBMISSION DETAILS: The programme will consists of 2 Invited Lectures and up to 8 Contributed Papers. It will takes place in the afternoon session of the 5th and the morning session of the 6th of July. We cordially invite researchers working in a field relevant to the main topics of the conference to submit an extended abstract of minimum 2 and maximum 5 pages to computing.conference(a)ugent.be Please mention "ABSTRACT HAPOP" in the subject line. Abstracts must be written in English. Please note that the format of submitted files must be .pdf or .rtf. Only unpublished material will be considered for presentation. IMPORTANT DATES: Submissions Deadline: 1 February 2012 Acceptance/rejection Decisions: 1 March 2012 Final versions of abstracts for inclusion in proceedings: 30 March 2012. Symposium: 5 July (afternoon) and 6 July (morning) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- INVITED SPEAKERS: Gerard Alberts (Universiteit van Amsterdam) Julian Rohrhuber (Robert Schumann Hochschule Duesseldorf) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- SYMPOSIUM ORGANIZERS: Liesbeth De Mol and Giuseppe Primiero  PROGRAMME COMMITTEE:  S. Artemov (City Univeristy of New York) M. Bullynck (Universite' de Paris 8) L. de Mol (CLPS UGent) V. de Paiva (Reardem Commerce) H. Durnova (Masarykova Univerzita Brno) R. Kahle (Universidade Nova de Lisbona) B. Loewe (Universiteit van Amsterdam) F. Kamareddine (Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh) G. Primiero (CLPS UGent) R. Turner (University of Essex) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PROCEEDINGS There will be a separate proceedings for each symposium, produced before the Congress. Each delegate at the Congress will receive, on arrival, a memory stick containing the proceedings of all symposia. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTACT AND INFORMATION: For further information please contact us at:  computing.conference(a)ugent.be or have a look at our website: http://www.computing-conference.ugent.be/hapop12 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- RELATED EVENTS The Symposium on History and Philosophy of Programming will be followed by a Roundtable on topics in the Philosophy of Computer Science on the day after. Confirmed participants include: Raymond Turner, University of Essex, UK (MODERATOR) Rainhard Bengez, TU München, Germany Manfred Broy, TU München, Germany, Marcelo Dascal, University of Tel Aviv, Israel Ruth Hagengruber, University of Paderborn, Germany Giovanni Sartor, EUI – European University Institute, Florence, Italy Dov M. Gabbay, King's College, London, UK Jean-Gabriele Ganascia, University Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris, France Gilles Dowek, l'Ècole polytechnique, Paris, France Jan van Leeuwen, Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands Lothar Philipps, University of Munich, Germany Giovanni Sartor, EUI – European University Institute, Florence, Italy Kevin Ashley, University of Pittsburgh, USA Hennry Prakken, Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands Erich Schweighofer, University of Vienna, Austria Yoshino Hajime, Meiji Gakuin University, Tokio, Japan Douglas Walton, University of Windsor, Canada Topics include: *Philosophical approaches to Computer Science *Just Counting Machines? From Leibniz via Lovecraft and Babbage to Turing, Zuse and von Neumann. *Which kinds of logic and mathematical concepts are suitable for machines and humans to understand machines? Everyone is cordially invited

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Collection of free IEEE Annals articles for SHOT -- limited time
by Thomas Haigh 17 Nov '11

17 Nov '11

Hello everyone, Sorting my papers from the recent SHOT conference I came across an insert from IEEE Annals of the History of Computing explaining that outgoing editor Jeff Yost had put together a special package of six recent articles to highlight the journal's "high quality content" to the broader history of technology community. They are available for a limited time at http://www.computer.org/portal/web/computingnow/shot-11. Five of the six authors chosen are active SIGCIS members, and three are current or former officers of the SIG. There is also a link for SHOT members to subscribe to Annals at a 25% discount to the regular $47 price for nonmembers: https://newton.computer.org/sssubs.nsf/application?openform&promocode=annals &disc=annals-shot11. If you are at a university your institution probably has online access to Annals via the IEEE Digital Library. However a changing selection of Annals articles is always available free online, with other interesting material at the "Computing Then" part of the IEEE CS website: http://www.computer.org/portal/web/computingthen. Tom

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Fwd: ACM History Committee awards . . . Early February 2012. Deadline
by Thomas J. Misa 16 Nov '11

16 Nov '11

> From: "Thomas J. Misa" <tmisa(a)umn.edu> > Date: November 16, 2011 9:13:18 PM GMT-04:00 > To: sigcis <"SIGCIS special interest group" <members(a)sigcis.org>> > Cc: Thomas Misa <tmisa(a)umn.edu> > Subject: ACM History Committee awards . . . Early February 2012. Deadline > > Dear colleagues, > > Please see the ACM History Committee competition announcement now posted. There are TWO key points --- first, that ACM-HC is keen on funding ACM-related topics. You need to make a case that your research project has a meaningful ACM connection. Many different types of projects have been funded in the past several years. > > Second, for those of you who have received ACM funding, please MAKE CERTAIN to report all meaningful results stemming from it . . . Could be conference papers, dissertation chapters, published chapters and/or journal articles. ACM-HC is quite results-oriented, so your full and prompt reporting of results to Mary Hall, chair of the committee, will do a lot for keeping this source of funding for work in the field. > > Thanks, Tom Misa > > http://history.acm.org/public/public_documents/acm_history_fellowship.php > > The Association for Computing Machinery, founded in 1947, is the oldest and largest educational and scientific society dedicated to the computing profession, and today has 100,000 members around the world. To encourage historical research, the ACM History Committee plans to make two types of awards. Travel grants of $2,500 support smaller projects, while a fellowship grant of $5,000 may support a larger or more demanding project. Projects should focus on ACM activities, including those of members, officers, and prize winners, or ACM's rich institutional history, including consideration of its organization, publications, SIG activities, and conferences. Successful candidates may be of any rank, from graduate students through senior researchers. The current and past winners of the fellowship can be found here. > > An announcement of 2012 call for fellowship proposals can be found here (also as a pdf-format document here). Proposals are due by 3 February 2012. > > Sent from my iPad

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SIGCIS workshop & SHOT photos now on Facebook
by Thomas Haigh 14 Nov '11

14 Nov '11

Hello everyone, We've uploaded around 60 photos from the recent SIGCIS workshop and other SIG events at the SHOT annual meeting to our Facebook page. If you have a Facebook account please "like" our page at http://www.facebook.com/SIGCIS so that you will be able to see our updates and stay in touch. The photos are also available via direct links viewable by anyone: Workshop photos at: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.233609830036000.59331.1749879958981 84 <http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.233609830036000.59331.174987995898 184&type=3&l=a7c259d0ef> &type=3&l=a7c259d0ef SIGCIS session photos at: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.233602770036706.59324.1749879958981 84 <http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.233602770036706.59324.174987995898 184&type=3&l=d1a5e85699> &type=3&l=d1a5e85699 SIG Lunch (& Annals) photos at: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.233592190037764.59322.1749879958981 84 <http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.233592190037764.59322.174987995898 184&type=3&l=df17deab06> &type=3&l=df17deab06 I've tagged a few people in photos, but please pitch in to tag yourself or others you recognize. That helps to raise the SIGCIS profile in the social media world. (You can also untag yourself if you think a photo is embarrassing and don't want it to show up when people search for you - and if there's a photo of you that you really don't like then I can take it down completely). Finally, if you have any good photos you took yourself and would like to add them to the album then email me and I will attempt to give your Facebook account the necessary permissions. Best wishes, Tom

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CHM Prize 2011 Winner: Paul Edwards for A Vast Machine
by Thomas Haigh 10 Nov '11

10 Nov '11

Hello everyone, We will be following up soon with more news from out annual meeting & workshop last weekend. However, I did want to make sure that we make a timely announcement for those who could not be in Cleveland of the winner of our Computer History Museum book prize. This was awarded on Sunday for the third time, during our SIGCIS Workshop (http://www.sigcis.org/workshop11) Heres the announcement from the prize committee: The SHOT SIGCIS/Computer History Museum Prize is awarded this year to Paul N. Edwards' A Vast Machine: Computer Models, Climate Data, and the Politics of Global Warming (The MIT Press, 2010). This book was selected out of a set of more than 15 excellent candidates. Paul Edwards insightful, ambitious and theoretically-sophisticated study addresses hotly debated political issues of our time through a methodical historical analysis. It traces the construction of climate sciences over two centuries, from weather forecasts to highly mathematized simulation models, from local observation to worldwide networks. Epistemological reflections on the relationship between data and models are interwoven with the institutional and political narrative of the development of a global knowledge infrastructure, particularly in the context of the Cold War. Computers and telecommunications then made it possible not only to digitalize more data and process more elaborate models, but also to produce standard representations of the world. We trust that this book, written at a high level of historiographical quality for a wide, non-specialized readership, will find a large audience. Thanks to the 2011 prize committee: Pierre Mounier-Kuhn (Chair) -- CNRS & Université Paris-Sorbonne, Jennifer S. Light -- Northwestern University School of Communication, and Jonathan Coopersmith -- Texas A&M University. Links: Prize website: http://www.sigcis.org/chmprize Paul Edwards website: http://pne.people.si.umich.edu/ A Vast Machine page: http://pne.people.si.umich.edu/vastmachine/index.html At MIT Press: http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2 <http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=12080> &tid=12080 At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Vast-Machine-Computer-Climate-Politics/dp/0262013924 Background: The Computer History Museum Prize is awarded to the author of an outstanding book in the history of computing broadly conceived, published during the prior three years. The prize of $1000 is awarded by SIGCIS, the Special Interest Group for Computers, Information and Society. It is established through the generosity of an anonymous donor who wishes to honor the Computer History Museum. SIGCIS is part of the Society for the History of Technology. Previous winners: * 2009: Christophe Lécuyer <http://www.sigcis.org/node/89> , Making Silicon Valley: Innovation and the Growth of High Tech, 1930-1970 (MIT Press, 2006) * 2010: Atsushi Akera <http://www.sigcis.org/node/133> , Calculating a Natural World: Scientists, Engineers, and Computers During the Rise of U.S. Cold War Research (MIT Press, 2007) Congratulations go also to MIT Press, which published the first three books to win the prize. Best wishes, Tom

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CFP: ICA preconference on Historiograpy as Intervention, deadline Nov 15
by Thomas Haigh 10 Nov '11

10 Nov '11

Hello, I received the message below regarding an ICA preconference on "Historiography as Intervention: Communicating Across Geographies, Communities & Divides" from Ben Peters [mailto:bjpeters@gmail.com]. He asks me to tell you that "Inquiries on the pre-conference below should go to Travers Scott, <mailto:dscott3@g.clemson.edu> dscott3(a)g.clemson.edu." As I was reminded at the SIGCIS workshop over the weekend, a significant convergence is taking place between the historical communities concerned with communications history and the history of computing/IT. This is driven in part by the real-world convergence of the technologies from the 1970s onward, but I suspect that we'll also start to see hitherto neglected parallels emerging in studies of earlier eras as well. The push within the "information school" world to define a hybrid field of "information history" is another interesting chance to make new kinds of connections. In another generation or two it may seem odd to people that we ever thought of communications history and computing history as largely distinct. Tom ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Communication History Interest Group <communicationhistory(a)communicationhistory.org> Date: Wed, Nov 9, 2011 at 3:35 PM Subject: [commhistlist] Reminder: CFP deadline approaching, ICA preconference To: discussion(a)communicationhistory.org (Mailing list information, including unsubscription instructions, is located at the end of this message.) Reminder: Submissions due Nov. 15 "Historiography as Intervention: Communicating Across Geographies, Communities & Divides" International Communication Association Preconference Sponsored by the Communication History Interest Group: Phoenix, May 24, 2012 [note corrected date] Historiography can engage in contemporary struggles and change the way we see the world and its possibilities. This ICA preconference aims to instigate intersections and encounters that can provoke collaborative interventions with issues facing our discipline, schools, communities, and countries. Proposals should present historiographic methods and/or historic data, theories or subject matter within a framework of social intervention by providing tools, offering insight or communicating information. Work should be from or of interest to historians and communication scholars. Innovative proposals for transdisciplinary, multimodal or media-based presentations (e.g., interactive digital archives, documentary screenings, database tours) are highly encouraged. Send abstracts of 300 words by November 15, 2011 to D. Travers Scott, dscott3(a)g.clemson.edu. Authors will be informed of decisions by December 15, 2011. Papers due May 1, 2012. Preconference will be at the conference hotel, the Phoenix Sheraton Downtown. Sponsored by the International Communication Association's Communication History Interest Group. Organized by D. Travers Scott, Clemson University, with Devon Powers, Drexel University. The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription: You are subscribed to the following list: Communication History Discussion List using the following email: bjpeters(a)gmail.com You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL: http://www.communicationhistory.org/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/u/commhistlist/ <http://www.communicationhistory.org/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/u/%5Blist%5D/> If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address. Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism. You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen: http://www.communicationhistory.org/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/list/commhistlist <http://www.communicationhistory.org/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/list/commhistlist > If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at: communicationhistory(a)communicationhistory.org <mailto:communicationhistory@communicationhistory.org> The following physical address is associated with this mailing list: David Park Gustav E. Beerly Assistant Professor Department of Communication Lake Forest College 555 N. Sheridan Road Lake Forest, IL 60045-2399 Mailing List Powered by Dada Mail <http://www.communicationhistory.org/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/what_is_dada_mail />

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Steve Jobs, The Lost Interview
by Hansen Hsu 09 Nov '11

09 Nov '11

Apparently the rest of an interview that Jobs did with Bob Cringely for his problematic 1995 documentary, "Triumph of the Nerds," has turned up and will be shown in entirety in selected theaters in limited engagement. I don't know what new information it will reveal, but it may be interesting to see nonetheless. http://www.stevejobsthelostinterview.com/

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slides from FastLane talk
by Thomas J. Misa 07 Nov '11

07 Nov '11

Thanks to all --- esp. Tom and Marie --- for the wonderful SIGCIS workshop yesterday. Several people asked me about slides from my talk, so I've posted them here. http://www.tc.umn.edu/~tmisa/papers/2011_SHOT_SIGCIS.pdf Best, Tom

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MIT Press: Platform Studies Series
by Thomas Haigh 03 Nov '11

03 Nov '11

Hello everyone, Below is a message relayed from Ian Bogost regarding the new MIT Press platform studies series. I like his book on the VCS a lot, and thanks to MIT Press one lucky bidder will be walking away with a copy at our auction tomorrow. (We'll also be auctioning his Persuasive Games and some related titles such as Code/Play and The Machinima Reader). In general it would be great to get the history of computing community more involved with the various new movements emerging such as "platform studies," "software studies," "critical code studies," "demoscene studies," etc. As historians we've rather under conceptualized software and haven't done much to probe it as a new and interesting kind of artifact. Likewise a historical perspective could strengthen these other fields. Tom > I'm hoping to make the SIGCIS community aware of a book series I co-edit at the MIT Press called Platform Studies, which invites books that investigate the relationships between the hardware and software design of computing systems and the creative or cultural works produced with those systems. I co-authored the first book in the series on the Atari VCS, and we have books out next year on the Amiga and the Wii. We're actively seeking new books and I have a suspicion that some of the SIGCIS folks might have projects that would be appropriate, as we're particularly interested in historical topics. Here are a couple links: > > http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/browse/browse.asp?btype=6 <http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/browse/browse.asp?btype=6&serid=172> &serid=172 > http://platformstudies.com > > Ian > > Ian Bogost, Ph.D. > Professor > Director, Graduate Program in Digital Media > > Georgia Institute of Technology > Digital Media/TSRB 320B > 85 Fifth Street NW > Atlanta, GA 30308-1030 > > ibogost(a)gatech.edu > +1 (404) 894-1160 (tel) > +1 (404) 894-2833 (fax)

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