August 2012 - Members - lists.sigcis.org

another book by Knuth which is not another volume of TAOCP
by Dave Walden 08 Mar '13

08 Mar '13

See my review at <http://www.tug.org/books/reviews/tb103reviews-knuth9-walden.html>http://www.tug.org/books/reviews/tb103reviews-knuth9-walden.html It will be published in the upcoming issue of the TeX User Group's journal. As the review says, I think this will be a useful volume for computing historians whose research brings them toward Knuth's life and publications.

2 1

"Stored Program" -- origins in IBM circa 1949?
by Thomas Haigh 19 Oct '12

19 Oct '12

Thanks to Peggy Kidwell (below) we have a confirmed sighting of "stored program" in the wild in 1949. In fact two, in internal IBM documents. This is very suggestive when taken in conjunction with something I noticed in searching the ACM DL yesterday, which is that 6 of the 11 uses it located through the end of 1960 were in papers written by IBM staff. So, an attractive hypothesis is that the term was coined within IBM Poughkeepsie in 1949 during early work on IBM's first experimental stored program computer, the Test Assembly. As the 604 calculator being cannibalized for its electronic arithmetic unit already had a plugboard programming mechanism it makes sense that the team would want a clear name for the separate capability they were building to execute a program stored in Williams Tubes backed by a drum. Tom From: Kidwell, Peggy [mailto:kidwellp@si.edu] Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2012 11:43 AM To: 'David Alan Grier'; Thomas Haigh Subject: RE: [SIGCIS-Members] "Stored program" -- anyone know origins of the PHRASE The term "stored program" was used in internal IBM documents discussing the development of special circuits for the IBM 604 electronic calculating punch by 1949. See, for example, Nathaniel Rochester, "Plans for the Data Processing Test Assembly," Document 05.14.24. See also H. A. Mussell & C. E. Frizzell, "Stored Program," December 27, 1949, which refers to Rochester's paper. This had internal code 05.015.37. The reference is to programs stored on the drum of the machine or electrostatically, as opposed to on a plugboard. Peggy From: members-bounces(a)sigcis.org [mailto:members-bounces@sigcis.org] On Behalf Of David Alan Grier Sent: Monday, April 02, 2012 5:25 PM To: Thomas Haigh Cc: members(a)sigcis.org Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] "Stored program" -- anyone know origins of the PHRASE Tom Two bounds for your search. "Stored Program" is not in the 1950 IRE Standard on Computer Terms: <http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.proxygw.wrlc.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?tp=&arnu mber=1701474&contentType=Journals+%26+Magazines&ranges%3D1951_1956_p_Publica tion_Year%26matchBoolean%3Dtrue%26searchField%3DSearch_All%26queryText%3D%28 p_Title%3Acomputer+terms%29> Standards on Electronic Computers: Definitions ofTerms, 1950 <http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.proxygw.wrlc.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=10 933> Proceedings of the IRE Volume: 39 , <http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.proxygw.wrlc.org/xpl/tocresult.jsp?isnumber=3584 4> Issue: 3 Digital Object Identifier: <http://dx.doi.org.proxygw.wrlc.org/10.1109/JRPROC.1951.231840> 10.1109/JRPROC.1951.231840 Publication Year: 1951 , Page(s): 271 - 277 But it is used in the 1953 IRE article on programming. <http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.proxygw.wrlc.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?tp=&arnu mber=4051188&contentType=Journals+%26+Magazines&sortType%3Dasc_p_Publication _Year%26ranges%3D1953_1958_p_Publication_Year%26matchBoolean%3Dtrue%26search Field%3DSearch_All%26queryText%3D%28.QT.stored+program.QT.%29> Fundamentals of Digital Computer Programming Thomas, W.H. <http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.proxygw.wrlc.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=10 933> Proceedings of the IRE Volume: 41 , <http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.proxygw.wrlc.org/xpl/tocresult.jsp?isnumber=4051 180> Issue: 10 Digital Object Identifier: <http://dx.doi.org.proxygw.wrlc.org/10.1109/JRPROC.1953.274275> 10.1109/JRPROC.1953.274275 Publication Year: 1953 , Page(s): 1245 - 1249 I SHOULD NOTE THAT IT IS NOT USED IN THE COMPANION 1953 article on the IBM 701. David -------------------------------- David Alan Grier Fellow, IEEE President Elect, IEEE Computer Society Assoc. Prof., International Science & Technology Policy Center for International Science and Technology Policy grier(a)gwu.edu On Apr 2, 2012, at 4:34 PM, Thomas Haigh wrote: Hello everyone, I have a query related to a project I am working on concerning the conversion of ENIAC to stored program control in 1948, initially to run the first computerized Monte Carlo calculations. All this took place prior to the first operation of the Manchester Baby. That makes the question of what one means by "stored program" a very interesting one. This question was much discussed in the early days of the history of computing (1970s, early 1980s). I am starting to dig back into primary sources for early use of the phrases "stored program" and "stored program concept" to get a better idea of how these terms were used in the 1940s/early 1950s and what people thought they meant at the time. To clarify, almost everyone who has written about this cites the 1945 "First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC" as the initial dissemination of the stored program concept although there has been considerable debate as to the source of the ideas contained therein. However that document does not contain the phase "stored program." Or indeed use the word "program" in the body of the text. Or, remarkably, "EDVAC." "Stored" shows up a few times, though less frequently than "remembered." So, ignoring for the moment the relationship of the report to later definitions of the concept, we can agree that it was not the source of the phrase. The most obvious summary of the idea using the report's own terminology would be "remembered instruction device" rather than "stored program computer." I had thought about the 1946 Moore School lectures as a possible vector for the phase "stored program" as well as the concept. The phrase shows up many times in the Moore School lectures book but so far I have spotted it only in the 1980s editorial material rather than in the original lecture summaries. By 1954 "stored program computer" is showing up without explanation or citation required in the description of the IBM 650 published in the inaugural issue of Journal of the ACM. It is not particularly common in the ACM DL material for the rest of the decade ("automatic computer" and "digital computer" are more prevalent) but continues to pop up occasionally. The best the OED can do is 1957, which is even later. So, any thoughts on who came up with this phrase and when? I'm planning to dig deeper in search of early usage, for example into the 1950 "High-Speed Computing Devices" ERA book and some of the other CBI reprints from the 1940s, but it occurred to me that someone on the list might already know the answer to the question. Tom _______________________________________________ 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

3 2

CACM Column on "Inventor of Email" affair
by Thomas Haigh 31 Aug '12

31 Aug '12

Hello SIGCIS people, I've been writing a series of entries for the Historical Reflections column that appears quarterly in Communications of the ACM. The most recent just appeared online, and will be out in print soon. In "Seven Lessons from Bad History: Journalists, Historians, and the Invention of Email" I tried to step back from the twists and turns of the "Inventor of Email" affair to explore what it tells us about the place of high technology history in the Internet age. Read it at www.tomandmaria.com/tom/Writing/CACM-SevenLessons.pdf, or for those with ACM Digital Library access at http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2330676. The column may also bring some attention to SIGCIS and to the importance of history of computing community as a guardian of the historical record. For anyone who does have an interest in the specifics of the saga I have extended my analysis of Shiva Ayyadurai's case to deal with his latest claims. Go to http://www.sigcis.org/ayyadurai and scroll down for the new stuff. If you have an interesting paper published or a talk coming up relevant to the history of computing (or, should you be hopelessly modest, if a colleague you respect does) then please do send an email to members(a)sigcis.org to share it with the community. Best wishes, Tom

2 1

Turdean on Computers in Casinos at the Hagley (Wilmington, DE) on Sept 20th
by Thomas Haigh 31 Aug '12

31 Aug '12

Of interest to members in the Mid-Atlantic area. The Hagley is always a lovely spot to visit (a bucolic estate that used to be full of DuPont factories) and David Sicilia is a top notch business historian. Christina Turdean may be familiar to you from our 2009 SIGCIS workshop, where she was part of the inaugural dissertations in progress session. She also published an article in the IEEE Annals last year as part of the New Voices, New Topics special issue, http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/ieee_annals_of_the_history_of_computing/summary /v033/33.2.turdean.html. Tom From: Carol Lockman [mailto:clockman@Hagley.org] Sent: Friday, August 31, 2012 1:52 PM To: Carol Lockman Subject: Research seminar 2012-2013/Hagley Center The 2012-2013 research seminar series begins with a paper by Cristina Turdean, University of Mary Washington on Thursday, September 20th-let me know if you will attend and/or would like the paper. Attached is the research seminar schedule for 2012-2013. Best, C. Carol Ressler Lockman Hagley Center Research Seminar Thursday, September 20th, 2012 "A Casino's Nerve System: The Development of Computer Systems in Casinos" Cristina Turdean, University of Mary Washington Comment: David Sicilia, University of Maryland Copeland Room, Hagley Library 6:00 p.m. Informal reception 6:30 p.m. Seminar

1 0

SHOT 2012 - Early Registration Ending Tomorrow
by Thomas Haigh 31 Aug '12

31 Aug '12

Hello everyone, A reminder that early registration for SHOT 2012 must be done by 1 September. After that it gets $20 more expensive - and why spend $20 more than you have to? Conference details at http://www.historyoftechnology.org/copenhagen/copenhagen_meeting.html SHOT Registration at http://www.historyoftechnology.org/copenhagen/copenhagen_registration.html. Now includes online option! SIGCIS Sunday workshop draft program at http://www.sigcis.org/workshop12/schedule. There will be more information soon about the SIGCIS lunch on the Friday of the meeting. It turns out that something went wrong earlier and the arrangement made by SHOT for our lunch was unworkable. The good news is that SHOT and the local organizers doing the necessary work needed to fix this problem so everything should be fine. Once arrangements are settled everyone who registers for the meeting will receive an email asking them to contact SHOT if they are interested in taking part in our lunch. It will be catered as usual, with a fixed charge to be collected from you when you arrive at the meeting and collect your badge and other materials. As usual we will subsidize the cost for graduate students. We will also publicize the lunch details via this list. Unlike the SIGCIS lunch, our Sunday workshop is on the SHOT registration form, and carries no additional charge. If you are attending the workshop but not the rest of SHOT then there will be a special one day registration option at lower cost. Contact SHOT2012(a)virginia.edu for details on this. Best wishes, Tom

2 1

ASIST historical preconference day - Oct 27, Baltimore
by Thomas Haigh 27 Aug '12

27 Aug '12

Hello, I forwarded the call for this some time ago, and as inevitably as summer turns to autumn here is the program. Bob Williams, one of the organizers, has asked me to forward this and would love to see some historians there. The event features at least one SIGCIS member, Andy Russell, but will be of the greatest appeal to those with a specific interest in the history of information science. Registration is a little high –early bird is $240 for student non members, $315 for other non members, but if you scroll below you will see another message about $200 travel awards for interested students which could be helpful (though you would have to join ASIS&T to apply). Tom From: WILLIAMS, ROBERT [mailto:BOBWILL@mailbox.sc.edu] Sent: Monday, August 27, 2012 1:56 PM To: 'Thomas Haigh' Subject: please post to the SHOT group et. al. Tom: Please post the information below to the SHOT group and any others you can think of that might be relevant. Thanks and I hope to see you there. Bob Williams The ASIST 75th Anniversary History Preconference The History of ASIST and Information Science and Technology Worldwide Saturday, October 27, 8:15 am - 6:30 pm _____ Schedule Registration and Fees details at: http://www.asis.org/asist2012/historyofASIST.html 8:15-8:30 Introduction to the History Preconference Toni Carbo (Drexel University) and Robert Williams (University of South Carolina) Co-Chairs, 75th Anniversary Celebration Task Force 8:30-10:00 Theme 1: Development of ASIST The Fortuitous Confluence of the National Science Foundation, the American Society for Information Science & Technology, and Information Science Trudi Bellardo Hahn (Drexel University) and Diane L. Barlow (University of Maryland) “Speaking Volumes”: Cuadra, Williams, Cronin and the Evolution of the Annual Review of Information Science and Technology Linda C. Smith (University of Illinois-Urbana-Champagne) Remixing ADI/ASIST Conference History: Some Panels SIG-DL Wishes We Could Have Convened (And Some That We Did!), 1937–2012 Betsy Van der Veer Martens and June Abbas (University of Oklahoma) 10:00-10:30 Coffee Break 10:30-12:30 Theme 2: Evolution of the Field of Information Science and Technology Where is Archival Science in the History of Information Science? A Speculative Framework Richard J. Cox (University of Pittsburgh) Research on Relevance in Information science: A Historical Perspective Tefko Saracevic (Rutgers University) Making Sense of Sense-Making: Tracing the History and Development of Dervin’s Sense-Making Methodology Naresh Kumar Agarwal (Simmons College) On the Origins and Development of Information Sciences as an Academic and Research Field in Croatia Franjo Pehar and Tatjana Aparac-Jelusic (University of Zadar, Croatia) Whither Information Science in France? Fidelia Ibekwe-SanJuan (Jean Moulin University - Lyon3, France) 12:30-1:30 Lunch and Keynote Presentation (Title to be announced) W. Boyd Rayward (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) Presentation Sponsored by ASIS&T Special Group on International Information Issues (SIG III) 1:30-3:30 Theme 3: Historical Contexts of Technology Innovations and Impacts Lodewyk Bendikson and Photographic Techniques in Documentation, 1910 – 1943 Michael Buckland (University of California-Berkeley) The rise and fall of Information Science at Lehigh University, 1962-1973 Donald Hillman (Lehigh University) How Binary Became Ubiquitous Karen Miller (University of South Carolina) Bancroft Gherardi and the Monopoly Bell System: Pioneers in Information Technology Standardization Andrew L. Russell (Stevens Institute of Technology) The Evolution of Access Rights to Digital Legal Information: A Case Study Xiaohua Zhu (University of Tennessee) 3:30-5:30 Theme 4: Development of Foundational Ideas and Theories in Information Science Pioneers of Information Science in Europe: The Œuvre of Norbert Henrichs Katherina Hauk and Wolfgang G. Stock (Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Germany) The ‘Term’ in the Classifier’s Garden Or: Dog, Man, Bites and Dollars Colin Burke (University of Maryland, Baltimore) The Dutch Connection: Donker Duyvis and Perceptions of American and European Decimal Classification Systems in the First Half of the Twentieth Century Charles van den Heuvel( Huygens ING – Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) Second Wind: The Two-Stage Citation History of “Networks of Science” (Price, 1965) Katherine W. McCain (Drexel University) Constructing Documentary Meaning: French Approach to Documentation Theory Caroline Courbieres (Université de Toulouse, France), 5:30-6:30 The History Pre-Conference Post Conference Reception (MESSAGE ABOUT TRAVEL AWARDS) On behalf of the ASIST History Fund Board of Advisors I am pleased to offer up to 20 scholarships of $200 each to attend the ASIST Pre-Conference on the History of ASIST and Information Science Worldwide to be held on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012 in Baltimore, MD. This offer is only for student members of ASIST and will be limited to no more than 5 student members from any one institution. The student registration fee for the History Pre-Conference is $200 for early bird registration (deadline is Sept 7). If you are interested in applying for one of the scholarships write a brief explanation of your reasons for wanting to attend this Pre-Conference event and send it to the e-mail address below no later than Sept. 1. Also include a note that you currently (or plan to join this year) are a student member of ASIST, the name of your institution, e-mail address, and your student status. All levels of student graduate status are acceptable but a slight preference will be given to doctoral students when making the awards. An e-mail notification will be sent to those who win the scholarships by Sept. 5. If you do apply for the scholarship hold off registering for the History Pre-Conference until a notice is sent about your application. Full details about the History Pre-Conference may be found at: http://www.asis.org/asist2012/historyofASIST.html Robert V. Williams, Distinguished Prof., Emeritus School of Library and Information Science University of South Carolina Columbia, SC 29208 Ph: 803-777-2324 E-mail: bobwill(a)sc.edu Home Web page: http://faculty.libsci.sc.edu/bob/frontpg.htm

1 0

The perils of professorships...
by Dag Spicer 27 Aug '12

27 Aug '12

Dea SIGCIS Friends, This is not directly related to computing but I thought it would be of interest, especially to those in academia. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/08/2012820102749246453.html Dag -- Dag Spicer | Senior Curator | Computer History Museum Editorial Board | Annals of the History of Computing 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd. | Mountain View CA 94043 Tel: +1 650 810 1035 | Fax: +1 650 810 1055 Twitter: @ComputerHistory FB: facebook.com/computerhistory Technology married with the humanities makes our hearts sing. -- Steve Jobs

3 2

CHM YouTube Video Update!
by Dag Spicer 24 Aug '12

24 Aug '12

Dear SIGCIS Friends, A new video from a recent (Aug 8) lecture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLE1w47eRY0&feature=em-subs_digest "The Art and Science of Google Doodles" Doodles are the fun, surprising and sometimes spontaneous changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries and the lives of famous artists, pioneers and scientists. In 1998, before the company was even incorporated, the concept of the doodle was born when Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin played with the corporate logo to indicate their attendance at the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert. Two years later, in 2000, Larry and Sergey asked an intern to produce a doodle for Bastille Day which was so well received by users that a chief doodler was appointed, and doodles started showing up more and more regularly on the Google homepage. Over time, the demand for doodles has risen in the US and internationally. Creating doodles is now the responsibility of a team of talented illustrators (called doodlers) and engineers. For them, creating doodles has become a group effort to enliven the Google homepage and bring smiles to the faces of Google users around the world. You will meet members of the doodle team and get a behind-the-scenes look at their creative process. They discussed how technology's evolution has enabled them to create more beautiful and highly interactive doodles, and the challenge that brings to the technical members of the team. You will also find out about possible risks and rewards involved when one's "canvas" is viewed by millions worldwide. Enjoy! Dag -- Dag Spicer | Senior Curator | Computer History Museum Editorial Board | Annals of the History of Computing 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd. | Mountain View CA 94043 Tel: +1 650 810 1035 | Fax: +1 650 810 1055 Twitter: @ComputerHistory FB: facebook.com/computerhistory Technology married with the humanities makes our hearts sing. -- Steve Jobs

1 0

Possible interview contact for project Whirlwind
by Dave Stearns 23 Aug '12

23 Aug '12

Hello Computer Historians, A friend of mine recently learned that his grandfather worked on the Whirlwind computer at MIT. His name is Bill Canty, and I think he's living in the Boston area. If anyone is interested in talking with him about his experiences, feel free to contact his grandson, Jack Canty, at email(a)jackcanty.com to arrange the details. Dr David Stearns Part-time lecturer, History Seattle Pacific University

1 0

2012 workshop -- couple commentator/chair slots left
by Thomas Haigh 20 Aug '12

20 Aug '12

Hello everyone, My assistant has now put the draft workshop schedule for the 2012 SHOT meeting in Copenhagen into the appropriate format for our website. It's not quite checked and polished enough yet to go on the main workshop page, but we have several opportunities to participate as session leaders or commentator which is why I am sharing our current late draft version. You can see it at http://www.sigcis.org/workshop12/schedule. The gaps where we could currently use some volunteers are shown. If you are interested get me your name by Friday, and shortly thereafter we'll do our best at matching our pool of volunteers with the opportunities. (If you are someone already listed, please confirm continued availability and make sure we put you in an appropriate slot). Currently available: . Leader for dissertations in progress session. Should be someone who has finished a dissertation themselves and has experience in helping others shape their research. The chair is a hands on session leader rather than just a time keeper, and will need to have some questions and suggestions ready themselves as well as orchestrating the flow of discussion. . Leader for the works in progress session. Similar to the above, except that they are papers/chapters rather than dissertations. . Commentator for a traditional session. The panelists send papers a week or so ahead, and the commentator reads them and prepares an informal response of maybe 15 minutes which deals with all three and should, if possible, find some interesting contrasts or commonalities. It should definitely offer constructive but useful suggestions and observations. Best wishes, Tom

1 0

Advice on a Syllabus for Computer Software: History, Culture and Theory
by Joline Zepcevski 17 Aug '12

17 Aug '12

Hello, I am not sure if this is the correct forum for this, however - I have a great opportunity to teach a history of software course in a private (fine) art college. I've spent quite some time working up this syllabus, but I would really appreciate any feedback or pointers from more experienced faculty members. If anyone has the time and inclination, I could really use the advice! The syllabus is available at: http://www.jzepcevski.com/Courses.html as a pdf Sincerely, Joline Zepcevski

1 0

Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Fwd: When was first campaign for computer users' freedom
by William McMillan 17 Aug '12

17 Aug '12

Richard, it might not come across in the article or other available sources on UCSD Pascal, but I'm convinced from many hours of interviewing Ken Bowles that UCSD Pascal and the efforts in programmed instruction were definitely about freedom, about empowering the end user and the small enterprise. Political? Not so much, if that's your thrust. - Bill On Mon, Aug 13, 2012 at 4:51 PM, Richard Stallman <rms(a)gnu.org> wrote: > In the late 1970s, Ken Bowles and students at UC San Diego produced > UCSD > Pascal, which was largely an attempt to escape from the strictures of > mainframe computing. > > It sounds like this was about convenience, not freedom in the > political sense of human rights. But I will take a look at the > article. > > Advances in features (such as drop-down menus) are not the issue here. > > Thanks. > > -- > Dr Richard Stallman > President, Free Software Foundation > 51 Franklin St > Boston MA 02110 > USA > www.fsf.org www.gnu.org > Skype: No way! That's nonfree (freedom-denying) software. > Use Ekiga or an ordinary phone call >

4 5

Early UCSD Pascal screen shot
by B. Degnan 17 Aug '12

17 Aug '12

-------- Original Message -------- > From: "William McMillan" <wmcmillan(a)emich.edu> > Sent: Friday, August 17, 2012 9:59 AM > To: "Ian S. King" <isking(a)uw.edu>, "sigcis" <members(a)sigcis.org> > Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Fwd: When was first campaign for computer users' freedom > > OK, now I realize what people are saying -- the menus in UCSD Pascal were > not "drop-down." Sorry, I'm so used to letting the term trip from my > fingers that I mistyped. > > Yes, they were single letter menu commands on a character-based "graphic" > screen. > > They did influence the development of drop-down menus at Apple. > > - Bill > Just for reference purposes, I have a UCSD Pascal system running on my Sage II Computer. This micro pre-dates the Apple Lisa, it's all bare-bones, text-based. Here is a photo, not sure if version IV.13 is an upgrade from the original. http://vintagecomputer.net/pictures/2011/SageII_Televideo_Pascal/UCSD_Pascal _Terminal4.jpg Here is a set of photo screen shots of the terminal. http://vintagecomputer.net/pictures/2011/SageII_Televideo_Pascal/ Bill Degnan vintagecomputer.net

1 0

Fwd: When was first campaign for computer users' freedom
by Andrew Russell 17 Aug '12

17 Aug '12

Hello everyone - This question (via Dave Farber's list) seemed like a good one for SIGCIS members to think about. My first thought is that answers would depend on one's definition of each of the operative terms (campaign, computer, user, freedom) :-) Andy PS you might cc Stallman and Farber on any responses that have examples of earlier 'campaigns.' Begin forwarded message: > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: "Richard Stallman" <rms(a)gnu.org> > Date: Aug 4, 2012 1:43 AM > Subject: When was first campaign for computer users' freedom > To: <dave(a)farber.net> > > The free software movement, a campaign for computer users' freedom, > started in 1983. > > Do you know of any other campaigns for computer users' freedom prior > to that? I don't mean the same specific issue (free vs proprietary > software), I mean any issue of freedom from unjust power, specifically > in regard to computer users or computer use. > > The reason I'm asking is that the free software movement might have > been the first such campaign, but I can't sure yet. > > -- > Dr Richard Stallman > President, Free Software Foundation > 51 Franklin St > Boston MA 02110 > USA > www.fsf.org www.gnu.org > Skype: No way! That's nonfree (freedom-denying) software. > Use free telephony http://directory.fsf.org/category/tel/ > Archives | Modify Your Subscription | Unsubscribe Now

5 5

A vote for history from a young student
by William McMillan 16 Aug '12

16 Aug '12

Dear SIGCIS members, I wanted to tell you about a conversation I was party to with a group of high school students who had completed a pretty amazing robotics project: *http://tinyurl.com/ctukmdb* The students were asked what would motivate more of their peers to pursue science and technology. Expecting to hear something like, "Assign more cool projects," I was surprised that the first suggestion from a student was, "Teach the history of science." I think he meant technology too. The whole group agreed. (Of course, they suggested more cool projects as well! And some remarked that, since many of them were fortunate to grow up on farms, they learned about all kinds of technology, unlike urban kids who get exposed to so little.) Bill

1 0

SIGCIS lunch - is happening, on Friday
by Thomas Haigh 15 Aug '12

15 Aug '12

Hello SIGCIS members, I was just registering for SHOT, and realized I should alert you to something. The registration form does not include a SIGCIS lunch this year. This is, I think, because we chose the university cafeteria option. The lunch will happen as usual on Friday, and include introductions of new members, our book auction, presentation of travel grants, announcements from members, etc. Good news: this gives you choices and saves you money! This also means that, as usual, we're clashing with the other Friday lunch event which is the WITH (Women In Technology History) lunch. We're hoping to arrange something for future meetings whereby we don't clash with WITH every year. We did our best to avoid the clash this year, but for this meeting the logistics of a Saturday lunch didn't work, due to cafeteria closures, etc. Our lunch is listed at http://www.historyoftechnology.org/copenhagen/copenhagen_sigs.html, but this is easy to miss when registering so please do remember that it is happening as usual and make an effort to attend. We had originally been told that there would be a reserved area of the cafeteria for our lunch, to ensure that we could sit together, and I am checking currently to confirm this. Tom

1 0

Final cfp Turing in context II, 10-12 Octobre 2012, Brussels
by Liesbeth De Mol 10 Aug '12

10 Aug '12

Dear all, I hope the following cfp is of interest to some of you, best wishes, Liesbeth. [Apologies for X-posting] FINAL CALL FOR ABSTRACTS "Turing in context II" Historical and Contemporary Research in Logic, Computing Machinery and AI www.computing-conference.ugent.be/tic2 10-12 October, 2012 Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Sciences and the Arts, Brussels, Belgium In the spirit of Alan Turing's interdisciplinary research, an international meeting will be held at the Royal Flemish Academy for the Sciences and Arts, exploring recent research into the many directions brought together in his work. This meeting is the second Turing in Context event during the 2012 Turing centennial. The first was held at King's College, Cambridge, 18-19 February 2012. It was an outreach event for the general academic public with invited speakers only. Turing in Context II is a research meeting meant for experts in the fields touched by Turing's contributions to science. TOPICS of the meeting include but are not restricted to: * history and theory of symbolic and physical machines * human and artificial intelligence * logic, computability and complexity We cordially invite contributions in all fields relating to the work and legacy of Alan Turing, both current research continuing Turing's ideas, and historical and philosophical reflections on them. Researchers from areas that Turing worked in but are not listed above, such as pattern formation and cryptography are explicitly encouraged to submit as well. Submissions should be 200-500 words abstracts and should be submitted to EasyChair via the following link: http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=tic2 Authors of accepted papers will later be invited to send an extended abstract (max. 6 pages) to be reviewed by the programme committee for publication in a volume of the Academy Proceedings Series. A volume of full papers might follow after the conference. TIMETABLE: Deadline Submission of Abstracts: August 15, 2012 Notification of Acceptance: August 31, 2012 Conference: October 10-12, 2012 KEYNOTES: S. Barry Cooper, "Turing Machines, Embodied Information, and Higher Type Computability" Leo Corry, Turing and the Computational Tradition in Pure Mathematics: The Case of the Riemann Zeta-Function Daniel Dennett, "Turing's gradualist vision: making minds from proto-minds" Marie Hicks, The Imitation Game Writ Large: Thinking about gender, labor, and sexuality in making machines useful. Maurice Margenstern, Universality everywhere and beyond, an epic of computer science Elvira Mayordomo, From Computability to Information Theory Alexandra Shlapentokh, Definability and decidability over function fields of positive characteristic Rineke Verbrugge, Cognitive systems in interaction PROGRAMME COMMITTEE: Bill Aspray (University of Texas) Tony Beavers (University of Evansville) Liesbeth De Mol (Ghent University) Luc De Raedt (Leuven University) Pablo Gervas (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) Antonina Kolokolova (University of Toronto) Benedikt Loewe (University of Amsterdam) David McCarty (Indiana University Bloomington) Erik Myin (Antwerp University) Giuseppe Primiero (Ghent University) Wilfried Sieg (Carnegie Mellon University) Mariya Soskova (Sofia University) Jean-Paul van Bendegem (Free University of Brussels) Bart van Kerkhove (Hasselt University) ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: Liesbeth De Mol, Benedikt Loewe, Giuseppe Primiero, Jean-Paul van Bendegem, Bart van Kerkhove The meeting is sponsored by: Royal Flemish Academy of the Sciences, Belgian Society for Logic and Philosophy of Science, Fund for Scientific Research Flanders, Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science, VUB.

1 0

New CHM Lectures - Now on YouTube!
by Dag Spicer 08 Aug '12

08 Aug '12

Dear SIGCIS Friends, I'm delighted to announce the publication on YouTube of several new lectures. All lectures took place recently at the Computer History Museum, in Mountain View, California. Enjoy! Dag -- Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple's Success http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvUJpvop-0w Many people consider Apple the most powerful brand in the world -- an accolade that's hard to dispute when its product line includes iPad, the iPod, iPhone, iMac and MacBook Air. Companies all over the world try to emulate Apple's creative genius and groundbreaking marketing. But what is the real secret to Apple's success? According to Ken Segall, the man who put the "i" in iMac and served as a member of Steve Jobs' creative inner circle for more than a decade, the answer is: simplicity. Segall's book reveals what sets Apple apart from other technology companies and makes it stand out in a complicated world: a deep, almost religious belief in the power of simplicity. The purest expression of Steve Jobs' unique viewpoint, it's apparent in everything Apple does, from product design to advertising. Serving as Jobs' ad agency creative director for both NeXT and Apple, Segall led the team that created Apple's legendary Think Different campaign, which was an integral part of Apple's transformation following Jobs' return. Segall's other clients have included technology giants such as Dell, Intel and IBM as well as consumer brands such as JCPenney. Harry McCracken, TIME's Editor-at-large, has covered the technology beat for two decades, writing about the Web, mobile technology, consumer electronics and PCs for PC World, Macworld, CNET, and his own site, Technologizer. He will moderate a discussion with Segall about Apple, Steve Jobs and the art of marketing technology to the masses, from the inside out. [Recorded July 31, 2012] DARPA's Dan Kaufman in Conversation with John Markoff of The New York Times http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny6xDCFU4nI Imagine what the world would look like if we gave everyone the ability to solve its toughest problems, the freedom to explore the world, and the tools to build the future. These are ideas that have been driving Dan Kaufman and his research efforts at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). He is convinced that if we build the tools and technology to empower everyone to participate, we would be amazed at the results. Recently at DARPA there have been multiple efforts to research the mobilization and self-organization potential of social networks & crowd sourcing. Two interesting questions arise: can you use the power of the crowd to solve a specific problem, and can you find special people in the crowd to solve a problem who have never been asked before? The power of the crowd has been explored through DARPA's Network Challenge (commonly referred to as the Red Balloon Challenge) in which 10 large red weather balloons were placed at undisclosed locations across the US for one day. Finding people in the crowd who can contribute greatly has been explored through a recent DARPA sponsored experiment called the Shredder Challenge. In this test, the winning solution was not resolved by the "power of the crowd," but by finding, in the crowd, those special people who may have never been asked the question. Many thought the task impossible, but it turned out that they had been asking the wrong people. An obstacle to fully empowering the crowd is the need for software programmers. DARPA has pushed to develop tools that allow ordinary people to solve complex problems. The program RealWorld gave tools to U.S. soldiers to allow them to create their own mission-specific simulations, without expertise in computer programming. Those tools have now been used to build aircraft, medical, and neurological simulators. John Markoff has referred to DARPA as an "Agency of Wonder" -- join us to find out why. [Recorded July 24, 2012] Transforming Music: From Guitar Hero to Robotic Opera & Beyond http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFKzBvInaCY "Music exerts its power when we are actively engaged, not when we listen subliminally. For this reason, I have been working with my group at the MIT Media Lab to create musical tools -- often with specially designed technologies -- that enable everyone to participate directly in music-making, regardless of background." Tod Machover "Tod Machover is the only person I am aware of who contributes on a world-class level to both the technology of music creation and to music itself. Even within these two distinct areas, his contributions are remarkably diverse, and of exquisite quality". Ray Kurzweil Join us for an evening with musician, inventor and educator Tod Machover, the Muriel R. Cooper Professor of Music & Media at the MIT Media Lab, where he directs the Opera of the Future Group. An influential composer, he has been praised for creating music that breaks traditional artistic and cultural boundaries; his music has been performed and commissioned by some of the world's most important performers and ensembles. He has also created the technologies behind Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Machover's opera "Death and the Powers" premiered in Monte Carlo in the fall 2010. The project was developed by a creative team of international artists, designers, writers and theatrical luminaries, as well as by an interdisciplinary team of Media Lab graduate and undergraduate students. Powers features a robotic, animatronic stage -- the first of its kind -- that gradually "comes alive" as the opera's main character. The Museum's John Hollar moderated a fascinating conversation with Tod - the son of a noted piano teacher and a computer graphics pioneer - who is using technology to revolutionize music. [Recorded: June 27, 2012] -- Dag Spicer | Senior Curator | Computer History Museum Editorial Board | Annals of the History of Computing 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd. | Mountain View CA 94043 Tel: +1 650 810 1035 | Fax: +1 650 810 1055 Twitter: @ComputerHistory FB: facebook.com/computerhistory Technology married with the humanities makes our hearts sing. -- Steve Jobs

1 0

interviewing in North America
by Edgar Daylight 03 Aug '12

03 Aug '12

Dear All, As a researcher in the history of programming languages, living with a wife and daughter in Belgium, I am looking for funding so that I can travel to North America multiple times in 2013 in order to extensively interview some high-profile & retired computer scientists. I have already met some of these potential interviewees at Turing events in England and have had lengthy email conversations with others (--- as a reaction to my previous writings). So most of them already know me. Can anyone help me get funding? Unfortunately, moving to the USA for a year is not an option for me due to family obligations. Each interview would require 8 weeks of preparation. If possible, I would like to interview at least 4 people (and wouldn't mind having dinner conversations with several more). Being able to meet some interviewees more than once would be nice. I can be more specific in private correspondence and am of course willing to write a research proposal. All interviews will cover the 1950s -- 1970s and will share the same themes: + the transition from special-purpose machines to general-purpose computers (e.g. IBM Stretch, IBM OS/360) (cf. Amdahl, Blaauw, Brooks) + the emerging dichotomy between software engineering and computer science + the influence, if any, of Turing and logic in the aforementioned transition and dichotomy + different notions of structured programming (e.g. Mills at IBM, Parnas, Dijkstra) + different notions of "general purpose", "general", "elegant" in programming Any feedback is very welcome! Many thanks in advance. Edgar Daylight. My short CV is available on my website: www.dijkstrascry.com

1 0