January 2014 - Members - lists.sigcis.org

My column on Turing and the Invention of the Computer
by Thomas Haigh 12 May '14

12 May '14

Hello everyone, You may be interested in my newly published Communications of the ACM Column "Actually, Turing Did Not Invent the Computer." (It was supposed to be "didn't'" but I think that was an informality too far for the ACM). You can read it at http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2014/1/170862-actually-turing-did-not-invent-t he-computer/abstract. Or if you do not have an ACM subscription, http://www.tomandmaria.com/tom/Writing/CACMActuallyTuringDidNotInventTheComp uter.pdf. This had its origins in my presentation of some of my ongoing work on ENIAC over the summer, where I was discussing the different clusters of ideas found in von Neumann's 1945 "First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC." I'd expected that any questions about the attribution of these ideas to von Neumann would come from partisans shouting that he had merely stolen the ideas of Eckert and Mauchly and had preemptively noted that while the credit for these ideas had been disputed the impact of the report hadn't. Instead, all anyone wanted to talk about was how von Neumann had taken the ideas from. Turing! Further investigation revealed that a series of increasingly tenuous claims about the similarity between Turing's famous paper and the "First Draft" had been spreading in recent years, reaching a peak with Turing's recent centenary. Professionally trained historians of computing largely moved on from the events of the 1940s a generation ago, leaving the history of early computing to computer scientists, philosophers, logicians, and the partisans of various famous machines and their inventors. (This is beginning to change again, fortunately). I think also that the public really has room in its collective memory for just one famous person per technology, usually its inventor. Thus if someone has heard of Turing doing something famous with computers then they are likely to assume he invented the computer. Hence the need for a concise and balanced assessment of the actual situation. The paper is indebted to discussions with many of you on this topic, including Paul Ceruzzi, David Hemmendinger, Edgar G. Daylight, Pierre Mounier Kuhn, and my collaborator on the ENIAC project Mark Priestley. Best wishes, Tom

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Bletchley Park Dispute - From Brian Randell
by Thomas Haigh 30 Jan '14

30 Jan '14

[Brian asked me to forward this] Hi: Here is an excellent analysis of the Bletchley Park dispute by Gareth Halfacre: http://freelance.halfacree.co.uk/2014/01/disharmony-at-bletchley-park/ (I also recommend reading the comments that accompany the analysis.) Cheers Brian Randell School of Computing Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU EMAIL = Brian.Randell(a)ncl.ac.uk PHONE = +44 191 222 7923 URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/people/brian.randell

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Fwd: Possible panel: BSHS, St Andrews, Scotland, 3-6 July
by Marie Hicks 29 Jan '14

29 Jan '14

Forwarded on behalf of James Sumner, who is having trouble posting to the list: ______________________ -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Possible panel: BSHS, St Andrews, Scotland, 3-6 July Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 22:58:27 +0000 From: James Sumner <james.sumner(a)manchester.ac.uk> To: members(a)sigcis.org Dear SIGCIS listmembers I am looking at putting together a panel on "representations of the computer" (or similar) for the upcoming British Society for the History of Science meeting in St Andrews: http://www.bshs.org.uk/conferences/annual-conference/2014-standrews Following a couple of years working on some all-consuming projects in other areas, I'm now picking up on plans to look at the long-term history of computer use and promotion in the UK, looking in particular at the cultural trends and policy agendas that informed the discourse. I've recently been in contact with Hannah Grenham (http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/postgrad/postgraduates/hannahgrenham. html), a PhD student at the University of St Andrews -- the host institution -- who turns out to be working on conveniently similar material for the USA. The BSHS's directions for panels specifically encourage bringing together researchers at different career stages, so this looked like an obvious basis to try to build a panel. The deadline is fairly close: Monday 10 February. I'd therefore be very interested to hear soon from anyone who might be interested in contributing to a panel. Something based on another national context would be ideal, but we can be flexible. I'm also interested to hear from potential chairs or commentators: all details of format are given in the "Guidelines for Themed Panel Organisers" provided at the link above. For those who don't know the series, I can heartily recommend BSHS as a smallish (3 to 4 parallel tracks, usually somewhere between 100 and 200 attendees) and distinctly friendly meeting: those who visited the huge International Congress in Manchester last summer, and appreciated the range of social events and entertainments, were for the most part experiencing approaches first developed at BSHS and blown up to larger proportions. The Society's remit covers the histories of technology and medicine, and both are always well represented on the programme. St Andrews is an interesting and quiet (though not remote) location: for details and links, see the BSHS website as above. I'd be happy to help out if you have any questions. All best James

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Call for contributions: Women, Gender and ICT (Europe, 19th-21th centuries), 15 and 16 May 2014, Paris (France)
by Andrew Russell 29 Jan '14

29 Jan '14

Call for Contributions Women, Gender and Information and Communication Technologies (Europe, 19th-21st centuries) International Symposium Paris 15-16 May 2014 Organized by LabEx EHNE (Écrire une histoire nouvelle de l’Europe - Writing a New History of Europe), Research strands 1 and 6 (http://www.labex-ehne.fr) in partnership with the CNRS Institute for Communication Sciences (ISCC) Although pioneering studies have contributed in the last few years to highlighting numerous aspects of the gendered construction of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), via analyses concerning women telephone operators, female radio listeners, or even the ENIAC Girls, the place of women and of gender in the history of information and communication technologies remains to be reflected upon and written, whether it is the role and the representation of the two sexes regarding research, conception, utilisation or consumption. It is hoped that these two days will compare European perspectives on the historical relations that women have maintained with information and communication technologies, since the telegraph. The study days invite transnational and interdisciplinary analyses across the long term, drawing as much upon the history of computer science and ICT as upon the history of work, organisations, consumption, education, media, and gender studies. In touching upon imaginations, values, figures, models and practices that cut across the history of the telegraph, the telephone, the radio, the TV, the internet and digital devices, we hope to explore in particular the manner in which the history of information and communication technologies can enrich gender studies, and conversely the way in which the latter can shed light on studies related to ITC. The aim is to do so via numerous angles of approach (not exclusive of other approaches): - Female actors of ICT: individual and collective historical figures, inventors, programmers, researchers, professional users, consumers etc. - The gendered representations of the public actors of ICT and their evolution (discourses, advertising, teaching and education, imagination etc). - The stakeholders implicated at the heart of ICT, affected by the problematic of gender (European associations, national or transnational collectives etc). - ITCs as producers of new spaces for the expression of gender. - The specificity or not of European research in the gendered approach of ITCs in relation to the work carried out in North America. Papers should be twenty minutes in length and can be delivered in French or English. The organising committee would be particularly interested in proposals integrating a diachronic dimension and those explicitly touching upon a European dimension. Proposals of post-graduate students or early-career researchers are welcome. Submission Proposals should be sent to fgtic(a)iscc.cnrs.fr They should be one page long, contain a bibliography and if possible a proposed plan. Authors can include a summary of their publications/research and a brief biography in their initial e-mail. Deadlines • Deadline for submission of proposals: March 1st 2014 • Notification of acceptance: March 15th 2014 • International Symposium: May 15th and 16th 2014 This information is available on http://genreurope.hypotheses.org/ Organizers Delphine Diaz (IRICE, Université Paris-Sorbonne, LabEx EHNE) Valérie Schafer (ISCC, CNRS) Régis Schlagdenhauffen (LISE, CNAM/CNRS, LabEx EHNE) Benjamin Thierry (IRICE, Université Paris-Sorbonne) Program Committee Gerard Alberts (Universiteit van Amsterdam) Alec Badenoch (Department of Media and Cultural Studies, Utrecht University) Isabelle Berrebi-Hoffmann (LISE, CNAM/CNRS) Niels Brügger (The Centre for Internet Studies, Aarhus University) Frédéric Clavert (Université Paris-Sorbonne, IRICE, LabEx EHNE) Delphine Gardey (Faculté des Sciences de la Société, Université de Genève) Pascal Griset (Université Paris-Sorbonne, CRHI-IRICE/ISCC, LabEx EHNE) Sandra Laugier (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, IUF) Christophe Lécuyer (Université Pierre et Marie Curie) Ilana Löwy (Cermes, CNRS, EHESS, Inserm, Paris 5) Cécile Méadel (CSI, MINES Paris Tech) Ruth Oldenziel (Eindhoven University of Technology, Senior Fellow at the Rachel Carson Center, Munich) Jean-Claude Ruano-Borbalan (HT2S, CNAM) Fabrice Virgili (IRICE, CNRS, LabEx EHNE) Conference Secretary Arielle Haakenstad (Université Paris-Sorbonne, IRICE/ISCC, LabEx EHNE)

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Bitter dispute over Bletchley Park's future
by Brian Randell 27 Jan '14

27 Jan '14

Hi : The subject line is the BBC's headline for a news report broadcast last Friday, but no longer available on the BBC website. >From ZDNet: http://www.zdnet.com/national-computer-museum-downgraded-by-bletchley-park-… > National computer museum downgraded by Bletchley Park > > Summary: Bletchley Park has secured £8 million of Lottery funding as the home of Britain's wartime codebreaking, but has now shortened its guided tours by excluding the National Museum of Computing's Colossus and Tunny Galleries, which are at the heart of that codebreaking success. It's like staging Hamlet without the prince. > > The National Museum of Computing (TNMOC) at Bletchley Park is being isolated by the new management regime at Bletchley Park Trust, which has started an £8 million Lottery-funded restoration project. At least one of its long-serving volunteers has been dismissed for including TNMOC in a guided tour, and some established attractions are being evicted. This includes a selection of Churchill memorabilia and a model railway that was popular with children. > > The problems were exposed by tearful scenes in a BBC TV news broadcast on Friday (Bletchley Park's bitter dispute over its future, above), followed up by a TNMOC statement today (Monday). > > The Trust has reduced its guided tour of Bletchley Park from 90 minutes or more to 60 minutes, but saved time by excluding all of the computer museum, including the Colossus and Tunny Galleries. Showing visitors these galleries got Tony Carroll fired. > > "They haven’t got a clue," Carroll told the BBC. "They are ruining this place." > > On its website, the Trust says the BBC News report "created an impression of disharmony" and claims "this is not an accurate impression". However, disharmony clearly exists, because TNMOC says it is "very much opposed to the fragmentation of Bletchley Park currently being undertaken by the Bletchley Park Trust". This goes beyond its exclusion from guided tours to the erection of "gates and barriers between its own display area and Block H [which] will almost certainly prove divisive." > > The Trust's statement says: "The National Museum of Computing was formed in 2006 and is run by a separate charitable trust. It willingly entered into a lease agreement with the Bletchley Park Trust to rent Block H on the Bletchley Park site to house its museum. This museum remains on-site and accessible, by way of a separate admission charge, to anyone visiting Bletchley Park." Although this is strictly true, it's also a very divisive line to take. > > The fact is that Bletchley Park is a pleasant little mansion that nobody would have heard of -- or bothered to rescue -- had it not been the temporary home of Britain's World War II codebreakers, and had those codebreakers not broken Germany's cyphers. That they did it with some of the first electronic computers made Bletchley Park not just of national but of international importance. > > A visit to Bletchley Park that doesn't include the Colossus rebuild is like a Hamlet without the prince. > > The campaign to save Bletchley Park depended almost wholly on the code-creaking aspect, and it was the Colossus rebuild and similar efforts by TNMOC that generated public interest and, ultimately, financial support for the whole site. Having trousered the Lottery money, it now looks as though the Trust wants to keep it. In TNMOC's words: "Negotiations with the Bletchley Park Trust to achieve a fair and equitable financial arrangement to give all Bletchley Park fee-paying visitors access to Colossus and Tunny have proved exceedingly difficult. <snip> YouTube version of the BBC News item (no longer available via the BBC News website): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-cXx5PYRiw The National Museum of Computing's statement: http://www.tnmoc.org/news/news-releases/deciphering-discontent-statement-tn… The Bletchley Park Trust's response: http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/news/v.rhtm/Progress_in_Perspective-755840.… This is all very sad. My own sympathies are entirely with The National Museum of Computing. Cheers Brian -- School of Computing Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK EMAIL = Brian.Randell(a)ncl.ac.uk PHONE = +44 191 222 7923 FAX = +44 191 222 8232 URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/people/brian.randell

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Steve Jobs keynote for the Mac - Boston Computer Society
by Dag Spicer 27 Jan '14

27 Jan '14

Dear SIGCIS Friends, Be sure to read this week’s CHM blog by Jonathan Rotenberg, co-founder of the Boston Computer Society, the world’s largest personal computer user group. Jonathan looks at the first “Stevenote”--the first public unveiling of the Apple Macintosh--which showcased the Mac to the world and, in the process, changed computer marketing from a dry affair listing ’speeds and feeds’ into a rock concert. Included is the full video of the event, including a great panel discussion with the original Mac team, made possible by the Boston Computer Society and CHM. Enjoy! http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/the-very-first-stevenote/ Dag -- Dag Spicer Senior Curator Computer History Museum 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd Mountain View, CA 94043 650.810.1035 direct 650.810.1055 fax Follow Us: CHM Blog I Facebook I Twitter I YouTube

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CFP> ASIS&T History Fund Awards
by Lai Ma 24 Jan '14

24 Jan '14

The ASIS&T History Fund Advisory Board announces the following two competitive awards for 2014: 1) The ASIS&T History Fund Research Award This award will be for a maximum of $1,000 and will be awarded for the best research proposal submitted by April 30, 2014. All topics relevant to the history of information science and technology may be proposed. The proposal should include: the central topic or question to be researched and an extended abstract, qualifications of the researcher (brief vita should be included), a budget and how the funds will be expended. All funds must be expended by June 30, 2015. Submit proposal to http://www.softconf.com/asist2/History/ 2) The ASIS&T History Fund Best Paper Award This award will be for a maximum of $500 and will be awarded for the best paper submitted by April 30, 2014. All topics relevant to the history of information science and technology will be considered. The paper should not have been previously published or submitted to a journal. The paper should not exceed 30 pages double-spaced, including notes and references, using APA Style Manual. The winner is expected to present the paper at the 2015 ASIS&T Annual Meeting and to give first rights of refusal for publication to the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology. Submit paper to http://www.softconf.com/asist2/History/ The ASIS&T History Fund was established by the ASIS&T Board of Directors in June 2000 for the purposes of supporting and encouraging research and publication in the history of information science and technology. The Fund is supported by donations (including book loyalties) from ASIS&T members and others. The Fund Advisory Board encourages further donations from anyone interested in supporting historical study of information science and technology. Members of the ASIS&T History Fund Advisory Board for 2014 are: Lai Ma, Chair Sarah Buchanan Michael Buckland Samantha Hastings Trudi Bellardo Hahn For further information please contact Lai Ma at lai.ma(a)ucd.ie --- Dr Lai Ma School of Information and Library Studies University College Dublin Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland Web: http://www.ucd.ie/sils/staff/laima/ Email: lai.ma(a)ucd.ie Phone: +353 1 716 7592

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FW: News - The 2014 Tony Sale Award for Computer Conservation
by Martin Campbell-Kelly 22 Jan '14

22 Jan '14

NEWS RELEASE The 2014 Tony Sale Award for Computer Conservation - entries invited (pictures of the award, first award winner and ceremony available on request.) 14 January 2014 Entries are invited for the second Tony Sale Award for Computer Conservation 2014. The award is to recognise achievements in computer conservation or restoration, and is open to any individual or group anywhere in the world. Managed by the Computer Conservation Society and sponsored by Google UK, the award was established in memory of computer conservation pioneer Tony Sale, who rebuilt Colossus, the world's first electronic computer, and co-founded the Computer Conservation Society. The closing date for entries is 31 July 2014. Presentation of a £1000 cash prize and a trophy will be made at a ceremony in BCS Headquarters in London on 6 November 2014 The inaugural award was won by Dr David Link of Germany for his computer art installation Loveletters, a reconstruction of a 1951 computer with software that generates text to express and arouse emotions. Loveletters' fusion of art, engineering and history celebrates one of the first artistic applications of the computer and has attracted great interest in the media and from culturally-diverse audiences across the globe. Professor Martin Campbell-Kelly, computer historian and chairman of the Judging Panel, explained the purpose of the award: "Computer history may be relatively short, but progress has been incredibly fast and it is vital that this history is not lost. We can gain important insights and perspective by understanding the context and the challenges faced by computing pioneers over the past decades." Projects, which may cover hardware and/or software and represent any period in computing history, should have been completed in the past 5 years. Shortlisted entries for the inaugural award included a restoration of Digital Equipment Corporation's (DEC) first computer and a reconstruction and simulation of Konrad Zuses Z3 Computer. The main judging criteria are: · Originality: To what extent does the project demonstrate a novel approach to conservation or reconstruction? · Completeness: Has the project achieved the initial goals set? · Ingenuity: What new techniques or processes were developed during the project? · Impact: What contribution has the work made to increasing the understanding of the history of computing? · Outreach: Is the result of the work visible to experts in the field and/or to the general public? · Publicity: To what extent has the work already been publicised or written up? A short entry form is available as a Download on the Tony Sale Award website: <http://www.sale-award.org/> www.sale-award.org/ Completed entries should be sent to Mrs Peta Walmisley, Administrator of the Award <mailto:peta@pwcepis.demon.co.uk> peta(a)pwcepis.demon.co.uk The Computer Conservation Society is a joint venture between BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT; the Science Museum; and the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. Notes To Editors About Tony Sale Tony Sale, in whose honour the computer conservation award has been established, is perhaps best known for leading the team that rebuilt Colossus, the world's first electronic computer. He was also a key figure in starting the campaign to save Bletchley Park in the early 1990s, he co-founded The National Museum of Computing and jointly established the Computer Conservation Society. Media Enquiries Stephen Fleming for the Computer Conservation Society Palam Communications t 01635 299116 e <mailto:sfleming@palam.co.uk> sfleming(a)palam.co.uk

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CFP International Committee for the History of Technology (ICOHTEC), 29 July–2 August 2014 in Brasov, Rumania
by Thomas J. Misa 19 Jan '14

19 Jan '14

A Dutch colleague forwards this CFP . . . ---Tom Misa ------------------------------------------------------------------ Computers and the ‘second industrial revolution’ 1945-1970 For the meeting of the International Committee for the History of Technology (ICOHTEC), 29 July – 2 August 2014 in Brasov, Rumania, I would like to set up a panel to compare the ways in which, during the nineteen fifties and sixties, electronic computers were believed to change society in different countries. The panel explores an aspect of the conference’s general theme, ‘Technology in times of transition’. Several prominent intellectuals in the nineteen fifties, such as C.P. Snow and Norbert Wiener, thought that electronic computing represented the core of a ‘second industrial revolution’, which would cause a social transition more profound than that created by the first one. Since computers were introduced in many countries for similar purposes, one might expect similar debates everywhere. On the other hand, different economic and political conditions as well as different cultural traditions may account for differences in reactions to, and expectations of the new technology. The panel will explore such convergences and divergences by means of a number of national case studies. If you would like to participate, please submit your proposal to me at <vanlente(a)eshcc.eur.nl> before February 1, so that I can submit a session on February 3, which is the final deadline. Your proposal of 250-300 words should include your research question, sources and (preliminary) results. Please add your cv. Dick van Lente Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam <http://www.eshcc.eur.nl/english/personal/vanlente/> ======================================================

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Re: [SIGCIS-Members] My column on Turing and the Invention of the Computer
by Paul Fishwick 18 Jan '14

18 Jan '14

Paul, Tom, and Colleagues [apologies to Marie and Tom for flooding their inboxes due to a problem I was having in my email subscription] In my lab, we explore methods of computation describable by synthetic (e.g. game-based sandbox environments such as Portal, Minecraft, etc) and tangible (e.g., physical models of computing) methods. With this strategy, the history of analog computing as well as the history of technology more generally, contain valuable cues toward the principles of computer science (the properties of memory, sequence, conditional branching and so forth). Are there others on this list with an analog computing interest, or is there another list, where analog methods are discussed, perhaps for their pedagogical advantage? In a possible departure from the norm, but consistent with an analog computing emphasis, I would claim that “the first human-made computers” were tally sticks. With the birth of number, came the method of computing. Within this particular technology, we find the basics: randomly addressable memory, ability to read and write, control, and arithmetic in its raw form---counting). On a separate personal topic, but related tangentially to this thread, in grad school at Penn, I was informed that my desk was in the vicinity of the old ENIAC work area. Indeed, my desk was definitely World War II vintage—warped, chipped and tiny. My interests were (and are) in graphics and computer simulation and for some reason I was blissfully unaware of the history of the ENIAC. I have been attempting to resurrect this interest starting with one simulator that I found on line. If others exist, please let me know where I might find them. -paul Paul Fishwick, PhD Chair, ACM SIGSIM Distinguished Chair of Arts & Technology and Professor of Computer Science Director, Creative Automata Laboratory The University of Texas at Dallas Arts & Technology 800 West Campbell Road, AT10 Richardson, TX 75080-3021 Home: utdallas.edu/atec/fishwick Blog: creative-automata.com

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