July 2014 - Members - lists.sigcis.org

Re: [SIGCIS-Members] in memoriam heinz zemanek
by mariann unterluggauer 17 Jul '14

17 Jul '14

On Jul 17, 2014, at 4:44 PM, Helena Durnova <hdurnova(a)ped.muni.cz> wrote: > Dear Mariann (I hope I may?), sure, no problem. > > thank you for sharing the news. I assume your interviews are then in German? Are they /Will they be available? Apologies if this is a stupid question… no, not at all. i will produce a special tribute to heinz zemanek for the austrian national broadcasting corporation for our weekend computer magazine, and can put the file on my server afterwards, if you are interested. > I did an interview with Heinz Zemanek back in 2008, on matters of communication between the East and the West. It was a very pleasant encounter. he mentions a little bit of that in a talk he gave 2009. would be interesting to hear more, as i only know some east/west stories from the networking chaps in vienna, and the iiasa. all the best, mariann > > Best regards, Helena Durnová > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: mariann unterluggauer [mailto:mariann@nomatic.org] > To: sigcis [mailto:members@SIGCIS.org] > Sent: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 16:23:49 +0100 > Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] in memoriam heinz zemanek > > > dear all, > i want to inform you that the austrian computer pioneer heinz zemanek died yesterday at the age of 94. sure he did do more as developing the mailüfterl in the 1950s, but still that machine is what he is best known of here in europe. > > the last years he was occupied in research the coming about of calendars, but you also might recall his "vienna definition language". he also was president of ifip from 1971-1974 (http://www.ifip.org/secretariat/zemanek.htm) > > i think google did a recording with him more recently. my interviews are not done in english. > > all the best, > mariann

1 0

CFP: Annual SIGCIS Workshop: Nov 9, 2014
by Andrew Russell 17 Jul '14

17 Jul '14

Hi folks - Please find below the call for papers for the 2014 SIGCIS workshop, to be held on Sunday, November 9 in Dearborn Michigan. The theme for this year is “Computing the Big Picture,” and we are very fortunate to have Prof. Jennifer Light as our keynote speaker. The full CFP is posted at http://www.sigcis.org/workshop14; and the submission deadline is a little bit later than usual this year - August 10. Please let me know if you have questions, etc. We’ll be posting the CFP in various places (H-NET, SHOT, HSS, etc) in the next few days. If you don’t see it pop up in places you would expect, please let me know, or re-post it yourself. Cheers, Andy —————— COMPUTING THE BIG PICTURE: SITUATING INFORMATIONT TECHNOLOGY IN BROADER HISTORICAL NARRATIVES SIGCIS Workshop 2014. November 9, 2014, Dearborn, Michigan Keynote Speaker: Jennifer S. Light, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Submission Deadline: August 10, 2014 The Special Interest Group for Computers, Information and Society (SIGCIS – http://www.sigcis.org) welcomes submissions for our annual one-day scholarly workshop to be held on Sunday, November 9 2014 in Dearborn, Michigan. This is immediately after the end of the regular annual meeting of our parent organization, the Society for the History of Technology, details of which are available from http://www.historyoftechnology.org/features/annual_meeting/. Questions about the workshop should be addressed to Andrew Russell (Stevens Institute of Technology), who is serving as chair of the workshop organizing committee. Email arussell(a)stevens.edu. WORKSHOP THEME: When the history of computing began to emerge as a scholarly field forty years ago its first practitioners and consumers were computing pioneers, who favored technical accounts focused on the first electronic computers. Since then the field has developed in many directions, attracting scholars trained in a variety of historical traditions and working on a broad range of topics, time periods, and geographical settings. Work on the history of computing is increasingly influenced by methods and questions from broader fields and, in turn, is influencing scholars in other communities. This undermines the traditional, hardware centered, master narrative of computing and challenges us to integrate computing into a variety of broader historical stories. As a result, scholars working in or near the history of computing face some big questions: * What is the place of “the history of computing in the history of technology,” 26 years on from Michael Mahoney’s classic article on that question? * How can traditional historical narratives in areas such as gender studies, economic history, or environmental history be challenged by taking seriously the role of information technology? Conversely, what might these narratives bring to deepen our understanding of information technology itself? * Can historical questions and methods help to provide a coherent framework for new interdisciplinary areas such as software studies, Internet studies, and information studies? * What does today’s history of computing literature have to offer to computer scientists and other audiences without specialist historical training? * How can we take seriously the complexities and unique features of computing technology while still producing work that transcends technical detail to tell stories and advance arguments of scholarly interest? We expect most submissions to focus on particular stories rather than on directly answering these weighty questions, but would appreciate it if presenters made an effort to connect their stories to broader narratives and in doing to provide a particular practical answer to one of the questions. SIGCIS has a tradition of welcoming all types of contributions related to the history of computing and information, whether or not there is an explicit connection with the annual theme. Our membership is international and interdisciplinary, and our members examine the history of information technologies and their place within society from a variety of scholarly perspectives including the history of technology, business history, labor history, social history, the history of science, science studies, communications, gender and sexuality studies, computing, and museum studies. SUBMISSION AND FURTHER DETAILS: Proposals for entire sessions and individual presenters are both welcome. We hope to run special sessions featuring dissertations in progress and other works in progress. The workshop is a great opportunity to get helpful feedback on your projects in a relaxed and supportive environment. All proposals will be subject to a peer review process based on abstracts. For information on submission formats and links to our online submission system please view the full call at http://www.sigcis.org/workshop14. As planning progresses we will post updates, the full program, and precirculated materials there. We will provide acceptance decisions by August 24. TRAVEL SUPPORT: The top financial priority of SIGCIS is the support of travel expenses for graduate students, visiting faculty without institutional travel support, and others who would be unable to attend the meeting without travel assistance. Awards are usually in the $200-$500 range and cannot cover the full cost of attending the meeting.

2 1

Fwd: Historian of Technology Cruelly Crushes Internet Myths
by B. Randell 04 Jul '14

04 Jul '14

Hi: I was sent this by a colleague and thought it worth passing on to the list. Cheers Brian Randell > > http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/2014/07/01/historian-of-tec… > > Cross-Check > > > Critical views of science in the news > Cross-Check Home > Historian of Technology Cruelly Crushes Internet Myths > By John Horgan | July 1, 2014 | 4 > The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American. > > Email Print > > As readers of this blog know, since 2005 I’ve been teaching at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. One of the best parts of being an academic is hanging out with cool (compared to me), young (compared to me), up-and-coming scholars, some of whom know far more about the history of science and technology than I do. Take, for example, Andrew L. Russell, who joined Stevens in 2008 and is now assistant professor of history and director of the Program in Science and Technology Studies in the Stevens College of Arts & Letters. (See his website here.) Andy is the author of a new book, Open Standards and the Digital Age: History, Ideology, and Networks, published by Cambridge University Press, that challenges myths about the origins of digital technologies, including the Internet. (No less an authority than Vinton Cerf, a creator of the Internet, calls Andy’s book “remarkable” and gives it a five-star review on Amazon.) Andy’s historical perspective, in turn, informs his understanding of the Snowden affair, net neutrality and other current controversies. To get a taste of Andy’s outlook, check out his recent articles for Slateand IEEE Spectrum and—even better–read the following Q&A. > > Horgan: You’re on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and he asks you to sum up your book in a few sentences. What do you say? > > Russell: My book is a history of American information networks–telegraph, telephone, and computer networks. The main characters in my story are engineers you’ve never heard of, such as Bancroft Gherardi, Charles Bachman, and Louis Pouzin, who made technical standards that tied telephones and computers into networks. I’m fascinated by these engineers because they didn’t only focus on technical details; they also promoted distinctive visions of politics, business, and society that often flew in the face of the status quo. Once you understand what these engineers were trying to accomplish, you’ll have a much better sense for why the Internet is such a big deal in the broad sweep of history. > > Horgan: I thought the Internet was created by hippy geeks who envisioned a world with more peace, love, happiness and bandwidth. Are you telling me I was wrong? > > Russell: Yes! The core technologies that define the Internet–the TCP/IP standards–were sponsored by the US Department of Defense. It’s true that a small number of the people that worked on these defense grants had hippie sensibilities. I suppose that angle has gotten a lot of press and popular attention – hence your misconception. But your version leaves out an important detail: all of the people who built TCP/IP were, by definition, defense contractors. As I say in my book, I think the best term to describe the early stages of the Internet’s growth is “autocratic design.” It was overseen by arm-twisting Defense Department managers, not by a decentralized community of hippies! > > Horgan: Have you gotten any blowback from the Internet Illuminati? > > Russell: No–those folks keep doing new things, and tend not to be too interested in looking backwards. More to the point, most of my book is not about the Internet itself. In most of the chapters in the book, I show how some of the core concepts that we now associate with the Internet–such as “openness” and “consensus”–have deep roots in mechanical engineering in the late 1800s, trade associations in the early 1900s, and telecom and computer networks in the mid-1900s. If anyone is going to be upset, it will be journalists or law professors who have built their reputations on a mythologized version of the Internet’s history. > > Horgan: What’s net neutrality, and what’s your view on it? > > Russell: “Net neutrality” is a term coined by Tim Wu, who teaches at Columbia Law School. The animating spirit behind “net neutrality” is the concern that network operators and ISPs could – for whatever reason – slow down or block Internet traffic that they don’t like. I’m sympathetic, of course, but the nice slogan “net neutrality” obscures the complicated underlying issues. I’m skeptical about the remedies that net neutrality advocates are promoting, since they call on Congress and/or the FCC to create new regulations around the Internet. Regulation in itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing–I’m no libertarian–but, to be honest, I’ve never met anyone who thinks that our current crop of representatives in Congress are capable of writing a good law in this area. And any rules the FCC passes are certain to be tied up for years in appeals litigation. Internet and telecom companies have lots of lawyers and lobbyists, and both sides of the debate are investing heavily in their public relations and legal campaigns. > > Horgan: Do you think the potential of the Internet to foster freedom outweighs its potential to enable oppression? > > Russell: My goodness, I hope so! But let’s remember: like all technologies, the Internet is a tool that humans created and use. It doesn’t exist outside of human societies. So, your real question is: “Does the potential of humanity to foster freedom outweigh its potential to enable oppression?” > > Horgan: Do you think Edward Snowden should be tried for treason or given a medal? > > Russell: Jeez, nobody will accuse you of throwing me softballs. I’m an historian, and we tend to be most effective when we can use a long-term perspective before passing judgment. So, my instinct is to wait and see. I’m sure the story will have more twists, and with these cloak-and-dagger things there is always a lot more going on that we don’t know about. In any case, he won’t be tried for treason as long as he stays in Russia! > > Horgan: How did a nice guy like you get interested in history of technology? > > Russell: It seemed like the shortest path to fame and fortune, which I’m sure is right around the corner. Right? The short version is that after I graduated from college (I was a history major at Vassar), I found a job at the Harvard Kennedy School working for a group called the “Information Infrastructure Project.” This was the late 1990s. I thought the subject sounded boring–the job I really wanted was in the Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics, and Public Policy–but I had student loans to pay and I couldn’t afford to be picky. It didn’t take me long to realize that this whole Internet thing was pretty interesting! After I worked for a couple of years, and learned a lot, I decided to go to grad school to study American history and focus on the Internet’s history. I started at the University of Colorado at Boulder, but when I finished my MA I moved to Johns Hopkins to complete my PhD in a more focused program in the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine. My friend and colleague Jim McClellan wrote a great article–“Accident, Luck, and Serendipity in Historical Research”–that sums up my story very well. [Horgan note: I recently did a Q&A with McClellan about his latest book.] > > Horgan: I hear you’re starting a new program in science and technology studies at Stevens. What’s the point? I mean, the goal? > > Russell: Yes, it’s two years old! We have a great group of faculty, and we offer two majors: Science, Technology & Society (STS), and Science Communication. Our goal is to nurture a community of students, faculty, and staff at Stevens and in Hoboken who think in deep and broad terms about the issues that matter most to us: environmental sustainability and resilience; the future of medicine and healthcare; Internet security and privacy; and directing innovation toward social justice. The best way to confront these issues is to draw on the wisdom and creativity that our humanistic traditions can inspire, and to blend those humanistic sensibilities with scientific and technical know-how. We have a nice diversity of really smart students, and several of them are combining their STS or Science Communication major with another major at Stevens. [Horgan note: See my post on the science communication program here.] This is producing some really cool combinations, for example, STS and Chemical Biology; Science Communication and Biomedical Engineering; and STS and Visual Arts & Technology. Like I said–these students are really smart! > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > About the Author: Every week, hockey-playing science writer John Horgan takes a puckish, provocative look at breaking science. A teacher at Stevens Institute of Technology, Horgan is the author of four books, including The End of Science (Addison Wesley, 1996) and The End of War (McSweeney's, 2012). Follow on Twitter @Horganism. 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

1 0

2015 Fellow Award Nominations Now Open
by Dag Spicer 02 Jul '14

02 Jul '14

[http://i7.cmail1.com/ei/r/D7/33C/50F/072056/assets/now_open2.jpg] [http://i8.cmail1.com/ei/r/D7/33C/50F/072056/assets/red_line.jpg] WEBSITE<http://computerhistorymuseum.cmail1.com/t/r-l-mlrdjit-jtdhejju-r/> EVENTS<http://computerhistorymuseum.cmail1.com/t/r-l-mlrdjit-jtdhejju-y/> VISIT<http://computerhistorymuseum.cmail1.com/t/r-l-mlrdjit-jtdhejju-j/> MEMBERSHIP<http://computerhistorymuseum.cmail1.com/t/r-l-mlrdjit-jtdhejju-t/> GET INVOLVED<http://computerhistorymuseum.cmail1.com/t/r-l-mlrdjit-jtdhejju-i/> FOLLOW: FACEBOOK<http://computerhistorymuseum.cmail1.com/t/r-l-mlrdjit-jtdhejju-d/> TWITTER<http://computerhistorymuseum.cmail1.com/t/r-l-mlrdjit-jtdhejju-h/> BLOG<http://computerhistorymuseum.cmail1.com/t/r-l-mlrdjit-jtdhejju-k/> [http://i9.cmail1.com/ei/r/D7/33C/50F/072056/assets/hall.jpg] [http://i10.cmail1.com/ei/r/D7/33C/50F/072056/assets/fellows_nominations.jpg] [http://i8.cmail1.com/ei/r/D7/33C/50F/072056/assets/red_line.jpg] The Computer History Museum’s Fellow Awards has been publicly recognizing individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the field of computing, including hardware, software, artificial intelligence, networking and the Internet. The Awards embody the Museum’s vision to celebrate the computing revolution and its worldwide impact on the human experience. Each year, new Award recipients are inducted into the Museum’s Hall of Fellows<http://computerhistorymuseum.cmail1.com/t/r-l-mlrdjit-jtdhejju-u/> at a formal ceremony, which has grown into one of Silicon Valley’s leading events. The next class of Fellows will be inducted on April 25, 2015. Nominations are Now Open! <http://computerhistorymuseum.cmail1.com/t/r-l-mlrdjit-jtdhejju-o/> We are delighted to invite you, as a friend of the Museum, to nominate an individual whom you believe should be honored as a Fellow in 2015. The nomination period will last until August 30, 2014. All nominations must be made in writing according to the Museum’s guidelines. For detailed instructions, please click here<http://computerhistorymuseum.cmail1.com/t/r-l-mlrdjit-jtdhejju-b/>. Thank you for helping the Museum celebrate the heroes of the Information Age! <http://computerhistorymuseum.cmail1.com/t/r-l-mlrdjit-jtdhejju-n/> [http://i1.cmail1.com/ei/r/D7/33C/50F/072056/assets/thin_line.jpg] [http://i2.cmail1.com/ei/r/D7/33C/50F/072056/assets/chm_logo.jpg] [http://i1.cmail1.com/ei/r/D7/33C/50F/072056/assets/thin_line.jpg] If you no longer wish to receive emails from the Computer History Museum please click here to unsubscribe<http://computerhistorymuseum.cmail1.com/t/r-u-mlrdjit-jtdhejju-x/>. See Privacy Policy<http://computerhistorymuseum.cmail1.com/t/r-l-mlrdjit-jtdhejju-p/> for more information.

1 0

Cool Code, Bro: Brogrammers, Geek Anxiety and the New Tech Elite
by Marie Hicks 02 Jul '14

02 Jul '14

Hi all, Journalist Nick Parish recently published an e-book on privilege, sexism, and heteronormativity in high tech called: *Cool Code, Bro: Brogrammers, Geek Anxiety and the New Tech Elite.* His e-book is free to download through July 3rd. Full disclosure: I was interviewed by Parish for this work, which how I know about it: http://www.amazon.com/Cool-Code-Bro-Brogrammers-Anxiety-ebook/dp/B00L9NO4DQ If you're interested in reading some of the stuff Parish references, but don't have time for the whole e-book, I've highlighted a couple of good ones, including Kate Losse and Sapna Cheryan, in this blog post: http://mariehicks.net/blog/?p=544 Best, Marie ______________________ Marie Hicks, Ph.D. Asst. Professor, History of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL USA mhicks1(a)iit.edu | mariehicks.net <http://www.mariehicks.net> | @histoftech <http://twitter.com/histoftech>

1 0

Microcomputer History Museum
by Ceruzzi, Paul 02 Jul '14

02 Jul '14

While wandering the back roads of Virginia last week, I stumbled upon this museum: http://bugbookcomputermuseum.com/ The web site is actually misleading--the museum is there, and it is open to the public free of charge on a regular schedule. It is located in downtown Floyd, VA, which is somewhat off the beaten track, to put it mildly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd,_Virginia Floyd is not near Tysons Corner! But it was open, and I had a most enjoyable tour. The collection is focused on the pre-IBM PC microcomputer days. Its crown jewel is a "Mark-8," designed by Jonathan Titus of nearby Blacksburg--a legendary early microcomputer kit. There are other similar items on display as well. I guess this qualifies as a "busman's holiday." Paul E. Ceruzzi, Chairman Division of Space History, MRC 311 National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution PO Box 37012 Washington, DC 20013-7012 202-633-2414 http://airandspace.si.edu/staff/paul-ceruzzi

2 1