March 2017 - Members - lists.sigcis.org

Ayyadurai & Wozniak both surprised me today...
by Thomas Haigh 21 Mar '17

21 Mar '17

Dear SIGCIS, Two things which I cannot but share with you. First, Ayyadurai's lawyers have filed their documents disputing Techdirt's various motions to have the case dismissed, moved to California, and subjected to anti-SLAPP provisions. Find them here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3lxh568s9sg3kvp/AACd4nwyODhepiRsibS9n4kla?dl=0 Interesting detail there re SIGCIS. So, you may remember that way back in January, when Ayyadurai issued a media kit to go with his lawsuit, http://inventorofemail.com/thefacts/. Among other things, that said that Part of this cabal is a group called Special Interest Group for Computers, Information and Society (SIGCIS). Under the aegis of its "scholarly" blog, its chief spokesperson attacked Dr. Ayyadurai as well as any other experts and journalists who dared to share the historical facts about email's origin from Newark, New Jersey. At the same time, this "scholar" thanked "special interests" from Raytheon/BBN and the ARPANET community for supporting and contributing to his verbal lynching of Dr. Ayyadurai... All of this took place, while these "scholars" and "historians" deliberately ignored the plagiaristic and truly self-promotional history of Raytheon, and praised the "aw shucks" humility of Ray Tomlinson, the non-inventor of email. So that sounds ominous, right? Cabal, fake scholar, verbal lynching, and defamatory comments. And don't get him started on the "Editorial Board of the journal IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, which publishes false histories of email." Or on Wikipedia. Well there's a bit of a 180 degree turn in his latest legal filing. The article cited by Defendants and included with their motion highlights the difference between attacking Dr. Ayyadurai's email invention claim compared to attacking Dr. Ayyadurai's personal and professional reputation. As Exhibit B to their motion (Doc. 13-2), Defendants attach the article entitled "Did V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai Invent Email?" written by Thomas Haigh (SIGCIS) (Aug. 4, 2015), available at http://www.sigcis.org/ayyadurai.... Mr. Haigh's article analyzes Dr. Ayyadurai's email invention claim and reaches a contrary conclusion. But, while disagreeing with Dr. Ayyadurai, Mr. Haigh's article does not attack Dr. Ayyadurai's personal and professional reputation or ethics. Mr. Haigh does not call Dr. Ayyadurai a liar or a fraud, does not proclaim that Dr. Ayyadurai built his entire reputation on the claim of email invention, and does not claim that Dr. Ayyadurai lied to, defrauded, or improperly misled anyone. In this respect, Defendants' statements and campaign to destroy Dr. Ayyadurai's reputation are from the antithesis of Mr. Haigh's article. So, I guess the article is not defamatory after all. Though, to misquote Austin Powers, I didn't spend six years in Evil historian school to be called "mister," thank you very much. But that's not the only unexpected news. I'm in California at the end of the recent string of meetings at the Computer History Museum, culminating in a strikingly lively and diverse SIGCIS. Who should show up for my talk "The Other Women of ENIAC: Rethinking the Myths of Innovation" with the local IEEE CS history group tonight? Why, only Steve Wozniak. Who tweeted the event, chatted a bit before the talk, sat through the whole thing, and asked a question at the end. Giving my usual critique of Walter Isaacson's books and the myth of innovation as the sole province of geniuses, geeks, and hackers felt a little different in the presence of someone who is rather prominent in that very narrative and arguably fits all three categories pretty well (given a domain-specific view of genius). But maybe he also felt some resonance with my conclusions that the ENIAC team were less superheroes than smart (to very smart), hardworking (to obsessive) people, lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time & supported by the right institutions. After last night's appearance of Ted Nelson inside a telepresence robot at the CHM party to celebrate the IEEE Milestone plaque for Engelbart's "Mother of All Demos," and my chance earlier to give the ENIAC talk to a wonderfully well informed club of computer scientists and engineers up in Woodside, I'm feeling that I've had the most quintessentially Silicon Valley visit I could have had (short of making a failed pitch to a venture capitalist and then being run over by a Tesla). Best wishes, Tom

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ISO panel members
by Jonathan Coopersmith 20 Mar '17

20 Mar '17

I am looking for panelists (and a commentator) for a panel on *“The Changing Realities of Democracy, Politics, and Communication Technologies”* While media attention in recent years has focused on large-scale computer-based data analysis and targeted outreach, communication technologies have long played important roles in domestic and international politics. This session takes a “big tent” approach, ranging from the innovative applications of the hand printing press by Martin Luther in the 16th century and the mechanized printing presses of the 19th century to the 21st century chatbots of Brexit. Areas of interest include (but are not limited to) campaigning, governing, lobbying, data management, and fundraising. Of especial interest are the political use of computer-mediated communications such as bulletin boards, listservs, and other seemingly non-political tools. At the microlevel, an underlying theme is innovative ideas often find initial application by outsiders (e.g., Pat Robinson’s use of videocassettes in the 1988 Iowa primary) and are quickly absorbed by political parties and governments (e.g., radio broadcasts of speeches, sending daily emails to supporters) as pragmatic exploitation replaces near-utopian predictions. At the macrolevel are broader questions about how democracies have appropriated and shaped these technologies – and vice-versa. Significant literature exists on how totalitarian regimes have used communication technologies, particularly radio and television for broadcasting. This panel is an opportunity to explore some of those themes in a democratic setting. Jonathan Coopersmith Professor Department of History Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-4236 979.845.7151 979.862.4314 (fax) Latest article: https://theconversation.com/what-fax-machines-can-teach-us-about-electric-c… *FAXED. The Rise and Fall of the Fax Machine* (Johns Hopkins University Press) is the co-recipient of the 2016 Business History Conference Hagley Prize for best book in business history.

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Bill Tutte commemorated
by Mark Priestley 20 Mar '17

20 Mar '17

Rather charmingly, this song describes him as an unsung hero ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTbvQRfxT7E&feature=youtu.be Mark

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Talk, Santa Clara, Mon, 3/20: "The Other Women of ENIAC"
by Thomas Haigh 18 Mar '17

18 Mar '17

Hello SIGCIS, Those of you in the Bay Area might be interested in my event on Monday night, “The Other Women of ENIAC: Rethinking IT Innovation” with the history group of the local IEEE Computer Society chapter. It’s a fun talk, and this time there’ll be a short conversation before as well as a QA afterwards. Details below and at http://sites.ieee.org/sv-techhist/?p=621. More about the project (and previously recorded talks) at www.eniacinaction.com <http://www.eniacinaction.com> . Best wishes, Tom From: sv-history(a)ieee.org [mailto:sv-history@ieee.org] On Behalf Of Brian Berg Sent: Saturday, March 18, 2017 2:13 AM To: Silicon Valley History Listserver <sv-history(a)LISTSERV.IEEE.ORG> Subject: Mon, 3/20: "The Other Women of ENIAC" I hope to see you on Monday evening at this event. Brian Berg The Other Women of <http://www.siliconvalleyhistory.com> ENIAC: Rethinking IT Innovation (Mon, March 20) The second event was organized by Alan J. Weissberger from our committee, in the wake of a talk given by Thomas Haigh at the Computer History Museum. We have invited the local IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) chapter <http://sites.ieee.org/scv-wie/> to co-sponsor this event. What makes a computing historian tick? What motivates their research into arcane topics and to lead a group of information technology historians (SIGCIS)? We’ll learn that and more in an enlightening conversation with Thomas Haigh which will precede his presentation on the very popular book <http://www.eniacinaction.com/> ENIAC in Action, published in 2016 by MIT Press. Haigh explains that the six women now celebrated as the “first computer programmers” were actually hired as computer operators and worked hands-on with the machine around the clock. Other women, who actually built ENIAC, the first general purpose electronic computer, have been forgotten entirely. So has most of the work that made the project so successful, from procuring the right kind of wire to saving ENIAC from flood water. Popular stories about the history of information technology have usually focused on great inventors and technical breakthroughs, from Charles Babbage and Alan Turing to Steve Jobs and the World Wide Web. Operations work and the labor of non-geniuses has been mostly written out of the history of innovation, but without it no computer would be useful. Information historian Thomas Haigh has written it back in! The conversation will be moderated by Alan J. Weissberger, past chair and founder of the IEEE SV Tech History committee. Thomas Haigh, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Comenius Visiting Professor of the History of Computing at Siegen University. He has published on many aspects of the history of computing including the evolution of data base management systems, word processing, the software package, corporate computer departments, Internet software, computing in science fiction, the “software crisis” of the 1960s, IBM in Europe, and the Colossus code breaking machines. Besides being the author of ENIAC in Action (MIT, 2016) Haigh is the editor of Histories of Computing (Harvard, 2011), a collection of the work of Michael Mahoney, and the lead editor of a 2015 special issue of Information and Culture on the theme “Histories of the Internet.” From 2005 to 2015 he was chair of SIGCIS, the group for historians of information technology. Learn more at www.tomandmaria.com/tom <http://www.tomandmaria.com/tom>

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This weekend: SIGCIS@CHM
by Andrew Russell 16 Mar '17

16 Mar '17

Hi everyone - We’re only a few days away from a very exciting event, a meeting of SIGCIS @ the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California! We’re so excited that CHM is hosting us, and we’ve got an incredible lineup of speakers around our theme of “Command Lines: Software, Power & Performance.” Details of the program are available at http://meetings.sigcis.org/ <http://meetings.sigcis.org/>. If you’re not joining us in person, you can follow the action from afar: - on twitter #SIGCIS2017. See https://twitter.com/hashtag/SIGCIS2017 <https://twitter.com/hashtag/SIGCIS2017>. Follow SIGCIS on twitter - https://twitter.com/sigcis <https://twitter.com/sigcis> - on instagram (ohbytheway SIGCIS has an instragram account! - https://www.instagram.com/sigcis/ <https://www.instagram.com/sigcis/>) - after the conference, CHM will have video - https://www.youtube.com/user/ComputerHistory <https://www.youtube.com/user/ComputerHistory> In the meantime, I’m delighted to see chatter and proposals about the SHOT meeting in Philadelphia in October. Once the SHOT call for papers is closed (3/31 deadline, see http://www.historyoftechnology.org/ <http://www.historyoftechnology.org/> for details), we’ll start our familiar process of launching a CFP for a SIGCIS workshop to be held on Sunday, October 29. If you have ideas or themes you’d like the group to pursue, please reach out and let me know. All the best, Andy Russell SIGCIS Chair

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Fwd: [ecig_shot] CfP: SHOT 2017 Graduate Student Workshop
by M. Hicks 15 Mar '17

15 Mar '17

FYI, grad students! ______________________ Marie Hicks, Ph.D. Asst. Professor, History of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL USA mhicks1(a)iit.edu | mariehicks.net | @histoftech Programmed Inequality: How Britain Discarded Women Technologists and Lost Its Edge in Computing (MIT Press, 2017) www.programmedinequality.com Begin forwarded message: From: Colin K Garvey <garvec(a)rpi.edu> Date: March 14, 2017 at 6:08:02 PM EDT To: ECIG_SHOT(a)googlegroups.com Subject: [ecig_shot] CfP: SHOT 2017 Graduate Student Workshop Hi all, Colin Garvey here in my capacity as “official ECIG representative” to advertise that the Call for Papers for the Graduate Student Workshop at this year’s SHOT is up! The workshop is chance for graduate students to present papers in an "intensive workshop embedded in the formal SHOT conference.” The idea is that this will be a safe place to debut ongoing research and receive top-notch scholarly feedback on it before submitting to the main conference next year. In any case, all graduate students are welcome to submit a short paper. For first time presenters and grads considering SHOT, this is an excellent opportunity. At the Graduate Workshop, grads can present their work in the SHOT environment once before submitting it for consideration for the Robinson Prize at the following year’s meeting, which is only available to first-time presenters. To be clear, because the Graduate Workshop is technically a separate event within SHOT, participation in it does not disqualify one from submitting for the Robinson Prize the following year. [If I had known about this a few years ago I would have done it!!!!] Please consider forwarding the following to your relevant networks: Call for Papers: SHOT Graduate Student Workshop, October 2017 SHOT invites applications from graduate students to present short papers (up to 10 pages, 1.5-spaced) at an intensive workshop embedded in the formal SHOT conference. The workshop will provide graduate students with an opportunity to develop their presentation skills and to receive extensive feedback on their work. This is an exciting opportunity to become familiar with SHOT’s scholarly community before presenting a first official paper at a later SHOT conference as a candidate for the Robinson Price. The workshop will be on a morning or afternoon October 27-28, 2017 (the annual meeting runs October 26-29). Each graduate student will present her or his paper and comment on another paper. The workshop will be mediated by John Krige (Georgia Institute of Technology), Arwen Mohun (University of Delaware), Jennifer Alexander (University of Minnesota), and Colin Garvey (RPI). Proposal Format: One page in total, comprising name, contact, affiliation, paper title, and an abstract of up to 300 words. Graduate students may find "Guidelines to writing a good SHOT proposal" on the SHOT website helpful. Send proposals by e-mail to SHOT.secretariaat(a)tue.nl with "Graduate Student Workshop" in the subject line. ***The deadline for proposals is April 15, 2017 *** Download the Call for Papers here. http://www.historyoftechnology.org/news/call_for_papers_shot_graduate_stude… -- A list for the Early Career Interest Group (ECIG) and others wishing to promote the interests of early career scholars in the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT). --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "SHOT Early Career Interest listserv" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ECIG_SHOT+unsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to ECIG_SHOT(a)googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ECIG_SHOT/AAFCD80F-D74D-409C-830B-18C928A…. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

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two questions about teaching & a book announcement
by Edgar Daylight 15 Mar '17

15 Mar '17

Dear All, I have two questions about teaching computing history in computer science (C.S.) departments. + Question 1:Which C.S. professors on our planet have one or more funded Ph.D. students working on the history of their field?(I am currently aware of work going on at Middlesex London, Newcastle, and Amsterdam). + Question 2:Which academics are teaching the technical/internal/intellectual history of computing to C.S. students?(I am already aware of Giuseppe Primiero, Maarten Bullynck, Giorgio Casadei, and myself.) Please drop me a line if you have any specific data you would like to share. I would also like to take the opportunity to announce my latest book, Turing Tales, available from Amazon and other online bookstores. See: https://www.amazon.com/Turing-Tales-Edgar-G-Daylight/dp/9491386069/ref=sr_1… Half of the book is written for historians (covering new material on Turing's legacy in the Netherlands). The other half is written for researchers and educators in computer science (specifically: formal methods & programming languages). Many thanks,Edgar Daylight.

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CfP: SHOT 2017 Open Panel on "AI & it's Discontents"
by Colin K Garvey 14 Mar '17

14 Mar '17

Dear all, In preparation for SHOT 2017, we are soliciting papers for an open panel on: The History of Artificial Intelligence and its Discontents With origin myths involving many of the 20th century’s Great Men of Science and their intimate relationships with that most revolutionary and profound of transformations—the emergence of computing—the history of artificial intelligence (AI) has long been popular fare. Indeed, the field itself is remarkable for its studious cultivation of its own history, with much of the canon written primarily by AI insiders and developers themselves (e.g. McCorduck 1979, 2004; Crevier 1992; Brooks 1999; Boden 2006; Nilsson 2010). Perhaps unsurprisingly, the story they tell is more often than not a triumphant march of progress towards the current pinnacle we are standing on today—with a few bumps along the road, thrown in for good measure. Now that AI is back and booming again today, offering promises and threats of massive social transformation, this progress narrative risks becoming a hegemon, legitimating the technological status quo and closing down opportunities for democratic deliberation about the direction of change. What possibilities exist for disrupting, destabilizing, and otherwise challenging the insider’s Whig history of AI? Who and what are AI’s discontents? How have they challenged, resisted, disrupted, or destabilized AI? Submissions are due before March 31st. Please feel free to contact me, Colin Garvey <garvec(a)rpi.edu <mailto:garvec@rpi.edu>> for more information. For more details please see http://www.historyoftechnology.org/call_for_papers/open_panels.html <http://www.historyoftechnology.org/call_for_papers/open_panels.html>

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Conference announcement: "Paths into Digital Society" and „Home Computer Subcultures and Society Before the Internet Age“
by Martin Schmitt 14 Mar '17

14 Mar '17

Dear SIGCIS, I’m proud to announce two wonderful conferences organized by our research project on the Computerization of Germany, located at the Centre for Contemporary History in Potsdam: "Wege in die Digitale Gesellschaft“ (30./31.03.2017, Potsdam, German only) and „Home Computer Subcultures and Society Before the Internet Age“ (24./25.03.2017, Zurich, English). The first conference "Paths into Digital Society / Wege in die Digitale Gesellschaft“ is the final conference of our research project that began in May 2014. The aim of our research project is to analyze in a comparative perspective the impact information technology had within different sectors of society, politics and economy in East and West Germany within the last 50 years. The conference will not only be a forum for the discussion of our results, but also a attempt to connect the broader scene of contemporary history with the insights history of computing provides. Please find more information on our Blog http://www.computerisierung.com/?p=751 <http://www.computerisierung.com/?p=751> and at http://zzf-pdm.de/site/316/default.aspx#DIGITALISIERUNG It takes place from the 30.-31.03.2017 at the Centre for Contemporary History in Potsdam, Germany close to Berlin. Please note that the conference language will be German. The aim of the International Exploratory Workshop “Home Computer Subcultures and Society Before the Internet Age” is to bring together current research on computer subcultures at the dawn of home computing, to analyse their role in the computerisation of (post-)industrial societies, and to look at how these often marginalised user groups interacted with the state and the public. It will be held in Zürich, Switzerland at the Collegium Helveticum, Semper-Sternwarte, Schmelzbergstrasse 25, 8006 Zürich from the 24.03.2017 - 25.03.2017. It’s a joint conference organized by the Department of History, University of Zurich/Zentrum Geschichte des Wissens, the Centre for Contemporary Studies Potsdam and Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung Potsdam the Department of Media, Aalto University, Helsinki. You’ll find more information at http://www.hsozkult.de/event/id/termine-33330?title=home-computer-subcultur… <http://www.hsozkult.de/event/id/termine-33330?title=home-computer-subcultur…> Please feel free to contact me in case you’ve got questions on the conferences or our research project in general. Best wishes, Martin Research Fellow | Ph.D. Candidate | digital enthusiast ZENTRUM FÜR ZEITHISTORISCHE FORSCHUNG | POTSDAM Mail: schmitt(a)zzf-pdm.de <mailto:schmitt@zzf-pdm.de> Tel: +49 331 - 74510-119 http://www.zzf-pdm.de/site/991/Default.aspx <http://www.zzf-pdm.de/site/991/Default.aspx> BLOG - www.computerisierung.com <http://www.computerisierung.com/> Vice Chair of IFIP WG 9.7 „History of computing" Neu erschienen: Martin Schmitt - Internet im Kalten Krieg. http://www.transcript-verlag.de/detail/index/sArticle/3569 <http://www.transcript-verlag.de/detail/index/sArticle/3569>

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FW: Call for application: EBHA Doctoral Summer School
by Thomas Haigh 10 Mar '17

10 Mar '17

FYI (below). The theme Business History: Debates, challenges and opportunities could fit with any doctoral students aiming to integrate issues from IT history with business history methodologies. Best wishes, Tom From: Carol Lockman [mailto:clockman@Hagley.org] Sent: Friday, March 10, 2017 9:07 AM To: Carol Lockman <clockman(a)Hagley.org> Subject: Call for application: EBHA Doctoral Summer School Dear BHC members: Submitted by BHC member, Andrea Schneidercall for applications for the EBHA Doctoral Summer School.Best for the weekend! C. Carol Ressler Lockman Business History Conference Manager, Hagley Center CALL FOR APPLICATIONS 9th EBHA DOCTORAL SUMMER SCHOOL BUSINESS HISTORY: DEBATES, CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES The 9th edition of the EBHA (European Business History Association) Summer School will take place in Ancona (Italy) from Monday, September 4th to Saturday, September 9th, 2017. The school aims at providing doctoral students with an overview of relevant research results and of innovative tools and methodologies in the field of Business History. It is organised jointly by the European Business History Association (EBHA), the Università Politecnica delle Marche and the Italian Association for Business History (ASSI). Students will be accommodated in the beautiful town of Ancona debating and discussing their research with leading international scholars. The title of the school will be Business History: Debates, challenges and opportunities. The school will focus on theoretical, methodological and practical issues which are of relevance for advanced research in business history. The main aim of the school is to provide students with a full understanding of the newest trends in research in the field and to provide a friendly atmosphere in which to discuss their preliminary findings with leading scholars as well as among their peers. In this respect, the program features both lectures and seminars given by faculty and student presentations of their research projects. Each student will have 20 minutes maximum to present her/his project, stressing especially: research questions and goals, methodology, sources, challenges and provisional outcomes. After her/his presentation, each student will receive questions and comments from other students and from faculty members (approx 15-20 minutes). The organisers will cover all local costs (accommodation in a double or triple room and food), but participants are expected to pay their own travel expenses. Participation will be limited to 15-20 PhD students. Those interested in attending the summer school should send the following documents by e-mail to the academic organiser Dr. Veronica Binda (veronica.binda(a)unibocconi.it <mailto:veronica.binda@unibocconi.it> ): 1) a brief CV (not exceeding one page); 2) a summary of their dissertation project (not exceeding three pages); 3) (if possible) an example of their work in progress, e.g. a draft chapter or a working paper (in any language). The deadline for applications is May 14 th , 2017 . A maximum of 20 participants will be selected from these applications and will be notified by June 4th, 2017.

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