July 2017 - Members - lists.sigcis.org

Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Konrad Zuse's 1936 patent - German text?
by Brian Randell 24 Sep '20

24 Sep '20

Hi Mark: I have a copy of the original 1936 Zuse patent application that I had translated into English for my Origins book. (It took some finding - some of my Zemanek documents had strayed into the middle of the Zuse documents, and so had obscured them! :-) It is a type-written document, on the letterhead of Zuse’s patent attorney Dr.-Ing. Bruno Wolf, Berlin Charlottenberg 5, Kantstrasse 85, dated 9.4.36 (i.e. 9 April 1936). It is some twenty or so pages in length. However I should warn you that some of the pages are barely legible (though could probably be deciphered by someone who knows German - which I don’t). I could scan this document for you if you wish. (I have about two inches thick of documents about Zuse’s work, including a number of patents and patent applications, some pre-war, immediately some post-war, together with several typescripts from him. My plan is that this material will be added to the archive of my files held in the Special Collections section of Newcastle University Library. This already holds all the extensive correspondence that I was involved in while compiling Origins.) Cheers Brian On 24 Jan 2017, at 10:58, Mark Priestley <m.priestley(a)gmail.com<mailto:m.priestley@gmail.com>> wrote: Dear list, Zuse's 1936 patent "Method for Automatic Execution of Calculations with the Aid of Computers" is reprinted in Brian Randell's "Origins of Digital Computers" collections. Does anyone know if/where I can get hold of the German original? Thanks in advance. Mark _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org<http://sigcis.org>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org -- School of Computing Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK EMAIL = Brian.Randell(a)ncl.ac.uk<mailto:Brian.Randell@ncl.ac.uk> PHONE = +44 191 208 7923 FAX = +44 191 208 8232 URL = http://www.ncl.ac.uk/computing/people/profile/brianrandell.html

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IBM 610
by John Impagliazzo 25 Apr '18

25 Apr '18

Hi All, Allegedly, some consider the IBM 610 Auto-Point computer (1959) the ‘first personal computer’. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/plugboard.html Is this true – even slightly true?? John John Impagliazzo, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, Hofstra University IEEE Life Fellow ACM Distinguished Educator

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Email "inventor" claimant to run for U.S. Senate -- alternative facts about technology and democracy collide
by Andrew Meade McGee 18 Sep '17

18 Sep '17

Continuing with the ongoing saga of V. A. Shiva and his claims regarding the invention of e-mail, that gentleman has just announced his candidacy for the United States Senate. https://twitter.com/va_shiva/status/835420061993218048 As several SIGCIS contributors noted earlier this month, this nicely parallels the upcoming SHOT themes of technology and democracy. "Alternate facts" about the history of technology will play a major public element of this campaign next year. --Andrew

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CFP: All Things in Moderation: The People, Practices and Politics of Online Content Review – Human and Machine Dec 6-7 2017, UCLA
by Sarah T. Roberts 31 Jul '17

31 Jul '17

Greetings, SIGCIS - It’s my great pleasure to announce the following event and related CFP. On December 6-7 2017, UCLA’s Department of Information Studies, part of the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, welcomes participants to a two-day conference on commercial content moderation (CCM) of user-generated social media material. At All Things in Moderation: The People, Practices and Politics of Online Content Review – Human and Machine we will offer a new forum bringing together those interested in the multiple challenges related to CCM, and to content moderation of all kinds. The goal of this foundational event is to map the current landscape from a number of perspectives. During these two days, scholars, students, journalists, policy makers and CCM workers will share their insights in order to generate a discussion about the challenges, methodologies and frameworks that are necessary to integrate a comprehensive, academic study of commercial content moderation, other kinds of online moderation, and its outcomes and implications into existing paradigms in labor studies, information studies, computing and internet history, public policy, internet governance and media studies, to name but a few. Beyond analyzing the contemporary case of CCM across the social media and other digital industries, we anticipate that All Things in Moderation will require a look to the past and to other media sectors, as well as a gaze into the future, to anticipate the problems related to CCM and to our social media-reliant world, and to collectively think about solutions. We anticipate a fruitful gathering. *** Of special note to SIGCIS members, we have opened a history of moderation track and invite you to submit with this in mind. Please join us on the beautiful UCLA campus this December. The conference is _free_ for participants, but space is limited. Please register early (https://atm-ucla2017.net/registration/) and visit the call for participation (https://atm-ucla2017.net/about/) to submit your proposals for papers, sessions and other interventions. We look forward to hosting you at UCLA! Sarah T. Roberts, Ph.D., Conference Convener Patricia Ciccone, Conference Coordinator --- S a r a h T. R o b e r t s, P h. D. Assistant Professor University of California, Los Angeles Department of Information Studies Graduate School of Education & Information Studies https://is.gseis.ucla.edu/ Blogging periodically at http://illusionofvolition.com

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Announcement: Small Grants from SHOT
by Andrew Russell 07 Jul '17

07 Jul '17

Dear colleagues - Please see below for an announcement of a new initiative from SHOT. You can direct any questions to Honghong Tinn. All the best, Andy > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Honghong Tinn <hhtinn(a)gmail.com <mailto:hhtinn@gmail.com>> > Date: Fri, Jul 7, 2017 at 3:40 PM > Subject: Announcement: Small Grants from SHOT > > > > Dear SIG chairs, > > I am writing to share with you SHOT's new initiatives-- Small Grants, and would like to ask for your kind help in circulating the news with your SIG members. SHOT is pleased to announce its Small Grants, which aims to support events (such as workshops) relevant to SHOT’s mission, including advancing the historical study of technology and its relations with politics, economics, labor, business, the environment, public policy, science, and the arts. SHOT will consider unfunded endorsements as well as proposals for funded endorsements no greater than $3000. As the budget of the Small Grants is limited, the Small Grants Committee will consider applications for and make recommendations to the President. Deadlines for submitting proposals for funded endorsements are March 15 and September 15 of each year, and should be sent by email directly to each member of the Small Grants Committee. The 2017 Small Grants Committee members include Mara Mills (mmills [at] nyu.edu <http://nyu.edu/>), Jenny L. Smith (jenny.smith [at] ust.hk <http://ust.hk/>), and Honghong Tinn (chair) (tinnho [at] earlham.edu <http://earlham.edu/>). Applications for non-funded SHOT endorsements will be considered all year round, independent of the specific deadlines. > > For more information, please kindly see the following links: > http://www.historyoftechnology.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Small-Grants-… <http://www.historyoftechnology.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Small-Grants-…> > Or > https://www.historyoftechnology.org/shot-small-grants-announcement/ <https://www.historyoftechnology.org/shot-small-grants-announcement/> > > Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions. Thank you! > > Sincerely, > Honghong > >

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IEEE Spectrum's Chip Hall of Fame
by Stephen Cass 06 Jul '17

06 Jul '17

Members of this list may appreciate the launch of IEEE Spectrum's Chip Hall of Fame, which grew out of an article originally published in 2009 about the "25 Microchips That Shook The World." (I helped put it together in my role as a senior editor at Spectrum). The goal is for the Chip Hall of Fame to induct a new class of three to four integrated circuits each year, and we are always open to suggestions! Most of the initial inductees are drawn from the earlier article, but with updated information where needed, and there are several new chips, including, for example, the TMS9900. The TMS9900 is best known for being the heart of the TI/99-4 and TI/99-4A home computers, which briefly enjoyed high sales volumes. We have an accompanying feature article by one of the TI managers of that chip, detailing how the TMS9900 was conceived with great vision, but was hobbled during implementation. The Chip Hall of Fame may be found here: http://spectrum.ieee.org/static/chip-hall-of-fame Best, Stephen

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