April 2020 - 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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SIGCIS Conference 2020: Regretfully Canceled
by Laine Nooney 04 May '20

04 May '20

To our fabulous SIGCIS community, It is with great regret that I write to announce the cancellation of the SIGCIS 2020 fall conference. The organizing team was incredibly excited to share the conference call and keynote selection for our annually co-located event with SHOT, scheduled for this year in New Orleans. Yet as the time for launching the CFP approached, we felt it was essential to take an unvarnished view of current events. Travel and large gatherings seem likely to remain restricted in the fall and will certainly remain high risk for many members of our community. Furthermore, many of us are experiencing greater institutional and economic precarity than ever before, as we watch hiring lines pulled, offers withdrawn, and research funds frozen. The full impact of COVID-19 is going to run a long course through our community. This decision is not a message about the likelihood of SHOT happening. Rather, as a small set of volunteers with no economic liabilities/contracts in play, we made the decision that we did not want to go through the labor of pulling together a conference if there was a probability that it would need to be canceled or it would be challenging for members of our community to attend. We considered keeping our call and holding the conference virtually, but virtual events have their own logistical challenges, in addition to all the standard labor of conference organization. In short, we did not think it was prudent for the mental health of any of us to take on a set of new and unfamiliar burdens in the middle of a pandemic that is rapidly changing our research, teaching, and service. Furthermore, we all shared an unease about putting out a call for scholarship during these obviously turbulent times; moving forward as if business was usual did not sit well with any of us. We do intend to organize some kind of connecting event, probably virtually, during the weekend that SIGCIS would usually occur. However, we want to be able to be responsive to where people are, professionally and emotionally, in several months. Therefore, we are not making commitments to format just yet. This decision was made with a grim certainty that this was the right course of action; that doesn’t mean it wasn’t hard to make. For all of us on the organizing committee—myself, Stephanie, Morgan, Andy, and Kera—SIGCIS is a key intellectual and interpersonal community, a space of not just colleagues, but friends. Personally speaking, SIGCIS has become one of the highlights of my academic year, and I have tremendous gratitude for how enthusiastically so many of you have supported the work this team does, as we work to build a history that imagines a better future. Stay safe--until we meet again, SIGCIS Conference Committee Laine Nooney, Vice-Chair of Meetings Stephanie Dick Morgan Ames Andy Russell, SIGCIS Chair Kera Allen --------------------------------------- Laine Nooney <http://www.lainenooney.com/> MCC <http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/mcc/> @ NYU <http://www.nyu.edu/> Assistant Professor -Need to make an appt? Click, don't email: https://bit.ly/2GIHuK0 -Probably typed by voice recognition, so please cherish typos

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WEBCAST TODAY: Internet Independence Day marking 25th anniversary of NSFNET decommissioning
by Joly MacFie 30 Apr '20

30 Apr '20

An auspicious day, and an illustrious line up of speakers! Starts shortly. ISOC Live posted: "On April 30 2020, at 5pm EDT (21:00 UTC) Internet elders will gather to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1995 decommissioning of the NSFNET backbone, following the passage of Al Gore's High Performance Computing Act of 1991. This was the moment that the I" *ISOC LIVE NOTICEBOARD* [image: livestream] <https://livestream.com/internetsociety/iid25>On *April 30 2020*, at *5pm EDT* (21:00 UTC) Internet elders will gather to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1995 decommissioning of the *NSFNET backbone <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Science_Foundation_Network>*, following the passage of *Al Gore*'s *High Performance Computing Act of 1991 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Performance_Computing_Act_of_1991>*. This was the moment that the Internet fully transitioned from a government to a private enterprise. A select group of the elders including *Jeff Jarvis* (American journalist); *Esther Dyson* (first CEO of ICANN); *James Lewis* (SVP CSIS); *Tom Evslin* (founder ITXC); *Andrew Odlyzko* (former Bell Labs and Prof U MN), *Gary Shapiro*, President, Consumer Technology Association, and *Scott McNealy* (co-founder Sun Microsystems) will discuss how the Internet has developed since the *last such celebration <https://isoc.live/7746/>*, 5 years ago. The event will be hosted by *Daniel Berninger* of VCXC, and webcast via a partnership with the *Internet Society Washington DC Chapter <http://isoc-dc.org/> *(ISOC-DC) *LIVESTREAM: https://livestream.com/internetsociety/iid25 <https://livestream.com/internetsociety/iid25>* *TWITTER: #internetindependenceday <http://bit.ly/iid25> | #iid25 <http://bit.ly/IID25> * *Permalink* https://isoc.live/12014/ - -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +2185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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SHOT IEEE/Finn prize --> deadline **extended 15 May**
by Thomas Misa 16 Apr '20

16 Apr '20

Updating Tom Haigh’s suggestion for nominating your own or another’s article for SHOT's Bernard S. Finn IEEE History Prize The prize is awarded annually to the best paper in the history of electrotechnology—power, electronics, telecommunications, and computer science—published during the preceding year. Any article published in a learned periodical is eligible if it treats the art or engineering aspects of electrotechnology and its practitioners. The article must be written in English, although the journal or periodical in which it appears may be a foreign language publication. The prize consists of a cash award of $1,000 and a certificate. In addition, IEEE will provide a travel subsidy ($750 domestic, $1,000 international) to allow the winner to attend SHOT’s annual meeting, and SHOT will waive the basic registration and awards-banquet fees for the winner. Nominations for the 2020 Bernard S. Finn IEEE History Prize can be submitted until the extended deadline of 15 May 2020 To nominate an article, please upload a digital copy of the article to the online submission system at https://tinyurl.com/yd6khjku <https://tinyurl.com/yd6khjku> or https://www.historyoftechnology.org/about-us/awards-prizes-and-grants/the-b…

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Finn Prize -- deadline TODAY, also my winning paper from last year
by thomas.haigh＠gmail.com 15 Apr '20

15 Apr '20

Hello SIGCIS, Reminder: the deadline to nominate yourself for the SHOT Bernard S. Finn IEEE History prize is today. Procedures at https://www.historyoftechnology.org/about-us/awards-prizes-and-grants/the-be rnard-s-finn-ieee-history-prize/. Short version: all you have to do is email your paper published in 2019 on any aspect of the history of computing (or other field of "electrical history") to the three committee members. So it is not too late! Unlike some of the other SHOT prizes this has not been deferred for this year. I won it last year, with Mark Priestley, for our article "Colossus and Programmability" which appeared in IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. You can read a copy at http://www.tomandmaria.com/Tom/Writing/ColossusProgrammabilityWeb.pdf. It looks at what Colossus could and couldn't do, with a historiographic dimension that asks "What does programmable even mean, anyway?" That must be at least the 20th time I've sent something in for a SHOT prize and the first success. It's not even an article I had high hopes for when I dispatched it to the committee. I basically submitted it out of habit. I'm proud of it, and all the analysis that underlies it (mostly Mark's work), but as a technically informed piece of work focused on a specific machine it seemed to be swimming against the tide. Moral: if you've written something good send it in. You never know. Bonus: if you want to see something really inscrutable and technical, try our "Colossus: The Missing Manual" published last year in the Siegen University working paper series Media of Cooperation. https://www.mediacoop.uni-siegen.de/wp-content/uploads/WPS_10_Haigh.pdf Best wishes, Tom

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RIP John Conway
by Elizabeth Petrick 15 Apr '20

15 Apr '20

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/04/john-conway-inventor-of-the-game-of… ------------- Elizabeth Petrick Associate Professor Department of History Rice University http://elizabethpetrick.com/

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Digital culture accepted first time as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
by Andreas Lange 15 Apr '20

15 Apr '20

Dear all, for all of you, who are interested in the cultural recognition of programming culture, this recent decision of the Finnish UNESCO surely represents a milestone: As announced at April 9th, 2020 the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture listed the Demoscene on proposals from the National Board of Antiquities and the Intangible Cultural Heritage Expert Group as national cultural heritage of humanity. And that is only the start. Since the Demoscene is an international culture, similar applications has been initiated or already submitted in other countries. Further reading: https://efgamp.eu/2020/04/15/digital-culture-accepted-first-time-as-unesco-… In spite the umbrella campaign 'Art of Coding' was launched before COVID19 it is shedding additional attention on this groundbreaking decision in Finland. Andreas -- Andreas Lange - COO - EFGAMP e.V. (European Federation of Game Archives, Museums and Preservation Projects) Spittastr. 13, 10317 Berlin, Germany registered as non-profit under VR 32659 B www.efgamp.eu Twitter: @A_Lange_Berlin

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Archives of old computer simulations
by Fenwick Mckelvey 15 Apr '20

15 Apr '20

Hi all, I am wondering if anyone had any suggestions of links to older political simulations running on Dos. I am particularly interested in two games, On the Campaign Trail and Micro Globus both from the 1980s. I have looked into the Internet Archive and some library catologs with limited success. I guess I am looking for recommendations for other software archives. Any help is appreciated. Take care and stay safe in these times. Be good, Fenwick McKelvey http://www.fenwickmckelvey.com Associate Professor, Communication Studies, Concordia University Director of the Algorithmic Media Observatory http://www.amo-oma.ca/en/ Member of the Center for the Study of Democratic Citizenship http://csdc-cecd.ca/

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The emergence of "the Digital."
by Ceruzzi, Paul 13 Apr '20

13 Apr '20

Another shameless plug for the book "Exploring the Early Digital." We now realize the significance of the transformation from analog to "the digital," of which the invention of the stored program electronic computer is but a part, albeit a significant part. Here is a concise and powerful example of an early hint of that transformation, as spoken by Joe Dimaggio. (wait until the end): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx7Q8t9m4Ns Paul Ceruzzi (too young to remember Joe. Mickey Mantle is still my all-time hero.)

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Fwd: [cybersecurity] FACULTY PRESENTATION: "The Early History of Computing" - John Keyser talks TODAY
by Jonathan Coopersmith 13 Apr '20

13 Apr '20

Sorry for the late notice, but we are not that good in communication at A&M. Stay sane, keep washing those hands, and practice social solidarity as well as distancing, Jonathan Jonathan Coopersmith Professor Department of History Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-4236 979.739.4708 (cell) 979.862.4314 (fax) Most recent oped: "Will Artemis fail in the halls of Congress?" https://www.thespacereview.com/article/3836/1 Apollo thoughts: https://today.tamu.edu/2019/07/19/would-apollo-11-have-happened-without-rus… *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. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Jennifer Cutler <jenniferjoe(a)tamu.edu> Date: Mon, Apr 13, 2020 at 9:59 AM Subject: [cybersecurity] FACULTY PRESENTATION: "The Early History of Computing" - John Keyser talks TODAY To: <CYBERSECURITY(a)listserv.tamu.edu> *Texas A&M Computer Science Department* *Presents* *681 Speaker* TODAY *https://tamu.zoom.us/j/116195249* <https://tamu.zoom.us/j/116195249> *TITLE:* The Early History of Computing *John Keyser* Professor Texas A&M University 4:10PM – 5:25PM, TODAY https://tamu.zoom.us/j/116195249 *Abstract* This talk is a walk through the early history of computing, from the earliest days of mechanical computation devices through the early forms of computers and software that we use today. We’ll talk about people who were key parts of many of these developments, and we’ll discuss the factors that drove them into these developments. *Biography* John Keyser is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University. He joined Texas A&M in 2000, after receiving his PhD in Computer Science from the University of North Carolina, and earlier earned Bachelor’s Degrees in Applied Math, Engineering Physics, and Computer Science from Abilene Christian University. His research has spanned a wide range of graphics, with the majority of his work in the areas of geometric modeling, especially in robust solid modeling applications, and physically-based simulation. He has also worked on topics in rendering, data visualization, and a large interdisciplinary project on scanning and reconstructing small animal brains at sub-micrometer resolution. *Faculty Contact: * Ricardo Gutierrez rgutier(a)cse.tamu.edu *Department of Computer Science and Engineering* |Texas A&M University 3112 TAMU | College Station, Texas 77843-3112 Ph: 979-458-3870 | fax: 979-845-1420 | news(a)cse.tamu.edu www.cse.tamu.edu

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