November 2021 - Members - lists.sigcis.org

CBI for Computing, Info. & Culture--Norberg Travel Grants or Scanning Grants
by Jeffrey Yost 10 Nov '21

10 Nov '21

Dear Colleagues, This year we have had some travelling in-person researchers at CBI as well as heavy remote use of our archives (MN Covid-19 daily new cases remain surprisingly high, near 4,000, and hospitals are near full capacity). As such, we are accepting Norberg Grant applications either for $1,000 for travel from out of state here to spend at least three days, or $400 scanning grants to use collections remotely (So the option of the normal program or for remote use as we did last year). The application page is Norberg Travel Grant application process <https://cse.umn.edu/cbi/norberg-travel-grant-application-process> If you have any questions, please let me know. Deadline is Jan. 15th, 2022 Best, Jeff *"Injustice wears the same harsh face wherever it shows itself."*-Ralph Ellison Jeffrey R. Yost, Ph.D. Director, Charles Babbage Institute Research Professor, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Co-Editor (w/ Gerardo Con Diaz) *Studies in Computing and Culture book series, Johns Hopkins University Press* *Committee Member, **National Academies, NAE Extraordinary Engineering Impacts on Society * Founder and Co-Editor (w/ Amanda Wick), *Interfaces: Essays and Reviews in Computing and Culture* *Making IT Work: A History of the Computer Services Industry (MIT Press 2017)* <https://www.amazon.com/Making-Work-Computer-Services-Computing/dp/026203672X> 222 21st Avenue South University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN 55455 612 624 5050 Phone 612 625 8054 Fax

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IEEE Annals of the History of Computing Reviews
by Theodora J Dryer 08 Nov '21

08 Nov '21

Dear SIGCIS members, I hope everyone is well. I will soon be making a quarterly call for reviews at IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. In order to ensure that the call is as inclusive as possible, please advise if you have, or know of any, new or forthcoming content that you are excited to get in process for review. Thank you, Theo This department covers reviews of books, films, exhibitions, and any other medium for which a scholarly review of content is warranted. Articles focus on recently published work, ideally within a year of publication. Reviews focus on scholarly books dealing with history of computing, and can include books on history more generally where there is significant history of computing content. Biographies and autobiographies of computing pioneers are appropriate. Articles are typically about 750 words. -- Dr. Theodora Dryer, she/her https://www.theodoradryer.com/

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Invitation to attend the conference AI in Flux at the Deutsches Museum
by Javier Poveda F 08 Nov '21

08 Nov '21

Dear all, hoping that everything is going well. I invite you to the conference *AI in Flux* that will be held online. This event is organized by the Deutsches Museum. The conference aims to show the histories of artificial ointelligence during several periods since its foundation since the Darthouth Summer Project on Artificial Intelligence. To register, please follow the next link: https://aihistories.wordpress.com/ai_in_flux/ I attach you the poster of the event. Best regards, Javier Poveda Figueroa.

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Current use of floppy disks
by Schmitt, Martin 06 Nov '21

06 Nov '21

Dear SIGCIS, today, I got a request by a German journalist asking about current uses of floppy disks. Are they still is use somewhere? Are there still users, for example power plants, airlines, banks or so who are using floppy disks? If so, why do they do that? I am sure that you can address this question, that was forwarded to me by Daniela Zetti, way better than I could. My first thought were computer hobbyists who are working with old computers and presenting them at Vintage Computing Festivals – cool stuff, but I do not think that is what the journalist wants to hear. Best Martin Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter | Post-Doc | digital enthusiast Technische Universität Darmstadt Institut für Geschichte Fachgebiet Technikgeschichte Mail: martin.schmitt(a)tu-darmstadt.de<mailto:martin.schmitt@tu-darmstadt.de> Tel: +49 6151-16-57327 http://www.computerisierung.com & Assoziierter Wissenschaftler LEIBNIZ-ZENTRUM FÜR ZEITHISTORISCHE FORSCHUNG | POTSDAM Vice Chair IFIP WG 9.7 „History of computing" Zuletzt erschienen: Leslie, Christopher und Martin Schmitt (eds.): Histories of Computing in Eastern Europe, Cham: Springer International Publishing 2019 (IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology 549), https://www.springer.com/978-3-030-29159-4

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NEW BOOK, Image Objects: An Archaeology of Computer Graphics (MIT Press, 2021)
by Jacob Gaboury 04 Nov '21

04 Nov '21

Some of you have very generously mentioned the book on the SIGCIS list already, but I thought it would be a good idea to officially announce the release of my book on the history of computer graphics from MIT Press. *Image Objects: An Archaeology of Computer Graphics* <https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/image-objects> examines the history of computer graphics from roughly 1950-1980, with a focus on the groundbreaking research program at the University of Utah. The book is based largely on archival holdings at Utah and elsewhere, and follows an "object-oriented" structure, with each chapter unpacking a particular technology that shaped the formation of the field of computer graphics, and which continues to shape the ways we use and interact with computational technologies today. SIGCIS has been a critical community for this project since the very beginning, and I am very excited to share this work with all of you. The book is also available with a 20% discount <https://go.mitpress.mit.edu/en-us/4s2021?utm_campaign=FY22_Exhibits_4S&utm_…> for the month of October using the code 4S2021! *Image Objects: An Archaeology of Computer Graphics* *Jacob Gaboury* 312 pages | 6 x 9 | 133 b&w photos, 20 color plates Hardcover Aug 2021 | ISBN: 9780262045032 | $35.00 Table of Contents Introduction Chapter 1: Culling Vision: Hidden Surface Algorithms and the Problem of Visibility Chapter 2: Random-Access Images: Interfacing Memory and the History of the Computer Screen Chapter 3: Model Objects: The Utah Teapot as Standard and Icon Chapter 4: Object Paradigms: On the Origins of Object Orientation Chapter 5: Procedure Crystallized: The Graphics Processing Unit and the Rise of Computer Graphics Coda: After Objects *“With Image Objects, Gaboury has established himself as the leading voice among a new generation of visual culture theorists. This is a landmark contribution to the fields of digital culture, media theory, and science and technology studies."* - Bernard Geoghegan, Senior Lecturer in the History and Theory of Digital Media, King's College London *How computer graphics transformed the computer from a calculating machine into an interactive medium, as seen through the histories of five technical objects.* Most of us think of computer graphics as a relatively recent invention, enabling the spectacular visual effects and lifelike simulations we see in current films, television shows, and digital games. In fact, computer graphics have been around as long as the modern computer itself, and played a fundamental role in the development of our contemporary culture of computing. In *Image Objects*, Jacob Gaboury offers a prehistory of computer graphics through an examination of five technical objects—an algorithm, an interface, an object standard, a programming paradigm, and a hardware platform—arguing that computer graphics transformed the computer from a calculating machine into an interactive medium. Gaboury explores early efforts to produce an algorithmic solution for the calculation of object visibility; considers the history of the computer screen and the random-access memory that first made interactive images possible; examines the standardization of graphical objects through the Utah teapot, the most famous graphical model in the history of the field; reviews the graphical origins of the object-oriented programming paradigm; and, finally, considers the development of the graphics processing unit as the catalyst that enabled an explosion in graphical computing at the end of the twentieth century. The development of computer graphics, Gaboury argues, signals a change not only in the way we make images but also in the way we mediate our world through the computer—and how we have come to reimagine that world as computational. -- Jacob Gaboury (he/him) Associate Professor of New Media History and Theory Dept. of Film & Media, University of California at Berkeley jacobgaboury.com/ <http://www.jacobgaboury.com/> *Image Objects: An Archaeology of Computer Graphics* (MIT Press, 2021) https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/image-objects

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ACM History Fellowship CFP
by Tracy, Kim 02 Nov '21

02 Nov '21

SIGCIS members, The ACM History Committee’s call for proposals for the history fellowship program is now open. We’d appreciate your sharing this call anyone who may be interested. The full call can be found in the link: https://history.acm.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ACM-fellowship_CFP_2022.…. The deadline for submissions is February 15th, 2022. The ACM History Committee’s 2022 fellowship competition is for research projects on or centrally-related to ACM history. The History Committee plans to support up to four projects with awards up to $4,000. The History Committee has awarded over 40 fellowships<https://history.acm.org/projects-and-initiatives/fellowship-for-the-advance…> since the start of this fellowship program in 2009. Thanks for any help you can in getting the word out, --Kim Kim W. Tracy Visiting Asst. Professor of Computer Science and Software Engineering (he/him/his) ROSE-HULMAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 5500 Wabash Avenue | Terre Haute, IN 47803-3999 Room: Moench D216 | tracy(a)rose-hulman.edu<mailto:tracy@rose-hulman.edu> Phone: 812.877.8343 | Fax: 812.877.8343 www.rose-hulman.edu<http://www.rose-hulman.edu>

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"How Social Media's Giant Algorithm Shapes our Feeds."
by Ceruzzi, Paul 01 Nov '21

01 Nov '21

This headline came from today's Washington Post, in a long above-the-fold article about Facebook's policies in determining what users see when they "like" a post. The article does not define the word, but describes an algorithm as "...a system that decides on a post's position on the news feed based on predictions about each user's preferences and tendencies." That sounds to me like a complex piece of software, with perhaps hundreds of lines of code, that takes in a lot of variables and produces a potentially wide range of outputs. It conjures up an image of something sinister and menacing. Not what Knuth defined as an "algorithm" in Volume One of his Art of Computer Programming. His definition has been refined over the years, but it retains the notion of a well-defined, finite set of steps that produces an unambiguous result. Should we be bothered that the Post (and I assume other newspapers) are not using the term properly? Are people now going to think of an "algorithm" as something threatening, like "The Blob" in that famous Steve McQueen movie? Paul Ceruzzi Tom Haigh & Paul Ceruzzi, A New History of Modern Computing (MIT Press 2021)

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