March 2022 - Members - lists.sigcis.org

SIGCIS 2022 CFP: UNDER CONSTRUCTION | Due June 1
by Laine Nooney 30 Jan '24

30 Jan '24

Dear SIGCIS Community, The SIGCIS Conference Organizing Committee is pleased to *announce the CFP for our 2022 SIGCIS Conference, **UNDER CONSTRUCTION*. Our keynote for the event is Lilly Irani <https://quote.ucsd.edu/lirani/>, Associate Professor in the Department of Communication & Science Studies at the University of California, San Diego. The SIGCIS Conference will take place *November 13th, 2022 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, *on the Sunday of the SHOT conference. *Abstracts are due June 1.* Below you can find the full CFP for this year's conference. The CFP can also be viewed as a Google doc here <https://bit.ly/388L3Zk>, or at our conference website: meetings.sigcis.org. Please circulate widely, and we hope to see you at SIGCIS! -Laine Nooney, Morgan G. Ames, Stephanie Dick, and Xiaochang Li -------------------------------------------------------------- *UNDER CONSTRUCTION* *New Orleans, LA, US | November 13, 2022* The Special Interest Group in Computing, Information, and Society [SIGCIS] welcomes submissions to their annual conference meetings.sigcis.org Proposal Due Date: June 1, 2022 KEYNOTE SPEAKER Lilly Irani Associate Professor of Communication & Science Studies University of California, San Diego THEME A shovel strikes dirt in one country, and the Internet goes out in another. Data centers are cooled by local water supplies, fiber-optic cable follows the sightlines left by railroads and telegraph, global hardware semiconductor supplies depend on the labor of rare earth mineral miners: somehow computing always needs more. The past ten years, in particular, have exhibited a perilous turn in the political economy of computing, as software became service, programming became agile, and storage became cloud. This new regime is driven by an accelerated mode of iterative software development that increasingly relies on post-sales bug fixes, security patches, and performance upgrades, producing a litany of products and services whose endless failures aid some and threaten others. From the communities subject to such “innovation” to the shadow workers paid to “be” artificial intelligence to the coders pushing ambient updates by the millions, risk hums through it all. Computation today is locked in a state of perpetual beta testing, forever promising “improved” features—just don’t ask when it will end, and don’t ask who’s doing the work. In the meantime, these new standards of practice generate new labor and resource demands, new forms of risk, and new challenges for accountability and intervention alike. Yet the patched and partial nature of computing isn’t new. Computing is infrastructure, requiring its own forms of construction and maintenance throughout its history, whether tearing up roads, detangling spaghetti code, or hastily soldering circuits. These are metaphors for history too: what better encapsulates the sentiment of doing history, than the feeling that it will never be done? For historians of information and computing itself, such anxieties are particularly acute due to the objects under examination: constant upgrades, absent documentation, planned obsolescence, the failure of historic hardware. For every line of code we save, hundreds, thousands, disappear. As we work to make sense of our contemporary conditions, how does the undone quality of history affect our ability to tell it? The 2022 SIGCIS Conference, convening in-person in New Orleans on November 13 following the SHOT Annual Meeting, invites scholars, museum and archive professionals, journalists, IT practitioners, artists, and independent researchers across the disciplinary spectrum to submit abstracts related to the historical conditions of computing. We are especially interested in (but not limited to) work that relates to the theme of construction, maintenance, and labor, broadly and imaginatively construed. Areas of engagement may include: - Maintenance and infrastructure in the history of computing and information tech - Historically-oriented approaches to the platform and gig economies - Computing as a site of labor struggle - Networks, borders, boundaries - Computational models of resistance: obfuscation, open-source, hacking, going “off grid” - Government’s historic role in the construction of computing industries and infrastructure - Communitarian and utopian applications of computing - Updates, upgrades, failures, and bugs - Modding, re-using, recycling, afterlives - Archival and curatorial practices and methods - Oral history, memory, forgetting - The limits of historical representation SIGCIS is especially welcoming of new directions in scholarship. We maintain an inclusive atmosphere for scholarly inquiry, supporting disciplinary interventions from beyond the traditional history of technology and promoting diversity in STEM. We welcome submissions from: the histories of technology, computing, information, and science; science and technology studies; oral history and archival studies; critical studies of big data and machine learning; studies of women, gender, and sexuality; studies of race, ethnicity, and postcoloniality; film, media, and game studies; software and code studies; network and internet histories; music, sound studies, and art history; and all other applicable domains. The annual SIGCIS Conference begins immediately after the regular annual meeting of our parent organization, the Society for the History of Technology [SHOT]. Information about the annual SHOT conference can be found at: https://bit.ly/3Nswik2 SUBMISSION FORMATS SIGCIS welcomes proposals for individual 15-20 minute papers, 3-4 paper panel proposals, and non-traditional proposals such as roundtables, software demonstrations, art and music performances, hands-on workshops, etc. SUBMISSION PROCEDURES Submissions are due June 1, 2022 via Google form: <https://forms.gle/C8ixar9s3JsCXq8d9>https://forms.gle/sLRowEDz6QitKCfv9. Submissions require: - 300-350 word abstract, summary, or prospectus (as appropriate for the submission type). Full panel proposals should additionally include 200-250 word abstracts for each paper that will be part of the panel. - 100-150 word bios for each participant If you are submitting a co-presented paper, pre-constituted panel, or other submission involving multiple participants, please only have one person submit for the group; contact and professional information for other participants can be included in the Bio submission section. Questions about the submission process should be sent to: xiaochang.li(a)stanford.edu. COSTS/REGISTRATION While last year’s online conference was pay-what-you-can, hosting an in-person event incurs costs related to room and A/V rental, catering, etc. These costs are subsidized in part by our parent organization, SHOT, but participants should expect registration fees in the range of $45-50 for SHOT attendees and $90-120 for those only attending Sunday SIGCIS Conference (we list these rates in good faith, but they are subject to change). Attending SHOT has its own registration costs. TRAVEL AND CARE GRANTS As a new initiative, SIGCIS will be offering grants to support travel expenses and/or expenses related to child, elder, and other forms of care for presenters whose responsibilities at home may present a barrier to in-person participation. The top financial priority of SIGCIS is support for graduate students, visiting faculty without institutional travel support, and others who would be unable to attend the meeting without travel assistance. We understand that for some, participation is more contingent on childcare or elder care, and as such we are opening up these grants to provide that form of support as well. There is no separate application form, though depending on the volume of requests and available resources we may need to contact you for further information before making a decision. Any award offered is contingent on registering for and attending the SIGCIS Conference. Please note that SHOT does not classify the SIGCIS Conference as participation in the SHOT annual meeting, so acceptance by SIGCIS does not imply eligibility for the SHOT travel grant program. ACCESSIBILITY ACCOMMODATIONS REQUESTS The submission Google form will include a field where individuals may make requests for accessibility accommodations. Since our event is coordinated by our parent organization, SHOT, we cannot guarantee our ability to meet all accommodation requests. However, our intent will always be to advocate to meet the accessibility needs of our participants. SIGCIS MEETINGS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Laine Nooney, New York University (SIGCIS Vice-Chair of Meetings) Morgan Ames, University of California, Berkeley Stephanie Dick, Simon Fraser University Xiaochang Li, Stanford University ---- 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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2021 Mahoney Prize nominations
by Elizabeth Petrick 10 May '22

10 May '22

Hello everyone, It's time for the 2021 Mahoney Prize for outstanding article in the history of computing and information technology, broadly conceived. Articles published in 2018, 2019, or 2020 will be considered. Self-nominations and nominations of others are both welcome. Please email a copy of the article to members of the prize committee, listed here: https://www.sigcis.org/mahoneyprize Deadline is May 1, 2021. Best, Liz ------------- Elizabeth Petrick Associate Professor Department of History Rice University http://elizabethpetrick.com/

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The Communicators
by Evan Koblentz 29 Apr '22

29 Apr '22

I’m interested in a new-to-me research angle: the people who changed computing by writing about it. Lovelace comes to mind. So do Vannevar Bush and Edmund Berkeley. 1. Who else should I consider from prior to 1965? (I have the microcomputer generation covered.) 2. Are there existing papers on this subject? [NJIT logo]<https://www.njit.edu/> Evan A Koblentz Staff Writer, Office of Strategic Communications Adjunct Instructor, Ying Wu College of Computing evan.a.koblentz(a)njit.edu<mailto:evan.a.koblentz@njit.edu> • (973) 596-3065<tel:9735963065> https://web.njit.edu/~evank <https://web.njit.edu/~evank%0b>@TechnicallyEvan<https://twitter.com/technicallyevan>

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Re: [SIGCIS-Members] [Ext] Re: CfP: „Flexibility“ and „Agility“ Strategies, Practices, and Ambivalences of a Key Concept since the 1980s
by Mar Hicks 31 Mar '22

31 Mar '22

Seconding Dave’s thoughts here, and I wanted to note that Prof. Miriam Posner of UCLA (who may not be on this list) has a new piece coming out about this in an upcoming LOGIC issue. It’s titled “Agile and the Long Crisis of Software.” Best, MH ______________________ Mar Hicks, Ph.D. Associate Professor of History of Technology Humanities Department Illinois Institute of Technology marhicks.com *Programmed Inequality <https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/programmed-inequality>: How Britain Discarded Women Technologists and Lost Its Edge in Computing *(2017) *Your Computer Is On Fire <https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/your-computer-fire> * (2021) On Mar 26, 2022, at 6:57 PM, Dave Foster <dwfoster1(a)outlook.com> wrote: Luke Scrum and agile are absolutely new forms of Taylorism. This was not original intent but it is what they have become in the corporate world, a new universal program management religion that has gone far beyond software development purposes. In school we studied the oldies of Gantt and PERT, then in my working experience I have gone through various fashion waves spanning TQM, Earned Value, Lean/Six Sigma, etc. crazes during their respective heydays and most recently scrum/agile. We have spent a lot of time over the years and continue to spend a good deal of planning time setting up our stories, features, epics, etc. and working the plan. Software development has always been a sub-task so I don't have any direct experience with the comparative value on those types of projects - I've always worked in higher levels of overall systems development where, IMO, a waterfall or whatever is as good as anything else, thought this is heresy in the scrum/agile. I think it is the organizational pressure to institute a consistent framework, which is certainly a fair objective. But to me, the framework has never made any difference - we are fundamentally tracking progress and dollars. Note, my experience has been on technical development projects in the Defense Dept and in private sector consulting. I don't have any specific references in mind. I think that you may find that the primary challenges to the way of scrum & agile come from outside the software development world where, nevertheless, the concepts have been enthusiastically adopted and adapted. Best/Dave Texas Tech University (PhD student) and Accenture AI ------------------------------ *From:* Members <members-bounces(a)lists.sigcis.org> on behalf of Luke Fernandez <luke.fernandez(a)gmail.com> *Sent:* Saturday, March 26, 2022 12:44 *To:* Schmitt, Martin <martin.schmitt(a)tu-darmstadt.de> *Cc:* Sigcis <members(a)sigcis.org> *Subject:* Re: [SIGCIS-Members] CfP: „Flexibility“ and „Agility“ Strategies, Practices, and Ambivalences of a Key Concept since the 1980s What an interesting conference. And what interesting questions it poses! For example, this one on page 5 of the CFP: "How did agile software development shape the concepts of work and employment?" If anyone from this listserv has some cites that speak to this question I'd be psyched if you shared a few. I make no claims to know anything about this subject apart from recently finishing Cal Newport's *A World Without Email *where he touches on these concerns. Among other things, Newport wishes for a productivity revolution in knowledge work. And he thinks that it might happen if we replace email with some of the productivity tools and techniques that are used in software development like kanban boards and scrum and agile work processes. He insists that this can happen without knowledge work suffering the same forms of regimentation/acceleration/dehumanization/surveillance that happened to many forms of manual labor with the implementation of Taylorism and Fordism (cf. page 119). But how plausible are Newport's claims? Are scrum and agile new forms of Taylorism? Or are they something altogether different? Is it even helpful to view these techniques through the lens of Taylorism? Best, Luke Fernandez Weber State University On Sat, Mar 26, 2022 at 8:23 AM Schmitt, Martin < martin.schmitt(a)tu-darmstadt.de> wrote: Dear SIGCIS, We will host a conference on „Flexibility“ and „Agility“: Strategies, Practices, and Ambivalences of a Key Concept since the 1980s (together with Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam (ZZF), Helmut-Schmidt-University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg (HSU), SPP 2267 “The Digitalization of Working Worlds. Conceptualising and Capturing a Systemic Transformation.“). Keynote speaker is Richard Sennett. Date: 17/18 November 2022 Location: Darmstadt You will find the call for paper here( https://www.geschichte.tu-darmstadt.de/flexibility <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.geschichte.tu-darmstadt.de/flexibil…>). Please submit your proposed papers by 30 May 2022. For the SIGCIS community, especially the parts on agility/software programing and digital automation are the most interesting one. Best Martin Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter | Post-Doc | digital enthusiast Technische Universität Darmstadt Institut für Geschichte Fachgebiet Technikgeschichte Mail: martin.schmitt(a)tu-darmstadt.de Tel: +49 6151-16-57327 http://www.computerisierung.com <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.computerisierung.com__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xx…> & Assoziierter Wissenschaftler LEIBNIZ-ZENTRUM FÜR ZEITHISTORISCHE FORSCHUNG | POTSDAM Vice Chair IFIP WG 9.7 „History of computing“ Zuletzt erschienen: *Die Digitalisierung der Kreditwirtschaft*. Computereinsatz in den Sparkassen der Bundesrepublik und der DDR 1957-1991, Göttingen: Wallstein-Verlag 2021, https://www.wallstein-verlag.de/9783835333710-die-digitalisierung-der-kredi… <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.wallstein-verlag.de/9783835333710-d…> _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://sigcis.org__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!7sGpzhf1Qw30…>, 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/ <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigci…> and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-si…> _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at 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

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CfP: „Flexibility“ and „Agility“ Strategies, Practices, and Ambivalences of a Key Concept since the 1980s
by Schmitt, Martin 26 Mar '22

26 Mar '22

Dear SIGCIS, We will host a conference on „Flexibility“ and „Agility“: Strategies, Practices, and Ambivalences of a Key Concept since the 1980s (together with Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam (ZZF), Helmut-Schmidt-University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg (HSU), SPP 2267 “The Digitalization of Working Worlds. Conceptualising and Capturing a Systemic Transformation.“). Keynote speaker is Richard Sennett. Date: 17/18 November 2022 Location: Darmstadt You will find the call for paper here(https://www.geschichte.tu-darmstadt.de/flexibility). Please submit your proposed papers by 30 May 2022. For the SIGCIS community, especially the parts on agility/software programing and digital automation are the most interesting one. 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: Die Digitalisierung der Kreditwirtschaft. Computereinsatz in den Sparkassen der Bundesrepublik und der DDR 1957-1991, Göttingen: Wallstein-Verlag 2021, https://www.wallstein-verlag.de/9783835333710-die-digitalisierung-der-kredi…

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Fwd: Dr. Venkat Venkatasubramanian - Texas A&M Energy Institute Lecture Series
by Jonathan Coopersmith 25 Mar '22

25 Mar '22

of possible interest: Jonathan Register now! The Texas A&M Energy Institute Lecture Series on Wednesday, April 6, 2022 with Dr. Venkat Venkatasubramanian will be held from 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. CDT (GMT -5:00) in the GERB Third Floor Conference Room and through a Zoom Meeting. [image: Energy Institute Lecture Series] Dr. Venkat Venkatasubramanian Artificial Intelligence in Chemical Engineering: Past, Present, and Future Wednesday, April 6, 2022 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. CDT (GMT -5:00) Zoom Meeting <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001AVAq52tBsEtL00_…> [image: Venkat Venkatasubramanian] Texas A&M Energy Institute Lecture Series will feature Dr. Venkat Venkatasubramanian the Samuel Ruben-Peter G. Viele Professor of Engineering in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Columbia University Abstract Artificial intelligence (AI) started off with great promise in the early 1980s, spurred by the success of the expert system paradigm in certain applications. This prompted a flurry of research activities in chemical engineering in the mid-1980s. However, as the ensuing three decades showed, AI didn’t quite live up to its promise in chemical engineering. So, what went wrong with AI? In this talk, I will review the different phases of AI in chemical engineering over the last 35 years, providing some background and explanation to this question. I will also argue that this time it is different – I believe the time for AI in chemical engineering, and in other domains, has arrived, finally. There are many applications that are ready to yield quick successes in this new data science phase of AI. I will highlight recent work in materials design and in process operations as examples of exciting progress. However, the really interesting and intellectually challenging problems lie in developing such conceptual frameworks as hybrid models, mechanism-based causal explanations, domain-specific knowledge discovery engines, and analytical theories of emergence. These breakthroughs would require going beyond purely data-centric machine learning, despite all the current excitement, and leveraging other knowledge representation and reasoning methods from the earlier phases of AI. They would require a proper integration of symbolic reasoning with data-driven processing. I will discuss these challenges and opportunities going forward. Register Now <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001AVAq52tBsEtL00_…> Biography Professor Venkat Venkatasubramanian is Samuel Ruben-Peter G. Viele Professor of Engineering in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Professor of Computer Science (Affiliate), and Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (Affiliate) at Columbia University. He earned his Ph. D. in Chemical Engineering at Cornell, M.S. in Physics at Vanderbilt, and B. Tech. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Madras, India. He taught at Purdue University for 23 years, before returning to Columbia in 2011. Venkat is a complex-dynamical-systems theorist interested in developing mathematical models of their structure, function, and behavior from fundamental conceptual principles. His natural tendency is to conduct curiosity-driven research in a style that might be considered impressionistic, emphasizing conceptual issues over mere techniques. He strives to create a simplified but essentially correct model of the reality that he studies. Venkat’s research interests are diverse, ranging from AI to systems engineering to theoretical physics to economics, but they are generally focused on the theme of understanding complexity and emergent behavior in different domains. Venkat received the Norris Shreve Award for Outstanding Teaching in Chemical Engineering three times at Purdue University. He won the Computing in Chemical Engineering Award from AIChE and is a Fellow of AIChE. In 2011, the College of Engineering at Purdue University recognized his contributions with the Research Excellence Award. He is a past-President of the CACHE Corporation. He currently serves as an Editor for Computers and Chemical Engineering. His new book, How Much Inequality is Fair? Mathematical Principles of a Moral, Optimal, and Stable Capitalist Society, was published in 2017. Venkat’s other interests include comparative theology, classical music, and cricket. Printable Flyer <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001AVAq52tBsEtL00_…> Energy Institute Lecture Series The Texas A&M Energy Institute's 2021-2022 Lecture Series includes prominent energy leaders from across many energy disciplines and topics. Running from September 2021 through June 2022, this cohort of experts will present the latest innovations, concepts, and topics and will be sure to spark thoughts and discussions as we all move forward together in the Energy Transition. 2021-2022 Lecture Series Schedule <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001AVAq52tBsEtL00_…> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001AVAq52tBsEtL00_…> Texas A&M Energy Institute <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001AVAq52tBsEtL00_…> 1617 Research Pkwy 3372 TAMU College Station, TX 77843-3372 (979) 458 1644 [image: Facebook] ‌ <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001AVAq52tBsEtL00_…> [image: Twitter] ‌ <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001AVAq52tBsEtL00_…> [image: LinkedIn] ‌ <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001AVAq52tBsEtL00_…> [image: YouTube] ‌ <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001AVAq52tBsEtL00_…> Texas A&M Energy Institute | 1617 Research Pkwy, 3372 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-3372 Unsubscribe j-coopersmith(a)tamu.edu <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&m=0…> Update Profile <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=oo&m=0…> | Our Privacy Policy <https://www.tamu.edu/statements/privacy.html> | Constant Contact Data Notice <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.constantcontact.com/legal/customer-…> Sent by tamuenergy(a)tamu.edu powered by [image: Trusted Email from Constant Contact - Try it FREE today.] <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp?cc=nge…> Try email marketing for free today! <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp?cc=nge…>

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13 April - Ethernet's Emergence from Xerox PARC: 1975-1980
by Brian Berg 25 Mar '22

25 Mar '22

Hello, The IEEE Silicon Valley Tech History Committee (www.SiliconValleyHistory.com) is hosting a Zoom event next month which will include a panel of *the world's foremost authorities* on this topic. *Register here <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ethernets-emergence-from-xerox-parc-1975-1980-…>, and see full details below.* Best wishes, Brian Berg *Webinar - Ethernet’s Emergence from Xerox PARC: 1975-1980 <https://californiaconsultants.org/event/ethernets-emergence-from-xerox-parc…>* *Wed, 13 April 2022, 1:30-3pm PDT via Zoom* Ethernet was invented in 1973-74 at Xerox PARC in Palo Alto, CA, to network the PARC’s Alto GUI workstations and the world’s first networked laser printer. This presentation will trace the history and development of Ethernet as a 10 Mb/s product up through the release of the DIX (DEC-Intel-Xerox) spec in 1980 as a multi-vendor open spec for industry. DEC and Intel asked for and got a few minor changes, and DIX published the first Ethernet spec in the “Blue Book” (two versions). That formed a proposal to IEEE 802 and was the basis of the IEEE 802.3 CSMA/CD standard. This event will feature a panel of the major figures who were involved with creating open 10 Mb/s Ethernet in this time period, with elaboration from a select group of its implementers. This event was organized by the IEEE Santa Clara Valley Section’s Life Members Affinity Group (SCV-LMAG) <https://r6.ieee.org/scv-lm/> and the IEEE Silicon Valley Tech History Committee (SiliconValleyHistory.com <http://www.siliconvalleyhistory.com/>), in conjunction with IEEE-CNSV <http://www.californiaconsultants.org>. About the speaker, *Moderator*: Geoff Thompson <thompson(a)ieee.org?subject=Inquiry%20from%20IEEE-CNSV%20Website> of GraCaSI Standards Advisors Geoff Thompson was an early user of 3-Mb Ethernet at Xerox PARC, supporting Gary Starkweather’s pioneering work on laser printing. Geoff moved to Xerox Systems Development to work on workstations and Ethernet. He started participating in IEEE 802.3 in 1983, and in 1988 moved to SynOptics Communications (later Bay Networks/Nortel) to do standards work full time. He chaired the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Working Group from 1993 until 2002. He was a key technical contributor on the repeater and Power over Ethernet amendments. He remains an active participant in this imporant industry standard. Geoff is an IEEE Life Member, and also an IEEE-CNSV member <https://californiaconsultants.org/members/geoffrey-thompson/>. About the speaker, Bob Metcalfe <etherdad(a)gmail.com?subject=Inquiry%20from%20IEEE-CNSV%20Website> Bob Metcalfe co-invented Ethernet in its 3Mb/s form in 1973 with Dave Boggs. They spread Ethernet’s use along with the Alto personal computer and laser printing throughout the Xerox PARC R&D community during the 1970s. Bob became the relentless promotor of Ethernet both inside Xerox and externally, most visibly as founder and the public face of 3Com. In his many activities since then, he has remained Mr. Ethernet above all else. Bob is a Fellow of The Computer History Museum. About the speaker, Dave Liddle <david.e.liddle(a)gmail.com?subject=Inquiry%20from%20IEEE-CNSV%20Website> Dave Liddle worked in research at Xerox PARC where he provided key elements to the first Ethernets. In 1975 he became head of the new System Development Division (SDD) to productize a better, top-down-designed, customer-rugged version of the Alto and Ethernet. That engineering effort (~250 engineers at its peak) resulted in the end-1980 announcement/1981 delivery of the Xerox Network System of network servers (file, print, gateway) and the Xerox Star 8010 Professional Workstation, all using the new 10-Mb/s Ethernet. He later co-founded and served as CEO for Metaphor Computer Systems, Inc., and was President and CEO of Interval Research Corporation. About the speaker, Gordon Bell <gbell(a)outlook.com?subject=Inquiry%20from%20IEEE-CNSV%20Website> Gordon Bell was an early employee of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), and later became its VP of Engineering. He was instrumental in the decision to choose Ethernet as the network that DEC promoted as an open standard. Gordon’s stints since then include being a researcher emeritus at Microsoft Research. With his wife Gwen he founded the Digital Computer Museum in Massachusetts, whose archives and materials are now part of the Computer History Museum where he is a Board member and Fellow. About the speaker, A Panel of 7 Ethernet Implementers During the program, a panel of 7 industry figures will periocically elaborate about their early experiences of implementing Ethernet in various realms: John Shoch, Bob Belleville, Roy Ogus, Hal Murray, Dave Redell, Robert Garner, and Rich Siefert. John Shoch was at Xerox PARC at the start of Ethernet. He later worked under Liddle, and succeeded him as head of systems development at Xerox before a later career in venture capital. Bob Belleville, Roy Ogus, Hal Murray, Dave Redell and Robert Garner were all involved with the development of 10 Mb/s Ethernet at Xerox before the DIX alliance. Dave Redell was the editor of what became the famous DIX Ethernet Blue Book. Robert Garner has recently been interviewing people and collecting material for a historical paper or book on this event’s topic. Rich Siefert was a major technical contributor from DEC. _________________________ Brian A. Berg / bberg(a)StanfordAlumni.org Berg Software Design - LinkedIn Profile <https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianaberg/> 700 Mistletoe Road, Suite 201, Ashland, OR 97520 USA 14500 Big Basin Way, Suite F, Saratoga, CA 95070 USA Voice: 408.741.5010 / Cell: 408.568.2505 Consulting: Flash Memory/USB/Storage/Patents visit the Storage Cornucopia: www.bswd.com FMS Technical Chair: www.FlashMemorySummit.com <http://www.flashmemorysummit.com/> IEEE Milestone <http://www.siliconvalleymilestones.com/> Coordinator & History Chair for Region 6 <http://www.ieee-region6.org/> IEEE History Committee <https://www.ieee.org/about/history-center/history-committee.html> Member IEEE SCV Section <http://www.ieee.org/scv/> Past Chair / IEEE-CNSV <http://www.californiaconsultants.org/> Board Director IEEE Silicon Valley Tech History Committee <http://www.siliconvalleyhistory.com/> Chair

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Upcoming: LOST WOMAN OF SCIENCE KLÁRI DÁN VON NEUMANN
by Brian Berg 25 Mar '22

25 Mar '22

Hello, all, Upcoming is an interesting event, which will include Thomas Haigh who is subscribed to this listserver. He's an excellent historian who served as one of my Expert Reviewers for the Manchester "Baby" Computer IEEE Milestone for which I was the Advocate. He provided some critical insight during that process, including delineating how the Baby was a stored-program computer - a term correctly attributable to more than one computer as long as you include the correct adjectives! *REVEALING LOST WOMAN OF SCIENCE KLÁRI DÁN VON NEUMANN*Lost Women of Science Initiative Host Katie Hafner and Computer Historian Thomas Haigh in Conversation with Harvey Mudd College President Maria Klawe Tue, 5 April, 7pm PDT - available *live *at the Computer History Museum, Mtn View, CA USA -OR- via *Zoom* https://computerhistory.org/events/revealing-lost-woman-of-science-klari-da… There's also a podcast and a 2-minute overview here: https://lostwomenofscience.org/ _________________________ Brian A. Berg / bberg(a)StanfordAlumni.org Berg Software Design - LinkedIn Profile <https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianaberg/> 700 Mistletoe Road, Suite 201, Ashland, OR 97520 USA 14500 Big Basin Way, Suite F, Saratoga, CA 95070 USA Voice: 408.741.5010 / Cell: 408.568.2505 Consulting: Flash Memory/USB/Storage/Patents visit the Storage Cornucopia: www.bswd.com FMS Technical Chair: www.FlashMemorySummit.com <http://www.flashmemorysummit.com/> IEEE Milestone <http://www.siliconvalleymilestones.com/> Coordinator & History Chair for Region 6 <http://www.ieee-region6.org/> IEEE History Committee <https://www.ieee.org/about/history-center/history-committee.html> Member IEEE SCV Section <http://www.ieee.org/scv/> Past Chair / IEEE-CNSV <http://www.californiaconsultants.org/> Board Director IEEE Silicon Valley Tech History Committee <http://www.siliconvalleyhistory.com/> Chair >

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Reconsidering John C. Lilly Conference
by Hannah Zeavin 23 Mar '22

23 Mar '22

Dear all, I hope you're all well, or in reach of it. With apologies for cross-posting, I am writing to invite you to a one-day conference that I've co-organized, which may be of interest to members of this list: *Reconsidering John C. Lilly* A day long virtual conference on April 2nd, 2022 Schedule and Registration <http://www.reconsideringlilly.info/> John C. Lilly (1915-2001) was a neurophysiologist and trained physician who had one of the most unusual careers in 20th century science: he theorized extra-terrestrial language and intelligence, wrote quasi-philosophical treatises about computer science and consciousness, self-experimented with LSD and ketamine, and developed the first sensory deprivation tank (which he later used for his scientific tripping). Most famously, John Lilly worked with dolphins, trying to understand their forms of communication and to teach them to speak English, later aiming to mediate human and dolphin communication via computers. Because of the wide range and, to contemporary eyes, often extreme nature of his research, Lilly has frequently been reduced to an oddity. But in the 1950s, Lilly was the epitome of mainstream science, respected as a theoretical wunderkind and able to wrangle the resources of NASA, the Air Force, and others. By the end of the 1960s, Lilly established himself as a counter cultural figure, a renegade scientist maligned and disowned by many of his former peers and collaborators but now beloved as California-based guru. Accordingly, Lilly’s work illuminates 20th century cultural and scientific phenomena ranging from cybernetics to the human potential movement. His experiments with radio, taping, and computer-assisted communication make his work pertinent to a range of additional fields such as musicology, sound studies, and media studies. His mid-century prominence as a neurophysiologist further makes Lilly crucial to, albeit understudied within, the history of Cold War science and technology. Reconsidering John C. Lilly thus brings together scholars from a wide variety of disciplines— from animal studies to the history of the human sciences, from the history of architecture to feminist science and technology studies, to reevaluate the life and career of John C. Lilly within his own moment and from our vantage point in ours. warmly, Hannah -- Dr. Hannah Zeavin UC Berkeley author of *The Distance Cure: A History of Teletherapy <https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/distance-cure> *(MIT Press, 2021) zeavin.org

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Kranzberg dissertation fellowship
by Peter Sachs Collopy 22 Mar '22

22 Mar '22

For any SIGCIS members pursuing PhDs: SHOT’s Melvin Kranzberg Dissertation Fellowship is an award of $4000 to support research and writing of a dissertation on the history of technology broadly defined. Please apply! The deadline for applications, including a CV, dissertation summary, plans for the dissertation, and a letter of recommendation, is April 30. And please find a flyer attached with more information, and more still at https://www.historyoftechnology.org/about-us/awards-prizes-and-grants/the-k… <https://www.historyoftechnology.org/about-us/awards-prizes-and-grants/the-k…>. Sincerely, Peter

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