May 2024 - Members - lists.sigcis.org

American codebreaker exhibit - but you can't see it
by Jonathan Coopersmith 30 Dec '24

30 Dec '24

https://dcist.com/story/23/09/22/arlington-foreign-service-institute-recogn… Actually, I suspect we could probably arrange a tour. Stay sane, Jonathan Jonathan Coopersmith Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science Professor Emeritus Department of History Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-4236 979.739.4708 (cell) "Technological obsolescence, <https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2023/05/technological-obsolescence>" National Academy of Engineering *Perspectives* May 23, 2023 It's taking longer to vote - especially if you are Black or Hispanic <https://theconversation.com/its-taking-more-time-to-cast-a-ballot-in-us-ele…> , theconversation.com Preserving space archives: https://www.toboldlypreserve.space/ *FAXED. The Rise and Fall of the Fax Machine* (Johns Hopkins University Press)

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The impact of computer patents
by Brian Randell 30 Dec '24

30 Dec '24

Hi: I would be grateful for recommendations on books and papers containing thoughtful well-justified discussion of the likely or actual practical impact of the outcomes of the various attempts to patent the concept of a programmable computer (whether granted, refused or invalidated) on the early development of the computer industry, in the US and elsewhere. I have in mind the ENIAC and especially the Konrad Zuse patent cases, but am also interested in any others. (My searches for good references have been hampered by the proliferation of articles on software patenting - a topic which I am not trying to cover.) Cheers Brian Randell Sent from my iPhone

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cfa: The Global Cochlear Implant
by Mara Mills 30 Dec '24

30 Dec '24

The Global Cochlear Implant: Provincializing “Brain Implants” through Disability Technocultures Michele Friedner (University of Chicago) and Mara Mills (New York University) have received funding from the US-based National Endowment for the Humanities <https://www.neh.gov/program/dangers-and-opportunities-technology-perspectiv…>for a conference, working group, and book project on “The Global Cochlear Implant” for the period Fall 2023-Fall 2025. We are seeking chapter contributors for our interdisciplinary edited volume that will focus on: -Historical and contemporary accounts of cochlear implant development and utilization in specific geographic contexts, including developing contexts -Pre-histories of cochlear implant development and use (especially in Russia, France, Austria) -Analysis of the ways that cochlear implantation is changing (or not) deaf and disability identities, socialities, solidarities, and life trajectories in specific geographic contexts - Ethics of cochlear implantation development, dissemination, and use in diverse contexts; an exploration of ethics can also include discussions of brain implants and biotechnology more broadly - Humanistic and aesthetic accounts and representations of cochlear implantation - Histories connecting cochlear implants to the broader category of brain implants Doctoral students are welcome and encouraged to apply. Contributors can be at any academic or non-academic rank and will be offered a stipend for their chapters as well as travel and lodging funds to attend the October 2024 conference in Chicago. Participants will also be invited to attend monthly zoom group meetings where they will receive support for writing their chapters. The deadlines are as follows: 1. Submit abstract and cv to michelefriedner(a)uchicago.edu and mmills(a)nyu.edu <mamills(a)nyu.edu> by December 1 2023; please email both with questions and/or concerns. 2. Decisions will be made by Jan 1, 2024. 3. Working group meetings in support of research and writing of papers will commence first week of February. 4. Conference will be held in October 2024 at the University of Chicago; Participants will present talks based on their chapters. 5. Versions of chapters will be sent to the selected press in April 2025. Project Abstract: Perhaps no medical device has sparked more popular discussion of the “dangers and opportunities of technology” than the cochlear implant (CI). The first true bionic device, CIs (re)produce an absent ‘normal’ human function (Blume 2009). Despite ongoing polarizing debates about the ramifications of CI technology, only a few book-length studies of the technology exist, and these have overwhelmingly emphasized U.S. and European perspectives. This collaborative humanities project will document the impacts of the technology itself (e.g. algorithmic bias), the influence of the global corporations that market it, and the range of ways implants have been domesticated, maintained, and re-interpreted. At this pivotal moment for the development and global dissemination of neuroprosthetics, with brain implants widely featured in the popular press, this multi-disciplinary, international project will serve both a documentary and a comparative function, as well as provide a platform, through our conference and published work, for alternative narratives of CI use. Mara Mills <http://maramills.org/> | Associate Professor | Media, Culture, and Communication | New York University Co-Director, NYU Center for Disability Studies <https://disabilitystudies.nyu.edu/> Crip Authorship: Disability as Method <https://nyupress.org/9781479819355/crip-authorship/>, eds. Mills and Sanchez (NYU 2023) Testing Hearing: The Making of Modern Aurality <https://academic.oup.com/book/36957>, eds. Tkaczyk, Mills, and Hui (Oxford 2020)

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SIGICS update
by Andrew Russell 01 Jul '24

01 Jul '24

Dear SIGCIS friends - I’m writing to share the news that I’m stepping down as SIGCIS Co-Chair. I started as Chair back in 2014, and became Co-Chair when Melanie Swalwell joined me in this role in 2020. I’m really proud of what we’ve built and sustained together as a community! At the same time, I think it’s healthy for SIGCIS to have some rotation in leadership. The tipping point for me came a couple of months ago, when I was named as Officer-in-Charge (aka interim president) of my university, SUNY Polytechnic Institute. This assignment is as rewarding as it is time-consuming, and leaves me little choice but to pull back from some of my professional commitments, including SIGCIS. Fortunately, Melanie Swalwell has agreed to continue on as SIGCIS Chair. She will be writing to the list soon with an update about SIGCIS in 2023 and beyond. Thank you for your support and kindness over the years, and for making SIGCIS a welcoming and fun place to be :) All the best, Andy — — — — — — — — — — — Andrew L. Russell, Ph.D. Officer-in-Charge SUNY Polytechnic Institute 100 Seymour Road Utica, NY 13502 257 Fuller Road Albany, NY 12203 https://sunypoly.edu/ https://arussell.org/

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C. Gordon Bell obit.
by Ceruzzi, Paul 23 May '24

23 May '24

Among other accomplishments, Gordon was an early supporter of the Computer History Museum, which started at a DEC building, and began with pieces of the Whirlwind computer rescued from scrap (correct me if this is wrong). https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/21/technology/c-gordon-bell-dead.html

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Re: [SIGCIS-Members] C. Gordon Bell obit.
by Len Shustek 23 May '24

23 May '24

At 08:17 AM 5/23/2024, Ceruzzi, Paul via Members wrote: >Among other accomplishments, Gordon was an early supporter of the >Computer History Museum, which started at a DEC building, and began >with pieces of the Whirlwind computer rescued from scrap (correct me >if this is wrong). That is correct. Articles about the history of the history museum -- both its incarnations -- are here: https://computerhistory.org/blog/computer-history-museum-celebrating-35-yea… https://computerhistory.org/blog/len-shustek-a-man-with-a-vision-for-a-muse… https://d1yx3ys82bpsa0.cloudfront.net/atchm/documents/Personal_Reflections_… https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/out-of-a-closet-the-ea…

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Two upcoming events at the Computer History Museum that may be of interest
by David Brock 21 May '24

21 May '24

For your consideration: May 30th, an event on India’s digital public infrastructure with Pramod Varma. https://computerhistory.org/events/indias-digital-revolution/?utm_campaign=… India's Digital Revolution computerhistory.org June 18th, and event on Tom Mullaney’s new book, The Chinese Computer. https://computerhistory.org/events/the-chinese-computer/?utm_campaign=2024-… The Chinese Computer computerhistory.org +++++++++++++++ David C. Brock dcb(a)dcbrock.net 40 Russell Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 Mobile: 413-522-3578 Skype: dcbrock Twitter: @dcbrock Pronouns: he, him, his

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Announcing SIGCIS 2024 Conference Schedule + Logistical Details
by Babintseva, Ekaterina 15 May '24

15 May '24

Dear SIGCIS, On behalf of the SIGCIS organizing committee -- Morgan Ames, Xiaochang Li, Colette Perold, Gili Vidan, and myself -- I am happy to announce that the preliminary schedule for the 15th Annual Meeting of SIGCIS is now live and can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/2mvv8kcu Our keynote for the event is Anita Say Chan (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), the author of Networking Peripheries: Technological Futures and the Myth of Digital Universalism (2014). This year, the conference will take place on the Viña del Mar campus of Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, on July 14, right after the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) meeting. There is an option to attend SIGCIS virtually, and one of our hotel conference rooms will be hybrid-enabled. Below, you will find some key information about registration, transportation, lodging, and SIGCIS events, including our legendary book raffle. Registration: Please register here<https://www.historyoftechnology.org/annual-meeting/2024-joint-icohtec-shot-…>. If you are only attending SIGCIS and not SHOT, use the promo code "SIGCISSUNDAY." You will have the option to add the code when selecting the registration fee. SIGCIS Friday Lunch: SIGCIS will have a Friday luncheon, catered by SHOT, at the conference venue. This is open to the wider SHOT community, so please get the word out for those who may be SIGCIS-curious! Book raffle: Following the precedent set in New Orleans in 2022, the raffle drawing for books will take place on Sunday at the SIGCIS lunch (NOT at the Friday lunch!). We will have raffle tickets available at the SIGCIS Friday lunch and from SIGCIS officers throughout SHOT. We’d like to encourage you to bring books for the SIGCIS raffle, or get them to a colleague who will be attending SIGCIS in person. The raffle is an important fundraiser for SIGCIS, and we hope you contribute books and participate! Lodging: As the conference will take place on the Viña del Mar campus of Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, there will be no official conference hotel. Please refer to SHOT’s lodging recommendations posted here.<https://www.historyoftechnology.org/annual-meeting/2024-joint-icohtec-shot-…> Viña del Mar transportation: SHOT will be providing shuttles from four locations around Viña del Mar to the conference venue in the morning, and back to the four locations around Viña del Mar after conference sessions end in the afternoon. SIGCIS will also have access to these shuttles, with the same pick-up and drop-off locations, on Sunday. We will send more details about the locations when we get them. Note that public transit does not otherwise serve the conference venue directly (it is a 20+ minute walk from the nearest stops). Self-Organizing Santiago Shuttle Share: If you would like to share taxis or shuttles from Santiago to Viña del Mar with other SIGCIS members, please reach out to someone listed on this spreadsheet<https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wr_tzgM_QmxD8YDujhfpC_xpZbTEIEie3pa…> who is arriving or leaving around the same time as you, or enter your flight details and contact information if there is nobody arriving or leaving around the same time. Note that it's up to you to check back and self-organize - we're providing a point of coordination but will not be booking the shuttles or putting people in touch with each other. We can’t wait for the event and hope to see many of you at SIGCIS, in-person or virtually. With best wishes, Katya Babintseva Ekaterina (Katya) Babintseva [bahb-int-seva] www.ekaterina-babintseva.com<https://www.ekaterina-babintseva.com/> Assistant Professor in the History of Technology Purdue University Department of History, Beering Hall 6178 West Lafayette, Indiana 47907 ebabints(a)purdue.edu<mailto:ebabints@purdue.edu>

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moore's law - future research opportunities
by Jonathan Coopersmith 12 May '24

12 May '24

https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2023/12/13/jensen-huang-sa… Stay sane, Jonathan Jonathan Coopersmith Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science Professor Emeritus Department of History Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-4236 979.739.4708 (cell) John Mather "Instrument Maker to the Stars," <https://aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/departments/instrument-maker-to-the-stars/> *Aerospace America* November 2023 "Technological obsolescence, <https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2023/05/technological-obsolescence>" National Academy of Engineering *Perspectives* May 23, 2023 Preserving space archives: https://www.toboldlypreserve.space/

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THIS SATURDAY: Twitch Fundraiser Stream for ROMchip: A Journal of Game Histories
by Laine Nooney 11 May '24

11 May '24

*ROMchip: A Journal of Game Histories <https://romchip.org/index.php/romchip-journal> *will be hosting our first Twitch Fundraiser Stream LIVE this Saturday, May 11, 11AM - 11PM EST. We will be hosting 12 hours of developers, archivists, and scholars sharing games that are personally historically meaningful to them, on our Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/romchipjournal SCHEDULE <https://donate.romchip.org/schedule.html> (see below) FUNDING MISSION <https://donate.romchip.org/fundraising-mission.html> READ THE JOURNAL <https://romchip.org/index.php/romchip-journal> DONATE <https://donate.romchip.org/> We hope you'll be able to join us! By supporting *ROMchip*, you help us remain an independently funded venue that develops, edits, and publishes ad-free, open access game history research for a range of audiences. ===SCHEDULE=== *11AM EST: Jason Scott* Software Curator @ Internet Archive Jason's stream game is TBD! Check back soon for more info. *12PM EST: Rami Ismael* Game Developer, Ridiculous Fishing, Nuclear Throne Rami will be playing the 1998 game Urban Assault, a game he describes as "deeply European in its worldview" and "the most ungodly mix of strategy and first person." *1PM EST: Bennett Foddy* Game Developer, Getting Over it with Bennett Foddy, QWOP Bennett will be playing the obscure physics-based game Ski Stunt Simulator from the early 2000s, which he describes as "probably the biggest influence on my career." *2PM EST: Nicole He* Game Developer, The Crush House Nicole will be playing Tomb Raider II for the Playstation 3. *3PM EST: Brenda and John Romero* Game Developers, Doom, Wizardry 8, Train, Romero Games The Romeros will be playing John's most recent Doom II mod, One Humanity. The Romeros will be offering five random donor giveaways for a signed copy of One Humanity on a 3.5" floppy disk. *4PM EST: Kishonna L. Gray* Professor, Author of Intersectional Tech: Black Users in Digital Gaming Kishonna's stream game is TBD! Check back soon for more info. *5PM EST: Ash Parrish* Video Game Reporter, The Verge Ash will be streaming the 1992 platformer Sonic the Hedgehog 2. *6PM EST: Patrick LeMieux* Professor, Co-author of Metagaming "If a Tree Falls: An Hour of Arboreal Modular Synth Music w/ Videogame Samples" Patrick will perform an improvised modular synthesizer set featuring music from the forest levels of games like Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy X, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, The Secret of Monkey Island 2, Chrono Trigger, Myst, and Donkey Kong Country 2. *7PM EST: Nina Freeman* Game Developer, Cibele, Last Call, how do you Do it? Nina will be playing selections from Ferry Halim's Orisinal Games, a collection of early 2000s Flash games, which have been made recently playable again as of March 2024. *8PM EST: Phil Salvador* Library Director @ Video Game History Foundation Phil will be demoing the obscure, failed haptic gaming device, the Novint Falcon. If ROMchip hits its Tier 1 $6K goal before the end of his segment, Phil will go into the settings and pump the force feedback as high as it goes! *10PM EST: Jason Scott* Software Curator @ Internet Archive To close out our stream, we return to Master of Ceremonies, Jason Scott! -- Laine Nooney <http://www.lainenooney.com/> Assistant Professor | MCC <http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/mcc/> @ NYU <http://www.nyu.edu/> | they/them -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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