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CBI Newsletter - Fall 2018 combined issue
by Charles Babbage Institute 05 Oct '18

05 Oct '18

Charles Babbage Institute University of Minnesota Dear CBI Newsletter reader: The Fall 2018 issue (Volume 40, Number 1/2) of the Charles Babbage Institute Newsletter is now available. Please follow one of the links below to view it. HTML: <http://www.cbi.umn.edu/newsletter.html> http://www.cbi.umn.edu/newsletter.html PDF: http://www.cbi.umn.edu/about/nsl/v40n1_2.pdf * * * * * * The CBI Newsletter is published semi-annually. If you wish to have your email address removed from the notification list, please send an email message to <mailto:cbi@umn.edu> cbi(a)umn.edu with "newsletter unsubscribe" in the subject line.

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MacArthur Fellow from our world
by Dave Walden 05 Oct '18

05 Oct '18

https://www.macfound.org/fellows/1009/ -- Deborah Estrin

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CBI--2019-2020 Tomash Fellowship and 2019 Norberg Travel Grant programs
by Jeffrey Yost 02 Oct '18

02 Oct '18

Dear Colleagues, FYI--Tomash Fellowship and Norberg Travel Grant announcements are below. Best, Jeff *The Adelle and Erwin Tomash Fellowship in the History of IT, Charles Babbage Institute* The Charles Babbage Institute is accepting applications for the 2019-2020 Adelle and Erwin Tomash Graduate Fellowship. The fellowship will be awarded to a graduate student for doctoral dissertation research in the history of computing. The fellowship may be held at the recipient's home academic institution, the Charles Babbage Institute, or any other location with appropriate research facilities. The stipend is $14,000. It is for students who have completed all requirements for the doctoral degree except the research and writing of the dissertation. Tomash Fellowship recipients must remain students in good standing throughout the term of their fellowship, but there is no restriction on holding other fellowships, scholarships, or awards concurrent to the Tomash Fellowship. Preference will be given to applicants indicating a need to use CBI materials, planning research in residence at CBI, and willing to make a brief presentation of their research findings to CBI staff. Questions pertaining to collection content and access can be directed to Amanda Wick, CBI Interim Archivist, at abwick(a)umn.edu. Applicants should send to CBI a curriculum vitae and a five-page (single-spaced) statement and justification of the research project including a discussion of methods, research materials, evidence of faculty support for the project, and bibliography (bibliography does not count toward page count). Applicants should also arrange for three letters of reference (PDF attachment of signed letter on letterhead is fine) and certified copies of graduate school transcripts to be sent directly to CBI. All materials must be received by CBI no later than January 15, 2019 Application materials should be sent to cbi(a)umn.edu. A confirmation email will be sent once your application has been received. [For questions on this fellowship program, please email Outreach Historian and Admin. Dr. Juliet Burba at cbi(a)umn.edu or call 612 624-5050] Alternatively, applications/supporting material may be mailed to: Charles Babbage Institute: Tomash Fellowship 211 Andersen Library University of Minnesota 222 - 21st Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55455 *Arthur L. Norberg Travel Grant Program, Charles Babbage Institute* The Arthur L. Norberg Travel Fund provides short-term grants-in-aid to help scholars with travel expenses to use archival collections at the Charles Babbage Institute. In January of each year we plan to award up to three $1,000 travel grants. The Charles Babbage Institute (CBI) is an internationally recognized research center and archives focused on the history of information technology. CBI conducts major research projects; publishes books and articles; and collects, processes, and provides open public access to the most diverse and extensive collection of archival materials on computing, software, and networking in the world. CBI collections include the records of corporations, technical and trade associations, personal papers, industry publications, oral histories, photographs, film/video, and an extensive reference library. The Norberg Travel Fund is named for CBI’s founding director, Arthur L. Norberg, and is funded by generous gifts from his friends and colleagues <http://www.cbi.umn.edu/research/ntravelfundcontributors.html>. Applicants should send a 2-page CV as well as a 500-word project description that describes the overall research project, identifies the importance of specific CBI collections, and discusses the projected outcome (journal article, book chapter, museum exhibit, etc.). Applicants are strongly encouraged to examine the extensive on-line finding guides to CBI’s 250-plus archival collections at www.cbi.umn.edu/collections/archmss.html. Applicants should estimate how many days they plan to use CBI collections during their visit (travel must be in the calendar year of the award). To be eligible, scholars will reside outside the Twin Cities metropolitan region. Recipients will be asked to do a short write-up about their research visit for the CBI Newsletter. Notification of awards will be made in late January or early February, and travel can commence directly thereafter. Questions pertaining to collection content and access can be directed to Amanda Wick, CBI Interim Archivist, at abwick(a)umn.edu. Please direct questions about the Arthur Norberg Travel Fund to Outreach Historian and Admin. Dr. Juliet Burba, cbi(a)umn.edu, 612 624-5050. For additional information, see www.cbi.umn.edu <http://www.cbi.umn.edu/index.html>. Materials must be received by CBI no later than January 15, 2019. Application materials should be sent to cbi(a)umn.edu. A confirmation email will be sent once your application has been received. Alternatively, applications may be mailed to CBI (see address listed with the Tomash Fellowship announcement). Jeffrey R. Yost, Ph.D. Director, Charles Babbage Institute Research Professor, Program in the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine 222 21st Avenue South University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN 55455 612 624 5050 Phone 612 625 8054 Fax

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Digital history exhibition at Royal Holloway, London
by James Sumner 02 Oct '18

02 Oct '18

Forwarding on behalf of the organisers: https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/about-us/events/200-years-of-becoming-digit… https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/about-us/news/celebrate-200-years-of-becomi… The Computer Science department at Royal Holloway, University of London, will be celebrating its 50th anniversary this month by taking people on a journey through 200 years of digital technology. The department is staging a special exhibition called ‘200 years of becoming digital’ exploring the history of computing technology and its effect on society, in particular the contribution of women scientists and engineers. The university will open its doors to host the exhibition on the evolution of the digital world between 24 September and 29 November. The free display will explore technological change over the past two centuries and its effect on society. The exhibition has five themes including a ‘Wall of Women’ which celebrates the contribution of women such as Margaret Rock, an alumna of Bedford College, which merged with Royal Holloway in 1985. Margaret <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Rock> was recruited in 1940 to work at Bletchley Park, the site of the Government Code and Cypher School which was responsible for decrypting enemy communications during World War II. She was later awarded an MBE for her work within the group that broke the German Military Intelligence Enigma code and was said to be one of the best in the team. The exhibition also includes a recreation of Charles Babbage’s nineteenth century analytical engine, the forerunner of modern computers; an explanation of the way in which miniaturisation has driven increases in computer speed (a process that will soon come to a halt) and the use of digital technologies in the entertainment industries. Adrian Johnstone, Professor of Computing at Royal Holloway said: “This is an opportunity to not only celebrate our 50th anniversary but show how the technology which now impacts on all aspects of our lives originated. “In the 50 years since our computing department opened we have seen massive changes in the technologies available and how they are used. “We particularly want to celebrate the contribution of women in science and engineering. It’s fascinating to see that computing science originally attracted many women into the discipline. Women are now under-represented in this sector and we must reverse this trend. Highlighting the contribution women have made in the past and the great opportunities which now exist is an important part of this exhibition,” added Professor Johnstone. *The exhibition takes place in the Exhibition Space of the Emily Wilding Davison Building until Friday 30 November 2018. ** ** **Open every day 10.00-18.00 and 20.00 on Thursdays. Admission free, no booking necessary* This exhibition traces the development of computing ideas and technology since the 1820s through four themes: /The mechanical prehistory of computing / How were tables of logarithms made in the 19th century? See a steam driven calculator and a mechanical noughts and crosses machine along with a modern 3D printer. /#ilooklikeanengineer/ Female participation in computing slumped in the 1960s as programming became seen as a technical profession, and again in the 1980s as the home computer revolution took hold. Can we reverse the trend? / //Moore’s Law from beginning to end/ We have become used to computers getting faster and faster, as their internal components become smaller. This trend has now slowed and will stop soon because matter is granular, and we cannot reduce the width of a wire that is only a few atoms across. See how memory density has increased exponentially over 200 years. /Toys, games and deep learning/ Leisure activities are now dominated by digital technologies. See examples of robots, games consoles and animations. Learn how the superfast hardware in games consoles has been harnessed to speed up training of artificial intelligence applications. Can you distinguish real-Obama from synthetic-Obama?

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Book Announcement: Power Button: A History of Pleasure, Panic, and the Politics of Pushing
by Plotnick, Rachel 27 Sep '18

27 Sep '18

Hi SIGCISers, I am pleased to announce the publication of my book, Power Button: A History of Pleasure, Panic, and the Politics of Pushing? with The MIT Press in the Science, Technology & Society series. The book historicizes computing by thinking about definitions of "digital" as they apply to fingers and button pushing, tracing the roots of a 19th-century society that becomes transfixed with the notion of pushing a button to accomplish work or play. Alongside thinking about electrification and industrialization, it considers everything from push-button warfare, vending machines and cameras to "Like" buttons in social media. It asks questions about how and why buttons became a ubiquitous technology and button pushing became an entrenched practice - one fraught with concerns about skill, effort, gender, age and class. Check out an excerpt here: https://medium.com/@mitpress/pleasure-panic-and-the-politics-of-pushing-123… And purchase options here: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/power-button Thanks and regards, Rachel Rachel Plotnick, PhD Assistant Professor, Cinema and Media Studies The Media School Indiana University http://www.rachelplotnick.com?

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New Website on Minnesota's Computing History (and a future documentary)
by Jeffrey Yost 26 Sep '18

26 Sep '18

Dear Colleagues, Wanted to make people aware of a public history project/partnership to document and broadly disseminate the rich history of computing in the State of Minnesota (Engineering Research Associates, Remington Rand, Sperry-Univac, Control Data Corporation, Honeywell, Cray Research, Lawson Software, IBM Rochester, etc.). Over the past year the Charles Babbage Institute (CBI), the UMN-HSTM Program, the Minnesota Historical Society (which provided funding through a competitive grant program for MN history), Twin Cities Pubic Television (TPT), the Dakota County Historical Society and Lawshe Museum (DCHS/LM), the Minnesota High Tech Association, and industry volunteers (Univac's VIP Club of retirees) partnered to produce a Minnesota computing history website (and to lay the groundwork for an upcoming documentary). https://www.mncomputinghistory.com The site has interactive time-lines, film/video footage, many photos, historical essays, etc. The project's aim was two-fold from the start, to produce this website, and to launch the effort for a major public television documentary on the topic. On the latter, many dozens of hours of video interviews with more than 30 pioneers (and historian Tom Misa, who authored *Digital State: The Story of Minnesota's Computing Industry*) were conducted. [Tom was an important early advisor and a major inspiration for this project.] The final stage of fundraising is happening now to create the television documentary. On this one-year (phase 1) project, Univ. of Minnesota HSTM ABD student Elizabeth Semler was the chief researcher and project manager, HSTM Post-doc Jonathan Clemons a consulting advisor, and CBI Archivist Amanda Wick the primary archivist advisor. I served as the primary historian advisor. This project represents CBI's efforts to boost our already strong commitment to public history and outreach, a commitment extended by CBI's recent hire of longtime science museum curator Dr. Juliet Burba (most recently Director of Collections at the Bakken Museum) as our Outreach Historian and Administrator. On a related note, we are grateful to the (Sperry-Univac) VIP Club's help, and to Lockheed for donating extensive Sperry-Univac archives to CBI (and important Sperry-Univac artifacts and photographs to the DCHS/Lawshe Museum). Best, Jeff Jeffrey R. Yost, Ph.D. Director, Charles Babbage Institute Research Professor, Program in the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine 222 21st Avenue South University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN 55455 612 624 5050 Phone 612 625 8054 Fax

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BINAC: A Brief Look Back
by Brian Berg 25 Sep '18

25 Sep '18

Hello, I just received word of the following very interesting new video (12:35 in length) about the BINAC, the Binary Automatic Computer of 1949. Thanks to Rebecca Mercuri <notable(a)mindspring.com> for informing me. As many of you know, Eckert and Mauchly created a beautiful little computer called BINAC that often gets ignored in the history books. Over the past few weeks I've had the pleasure of working with Mark Greenia, who runs the Computer History Archive Project. He has a number of vintage films available on his YouTube site. We collaborated on a short documentary combining resources I had and those he had or was able to find; then he added the writing, editing, and production talent to make it happen. Bill Mauchly <bmauchly(a)opgate.com> (son of John and Kay Mauchly) Welcome to the release of the new computer history video: BINAC: A Brief Look Back https://youtu.be/udJUWenPK4w/ This is a very special presentation featuring rare films & photos (many previously unpublished) of the 1949 BINAC computer (“Binary Automatic Computer”), which was designed by Dr. John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert, inventors of ENIAC and UNIVAC. This was the first computer built by their fledgling computer company “Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation” (EMCC). BINAC the first stored-program computer built in the U.S. It was built for Northrop, and it used Mercury Delay Line Memory. It was a one-of-a-kind machine. This 12 minute video includes footage of the BINAC in operation, a very rare 1948 “behind- the-scenes” film courtesy of John William Mauchly Jr. (son of inventor Dr. John Mauchly) which shows EMCC engineers during the computer’s construction, rare photos of the BINAC in the early EMCC factory, and photos of the early EMCC staff. Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation was purchased by Remington Rand in 1950, and the famous UNIVAC 1 was released in 1951. Many groundbreaking computers followed, including UNIVAC Solid-State, Univac File Computer, Univac Scientific, UNIVAC-LARC and others. Comments are welcome. Mark Greenia, for the Computer History Archives Project. Acknowledgements and Credits: = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = /John William Mauchly Jr. - 1948 EMCC Film & Photos and Accompanying Music Score/ /Professional Narration – David Melvin/ /Tony Buglioni, Manager External Communications & and Media Relations, Unisys/ /-Angela Schad, Reference Archivist, Digital Archives Specialist -Kevin Martin, Curator of Audiovisual Collections Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington, Delaware //https://www.hagley.org//// /Dag Spicer, Senior Curator, Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA //http://www.computerhistory.org/// /-- -- -- --/ /The “UNIVAC” and “Sperry-Rand,”“Remington Rand” names are (c) Unisys Corporation./ BINAC FILM: https://youtu.be/udJUWenPK4w/ _________________________ Brian A. Berg / bberg(a)StanfordAlumni.org Berg Software Design 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.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Milestones:List_of_IEEE_Milestones> Coordinator for Region 6 <http://www.ieee-region6.org/> IEEE SCV Section <http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/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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The Birth of Informatics
by Laurent Bloch 21 Sep '18

21 Sep '18

Dear all, In that video, Pierre-Éric Mounier-Kuhn relates (in French) the birth of informatics, in Manchester in 1948, and many other things around that event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcN9QXxmRqk Cheers! -- Laurent Bloch - https://laurentbloch.net - lb(a)laurentbloch.org Si vous trouvez que l'éducation coûte cher, essayez l'ignorance ! (A. Lincoln)

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My blog post on Grosch's law...
by Allan Olley 13 Sep '18

13 Sep '18

Hello, I have written a blog post, on the history of Grosch's Law, in honour of what would have been Herb Grosch's 100th birthday (September 13th, 2018). This is also a preview of some material from my upcoming talk at the SIGCIS meeting. I hope it is of some interest. https://4ll4n0.livejournal.com/19167.html -- Yours Truly, Allan Olley, PhD http://individual.utoronto.ca/fofound/

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SIGCIS Book Auction - Friday, October 12
by Andrew Russell 12 Sep '18

12 Sep '18

Hello everyone! With SHOT annual meeting just a month away, it's time to remind you of one of the most important activities we do—the Friday book auction. In addition to providing a nice panorama of new books and old favorites, the purpose of the auction is to raise money for the SIGCIS Travel Grants that are awarded to some individuals who are presenting their work at the Sunday SIGCIS Conference. We’re lucky once again this year to have the peerless Tom Haigh as our auctioneer. The auction will take place during our annual lunch on Friday from 12:30-2 pm. When you register(ed) for SHOT, there was a box to check to register for the lunch. As usual, our agenda for the lunch, beyond eating, will be (1) introductions, especially to highlight the first-time attendees; and (2) the SIGCIS book auction. Regarding the latter, I have two reminders: a. Please bring books you would like to donate for the cause. It would help our accounting and record-keeping system if you can tell me ahead of time what book you plan to bring. And, if you have books to donate but don’t plan to travel to St. Louis, please let me know and I’ll relay instructions. b. Please bring cash to pay for books, or to otherwise donate to SIGCIS. We are lucky to have so many generous members in SIGCIS, since your donations allow us to award travel grants to students and others who need travel support. This year we are awarding over $2500 in travel support; to make this sustainable, we need to raise an equal or greater amount. If you’d rather donate to SIGCIS online or by check, we would be happy to facilitate that as well. Thank you as always for your generosity! Andy Russell SIGCIS Chair

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