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Jean Sammett passes away
by Dag Spicer 23 May '17

23 May '17

A true legend… who just recently made it into “Glamor” magazine, of all things! Jean Sammet passed away on May 21, 2017 at the age of 88. http://www.glamour.com/story/when-jean-e-sammet-learned-to-code-steve-jobs-… Dag — Dag Spicer Senior Curator Computer History Museum 1401 N Shoreline Blvd Mountain View, CA 94043

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A response to a SIGCIS Command Line panel session presentation on PLATO
by Brian Dear 23 May '17

23 May '17

The link below is my in-depth response to a presentation given by Dr. Joy Rankin entitled “Performing Gender on PLATO” at the recent SIGCIS Command Line conference held at the Computer History Museum this past March. https://medium.com/@brianstorms/performing-history-on-plato-4c501b8f2068 Many assertions were made in that presentation that concerned me greatly and I felt it necessary to not only write up a detailed response based on my own decades’ worth of research into the history of the PLATO system and its community, but also I sought out and included comments from former PLATO people who were named in Dr. Rankin’s talk, about the presentation and the claims made therein. Every single PLATO person I contacted shared the same concerns. I welcome thoughts from fellow SIGCIS members. - Brian Brian Dear PLATO History Project Santa Fe, NM brian(a)platohistory.org

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Women of ENIAC Story
by Brian Berg 22 May '17

22 May '17

Here is a Women of the ENIAC story. I'd like to hear Thomas Haigh's response to this story, particularly re: the Walter Isaacson NPR story <http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2014/10/06/345799830/the-forg…> link as compared with his *ENIAC in Action <https://mitpress.mit.edu/ENIAC>* book. A reminder that Thomas gave a wonderful talk about the Women programmers of the ENIAC - and particularly about the "Other Women" who actually built the ENIAC - for the IEEE Silicon Valley History Committee in March, whose slides are here <http://sites.ieee.org/sv-techhist/files/2017/04/Presentation20170320-ENIAC_…> and whose video is here <https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3MXnVUbT1wSmXwaiHVmtPu6mMUMBjt-d>. Women pioneered computer programming. Then men took their industry over. How “computer girls” gave way to tech bros <https://timeline.com/women-pioneered-computer-programming-then-men-took-the…> [image: Josh O’Connor] <https://medium.com/@baradifi?source=email-b2578a559d74-1495464222977-digest…> Josh O’Connor <https://medium.com/@baradifi> in Timeline <https://timeline.com/> 5 min read _________________________ 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/> Chair (2012) / IEEE-CNSV <http://www.californiaconsultants.org/> Board Director IEEE SCV History Committee <http://www.siliconvalleyhistory.com/> Chair

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Fwd: News - Virtual Lorenz - Experience wartime crypto communications on the web
by Brian Randell 21 May '17

21 May '17

Hi: This press release leads to recently-released working online implementations of the Colossus and of the Lorenz cipher machine that the Colossus was used against. Cheers Brian Randell Begin forwarded message: From: Stephen Fleming <stephen.fleming(a)palam.co.uk<mailto:stephen.fleming@palam.co.uk>> Subject: News - Virtual Lorenz - Experience wartime crypto communications on the web Date: 15 May 2017 at 10:07:42 BST To: <brian.randell(a)ncl.ac.uk<mailto:brian.randell@ncl.ac.uk>> Reply-To: <stephen.fleming(a)palam.co.uk<mailto:stephen.fleming@palam.co.uk>> NEWS RELEASE Experience wartime crypto communications on the web Virtual Lorenz revealed in tribute to Bill Tutte and wartime codebreakers 15 May 2017 A Virtual Lorenz that can be used by anyone wanting to experience sending and receiving top secret Second World War communications was unveiled at The National Museum of Computing in celebration of the centenary of Bill Tutte, the man who unravelled the secrets of Hitler’s most secret encryption device. Thought to be unbreakable, Lorenz encryption was used in the top-secret teletype communications of the German High Command during the Second World War. But the ingenious work of Bill Tutte at Bletchley Park unravelled the mysteries of the highly complex twelve-rotor Lorenz SZ42 machine even though he never saw the device until after the war. Tutte’s work, often regarded as the greatest intellectual feat of the war, shortened the conflict by enabling the decryption of the enemy’s strategic messages on a regular basis - and very rapidly with the help of Colossus computers. At the Bill Tutte centenary event, Martin Gillow unveiled his creation of a Virtual Lorenz that runs on the web and can be used by anyone with internet access. Looking, operating and even sounding uncannily like a real Lorenz SZ42, virtual start wheels appear in 3D and whirr and as they are set, teletype chattering noises are heard as communications are exchanged and the encrypted and unencrypted text appears on screen as messages are sent and received. Even the Ablesetafel used to establish the start wheel settings is represented. In practice, the Virtual Lorenz is easier to use than its wartime real-time equivalent. For full story and pictures, please see: http://www.tnmoc.org/news/news-releases/virtual-lorenz — School of Computing Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU EMAIL = Brian.Randell(a)ncl.ac.uk<mailto:Brian.Randell@ncl.ac.uk> PHONE = +44 191 208 7923 URL = http://www.ncl.ac.uk/computing/people/profile/brianrandell.html

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Inaugural issue of "Internet Histories" journal now online and in print
by Marc Weber 20 May '17

20 May '17

Dear SIGCISers, I’m very pleased to say the inaugural issue of the new journal INTERNET HISTORIES <http://tandfonline.com/loi/rint20>, published by Taylor and Francis, is now available online and in print. Andy Russell and Janet Abbate have articles in the issue (as do I) I’m on the editorial board and the journal is looking for additional submissions at: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?show=instructions&journa… <http://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?show=instructions&journa…>. You can also submit a proposal for a special issue here: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?show=instructions&journa… <http://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?show=instructions&journa… issues>. Managing Editor Niels Brügger is also interested in publishing interviews with people who have played key roles in internet histories, from all over the world. There are two launch events, one in North America, at the ICA Conference in San Diego later this month, and one in Europe, at the RESAW conference in London in June: — https://convention2.allacademic.com/one/ica/ica17/index.php?cmd=Online+Prog… <https://convention2.allacademic.com/one/ica/ica17/index.php?cmd=Online+Prog…> — https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1c_NdYRW2QugIOgPILAu9qo0Zh9-X8YJRWeC… <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1c_NdYRW2QugIOgPILAu9qo0Zh9-X8YJRWeC…> Best regards, Marc Marc Weber <http://www.computerhistory.org/staff/Marc,Weber/> | marc(a)webhistory.org <mailto:marc@webhistory.org> | +1 415 282 6868 Curatorial Director, Internet History Program, Computer History Museum 1401 N Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View CA 94043 computerhistory.org/nethistory <http://computerhistory.org/nethistory> Co-founder, Web History Center and Project, webhistory.org <http://webhistory.org/>

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On History, Trump and the Washington Post
by Bernardo Batiz-Lazo 18 May '17

18 May '17

In case you’ve missed it, you might be interested in this article that uses research on organisational communication by JoAnne Yates (MIT) (which crosses business and technological history .. and is well known by computer historians) to frame the current debate around President Trump and ex-FBI Director Comey: James Comey’s memo has shaken a presidency. Here’s why memos have always mattered. by Michael S. Rosenwald, Washington Post, May 17, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/05/17/james-comeys-m… Best wishes Bernardo Bangor University (Wales) PS the article and JoAnne’s work also got the “thumps up” by Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman in Twitter: https://twitter.com/paulkrugman/status/865007659409326080

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Announcement: Paper on history of functional programming
by Mark Priestley 17 May '17

17 May '17

Hello Sigcis - The journal "Minds and Machines" is not the first place you'd normally look for historical writing, so let me draw your attention to my recent paper "AI and the Origins of the Functional Programming Style". More information available here <http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11023-017-9432-7>. Cheers, Mark

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AAC/CFP : "Unix in Europe : between innovation, diffusion and heritage" with right link
by Camille Paloque-Berges 15 May '17

15 May '17

Dear all, Apparently the link wasn't working. Here is one that should do : http://technique-societe.cnam.fr/international-symposium-unix-in-europe-bet… Very best, Camille 2017-05-15 17:48 GMT+02:00 Camille Paloque-Berges <camille.pb(a)gmail.com>: > Dear all, > > Please find enclosed the CFP for the symposium *"Unix in Europe: between > innovation, diffusion and heritage"* that will take place in Cnam (Paris, > France), October, 19th, 2017. > > A one-page abstract (maximum 500 words) with a short biography is expected > for June 30th 2017. > > The Cfp is also available at : > <http://technique-societe.cnam.fr/international-symposium-un > ix-in-europe-between-innovation-diffusion-and-heritage-91300 > 9.kjsp?RH=cdhte>. > > Best regards, > > The organization comitee : Isabelle Astic, Raphaël Fournier-S'niehotta, > Pierre-Eric Mounier-Kuhn, Camille Paloque-Berges, Loïc Petitgirard > > ------------------------------------------------------------ > > > *Call for contributions* > > *International symposium * > > *Unix in Europe: between innovation, diffusion and heritage* > > *Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, Paris, France – October 19 > 2017* > > > > Communications and discussions will be held in French or English. > > > *Rationale* > > > The Unix system was born in the 1970s at the crossroads between two > interacting worlds: industry (the Bell Labs at AT&T) and academia (the > University of Berkeley computer science network). Its fast adoption > throughout computer research and engineering networks across the world > signaled the future success of the new system, fostering software > experiments within its open, multi-user and multi-tasking system running on > mini-computers – and later compatible with a larger part of computer > hardware. In the European context, how was this American innovation > propagated, adopted and adapted? Why was Unix of so much interest in this > context, then and now? A solid culture of Unix users might also explain > this success, as well as subsequent processes of appropriation and > inheritance, due to the long and complex history of Unix versioning. The > memory of Unix users is vivid indeed, fed by early accounts within the > computer world (Salus, 1994) as well as preservation initiatives (Toomey, > 2010). Moreover, the Unix system is a crucial reference in the history of > computing, in particular in the field of free and open source software > (Kelty, 2008), computer networks (Paloque-Berges, 2017), as well as in > programming language philosophy (Mélès, 2013). > > > In order to explore the variety of these interrogations, this symposium > encourages contributions from historians as well as philosophers, social > science researchers, and heritage professionals interested in the history > of computer open systems and software with a focus on Unix or who have a > wider perspective. It will also welcome protagonists and witnesses of Unix > culture and carriers of its memory. We wish to discuss and shed light on > several aspects of the development of Unix in Europe (including in > comparison or relation with the rest of the world) along three main lines: > historical and sociological, philosophical and epistemological, and > heritage- and preservation-oriented. > > > *1/ Historical and sociological perspectives* > > > Historically, the Unix system is linked to the promotion and development > in research on open systems and computer networks. How does this fit in the > context of industrial, scientific and technological policies defined at the > national and European level? The history of Unix thus reaches at least > three levels of interrogations: 1/ the forms, places and practices of > innovation around Unix in R&D labs and computing centers in companies, > schools and universities; 2/ planning, promoting and negotiating open > systems (norms and standards) from the perspective of science and/or > politics; 3/ international geopolitical relations, whether economical or > geopolitical and even geostrategic (for example between Unix users, with > users of other computer equipment or other hardware and software companies, > the role of embargos in the shipping of mini-computers, of code, and > military uses of Unix). > > > In parallel, how has the world of computer research welcomed, encouraged, > negotiated and propagated uses and innovations related to Unix systems? > This begs the question of how Unix-related research and development was > legitimized - or played a part in the legitimization of computer science > experimentalism in the scientific field and beyond. We would also like to > highlight practices of resistance, the failure to acknowledge, ignorance of > or even the limits of the Unix system, its software tools and hardware > environment (beginning with the famous PDP and Vax machines from Digital > Equipment where the first Unix versions were implemented). With a focus on > occupational computer uses, we call for analysis which aims to explore and > clarify: > > - the role of developers, users, and user associations – from the point of > view of pioneers as well as helpers, maintainers and other witnesses of the > implementation of Unix; > > - the context, process, and people who determined its propagation, > appropriation, and development over time; > > - the meaning of concepts of Unix philosophy and ethics such as “openness” > and “autonomy”, from a social, political or economic point of view. > > > *2. Philosophical and epistemological perspectives* > > > > We will foster research and reflection at the crossroad of the theoretical > foundations of computer systems and engineering pragmatism, between the > philosophy of computer systems and Unixian practices. > > > > Protagonists in the conception and diffusion of Unix often claim to have a > ‘Unix philosophy’ . But beyond statement of principle, what was the real > influence of this idea on the technical choices underlying the system’s > developments? What are the ethical, moral, and philosophical motivations – > alongside the social, political or economic dimensions discussed earlier – > underpinning the adoption of Unix or pretending to extend it (for instance > in relation to the notions of sharing, modularity or freedom)? How is the > idea of ‘openness’ attached to Unix practices and heritage (free software, > open source) conceived? What are the theoretical developments to be drawn > from it (for instance with the idea of open software)? > > > > The logical and mathematical foundations of Unix should be readdressed. Do > the fundamental concepts of Unix have an ontological or metaphysical > significance beyond the sole research aim of technical efficiency? What > role do aesthetics play in the formulation of general principles and > technical choices? How can we analyze programming languages such as C and > its successors, scripts, software, and generally speaking, the > proliferating source codes of Unix? How do we consider the system, the > software environment, as well as the hardware in which Unix is implemented > and executed? > > > > Such philosophical questions also cover the modalities of the transmission > of Unix, extending to the investigation of the respective roles of theory > and practice in the teaching of the system, the teaching of knowledge and > tools underlying the system or supporting the system. > > > > *3. Unix heritage and ‘heritagization’* > > > > France is now the home to multiple initiatives taking place to build and > preserve a material and immaterial heritage of computer science and > technology – such as ‘Software Heritage’ at INRIA, a global software > archive in progress. The Museum of Arts et Métiers gave impetus to the MINF > initiative (‘Pour un Musée de l’informatique et du numérique’) and > coordinates the ‘Patstec Mission’ dealing with contemporary scientific and > technological heritage preservation, including computer science. At an > international scale and with a grassroots perspective carried by the > community of Unix users, the TUHS (The Unix Heritage Society) demonstrates > the current interest in the specific heritage linked to Unix. We encourage > reflections on this heritage and its specific features: > > > > - What is the place of Unix in the construction of computer science > heritage? Is it possible to map Unix systems and their heritage, from the > standpoint of machines, languages and software? What has already been > collected? What corpus, data bases, and/or platforms with a patrimonial > mission are concerned with Unix and to what purpose? > > - How are the questions of training, constitution and diffusion of a Unix > culture incorporated in the effort to collect heritage? How do we evaluate > and put forward the importance of immaterial heritage attached to Unix, > considering the effects of community and memory in its history and for the > writing of its history? > > - What are the practices and modalities advocated by the unixian heritage > itself? What has been its influence on the field of computer engineering > and research as well as diverse fields such as: popularization of science > and technology, ‘hacker’ movements and many ‘maker’ practices today > (Lallement, 2016)? > > > *Schedules* > > Please send a one-page abstract (maximum 500 words) with a short biography > by June 30, 2017 to: camille.paloque-berges(a)cnam.fr > <camille.paloque-berges(a)lecnam.net> and loic.petitgirard(a)cnam.fr. > Accepted contributions and speakers will be notified by July 15, 2017. > > > *Organizing committee* > > Isabelle Astic (Musée des arts et métiers) > > Raphaël Fournier-S’niehotta (Cédric, Cnam) > > Pierre-Eric Mounier-Kuhn (CRM, Paris 1) > > Camille Paloque-Berges (HT2S, Cnam) > > Loïc Petitgirard (HT2S, Cnam) > > > *Scientific committee * > > François Anceau (UMPC-LIP6) > > Pierre Cubaud (Cédric, Cnam) > > Liesbeth de Mol (STL, Lille 3) > > Claudine Fontanon (CAK, EHESS) > > Gérald Kembellec (DICEN, Cnam) > > Baptiste Mélès (Archives Henri Poincaré, CNRS) > > Giuseppe Primiero (Middlesex University) > > Lionel Tabourier (LIP6, Paris 6) > > > *Institutional partners and support: * > > - Project « Hist.Pat.info.Cnam », HT2S, Cnam – Research program supported > by the Excellence laboratory History and Anthropology of Knoweldge, > Technics and Beliefs (HASTEC), and in partnership with the laboratories > CEDRIC (Cnam), DICEN (Cnam), and the Center Alexandre Koyré (EHESS). > > - « Histoire de l’informatique » (« History of computing » seminar) > seminar - (Musée des arts et métiers, CRM, Paris 1, UMPC-LIP6) > > - « Source code » seminar - (CNRS, Cnam, Université Paris 6). > > With support from the DHST/DLMPST for the History and Philosophy of > Computing (HAPOC) > > > *Bibliography * > > Kelty, Christopher M. 2008. *Two Bits: The Cultural Significance of Free > Software*. Durham: Duke University Press Books. > > > > Lallement, Michel. 2016. *L’âge du faire, *Seuil. > > > > Mélès, Baptiste. 2003. « Unix selon l’ordre des raisons : la philosophie > de la pratique informatique ». *Philosophia Scientiæ* 17 (3): 181‑98. > > > > Salus, Peter H. 1994. *A quarter century of UNIX*. Addison-Wesley. > Reading. > > > > Toomey, Warren. 2010. « First Edition Unix: Its Creation and > Restoration ». *IEEE Annals of the History of Computing* 32 (3): 74‑82. > > > > >

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AAC/CFP : "Unix en Europe : entre innovation, diffusion et héritage"
by Camille Paloque-Berges 15 May '17

15 May '17

Dear all, Please find enclosed the CFP for the symposium *"Unix in Europe: between innovation, diffusion and heritage"* that will take place in Cnam (Paris, France), October, 19th, 2017. A one-page abstract (maximum 500 words) with a short biography is expected for June 30th 2017. The Cfp is also available at : <http://technique-societe.cnam.fr/international-symposium-un ix-in-europe-between-innovation-diffusion-and-heritage-913009.kjsp?RH=cdhte >. Best regards, The organization comitee : Isabelle Astic, Raphaël Fournier-S'niehotta, Pierre-Eric Mounier-Kuhn, Camille Paloque-Berges, Loïc Petitgirard ------------------------------------------------------------ *Call for contributions* *International symposium * *Unix in Europe: between innovation, diffusion and heritage* *Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, Paris, France – October 19 2017* Communications and discussions will be held in French or English. *Rationale* The Unix system was born in the 1970s at the crossroads between two interacting worlds: industry (the Bell Labs at AT&T) and academia (the University of Berkeley computer science network). Its fast adoption throughout computer research and engineering networks across the world signaled the future success of the new system, fostering software experiments within its open, multi-user and multi-tasking system running on mini-computers – and later compatible with a larger part of computer hardware. In the European context, how was this American innovation propagated, adopted and adapted? Why was Unix of so much interest in this context, then and now? A solid culture of Unix users might also explain this success, as well as subsequent processes of appropriation and inheritance, due to the long and complex history of Unix versioning. The memory of Unix users is vivid indeed, fed by early accounts within the computer world (Salus, 1994) as well as preservation initiatives (Toomey, 2010). Moreover, the Unix system is a crucial reference in the history of computing, in particular in the field of free and open source software (Kelty, 2008), computer networks (Paloque-Berges, 2017), as well as in programming language philosophy (Mélès, 2013). In order to explore the variety of these interrogations, this symposium encourages contributions from historians as well as philosophers, social science researchers, and heritage professionals interested in the history of computer open systems and software with a focus on Unix or who have a wider perspective. It will also welcome protagonists and witnesses of Unix culture and carriers of its memory. We wish to discuss and shed light on several aspects of the development of Unix in Europe (including in comparison or relation with the rest of the world) along three main lines: historical and sociological, philosophical and epistemological, and heritage- and preservation-oriented. *1/ Historical and sociological perspectives* Historically, the Unix system is linked to the promotion and development in research on open systems and computer networks. How does this fit in the context of industrial, scientific and technological policies defined at the national and European level? The history of Unix thus reaches at least three levels of interrogations: 1/ the forms, places and practices of innovation around Unix in R&D labs and computing centers in companies, schools and universities; 2/ planning, promoting and negotiating open systems (norms and standards) from the perspective of science and/or politics; 3/ international geopolitical relations, whether economical or geopolitical and even geostrategic (for example between Unix users, with users of other computer equipment or other hardware and software companies, the role of embargos in the shipping of mini-computers, of code, and military uses of Unix). In parallel, how has the world of computer research welcomed, encouraged, negotiated and propagated uses and innovations related to Unix systems? This begs the question of how Unix-related research and development was legitimized - or played a part in the legitimization of computer science experimentalism in the scientific field and beyond. We would also like to highlight practices of resistance, the failure to acknowledge, ignorance of or even the limits of the Unix system, its software tools and hardware environment (beginning with the famous PDP and Vax machines from Digital Equipment where the first Unix versions were implemented). With a focus on occupational computer uses, we call for analysis which aims to explore and clarify: - the role of developers, users, and user associations – from the point of view of pioneers as well as helpers, maintainers and other witnesses of the implementation of Unix; - the context, process, and people who determined its propagation, appropriation, and development over time; - the meaning of concepts of Unix philosophy and ethics such as “openness” and “autonomy”, from a social, political or economic point of view. *2. Philosophical and epistemological perspectives* We will foster research and reflection at the crossroad of the theoretical foundations of computer systems and engineering pragmatism, between the philosophy of computer systems and Unixian practices. Protagonists in the conception and diffusion of Unix often claim to have a ‘Unix philosophy’ . But beyond statement of principle, what was the real influence of this idea on the technical choices underlying the system’s developments? What are the ethical, moral, and philosophical motivations – alongside the social, political or economic dimensions discussed earlier – underpinning the adoption of Unix or pretending to extend it (for instance in relation to the notions of sharing, modularity or freedom)? How is the idea of ‘openness’ attached to Unix practices and heritage (free software, open source) conceived? What are the theoretical developments to be drawn from it (for instance with the idea of open software)? The logical and mathematical foundations of Unix should be readdressed. Do the fundamental concepts of Unix have an ontological or metaphysical significance beyond the sole research aim of technical efficiency? What role do aesthetics play in the formulation of general principles and technical choices? How can we analyze programming languages such as C and its successors, scripts, software, and generally speaking, the proliferating source codes of Unix? How do we consider the system, the software environment, as well as the hardware in which Unix is implemented and executed? Such philosophical questions also cover the modalities of the transmission of Unix, extending to the investigation of the respective roles of theory and practice in the teaching of the system, the teaching of knowledge and tools underlying the system or supporting the system. *3. Unix heritage and ‘heritagization’* France is now the home to multiple initiatives taking place to build and preserve a material and immaterial heritage of computer science and technology – such as ‘Software Heritage’ at INRIA, a global software archive in progress. The Museum of Arts et Métiers gave impetus to the MINF initiative (‘Pour un Musée de l’informatique et du numérique’) and coordinates the ‘Patstec Mission’ dealing with contemporary scientific and technological heritage preservation, including computer science. At an international scale and with a grassroots perspective carried by the community of Unix users, the TUHS (The Unix Heritage Society) demonstrates the current interest in the specific heritage linked to Unix. We encourage reflections on this heritage and its specific features: - What is the place of Unix in the construction of computer science heritage? Is it possible to map Unix systems and their heritage, from the standpoint of machines, languages and software? What has already been collected? What corpus, data bases, and/or platforms with a patrimonial mission are concerned with Unix and to what purpose? - How are the questions of training, constitution and diffusion of a Unix culture incorporated in the effort to collect heritage? How do we evaluate and put forward the importance of immaterial heritage attached to Unix, considering the effects of community and memory in its history and for the writing of its history? - What are the practices and modalities advocated by the unixian heritage itself? What has been its influence on the field of computer engineering and research as well as diverse fields such as: popularization of science and technology, ‘hacker’ movements and many ‘maker’ practices today (Lallement, 2016)? *Schedules* Please send a one-page abstract (maximum 500 words) with a short biography by June 30, 2017 to: camille.paloque-berges(a)cnam.fr <camille.paloque-berges(a)lecnam.net> and loic.petitgirard(a)cnam.fr. Accepted contributions and speakers will be notified by July 15, 2017. *Organizing committee* Isabelle Astic (Musée des arts et métiers) Raphaël Fournier-S’niehotta (Cédric, Cnam) Pierre-Eric Mounier-Kuhn (CRM, Paris 1) Camille Paloque-Berges (HT2S, Cnam) Loïc Petitgirard (HT2S, Cnam) *Scientific committee * François Anceau (UMPC-LIP6) Pierre Cubaud (Cédric, Cnam) Liesbeth de Mol (STL, Lille 3) Claudine Fontanon (CAK, EHESS) Gérald Kembellec (DICEN, Cnam) Baptiste Mélès (Archives Henri Poincaré, CNRS) Giuseppe Primiero (Middlesex University) Lionel Tabourier (LIP6, Paris 6) *Institutional partners and support: * - Project « Hist.Pat.info.Cnam », HT2S, Cnam – Research program supported by the Excellence laboratory History and Anthropology of Knoweldge, Technics and Beliefs (HASTEC), and in partnership with the laboratories CEDRIC (Cnam), DICEN (Cnam), and the Center Alexandre Koyré (EHESS). - « Histoire de l’informatique » (« History of computing » seminar) seminar - (Musée des arts et métiers, CRM, Paris 1, UMPC-LIP6) - « Source code » seminar - (CNRS, Cnam, Université Paris 6). With support from the DHST/DLMPST for the History and Philosophy of Computing (HAPOC) *Bibliography * Kelty, Christopher M. 2008. *Two Bits: The Cultural Significance of Free Software*. Durham: Duke University Press Books. Lallement, Michel. 2016. *L’âge du faire, *Seuil. Mélès, Baptiste. 2003. « Unix selon l’ordre des raisons : la philosophie de la pratique informatique ». *Philosophia Scientiæ* 17 (3): 181‑98. Salus, Peter H. 1994. *A quarter century of UNIX*. Addison-Wesley. Reading. Toomey, Warren. 2010. « First Edition Unix: Its Creation and Restoration ». *IEEE Annals of the History of Computing* 32 (3): 74‑82.

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SCELBI 8B demonstration video
by Mike Willegal 15 May '17

15 May '17

http://www.willegal.net/SCELBI-8B.mov Those of you that are interested in early home/personal/micro-computers might find this video of a reproduction, interesting. As far as I know, fully functional original SCELBI 8B computers are non existent. I am helping the owner of one original SCELBI 8B that may get his system running in the not too distant future. That one does not have the oscilloscope interface. Regards, Mike Willegal

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