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Fwd: [Asis-l] Call for I-Stories: SIG History and Foundations of Information Science
by Andrew Russell 13 Apr '15

13 Apr '15

Perhaps of interest to the information historians on the list…. Begin forwarded message: Date: April 11, 2015 at 10:19:35 AM EDT From: IBEKWE-SANJUAN Fidelia <fidelia.ibekwe-sanjuan(a)univ-amu.fr<mailto:fidelia.ibekwe-sanjuan@univ-amu.fr>> To: <sighfis-l(a)asis.org<mailto:sighfis-l@asis.org>>, <asis-l(a)asis.org<mailto:asis-l@asis.org>> Subject: [Asis-l] Call for I-Stories: SIG History and Foundations of Information Science +++ Please circulate widely via your mailing lists (SIGs and student chapters) and to your masters students+++ Call for I-Stories SIG History & Foundations of Information Science http://www.asis.org/SIG/SIGHFIS/ Information and communication phenomena are at the heart of our daily lives. They are how we know things and yet our understanding of these concepts and underlying phenomena are at best slippery. Just when we think we’ve pinned or penned them down nicely with a few well chosen phrases, we discover that those phrases are inadequate, that others disagree with our definitions or that many other conceptions abound. Not to bore you with the many varied conceptions of information, the aim of this call for I-Stories is to bring forth, through everyday experience, the many different things information can mean to different people or to the same person in different circumstances in a lively and entertaining manner. The SIG History & Foundations of Information Science solicits stories on how information and its understanding affect our daily lives, be it in work situations, in our private lives, in our research. The stories of information and around information should showcase how effective or ineffective the concept may be, how it can mean different things to different people, how that may have got you into misunderstandings and how that has got you thinking about information in general. The stories may concern an event, something that happened to you or to someone you know, a talk you heard or involve well known scholars and how they have grappled with this open-ended question. We encourage scholars, practitioners, and especially students to send us a text of at most, 1000 words which can be illustrated with drawings. A jury chosen from SIG HFIS members will choose 5 stories that shed startling, informative and unexpected insights into our understanding of the phenomenon we call information and of the field we call information science/studies. Stories by students will receive particular attention and if selected, their authors will receive a 1 year free membership to ASIST and to HFIS. Membership benefits are varied and can be consulted at http://www.asis.org/. Stories written by practitioners or faculty members if selected will receive a gift card of $30 as well as 1 year free membership to SIG HFIS. Please send your stories to fidelia.ibekwe-sanjuan(a)univ-amu.fr<mailto:fidelia.ibekwe-sanjuan@univ-amu.fr> by 30th may. The jury will render the result of its deliberation by 30th June. Fidelia Ibekwe-SanJuan HFIS chair (2014-2015) -- ----------------------------------------------------- Fidelia Ibekwe-SanJuan (Ph.D.) Full Professor (Professeur des Universités) School of Journalism & Communication (EJCAM) http://ejcam.univ-amu.fr/ Aix-Marseille University - France. Homepage: http://fidelia1.free.fr/ IRSIC research team: http://irsic.univ-amu.fr/ -----------------------------------------------------

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Fwd: The Extraordinary Growing Impact Of The History Of Science
by Brian Randell 12 Apr '15

12 Apr '15

Hi: Begin forwarded message: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "Hendricks Dewayne" <dewayne(a)warpspeed.com<mailto:dewayne@warpspeed.com>> Date: Apr 10, 2015 11:36 AM Subject: [Dewayne-Net] The Extraordinary Growing Impact Of The History Of Science To: "Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net" <dewayne-net(a)warpspeed.com<mailto:dewayne-net@warpspeed.com>> Cc: The Extraordinary Growing Impact Of The History Of Science Old scientific papers never die, they just fade away. Or they used to. Now electronic publishing has made old papers as easy to find as new ones, and the effect on science is profound By The Physics arXiv Blog Nov 13 2014 <https://medium.com/the-physics-arxiv-blog/the-extraordinary-growing-impact-…> Walk through the archives of any academic library and you will find dusty shelves of scientific journals dating back to the early 20th century and sometimes beyond. It’s hard to know the last time many of these volumes were opened or whether the information they contain has long been forgotten. That’s in stark contrast to the way most scientists access scientific papers today; in a matter of seconds after a straightforward web search. Never has it been so easy to look up a circuit diagram, learn about gene therapy or read the latest papers about black holes. That’s why many scientific publishers have digitised their archives to make the entire history of their publications available online and as easy to search as modern papers. That raises an interesting question — if old papers are now as easy to find as modern ones, are they having as great an impact? Today we get an answer of sorts thanks to the work of Alex Verstak and pals at Google. These guys have studied how often older articles are cited in modern papers and how this has changed since the advent of electronic publishing in the 1990s. Their conclusion is that older papers are having an increasingly important impact on modern science — that the distinction between old and new, between the historical and the modern, no longer creates a division in science. These guys base their work on a database of citations in scientific papers published between 1990 and 2013 in 9 broad areas of research subdivided into 261 subject areas. For each discipline, they then plotted the percentage of citations to papers that were at least ten years old. The results show a clear trend. “Our analysis indicates that, in 2013, 36% of citations were to articles that are at least 10 years old and that this fraction has grown 28% since 1990,” say Verstak and co. What’s more, the increase in the last ten years is twice as big as in the previous ten years, so the trend appears to be accelerating. The results solve an ongoing conundrum among researchers involved in scientometrics, the study of science and scientific research. Some of these researchers have long argued that the ongoing digitisation of historical papers should automatically ensure that they are cited more often. Others point out that there has been a huge increase in the number scientific papers published in recent years so historical papers should be a smaller proportion of the total and therefore cited less. The work of Verstak and co shows that the former effect has won out. “Now that finding and reading relevant older articles is about as easy as finding and reading recently published articles, significant advances aren’t getting lost on the shelves and are influencing work worldwide for years after,” they say. There are one or two interesting wrinkles in the data. These trends appeared in 231 out of 261 subject areas. But many of the subject areas that experienced a decline in older citations were part of two broader areas: chemical and materials sciences, and engineering. Consequently, these broad disciplines show almost no increase in old citations. Just why citation trends should differ in these disciplines isn’t clear. Nevertheless, that’s a fascinating result. Instead of fading into the past, the history of science is becoming a growing influence on current practice. That’s clearly no bad thing. But here’s the thing — if the history of science can have a bigger impact on the present, why not history in general? Could it be that this work is the first sign that the digital age is likely to make history a much more important part of everybody’s present because it will be just as easy to access electronically as the recent past? Answers in the comments section please. Ref: arxiv.org/abs/1411.027<http://arxiv.org/abs/1411.0275>5 : On the Shoulders of Giants: The Growing Impact of Older Articles Cheers Brian Randell -- School of Computing Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK EMAIL = Brian.Randell(a)ncl.ac.uk<mailto:Brian.Randell@ncl.ac.uk> PHONE = +44 191 208 7923 FAX = +44 191 208 8232 URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/people/brian.randell

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SHOT Levinson Prize Deadline April 15
by M. Hicks 09 Apr '15

09 Apr '15

Hi all, A quick reminder and encouragement to apply for the SHOT Levinson Prize--the deadline is April 15: The Samuel Eleazar and Rose Tartakow Levinson Prize is awarded each year for a single-authored, unpublished essay in the history of technology that explicitly examines, in some detail, a technology or technological device or process within the framework of social or intellectual history. It is intended for younger scholars and new entrants into the profession. Manuscripts already published or accepted for publication are not eligible. In order to be considered, manuscripts must be in English and of a length suitable for publication as an article in Technology and Culture--approximately 7,500 words (not including notes) and 100 notes. The winning manuscript will be considered for publication in Technology and Culture. To nominate an essay, please send it by e-mail, in MS Word or PDF format, to the SHOT secretary's office (shotsec(a)auburn.edu) clearly stating that this is a nomination for the Levinson prize. Please also send one paper copy to: David Lucsko, SHOT Secretary, Department of History, 310 Thach Hall, Auburn University, AL 36849-5207. More info: http://www.historyoftechnology.org/awards/levinson.html ______________________ Marie Hicks, Ph.D. Asst. Professor, History of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL USA mariehicks.net | mhicks1(a)iit.edu | @histoftech

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Rock Stars and unicorns
by Thomas Haigh 08 Apr '15

08 Apr '15

Oh, those “Rock Stars of X” are just embarrassing. First that they are so obviously not rock stars, but second that it’s been so long since actual rock stars had broad appeal to the young. Here’s something I posted on a rare visit to Facebook a few months ago. IEEE sent me an email promoting the "Rock Stars of 3D Printing." Are these people really beloved of millions and chased down the street by screaming teenage girls? Do they smash their equipment on stage and die of overdoses? Do they, collectively, own a single pair of leather trousers? And, even if they did, would that make me trust them to deliver what the IEEE calls "real actionable information" from "serious people"? Oooh, that's rock and roll. <http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.computer.org%2Fweb%2Frock-st…> <http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.computer.org%2Fweb%2Frock-st…> https://fbexternal-a.akamaihd.net/safe_image.php?d=AQC4Q-qlNW-gii02&w=158&h… Rock Stars of 3D Printing • IEEE Computer Society <http://www.computer.org/web/rock-stars/3d-printing?lf1=3541232265b149716111…> Every company needs to prepare and implement 3D printing in order to remain relevant in their industry. No one can sit this phenomenon out. computer.org Of course, I am just jealous that nobody is promoting the Rock Stars of the History of Computing who would clearly keep things 4 Real in a suitably rockist manner. Plus IIRC the Pauls (Edwards and Ceruzzi) can actually perform musically. Um, but seriously. Maybe a paper on these weird appropriations of identity in the tech world would be a fun thing to write from an historical perspective. Tom From: Members [mailto:members-bounces@lists.sigcis.org] On Behalf Of Ceruzzi, Paul Sent: Wednesday, April 08, 2015 1:23 PM To: 'Matthew Battles'; members Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] So, about these "unicorns"... Also Rock Stars, Masters of the Universe, Rocket Scientists, and who can forget: Geeks. My Webster’s New World Dictionary defines “geek” as “…a performer of grotesque or depraved acts in a carnival, such as biting off the head of a live chicken.” That is the only definition it gives. From: Members [mailto:members-bounces@lists.sigcis.org] On Behalf Of Matthew Battles Sent: Wednesday, April 08, 2015 1:48 PM To: members Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] So, about these "unicorns"... ..and angels! On Wed, Apr 8, 2015 at 1:26 PM, Marc Weber <marc(a)webhistory.org> wrote: It’s a magical, magical world. On Apr 8, 2015, at 10:17, Paul N. Edwards <pne(a)umich.edu> wrote: long before unicorns, dragons, and trolls — in the late 1950s there were IBM and the Seven Dwarves (Sperry Rand, Control Data Corp. (CDC), RCA, Honeywell, GE, Burroughs, NCR) On Apr 8, 2015, at 13:13 , Marc Weber <marc(a)webhistory.org> wrote: Don’t forget that we have trolls too…. On Apr 8, 2015, at 09:39, Henry Lowood < <mailto:lowood@stanford.edu> lowood(a)stanford.edu> wrote: Tom, Quick response from the Valley: From what I have read and heard, the "unicorn company" concept is mostly attributed to TechCrunch. I believe the article you cited was the unveiling of the term, but TechCrunch has put out a series of posts and articles since then. And there are dragons, too: <http://techcrunch.com/2014/12/14/unicorns-vs-dragons/> http://techcrunch.com/2014/12/14/unicorns-vs-dragons/ This one ends, "All things being equal, I would rather back a dragon than a unicorn." Henry On 4/7/2015 9:23 PM, Thomas Haigh wrote: Dear SIGCIS, To raise a question that may or may not turn out to have an explanation within our domain of expertise, I’ve been struck recently by frequent references to “unicorns” in the business press. This crystalized over breakfast last week when I noticed an article “Stockholm: The Unicorn Factory” in my usually reserved Financial Times. Apparently the consensus definition of a “unicorn” in this context is a newish company worth more than $1 billion. Stockholm has more per capita than anywhere but Silicon Valley. A total output of five sounds more like an atelier than a factory, and unicorns probably come from unicorn farms rather than assembly lines, but that’s not really the point. The point is: unicorns are not just vanishingly rare. They’re mythical. Until recently, if someone told me I was pursuing a unicorn I’d have assumed they meant I was wasting my time. So where does the metaphor come from? Something that’s very rare but very valuable might be worth pursuing. Something that is flat-out imaginary seems a bad goal for investment dollars or public policy. Is this something to do with the popularity of fantasy literature in the tech field? Did it start as some kind of joke and get out of hand? A quick Google search suggests that it was popularized with <http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/02/welcome-to-the-unicorn-club/> http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/02/welcome-to-the-unicorn-club/, which offers no particular justification for the term beyond “to us, it means something extremely rare, and magical.” Tom _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at <http://sigcis.org/> 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/> 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> http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org -- Henry Lowood Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections; Film & Media Collections HSSG, Green Library, 557 Escondido Mall Stanford University Libraries, Stanford CA 94305-6004 650-723-4602; <mailto:lowood@stanford.edu> lowood(a)stanford.edu; <http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood> http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at <http://sigcis.org/> 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/> 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> http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org <http://www.computerhistory.org/staff/Marc,Weber/> Marc Weber | <mailto:marc@webhistory.org> marc(a)webhistory.org | +1 415 282 6868 <tel:%2B1%20415%20282%206868> Internet History Program Founder and Curator, Computer History Museum 1401 N Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View CA 94043 <http://computerhistory.org/nethistory> computerhistory.org/nethistory Co-founder, Web History Center and Project, <http://webhistory.org/> webhistory.org _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at <http://sigcis.org/> 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/> 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> http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org ___________________________ Paul N. Edwards Professor of <http://www.si.umich.edu/> Information and <http://www.lsa.umich.edu/history/> History, University of Michigan A Vast Machine: Computer Models, Climate Data, and the Politics of Global Warming <http://pne.people.si.umich.edu/vastmachine/index.html> (MIT Press, 2010) Terse replies are deliberate <http://five.sentenc.es/> (and better than nothing) University of Michigan School of Information <http://www.si.umich.edu/> 4437 North Quad 105 S. State Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285 (734) 764-2617 <tel:%28734%29%20764-2617> (office) (206) 337-1523 <tel:%28206%29%20337-1523> (fax) pne.people.si.umich.edu <http://pne.people.si.umich.edu/> Marc Weber <http://www.computerhistory.org/staff/Marc,Weber/> | marc(a)webhistory.org | +1 415 282 6868 <tel:%2B1%20415%20282%206868> Internet History Program Founder and Curator, Computer History Museum 1401 N Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View CA 94043 <http://computerhistory.org/nethistory> computerhistory.org/nethistory Co-founder, Web History Center and Project, webhistory.org _______________________________________________ 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 -- matthew battles associate director, <http://metalab.harvard.edu/> metaLAB (at) harvard fellow, <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu> berkman center for internet and society twitter = @matthewbattles <http://twitter.com/matthewbattles> Image removed by sender.

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So, about these "unicorns"...
by Thomas Haigh 08 Apr '15

08 Apr '15

Dear SIGCIS, To raise a question that may or may not turn out to have an explanation within our domain of expertise, I've been struck recently by frequent references to "unicorns" in the business press. This crystalized over breakfast last week when I noticed an article "Stockholm: The Unicorn Factory" in my usually reserved Financial Times. Apparently the consensus definition of a "unicorn" in this context is a newish company worth more than $1 billion. Stockholm has more per capita than anywhere but Silicon Valley. A total output of five sounds more like an atelier than a factory, and unicorns probably come from unicorn farms rather than assembly lines, but that's not really the point. The point is: unicorns are not just vanishingly rare. They're mythical. Until recently, if someone told me I was pursuing a unicorn I'd have assumed they meant I was wasting my time. So where does the metaphor come from? Something that's very rare but very valuable might be worth pursuing. Something that is flat-out imaginary seems a bad goal for investment dollars or public policy. Is this something to do with the popularity of fantasy literature in the tech field? Did it start as some kind of joke and get out of hand? A quick Google search suggests that it was popularized with http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/02/welcome-to-the-unicorn-club/, which offers no particular justification for the term beyond "to us, it means something extremely rare, and magical." Tom

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Re: [SIGCIS-Members] So, about these "unicorns"...
by Thomas Haigh 08 Apr '15

08 Apr '15

Interesting. I’d vaguely wondered if there was some kind of path from fantasy unicorns to the tech industry via something like The Last Unicorn/Dragonriders of Perm/My Little Pony (um, I know those are all rather different things, but call them the corners of a broad pop culture space in which impressionable young people have intimate emotional relationships with mythical animals). But a connection along the lines of SF/fantasy fandom -> polyamory -> libertarians -> Silicon Valley talk seems perfectly plausible. I wonder if there’s something a little sly about its sudden appearance in business talk. However, it seems from the definition Laine cited that in that poly community the term is chosen precisely to make the point that unicorns will never be discovered however many women are pursued by the hopeful couple. Whereas venture capitalists are inspired by the high profile success of unicorn companies, in much the same way that a handful of NBA stars lure so many to attempt athletic careers. Tom From: Laine Nooney [mailto:laine.nooney@gmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, April 08, 2015 9:39 AM To: thaigh(a)computer.org Haigh Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] So, about these "unicorns"... Unicorn is slang in the poly community--I don't know for how long, but it is a generally understood term. I'd disagree with Christina that it's a "sexual" term (I'd argue that its relational), or that its related to just women (but there is a fair stereotype around that). Here's some fun literature: http://polyliving.net/2013/10/unicorn-unicorn-hunting-unicorn-triad/ >From there it may very likely be filtering into a more general pop culture usage (unicorns certainly have their devotees among internet culture--there was a whole Obama Riding a Unicorn Meme a few years back) Laine Nooney www.lainenooney.com <http://www.lainenooney.com/> ISTC <http://socialcomputing.uci.edu/> @ <http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/mcc/> MCC @ NYU <http://www.nyu.edu> Postdoctoral Associate On Wed, Apr 8, 2015 at 12:23 AM, Thomas Haigh <thaigh(a)computer.org> wrote: Dear SIGCIS, To raise a question that may or may not turn out to have an explanation within our domain of expertise, I’ve been struck recently by frequent references to “unicorns” in the business press. This crystalized over breakfast last week when I noticed an article “Stockholm: The Unicorn Factory” in my usually reserved Financial Times. Apparently the consensus definition of a “unicorn” in this context is a newish company worth more than $1 billion. Stockholm has more per capita than anywhere but Silicon Valley. A total output of five sounds more like an atelier than a factory, and unicorns probably come from unicorn farms rather than assembly lines, but that’s not really the point. The point is: unicorns are not just vanishingly rare. They’re mythical. Until recently, if someone told me I was pursuing a unicorn I’d have assumed they meant I was wasting my time. So where does the metaphor come from? Something that’s very rare but very valuable might be worth pursuing. Something that is flat-out imaginary seems a bad goal for investment dollars or public policy. Is this something to do with the popularity of fantasy literature in the tech field? Did it start as some kind of joke and get out of hand? A quick Google search suggests that it was popularized with http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/02/welcome-to-the-unicorn-club/, which offers no particular justification for the term beyond “to us, it means something extremely rare, and magical.” Tom _______________________________________________ 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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simulation before 1947
by Willard McCarty 08 Apr '15

08 Apr '15

Dear Julian (if I may), Many thanks for this. Harry F Olson, Dynamical Analogies (Van Nostrand, 1943), does not use the word 'simulation' (which is evidence that it was not the obvious term then), but the technique I am after is what he describes for acoustical systems. This is how he begins Chapter 1: > Analogies are useful when it is desired to compare an unfamiliar > system with one that is better known. The relations and actions are > more easily visualized, the mathematics more readily applied and the > analytical solutions more readily obtained in the familiar system. > Analogies make it possible to extend the line of reasoning into > unexplored fields. A large part of engineering analysis is concerned > with vibrating systems. Although not generally so considered, the > electrical circuit is the most common example and the most widely > exploited vibrating system. The book is in the Internet Archive. Yours, W -- Willard McCarty (www.mccarty.org.uk/) Professor, Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London, and Digital Humanities Research Group, University of Western Sydney

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'simulation'
by Willard McCarty 08 Apr '15

08 Apr '15

Another question regarding terminology. In "Models, Simulation, and 'Computer Experiments'", Evelyn Fox Keller says that before the likely seeming date of 1947, when the OED records the first positive use of "simulation", the word "invariably meant deception" (p. 198). But a closer look, into publications of electrical engineers back to the early 20th Century, reveals uses of 'simulation' straightforwardly to denote the behaviour of electrical circuits designed as analogues of physical phenomena. (My source is the IEEE Xplore Digital Library.) Despite hints that simulation was in effect being practiced in the 19th Century, e.g. by Kelvin and Babbage, I cannot find any use of the *word* to denote a constructed analogical likeness. Perhaps not coincidentally the first occurrences I've found coincide roughly with electricity becoming familiar enough that it could be used to explore less familiar phenomena rather than the other way around. (Charles Care's work bears on this point.) Does anyone here know more? (I did try the archive, but it reports a "ht://Dig error", commenting that, "Unable to read word database file '/dh/mailman/grail/archives/private/members-sigcis.org/htdig/db.words.db' Did you run htdig?") Many thanks. Yours, WM -- Willard McCarty (www.mccarty.org.uk/) Professor, Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London, and Digital Humanities Research Group, University of Western Sydney

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The Bernard S. Finn IEEE History Prize
by Hyungsub Choi 06 Apr '15

06 Apr '15

Dear SIGCIS Members, A reminder that the deadline for the Finn/IEEE Prize is closing in (April 15). The prize honors excellent works in the history of electrotechnology, broadly defined. For more details, see the attached flyer. Best, Hyungsub Choi

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Things come in threes...
by Evan Koblentz 02 Apr '15

02 Apr '15

There were two other NY-area computer history announcements here this morning, so I'll make it three: a reminder that the Vintage Computer Festival East is April 17-19, at the InfoAge Science Center, in Wall, New Jersey. Friday's schedule has 16 technical classes and a lunchtime ceremony for the 50th anniversary of the DEC PDP-8 minicomputer. Saturday and Sunday each start with a morning keynote -- Wes Clark and Bob Frankston, respectively. The rest of those days features two hands-on exhibit halls, consignment/vendors, and museum tours. There are 38 exhibits, which makes this event the largest of any of the Vintage Computer Festivals ever produced. Also: Star Trek-themed shirts and mousepads, who could turn down that? Full details are at http://www.vintage.org/2015/east/ and also facebook.com/vcfeast and twitter.com/vcfeast. Come get your hands dirty with historic computers.

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