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Social Sudies of Inormation
by Taylor-Smith, Ella 28 Nov '13

28 Nov '13

Hi Tom the Captcha on that site is really difficult. It took me 4 goes to get through. I am not a robot. best wishes -Ella Ella Taylor-Smith Institute for Informatics and Digital Innovation Edinburgh Napier University 10 Colinton Road Edinburgh, EH10 5DT Email: e.taylor-smith(a)napier.ac.uk http://www.iidi.napier.ac.uk/e.taylor-smith http://about.me/EllaTaylorSmith @EllaTasm ________________________________________ From: members-bounces(a)sigcis.org [members-bounces(a)sigcis.org] on behalf of members-request(a)sigcis.org [members-request(a)sigcis.org] Sent: 27 November 2013 17:00 To: members(a)sigcis.org Subject: Members Digest, Vol 41, Issue 17 Send Members mailing list submissions to members(a)sigcis.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to members-request(a)sigcis.org You can reach the person managing the list at members-owner(a)sigcis.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Members digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Social Sudies of Inormation and the iConfernce (Thomas Haigh) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Wed, 27 Nov 2013 00:03:24 -0600 From: "Thomas Haigh" <thaigh(a)computer.org> To: <members(a)sigcis.org> Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Social Sudies of Inormation and the iConfernce Message-ID: <012101ceeb36$62766250$276326f0$(a)computer.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hello SIGCIS people, This message will be of interest to a subset of you, but I think it's worth sending anyway. It's about a chance to participate in a new community and an upcoming conference workshop. Some background. These is such a thing as an "iSchool." The "I" is for "information." Most of them used to be library schools, but now they do things to do with computers as well/instead of things to do with libraries. The schools vary widely, but they have an organization and a conference. It's called the "iConfernce." Quite a few SIGCIS people, including Bill Aspray, Nathan Ensmenger, Eden Medina, Paul Edwards, Greg Downey, Dave Stearns, and me find ourselves employed in iSchools. History itself is marginal, at best, in most of these schools but STS is somewhat better established and easier to position on the curriculum. Given the job market, people with STS training have also been going to work in iSchools. However, STS-like perspectives are spread over many different sub communities with names like "social informatics," "values in design," "information policy," "internet studies" whose currency varies from school to school. My experience with SIGCIS has made me realize the value that simple tools, such as a listserv and syllabus repository, can have for a scattered community. I'd also seen people looking to send messages to the iSchool STS community making their own long lists of email names, because there is no established list that reaches this group. Thus was born www.socialstudiesof.info, which (as I can admit here among friends) is basically trying to repeat some of the things that more or less worked with SIGCIS over the past eight years to bring together the metacommunity of people with STS interest in iSchools. If you find this project interesting I encourage you to sign up, submit your syllabi, spread the word, etc. More specifically, and as explained in the message below, the iConference is in Berlin next March. Early registration runs out on Dec 15. I'm the lead organizer of a full day workshop there on "Exploring the Social Studies of Information." It's going to be informal and participatory, but if you're interested or need this for travel money I can probably find a spot for you on a roundtable or discussion group somewhere on the program. I'd love to see a strong showing at the workshop from this community, and a renewed attempt (in this niche at least) of finding ways to integrate history of computing with STS and with the broader iSchool concept of "information history." Best wishes, Tom Edinburgh Napier University offers industry informed courses which combine the optimum balance of theory and practice to equip graduates for success in today's competitive global job market. 92.3% of our graduates are in work or further study within six months of leaving. With over 17,000 students from over 110 countries, we are an international University and are also proud to be the largest UK provider of higher education in Hong Kong. This message is intended for the addressee(s) only and should not be read, copied or disclosed to anyone else outwith the University without the permission of the sender. It is your responsibility to ensure that this message and any attachments are scanned for viruses or other defects. Edinburgh Napier University does not accept liability for any loss or damage which may result from this email or any attachment, or for errors or omissions arising after it was sent. Email is not a secure medium. Email entering the University's system is subject to routine monitoring and filtering by the University. Edinburgh Napier University is a registered Scottish charity. Registration number SC018373

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Give SIGCIS Your Money (please) - planned Mahoney Prize
by Thomas Haigh 25 Nov '13

25 Nov '13

Hello SIGCIS Members, SIGCIS does not have membership dues, but if you have found our activities and resources useful over years then I hope you will consider making a donation to our Mahoney Fund. Details at www.sigcis.org/Mahoney. This message marks the public launch of Phase II of our fundraising, intended to support the launch of the Mahoney Prize: an annual article prize for an outstanding article on the history of information technology. The fund was set up in 2008 to honor that late Michael S. Mahoney, a Princeton professor and central figure in the history of computing community. It began with a five year pledge from Ann Johnson, one of Mahoney's students. Thanks to the generous support of our community by the end of 2012 we had accumulated $14,400 from donations and investment returns. We are treating this balance as a quasi-endowment to support the Michael S. Mahoney Travel Awards, of which six have so far been made to student presenters at the SIGCIS workshops. Our new goal is to grow the accumulated balance to at least $25,000 during the four year period 2013-2016. That will ensure that we can support the new Mahoney Award indefinitely without compromising our support for graduate students. Awards and prizes of this kind are probably the most cost effective investments possible in the future of our field as they help to build competitive resumes and integrate the winners into our scholarly community. Thus even a pledge at one of the lower levels could still make a real difference. This use of the fund's resources for an article prize seems particularly fitting as Mahoney made his own contribution to our field via a series of influential articles and book chapters. Over the past month I've made individual appeals to our existing donors to sign on as pre-launch supporters of the new campaign. I've been pleasantly surprised by their enthusiasm and generosity. Most of those I contacted made pledges of support, often within an hour or two of me clicking "send," and usually for a series of for annual contributions. I'd like to thank Joseph November, Thomas L. Drucker, James W. Cortada, Jonathan Coopersmith, Richard T. Snodgrass, Wendy Vogenitz Tinsley, Daniel J. Feldman, Angela Creager, Andrew Russell, Paul Ceruzzi and Burton Grad for their recently pledged donations. With their support we have moved towards our goal faster than I had dared to hope. However the current pledges will not, in themselves, be enough to reach the $25,000 goal. That is where you come in. All donations are managed and invested by SHOT, so you can be sure that the money will be treated responsibly and that you will receive the usual tax benefits for a charitable contribution (if you are a US taxpayer who can claim charitable contributions). SHOT strongly prefers donations to be made by check (details and address on the web at www.sigcis.org/Mahoney) but if you would like to contribute and do not have a U.S. checking account then contact me for alternative arrangements. An article prize is something we have been discussing since at least 2007 but have never secured the resources to endow. As you may remember, Andrew Russell will be taking over from me as SIGCIS chair at next year's SHOT meeting. I'd like to deliver the SIG in the best shape possible. Collecting enough pledges from our members to send a formal proposal for the new prize to SHOT's executive council would free Andy from having to begin his term dealing with unfinished business. Thanks again to all those who have given to SIGCIS over the years whether in response to my recent messages, over the first five years of the Mahoney Fund, or at our annual meeting events. Tom Haigh (SIGCIS Chair) www.tomandmaria.com/tom

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History of speech-generating software
by Meryl Alper 23 Nov '13

23 Nov '13

Hi all, I am writing to ask if anyone knows of a good book that either in whole or part provides an overview of the history of speech-generating software and/or devices - essentially, a history of humans making computers "talk." For background, my dissertation is primarily a qualitative study of how US parents of young non-verbal children with developmental disabilities incorporate the iPad into their families' lives when the child uses the mobile device partly or primarily as a speech-generating system. I am pairing this fieldwork with archival research on how parents have historically navigated the world of personal computers equipped with software for producing synthetic speech. Thanks! Meryl Alper Ph.D. Candidate in Communication Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism University of Southern California

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Career question
by Evan Koblentz 20 Nov '13

20 Nov '13

SIGCIS'ers, I'm currently between jobs in my daytime career as a technology journalist, so I am looking for some advice. How might I proceed in turning my avocation and passion for technology history in a living? (Unfortunately I do not have the option of entering a Ph.D. program at this time.) All work at NJ's InfoAge Science Center, where I am based, is volunteer in nature.

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HiNC4 Call for Papers
by Lars Heide 19 Nov '13

19 Nov '13

Call for Papers HiNC4, History of Nordic Computing, The Fourth IFIP WG 9.7 Working Conference at IT University, Copenhagen, 13-15 August 2014. Hereby we cordially invite you to submit contributions to HiNC4, where the main theme will be The NordicWay - Transforming the Nordic Societies through ICT Innovation Theme The conference concentrates on how ICT has influenced the welfare societies in the Nordic countries since the 1960ies. The focus shall be on the new ideas, systems and solutions that helped create the welfare societies of today, organized in three sub-themes: 1. ICT Solutions and Systems for Public Services >From tax to social benefits, from education to health care, from police info systems to Network Centric Operations, from democracy and social inclusion to culture. 2. ICT Solutions and Systems for the Infrastructure of the Society >From railroads to energy, from telephone to wireless, from banking and insurance to supply chain management. 3. The innovation and systems Technologies behind the major milestones, such as user centric innovation, modular programming, service orientation. More information about the conference - such as the names of PC members and proceedings editors - may be found at the website http://www.hinc4.org/ Important Dates February 1, 2014 Deadline for submission of summary March 10, 2014 Notification of acceptance June 15, 2014 Deadline for submission of full paper August 13-15, 2014 Conference November 1, 2014 Final papers ready for publication Submissions The summary, specifying which of the three sub-themes it relates to, should be submitted as a pdf-file, at most one page A4-size, before February 1, 2014. It must be e-mailed to HiNC4(a)City.dk<mailto:HiNC4@City.dk> The full paper of at most 10 pages should also submitted by e-mail as a pdf-file before June 15, 2014 to HiNC4(a)City.dk<mailto:XXX@YYY> The layout of the paper must follow the guidelines from Springer Verlag (copied at at the HiNC4 website.) Christian Gram, chr.gram(a)ddf.dk<mailto:chr.gram@ddf.dk> Per Rasmussen, pbras(a)itu.dk<mailto:pbras@itu.dk>

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2nd CfP History and Philosophy of Programming
by Liesbeth De Mol 18 Nov '13

18 Nov '13

Dear all, the second call for papers for the second symposium on the history and philosophy of programming is now out. If anyone of you is interested to contribute something, please do submit a (short) paper, my very best wishes, Liesbeth. /APOLOGIES FOR MULTIPLE POSTINGS/ ---------------------------------------------------------- Second Call for Papers Second Symposium on History and Philosophy of Programming www.computing-conference.ugent.be/hapop2 Organised by the Commission for the History and Philosophy of Computing www.hapoc.org At AISB-50, Goldsmiths, London 1-4, April 2014 ---------------------------------------------------------- As part of the AISB-50 Annual Convention 2014 to be held at Goldsmiths, University of London, on April 1st--4th 2014 www.aisb.org.uk/events/aisb14 The convention is organised by the Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour (AISB) http://www.aisb.org.uk/ *Overview* The history and philosophy of computing only started to develop as real disciplines in the '80s and '90s of the previous century, with the foundation of journals (e.g. the IEEE Annals on the History of Computing, Minds and Machines and the like) and associations (SIGCIS, IACAP, . . . ), and the organization of conferences and workshops on a regular basis. A historical awareness of the evolution of computing not only helps to clarify the complex structure of the computing sciences, but it also provides an insight in what computing was, is and maybe could be in the future. Philosophy, on the other hand, helps to tackle some of the fundamental problems of computing. The aim of this symposium is to zoom into one fundamental aspect of computing, that is the foundational and the historical problems and developments related to the science of programming. This is the Second Symposium on History and Philosophy of Programming, following the first edition organized in 2012 at the AISB/IACAP Joint Convention in Birmingham, UK. A historical awareness of the evolution of computing not only helps to clarify the complex structure of the computing sciences, but it also provides an insight in what computing was, is and maybe could be in the future. Philosophy, on the other hand, helps to tackle some of the fundamental problems of computing. The aim of this symposium is to zoom into one fundamental aspect of computing, that is the foundational and the historical problems and developments related to programming. *Topics of Interest* That a logico-mathematical-physical object called program is so controversial, even though its very nature is mostly hidden away, is rooted in the range of problems, processes and objects that can be solved, simulated, approximated and generated by way of its execution. Given its widespread impact on our lives, it becomes a responsibility of the philosopher and the historian to study the science of programming. The historical and philosophical reflection on the science of programming is the main topic at the core of this workshop and we expect contributions (talks) in the following aspects (and their connections): 1. The history of computational systems, machines and programs 2. Foundational issues and paradigms of programming 3. Methodology of designing, teaching and learning programming We believe the scientific community needs a deep understanding and critical view of the problems related to the scientific paradigm represented by the science of programming. Possible and in no way exclusive questions that might be of relevance to this Symposium are: . What was and is the relation between hardware and software developments? . How did the notion of 'program' changed since the 40s? . How important has been the hands-off vs. the hands-on approach for the development of programming? . How did models of computability like Church's lambda-calculus influence the development of programming languages? . Is programming a science or a technology? . What are the novel and most interesting approaches to the design of programs? . What is correctness for a program? Issues in Type-checking, Model-checking, etc. . How do we understand programs as syntactical-semantical objects? . What is the nature of the relation between algorithms and programs? What is a program? . How can epistemology profit from the understanding of programs' behavior and structure? . What legal and socio-economical issues are involved in the creation, patenting or free-distribution of programs? . How is programming to be taught? *Submission and Publication Details* Submissions must be full (short) papers and should be sent via EasyChair: https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=hapop2 Text editor templates from a previous convention can be found at: http://www.aisb.org.uk/convention/aisb08/download.html We request that submitted papers are limited to eight pages. Each paper will receive at least two reviews. Selected papers will be published in the general proceedings of the AISB Convention, with the proviso that at least ONE author attends the symposium in order to present the paper and participate in general symposium activities. *Important Dates* Full paper submission deadline: 3 January 2014 Notification of acceptance/rejections: 6 February 2014 Final version of accepted papers: 24 february 2014 Symposium Date: 4 April 2014 *Additional Information* Please note that there will be separate proceedings for each symposium, produced before the convention. Each delegate will receive a memory stick containing the proceedings of all the symposia. In previous years there have been awards for the best student paper, and limited student bursaries. These details will be circulated as and when they become available. Authors of a selection of the best papers will be invited to submit an extended version of the work to a journal special issue. *Symposium organisers* dr. Liesbeth De Mol elizabeth.demol(a)ugent.be website:http://stl.recherche.univ-lille3.fr/sitespersonnels/DeMol/index.html UMR 8163 - Savoir, Textes, Languages Université de Lille 3 Bt.B4 Rue du Barreau BP 60149 59653 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex, France dr. Giuseppe Primiero G.Primiero(a)mdx.ac.uk website:http://www.cs.mdx.ac.uk/people/giuseppe-primiero/ Department of Computer Science Middlesex University the Borroughs NW4 4BT, London, UK *Symposium Website:* www.computing-conference.ugent.be/hapop2 *Programme Committee:* G. Alberts (Amsterdam) M. Campbell-Kelly (Warwick) L. Corry (Tel Aviv) L. de Mol (Lille) H. Durnova (Brno) R. Kahle (Lisbon) B. Loewe (Amsterdam) G. Primiero (Middlesex London) M. Tedre (Helsinki) R. Turner (Essex)

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FW from Eckstein re "In 1946, Bartik headed up a team that modified the ENIAC into the first stored-program electronic computer."
by Thomas Haigh 14 Nov '13

14 Nov '13

[Looks like Peter fell victim to a listserv issue, but here is a message he tried to send to everyone.] From: PeterEckstein(a)comcast.net [mailto:PeterEckstein@comcast.net] Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2013 10:42 PM To: thaigh(a)computer.org Cc: sigcis Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] "In 1946, Bartik headed up a team that modified the ENIAC into the first stored-program electronic computer." I do not have any information either to substantiate or to contradict Tom's correction on the timing and Jean Bartik's role in building a stored-program capability into the ENIAC. I am, however, a little put off by his first sentence: "Post-conversion ENIAC did acquire the new control method introduced in the 1945 'First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC'." The new control method may have been "introduced" to the wider world by the "First Draft," on which von Neumann's name is the only indication of authorship and which, in its written form, he (together with Goldstine) prepared. But the "First Draft" was not how the method was introduced to the ENIAC team; rather, the paper reflected intensive discussions that had gone on within the ENIAC team and in which von Neumann sometimes participated. (Eckert, Mauchly, Carl Chambers, and perhaps Arthur Burks and Reid Warren, as I am remembering it off the top of my head, were other participants.) As early as January, 1944, Eckert had put to paper his notion that for the next computer, which came to be called EDVAC, the greater availability of adequate storage techniques (work to which Eckert had contributed) would allow "automatic programming of the facilities and processes involved." Von Neumann, by contrast, did not begin visiting the ENIAC project until September. As Nancy Stern put it, "Thus, months before von Neumann know of the Moore School work, the stored-program concept had been conceived, if not developed." (From ENIAC to UNIVAC, p. 75.) I strongly suspect, but do not have time now to substantiate, that the group planning the EDVAC was well under way before von Neumann joined it. The ENIAC team was constrained by Army security regulations from making its work public, but von Neumann did not feel similarly constrained, and I know of no occasion on which he acknowledged the role of the group whose work he was summarizing n his First Draft. He contributed to the group's work, and his summary of it was considered highly elegant, but neither he nor the First Draft served to "introduce" the new control method to those modifying the ENIAC to be accept stored programs. _____ From: "Thomas Haigh" <thaigh(a)computer.org> To: "sigcis" <members(a)sigcis.org> Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2013 6:25:46 PM Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] "In 1946, Bartik headed up a team that modified the ENIAC into the first stored-program electronic computer." There is an interesting sentence in the publisher's blub for Bartik's book: "In 1946, Bartik headed up a team that modified the ENIAC into the first stored-program electronic computer." Nothing in any way controversial there... [Pause] .... except for 1) Post-conversion ENIAC did acquire the new control method introduced in the 1945 "First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC." Having looked at this conversion very closely, in association with my work on the topic with Mark Priestley and Crispin Rope, I'm probably more sympathetic to the general direction of the claim than most of you. However, that's also convinced me that "stored program computer" has been given too many different implicit definitions for that to be a prudent, or even meaningful, claim to make without at least attaching some kind of adjective to modify "stored program." (ENIAC essentially held instructions and data in an addressable manually erasable ROM while storing variables in a separate set of registers. It had other modern features including conditional branches and used indirect addressing so that the address acted on by an instruction could be modified at runtime). 2) The work took place in 1947 and 1948 rather than 1946. 3) Bartik played a role as a subcontractor but was not, by any stretch of the imagination, leading the effort. Those of you interested in learning more on this topic will enjoy our series of three forthcoming articles in Annals and our book in progress "ENIAC in Action: von Neumann, the Bomb, and the Programming Revolution." Meanwhile, I am curious to see how well the book itself aligns with the mass of archival sources on ENIAC. It will, in any event, provide some grist for one of our book chapters, "Remembering ENIAC." Tom -----Original Message----- From: members-bounces(a)sigcis.org [mailto:members-bounces@sigcis.org] On Behalf Of Evan Koblentz Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2013 4:19 PM To: sigcis Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Bartik autobiography available / Colossus name? SIGCIS'ers, Jean Bartik's autobiography is now available at http://tsup.truman.edu/item.asp?itemid=480. There is also an e-book version at Amazon. (I recently learned that Kindle books can be read through a browser or through an iOS/Android app -- you don't need a Kindle device.) Also: Does anyone know how the British Colossus computer got its name, other than the general assumption "because it was big"...? I emailed TNMOC about this. They wrote back and said they don't know and that nobody ever asked. _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members(a)sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/ and you can change your subscription options at http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members(a)sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/ and you can change your subscription options at http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members

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Bartik autobiography available / Colossus name?
by Evan Koblentz 14 Nov '13

14 Nov '13

SIGCIS'ers, Jean Bartik's autobiography is now available at http://tsup.truman.edu/item.asp?itemid=480. There is also an e-book version at Amazon. (I recently learned that Kindle books can be read through a browser or through an iOS/Android app -- you don't need a Kindle device.) Also: Does anyone know how the British Colossus computer got its name, other than the general assumption "because it was big"...? I emailed TNMOC about this. They wrote back and said they don't know and that nobody ever asked.

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Mavis Batey was Bletchley Park codebreaker whose Enigma breakthrough proved crucial to the success of D-Day
by Bernardo Batiz-Lazo 14 Nov '13

14 Nov '13

Here is an obit that some might find of interest Mavis Batey was Bletchley Park codebreaker whose Enigma breakthrough proved crucial to the success of D-Day http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/special-forc… Best wishes Bernardo Bangor University (Wales) -----

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"In 1946, Bartik headed up a team that modified the ENIAC into the first stored-program electronic computer."
by Thomas Haigh 13 Nov '13

13 Nov '13

There is an interesting sentence in the publisher's blub for Bartik's book: "In 1946, Bartik headed up a team that modified the ENIAC into the first stored-program electronic computer." Nothing in any way controversial there... [Pause] .... except for 1) Post-conversion ENIAC did acquire the new control method introduced in the 1945 "First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC." Having looked at this conversion very closely, in association with my work on the topic with Mark Priestley and Crispin Rope, I'm probably more sympathetic to the general direction of the claim than most of you. However, that's also convinced me that "stored program computer" has been given too many different implicit definitions for that to be a prudent, or even meaningful, claim to make without at least attaching some kind of adjective to modify "stored program." (ENIAC essentially held instructions and data in an addressable manually erasable ROM while storing variables in a separate set of registers. It had other modern features including conditional branches and used indirect addressing so that the address acted on by an instruction could be modified at runtime). 2) The work took place in 1947 and 1948 rather than 1946. 3) Bartik played a role as a subcontractor but was not, by any stretch of the imagination, leading the effort. Those of you interested in learning more on this topic will enjoy our series of three forthcoming articles in Annals and our book in progress "ENIAC in Action: von Neumann, the Bomb, and the Programming Revolution." Meanwhile, I am curious to see how well the book itself aligns with the mass of archival sources on ENIAC. It will, in any event, provide some grist for one of our book chapters, "Remembering ENIAC." Tom -----Original Message----- From: members-bounces(a)sigcis.org [mailto:members-bounces@sigcis.org] On Behalf Of Evan Koblentz Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2013 4:19 PM To: sigcis Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Bartik autobiography available / Colossus name? SIGCIS'ers, Jean Bartik's autobiography is now available at http://tsup.truman.edu/item.asp?itemid=480. There is also an e-book version at Amazon. (I recently learned that Kindle books can be read through a browser or through an iOS/Android app -- you don't need a Kindle device.) Also: Does anyone know how the British Colossus computer got its name, other than the general assumption "because it was big"...? I emailed TNMOC about this. They wrote back and said they don't know and that nobody ever asked. _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members(a)sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/ and you can change your subscription options at http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members

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