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IBM Watson and Jeopardy! come to CHM!
by Dag Spicer 13 Jun '13

13 Jun '13

Dear SIGCIS Friends, Here's an update on our latest exhibit and visitor experience -- "IBM Watson & Jeopardy!" -- based on the two-day man vs. machine match in 2011 between IBM's Watson supercomputer system and Jeopardy! all-time winners Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/ibms-watson-jeopardy-computer-comes-to… The exhibit is up for at least one year so if you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, be sure to drop in and get your picture taken on the Jeopardy set with Watson! (Well, his avatar anyway). "I'll take milestones in computing history for $1000, please, Alex." :_) Dag -- Dag Spicer Senior Curator Computer History Museum 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd Mountain View, CA 94043 650.810.1035 direct 650.810.1055 fax Follow Us: CHM Blog I Facebook I Twitter I YouTube

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New CHM Lecture: IBM's Watson & An Evening with IBM Research's Dr. John Kelly
by Dag Spicer 13 Jun '13

13 Jun '13

Dear SIGCIS Friends, Here is a great lecture from Tuesday night with IBM's Dr. John Kelly (Director of IBM Research). Published on Jun 13, 2013 [Recorded: June 11, 2013] Dr. John E. Kelly III is senior vice president and director of IBM Research. In this position he directs the worldwide operations of IBM Research, with approximately 3,000 scientists and technical employees at 12 laboratories in 10 countries around the world, and helps guide IBM's overall technical strategy. Dr. Kelly's top priorities as head of IBM Research are to stimulate innovation in key areas of information technology, and quickly bring those innovations into the marketplace to sustain and grow IBM's existing business; to create the new businesses of IBM's future, and to apply these innovations to help IBM clients succeed. IBM Research breakthroughs have helped to create and shape the world's computing industry, while more recent breakthroughs, including Deep Blue computing systems, breaking the Petaflop barrier, and the introduction of Watson, the deep question answering natural-language computer system, are blazing the computing trails of the future. Museum CEO John Hollar moderated a fascinating conversation with Kelly on topics ranging from his background and the path that led him to IBM, the history of research there, IBM's Watson and cognitive computing, to the newest lab in Nairobi, Kenya. Africa, IBM says, is destined to become an important growth market for the company. "Africa is a complex place," Dr. Kelly said. "But we feel it is on the cusp, at an inflection point. It's going to take off." Revolutionaries is the Museum's acclaimed speaker series distributed throughout the world on multiple platforms. It features renowned innovators, business and technology leaders and authors in enthralling, educational conversations often with leading journalists. Our audiences gain insight into the remarkable process of innovation, its risks and rewards, and failure that led to ultimate success. Watch the lecture here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXk6x-7cXsE Cheers, Dag -- Dag Spicer Senior Curator Computer History Museum 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd Mountain View, CA 94043 650.810.1035 direct 650.810.1055 fax Follow Us: CHM Blog I Facebook I Twitter I YouTube

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Software database
by Info ＠ IT History Society 12 Jun '13

12 Jun '13

The IT History Society (www.IThistory.org) passes another milestone with the creation of the IT information technology software database. This international database will eventually include basic information all software ever created. The initial database consists of over 2,000 entries and over time, the database is expected to exceed 100,000 entries. The database is located at http://ithistory.org/software/software-name.php IT History Society One Blackfield Drive - Suite 331 Tiburon, CA 94920 (415) 435-2263 Fax (415) 983-2472 <mailto:info@ITHistory.org> info(a)ITHistory.org <http://www.ithistory.org/> www.ITHistory.org Sm logo dropEnsuring the Future by Preserving the Past The IT History Society depends on support from people interested in the history of the IT revolution. Please make a tax-deductible contribution here: <http://ithistory.org/donate/index.php> btn_donate_LG <http://www.twitter.com/ithistoryorg> twitter <http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/It-History-Society/143799552346273> find-us-on-facebook

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New ebook on Indian Computing - free download
by Thomas Haigh 06 Jun '13

06 Jun '13

Hello everyone, A little while ago Mathai Joseph emailed me to let me know about his new eBook on the history of computing in India. According to the blurb "This book analyses the rise of Indian computing. Interleaving history and memoir, it describes key moments and decisions that led to the slowdown in the 1960s and 1970s and the changes in the 1980s that fuelled the ascent of the software industry to pre-eminence in what has become one of the world's most important industries. Along the way the author reflects on the nature of science, the importance of computing and the interplay of theory, experiment and technology. He discusses the wide differences in the academic perception of computing in India and the rest of the world and how it affected the growth of Indian computer science as well as the computing industry." This has a list price of $3.99 for the Kindle edition, but it is currently free at <http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CGR5JLU> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CGR5JLU. According to his website, <http://www.mathaijoseph.com> http://www.mathaijoseph.com, it is free on "June 6 and 7," though I suppose that doesn't actually say that it is not free on other dates. Anyway there has been very little written on the history of Indian IT so I'm sure the book will be a useful resource for those of you with an interest in the area. Tom

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Every version of WIndows...
by Dag Spicer 05 Jun '13

05 Jun '13

For those of you interested in software studies or forensic computer history, have a look at this fascinating demonstration of upgrading through every version of Windows from the first to Windows 7. The video itself a great historical resource even if you don't plan to follow its procedures… thanks to Sellam Ismail for the link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPnehDhGa14 Dag -- Dag Spicer Senior Curator Computer History Museum 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd Mountain View, CA 94043 650.810.1035 direct 650.810.1055 fax Follow Us: CHM Blog I Facebook I Twitter I YouTube

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Fwd: How to find Chicago Police Dept. IT retirees?
by Janet Abbate 03 Jun '13

03 Jun '13

I'm forwarding this for a colleague; please reply to her directly. They seem to be look both for spare parts for an IBM 1440 and for people who used it at the Chicago Police Dept. The Center for Technology & Innovation (http://ctandi.org/history.html) sounds like an interesting emerging site for computer history (among other things). Janet Begin forwarded message: > From: Susan Sherwood <director(a)ctandi.org> > Date: June 2, 2013 10:32:33 AM EDT > To: abbate(a)computer.org > Subject: How to find Chicago Police Dept. IT retirees? > > Janet > > Amy Slaton suggested you might have a lead for finding computer groups, > whose members might have worked for the Chicago Police Department IT > department in the 1960s and 70s. > > The Chicago Police Department had a large installation of IBM 1440 > mainframes (issued 1962 using early SMS card technology). We are > restoring a 1440 system to operation and are in search of some missing > pieces. In particular, we need an selectric typing element, known as an H-Ball for the 1447 console that operators used to control the 1441 CPU. The H-Ball has an unusual layout of programming characters. We're also interested in any spare parts that might have been either taken as > souvenirs or surplussed when the department upgraded to more modern > equipment. > > Any suggestions you have for tracking down parts, manuals, people with > memories of the CPD operation, will be appreciated. > > Best regards, > > Susan Sherwood > Executive Director > Center for Technology & Innovation > 321 Water Street, Binghamton, NY 13901 > Future home of TechWorks! > > Office 607-723-8600 > Mobile 607-624-1090 > > www.ctandi.org > > > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: RE: FW: Aloha! - updated - Mission accomplished > Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2013 10:40:31 +0000 > From: Slaton,Amy <slatonae(a)drexel.edu> > To: Slaton, Deborah <DSlaton(a)wje.com>, Susan Sherwood <director(a)ctandi.org> > CC: Bill Green <wgreen(a)stny.rr.com>, "FPETR(a)aol.com" <FPETR(a)aol.com> > > Hi Susan: > Sorry, I can't think of anyone either, but there are probably a lot of > employee/union newsletters through which you might reach someone who > knows someone who was in IT there. > > Also, if mainframes were not widely found at that point (and challenging > to use), might the CPD's operators have been active in one of the > computing organizations? Maybe you can use their mailing lists or > newsletters. For names of those orgs, you could try my friend Janet > Abbate [she is abbate(a)va.tech] or Paul Ceruzzi at the Smithsonian, perhaps. > > ....Good luck, sounds like a fabulous project! > Amy > > Amy E. Slaton, PhD > Professor > Department of History and Politics > Drexel University > Philadelphia PA 19104 > 215-895-2463/610-660-8299 (v) > 215-895-6614 (f) > slatonae(a)drexel.edu > http://STEMequity.com > ________________________________________ > From: Slaton, Deborah [DSlaton(a)wje.com] > Sent: Friday, May 31, 2013 10:23 PM > To: Susan Sherwood > Cc: Slaton,Amy; Bill Green; FPETR(a)aol.com > Subject: RE: FW: Aloha! - updated - Mission accomplished > > Hi Susan, > I am sorry but I don't know of any contacts within the CPD. > Does the CPD have a historian? > I hope you can obtain the missing part! > Deborah > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Susan Sherwood [mailto:director@ctandi.org] > Sent: Friday, May 31, 2013 7:15 AM > To: Slaton, Deborah; slatonae(a)drexel.edu > Cc: Bill Green; FPETR(a)aol.com > Subject: Re: FW: Aloha! - updated - Mission accomplished > > Deb and Amy: > > Any chance the WJE IT/IS team or Slaton family friends might have > contacts with the Chicago Police Dept IT folks? Apparently, CPD had one > of the largest arrays of IBM 1440 mainframes, which is the device we > have working (mostly) here in Binghamton. We're looking for spare > parts, in particular an H Ball typing element from the 1447 Console > Unit. We're hoping someone might have saved it as a souvenir when the > system was updated. > > Any contact information or leads to potential retired Chicago Police > computer guys will be most appreciated. > > All the best, > > Susan > > On 5/30/2013 8:29 PM, Slaton, Deborah wrote: >> Susan, >> >> Please see the e-mail below from Dave Felleti. He was able to retrieve the printer and it is Annex I, one of the buildings on our Northbrook campus. >> >> Please let us know when you are able to arrange to have it picked up and Dave will be able to direct the mover to the correct location. You can reach any of us by e-mail or at our general office number (847-272-7400). >> >> Many thanks to Dave for this effort! >> >> Deborah >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Felleti, David >> Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2013 1:27 PM >> To: Slaton, Deborah >> Cc: Scheffler, Michael >> Subject: Re: Aloha! - updated >> >> Mission accomplished. The printer is in Annex I. >> Dave >> >> >> >> >> >> > > > > >

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Tennis for Two Documentary now live on YouTube
by Laine Nooney 29 May '13

29 May '13

Hi all, A new, short documentary on Tennis for Two, the 1958 analog computer game (often cited as the "first" video game), is up on YouTube. The documentary "When Games Went Click: The Story of Tennis for Two" chronicles the development of the game and its re-creation, currently underway at Brookhaven National Laboratory. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QSHZ20MQfE&feature=youtu.be "When Games Went Click" was made possible by the Brookhaven Science Associates and Stony Brook Collaborative Research Alliance SEED Grant Program for joint initiatives between scientists and Stony Brook University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. "When Games Went Click" is part of the archival efforts of the William A. Higinbotham Game Studies Collection: http://www.stonybrook.edu/libspecial/videogames/. Enjoy! Laine Nooney Assistant to the Principal Editors, Raiford Guins and Joanne Morra Journal of Visual Culture Department of Cultural Analysis and Theory Stony Brook University

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Dag Spicer quoted in the NYT
by Marie Hicks 23 May '13

23 May '13

In a story about the earliest Apple computers: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/24/technology/apple-1-computers-jump-in-valu… Congrats, Dag! Though sorry to hear you missed picking up an early Apple for a song. Best, Marie ______________________ Marie Hicks, Ph.D. Asst. Professor, History of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL USA mhicks1(a)iit.edu | mariehicks.net <http://www.mariehicks.net> | @histoftech<http://twitter.com/histoftech>

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New CHM Lecture Online! - Innovating the Future
by Dag Spicer 21 May '13

21 May '13

Dear SIGCIS Colleagues, Here is a recording of our latest lecture, Innovating the Future: SRI's Curt Calrson and Bill Mark in conversation with The New York Times columnist John Markoff, which took place this Tuesday last. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zbCuj3RITE&feature=em-subs_digest&list=TLRn… Enjoy! Dag Published on May 17, 2013 [Recorded: April 14,2013] SRI International's pioneering contributions to computing are legendary, from the invention of the computer mouse and interactive computing in the 1960s, to the first internetworked and wireless connections in the 1970s. Fast-forward to 2010, when SRI created the first-generation virtual personal assistant and sold Siri to Apple. Over 66 years, SRI has conducted billions of dollars of R&D and has created enormous value through spin-off ventures such as Nuance and Intuitive Surgical. Other innovations include new cancer drugs, digital math curriculum to help students break through algebra and move on to higher math, and much more. How does SRI do it, while many powerhouse corporate research labs have disappeared? John Markoff of The New York Times will explore SRI, beginning with a conversation with William Mark, Vice President of Information and Computing Sciences. Hear what Mark and his researchers are imagining and turning into reality: from virtual personal assistants capable of human-like dialogue, to next-generation textbooks that use artificial intelligence, and human-machine interfaces that anticipate your moves. To learn how SRI moves its research from the laboratory into the marketplace, they will be joined on stage by SRI's President and CEO Curt Carlson. Carlson will offer a unique definition of innovation and discuss its importance in government policy, education, and U.S. competitiveness. We hope you'll join us for another compelling conversation led by John Markoff, who is our moderator-in-chief for this track examining and celebrating innovation at research labs. This event is part of the Museum's acclaimed Revolutionaries speaker series, featuring renowned innovators, business and technology leaders, and authors in enthralling conversations often with leading journalists. Our audiences learn about the process of innovation, its risks and rewards, and failure that led to ultimate success. -- Dag Spicer Senior Curator Computer History Museum 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd Mountain View, CA 94043 650.810.1035 direct 650.810.1055 fax Follow Us: CHM Blog I Facebook I Twitter I YouTube

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2013 SIGCIS CFP. "Old Ideas: Recomputing the History of Information Technology, " Deadline June 30
by Thomas Haigh 20 May '13

20 May '13

Hello everyone, Please find below the CFP for our fifth annual SIGCIS workshop, as always held in conjunction with the annual meeting of our parent association, the Society for the History of Technology. As this is scheduled to be my last full SHOT meeting as chair I've agreed to take primary responsibility for the program myself. However we are, as always, keen to get new volunteers on board with SIGCIS - whether to assist with this and future workshops, to help to upgrade our web and social media presence, or to put your stamp on other aspects of the group's activities. None of the SIGCIS offices are intended to be held for life, and keeping a flow of people and ideas into our core team is essential for the future vitality of SIGCIS. The theme of "Old Ideas: Recomputing the History of Information Technology" should lend itself to interpretation in a variety of ways, though I admit it was inspired by the title of Leonard Cohen's most recent album. So you don't have to be a grumpy reactionary to propose something. No kids will be chased from lawns. This should be an excellent meeting. My impression is that the IEEE Annals board meeting will probably be held in conjunction with SHOT again, though I've not seen an official announcement so this may not be definite yet. Portland has a distinctive and pleasant feel, and is drivable for a large number of people in the North East and Mid-Atlantic. It's also fairly easy to get to for international travelers as there is a train running from Boston. As always, any updates to the call and full information about the workshop itself as it becomes available will be posted to a single URL. www.sigcis.org/workshop13. The submission links don't work yet, but will be live well before the deadline which is JUNE 30. Tom Old Ideas: Recomputing the History of Information Technology SIGCIS Workshop 2013 October 13, 2013, Portland, Maine Deadline: June 30, 2013 The Society for the History of Technology's Special Interest Group for Computers, Information and Society (SIGCIS - http://www.sigcis.org <http://www.sigcis.org/> ) welcomes submissions for a one-day scholarly workshop to be held on Sunday, October 13, 2012 in Portland, Maine. As in previous years, SIGCIS's annual workshop will occur immediately after the end of the regular SHOT annual meeting program, the details of which are available from http://www.historyoftechnology.org/annual_meeting.html. Questions about the 2013 SIGCIS workshop should be addressed to Thomas Haigh (School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee), who is serving as chair of the workshop program committee. Email thaigh(a)computer.org. Workshop Theme Information technologists have little time for old thinking, or for anything else old. Entrepreneurs seek the new new thing, computer scientists tackle the grand challenges of future computing, and management consultants chase the next fad. Scholars in the humanities, who are professionally skeptical about the nostrums of neoliberalism, the myth of progress, and the allure of the technological fix, can nevertheless exhibit a similar weakness for the shiny allure of new technologies. In short, information technology is rarely understood as something rooted in history. Its cultural associations are with the future, not the past. For the SIGCIS 2013 Workshop, we invite scholars to turn their attention to something different: old ideas and their relationship to information and computer technology. Perhaps to their overlooked charm, their enduring power, and their continuities with the putatively new. Such papers might * Reclaim from what was famously termed the "enormous condescension of posterity" the ideas about information and information technology held by specific historical actors, explaining what they really thought they were doing and how the understood the world around them. * Demonstrate hidden historical continuities, by showing that technologies, ideas, or practices generally assumed to be of recent origin have a close relationship with those formerly known by different names. * Advocate explicitly or by example the relevance of less fashionable historical approaches, such as quantitative analysis, old-school Marxism, or micro-level studies of technical practice to understanding the history of information technology. * Explore connections between historical research on computing, and the burgeoning recent literature on software studies, game studies, platform studies, etc. produced by scholars in other areas of the humanities. * Place topics within the history of information technology into broader arcs of birth, aging, and death - whether of individuals, institutions, or social practices. * Illuminate the cultural work done to construct some things as old and others as new, and explain who is carrying out this work and why. If none of the above fit your work, even with some creative twisting, then despair not: we also accept new ideas! SIGCIS has a tradition of welcoming all types of contributions related to the history of computing and information, whether or not there is an explicit connection with the annual theme. Our membership is international and interdisciplinary, and our members examine the history of information technologies and their place within society from a variety of scholarly perspectives including the history of technology, business history, labor history, social history, the history of science, science studies, communications, gender and sexuality studies, computing, disability studies, and museum studies. Suggested Formats for Submissions: Proposals for entire sessions and individual presenters are both welcome. We hope to run special sessions featuring dissertations in progress and other works in progress. The workshop is a great opportunity to get helpful feedback on your projects in a relaxed and supportive environment. All proposals will be subject to a peer review process based on abstracts. Individual contributions can fit one of a variety of formats: 1. Traditional 15 to 20-minute presentations followed by a question and answer session. In this case, a one-page abstract (maximum 400 words) will be reviewed and included in the electronic conference program. Abstracts should address the paper's topic, argument, evidence used, and contribution to the existing literature. A full version of the paper should be sent to the session commentator at least 2 weeks prior to the meeting. We welcome proposals for entire sessions (3-4 papers that elucidate a common theme) or for individual presentations. 2. Dissertation proposals. We intend to continue SIGCIS's tradition of hosting special sessions that feature dissertations in progress so that scholars can receive critical feedback in a relaxed and supportive environment. Interested students should submit a dissertation proposal (for projects in the early stages) or draft dissertation chapter together with table of contents of the whole dissertation (for those nearing completion), which will be pre-circulated in the electronic conference program if accepted. Participants will be encouraged to read this prior to the session. You will have five to ten minutes to introduce the material, leaving the bulk of time available for discussion. 3. Works in progress. This is your chance to receive informal and expert discussion of draft dissertation chapters, journal articles, or book chapters. Submit a one page abstract (maximum 400 words) including discussion of the current state of the work and any specific kinds of feedback you are seeking. If your proposal is accepted you will need to supply the draft for discussion by 1 September for inclusion in the electronic program for the workshop. You will have five to ten minutes to introduce the material, leaving the bulk of time available for discussion. 4. Proposals in other formats are also welcome, such as round table discussions, "works in progress" proposals for early-stage research projects, demonstrations of software of interest to historians of computing and information, or "author meets critics" sessions. SIGCIS follows traditional practices for the submission of papers for professional historical conferences, specifically: selection based on abstracts rather than full papers; no pre-circulation or publication of full papers (with the exception of dissertation proposals as noted above); and the requirement that presenters share their full paper with the session commentator at least 2 weeks prior to the meeting. Presenters are encouraged to submit their work the SIGCIS Member Contributions collection. Submissions should be made online using the links from the main workshop page. Travel Support The top financial priority of SIGCIS is the support of travel expenses for graduate students, visiting faculty without institutional travel support, and others who would be unable to attend the meeting without travel assistance. The submission page includes a box to check if you fall into one of these categories and would like to be considered for an award. These is no separate application form, though depending on the volume of requests and available resources we may need to contact you for further information before making a decision. Details on our travel grant program are at http://www.sigcis.org/travelaward. Any award offered is contingent on registering for and attending the workshop and, for participants in work in progress or dissertations in progress sessions, on fulfilling the deadlines set for providing work in progress to be shared on the workshop website. Funding sources include donations from SIGCIS members at our annual meeting, income from the Mahoney Fund http://www.sigcis.org/mahoney and support from MIT Press for our annual book auction. Please note that SHOT does not classify SIGCIS presentations as participation in the SHOT annual meeting and so acceptance by SIGCIS does not imply eligibility for the SHOT travel grant program.

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