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New CHM Movie! Intel's 'The MCS-4 Story'
by Dag Spicer 29 Jun '12

29 Jun '12

Dear SIGCIS Friends, CHM has archived into the collection a rare and original Intel movie called "The MCS-4 Story," about (of course) the 4004 and its associated ICs and systems. You can watch it here on the CHM YouTube channel. Here is the description of the movie: This video describes the world's first commercial microprocessor available as a separate component, the Intel 4004. The announcement by Intel on November 15, 1971 in Electronics News introduced the "MCS-4," a family of integrated circuits (ICs) that was based on the 4004 central processing unit (CPU), the 4001 read-only memory (ROM), the 4002 random access memory (RAM) and the 4003 I/O expansion IC. MCS-4, which stands for "Micro Computer Set 4," was targeted towards users of random digital logic, that is designers of systems in which functions were hard-wired into a system's circuitry, usually using medium scale integration (MSI) ICs. The huge step of the MCS-4 was that it allowed this random logic to be replaced by software. This allowed designers to create products that were more flexible and which had features not possible to implement with random logic. Typical intended applications included process control, elevators, traffic lights, medical systems, aviation and test equipment, to name but a few. The video provides considerable detail into the functioning the MCS-4 system, beginning with a block level description, followed by timing, instruction set and cycle-by-cycle descriptions of typical functions. The 4004 CPU was followed by the 8008, 8080 and, ultimately, the 8086 family, which became the basis of Intel's processor architecture for the next 40 years. Enjoy! Dag -- Dag Spicer | Senior Curator | Computer History Museum Editorial Board | Annals of the History of Computing 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd. | Mountain View CA 94043 Tel: +1 650 810 1035 | Fax: +1 650 810 1055 Twitter: @ComputerHistory FB: facebook.com/computerhistory Technology married with the humanities makes our hearts sing. -- Steve Jobs

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Best paper awards for Social Informatics
by Thomas Haigh 29 Jun '12

29 Jun '12

A reminder of these annual prizes. "Social informatics" is intended to encompass historical work on the adoption and use of information technology. An argument could also be made for papers taking a clearly articulated "social shaping/social construction" argument with respect to a technology. There are two emails below. One is for the "best paper" published in 2011, one is for the best published paper or conference paper delivered by a student in 2011. The cash awards may not fully cover the cost of going to ASIS&T to collect them, so will be most attractive to people with a preexisting interest in engaging with this community. Tom --------------------------- STUDENT PAPER ANNOUNCEMENT --------------------------- Howard Rosenbaum hrosenba at indiana.edu Wed Jun 27 17:13:03 EDT 2012 Subject: Call for nomination for the 2012 Social Informatics Best Student Paper Award The Special Interest Group for Social Informatics (SIG-SI) is seeking nominations for an award for the best paper written by a doctoral student on a topic informed by social informatics. Nominations may include a published paper in a peer reviewed journal during 2011 or a conference paper presented in 2011. The author or authors will present their paper and receive a $500 cash award at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) in Baltimore in October, 2012. At least one author must be present at the workshop to receive the award. Nominations letters should be sent to Howard Rosenbaum (hrosenba at indiana.edu) or Pnina Fichman (fichman at indiana.edu) by August 10, 2012 and must include a full citation, a brief explanation for the nomination, and a copy of the article. Self nominations are acceptable. Winners will be notified by September 7, 2012, in time for conference early registration (NOTE: this timeline may be adjusted when the registration dates are announced). ASIS&T Special Interest Group for Social Informatics ---------------------------- PUBLISHED PAPER ANNOUNCEMENT ---------------------------- -----Original Message----- From: sigtis-l-bounces(a)asis.org [mailto:sigtis-l-bounces@asis.org] On Behalf Of Howard Rosenbaum Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2012 4:13 PM To: sigtis-l(a)asis.org Subject: [Sigtis-l] ASIST SIG-SI> Call for nominations for the 2012 Social Informatics Best Paper Award Call for nominations for the 2012 Social Informatics Best Paper Award The Special Interest Group for Social Informatics (SIG-SI) is seeking nominations for an award for the best paper published in a peer reviewed journal on a topic informed by social informatics during the 2011 calendar year. The author or authors will present their paper and receive a $1,000 cash award at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Information Science and Technology in Baltimore in October, 2012. At least one author must be present at the workshop to receive the award. Nominations letters should be sent to Howard Rosenbaum (hrosenba(a)indiana.edu) or Pnina Fichman (fichman(a)indiana.edu) by August 10, 2012 and must include a full citation, a brief explanation for the nomination, and a copy of the article. Self nominations are acceptable. Winners will be notified by September 7, 2012, in time for conference early registration (NOTE: this timeline may be adjusted when the registration dates are announced). ASIS&T Special Interest Group for Social Informatics _______________________________________________ Sigtis-l mailing list Sigtis-l(a)asis.org http://mail.asis.org/mailman/listinfo/sigtis-l

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death of minitel
by Jonathan Coopersmith 29 Jun '12

29 Jun '12

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18610692 -- Jonathan Coopersmith Associate Professor Department of History Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-4326 979.845.7151 979.862.4314 fax http://aggiegaijin.blogspot.com/

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New CHM Lecture videos: UNIVAC, Bell Labs
by Dag Spicer 23 Jun '12

23 Jun '12

Dear friends, We have recently posted two new CHM lectures to YouTube: #1: "From the UNIVAC to Web 2.0: Politics and the Making of a 21st Century Presidency" Panel discussion: Ticker Bounds, Manager, Corporate Communications, Facebook Christopher Lehane, Fabiani and Lehane, former special assistant to President Bill Clinton Sarah Feinberg, Director, Policy Communications, Facebook Moderator: Richard Tedlow, Harvard Business School [Recorded: May 9, 2012] Dateline: November 4, 1952: UNIVAC Predicts an Eisenhower Win! Sixty years ago this November, public opinion polls gave the 1952 Presidential election to Adlai Stevenson. UNIVAC, star of CBS' election coverage (along with a new anchor, Walter Cronkite), predicted an Eisenhower landslide. UNIVAC was right. The computer's TV debut captivated an audience already enthralled by technology and confronting new tools—and new terminology—almost daily. "UNIVAC" became synonymous with "computer" for a generation of Americans. Although much has changed since 1952, technology and politics remain closely intertwined. We'll look at the history of using computing to poll and predict election outcomes, as well as how campaigns have used technology, as the Obama team did in 2008, to win elections. What are the implications of technology-driven campaigns and the electorate's use of social media on our republic? What are the positives and negatives associated with all of this connectivity? The panel will also look beyond U.S. borders to discuss the possible ramifications of the Arab Spring and whether other global political shifts may be looming. Easy, global access to social media tools has definitely created a power shift -- from institutions to individuals. But what does that shift really mean -- what are the larger implications to global stability? URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmn3hxDpsCE&feature=plcp #2: "The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation" Author Jon Gertner in conversation with KQED's Dave Iverson [Recorded: March 28, 2012] Bell Laboratories, which thrived from the 1920s to the 1980s, was the most innovative and productive institution of the twentieth century. Long before America's brightest scientific minds began migrating west to Silicon Valley, they flocked to this sylvan campus in the New Jersey suburbs built and funded by AT&T. At its peak, Bell Labs employed nearly fifteen thousand people, twelve hundred of whom had PhDs. Thirteen would go on to win Nobel prizes. It was a citadel of science and scholarship as well as a hotbed of creative thinking. It was, in effect, a factory of ideas whose workings have remained largely hidden until now. New York Times Magazine writer Jon Gertner unveils the unique magic of Bell Labs through the eyes and actions of its scientists. These ingenious, often eccentric men would become revolutionaries, and sometimes legends, whether for inventing radio astronomy in their spare time (and on the company's dime), riding unicycles through the corridors, or pioneering the principles that propel today's technology. In these pages, we learn how radar came to be, and lasers, transistors, satellites, mobile phones, and much more. Even more important, Gertner reveals the forces that set off this explosion of creativity. Bell Labs combined the best aspects of the academic and corporate worlds, hiring the brightest and usually the youngest minds, creating a culture and even an architecture that forced employees in different fields to work together, in virtually complete intellectual freedom, with little pressure to create moneymaking innovations. In Gertner's portrait, we come to understand why both researchers and business leaders look to Bell Labs as a model and long to incorporate its magic into their own work. Join author Jon Gertner for a fascinating conversation with KQED's Dave Iverson about the people and history of Bell Labs, and the ways it fostered a culture of innovation and ideas. URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e90sw6-qxmE&feature=relmfu Dag PS If you'd like to get automatic notices, just sign up to CHM's YouTube channel. -- Dag Spicer | Senior Curator | Computer History Museum Editorial Board | Annals of the History of Computing 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd. | Mountain View CA 94043 Tel: +1 650 810 1035 | Fax: +1 650 810 1055 Twitter: @ComputerHistory FB: facebook.com/computerhistory Technology married with the humanities makes our hearts sing. -- Steve Jobs

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Gordon Bell history/memoir of The Computer Museum
by Thomas Haigh 22 Jun '12

22 Jun '12

Hello everyone, I recently came across a link to his interesting history/memoir by Gordon Bell with the story of the creation, growth, decline, and Californian rebirth of the Computer Museum he founded in Boston. http://research.microsoft.com/pubs/147240/Bell_Origin_of_the_Computer_Histor y_Museum_v2.pdf Tom

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_History Hunting_ by James Cortada
by Dave Walden 22 Jun '12

22 Jun '12

I heard about _History Hunding: A Guide for Fellow Adventurers_ last Friday. I ordered a copy from Amazon Saturday and it arrived the day before yesterday. I have now read it, and I recommend it to you. The book is partially a memoir of Cortada's life as a historian, partially a how-to book, and partially a statement of what Cortada believes are the proper roles of history and historians. (This is my summary, not his.) As an amateur historian of computing history, I think the book is wonderful. It is fun and easy to read. It is educational. It is inspirational ! I suspect it would be an outstanding book to assign to college students of history who have not yet decided whether to follow the academic tenure track approach to history or find some other way to do history while following a less prescribed career path. The book also discusses how historians in the academy might participate in bigger, less individual history pursuits. It is very complimentary to librarians, archivists, used bookstore owners, etc., as people who can help historians. Reading the book is going to adjust somewhat my approach to "doing history."

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New book about Turing Award winner Peter Naur
by Edgar Daylight 20 Jun '12

20 Jun '12

************ Book announcement *********** `Pluralism in Software Engineering: Turing Award Winner Peter Naur Explains' --- by Edgar G. Daylight As a software engineer and aspiring historian of computing, I have had the honor of meeting the computing pioneer Peter Naur at his home in Copenhagen in the spring of 2011. My lengthy discussion with Naur is documented in my new book and is published by Lonely Scholar. I invite historians of science to have a look at the book's summary at: http://www.lonelyscholar.com/node/7 Naur discusses varying topics, ranging from astronomy to programming and from philosophy to psychology. An underlying theme is Naur's rejection of Western philosophy. best wishes, Edgar G. Daylight www.dijkstrascry.com

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(no subject)
by Sandra Mols 19 Jun '12

19 Jun '12

http://nutriplexformulas.com/wp-content/themes/nutriplex-theme-alternate/go…

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Reminder: SIGCIS 2012 workshop deadline
by Andrew Russell 16 Jun '12

16 Jun '12

Hello - I'm writing to share a quick update regarding the 2012 SIGCIS Workshop on "Information Identities," to be held October 7, 2012 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Although the June 15 deadline for submissions has now passed, we won't be reviewing submissions until Tuesday June 19. As a result, those of you who were planning to submit something but didn't make the deadline still have a few days to get your proposal in. To make a proposal, go to http://www.sigcis.org/workshop12 and follow the instructions. And of course please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks, Andy Russell SIGCIS 2012 Workshop Chair ----------------------------------------------------------- Andrew L. Russell, Ph.D Assistant Professor, College of Arts & Letters Stevens Institute of Technology Castle Point on Hudson Hoboken, NJ 07030 arussell(a)stevens.edu http://www.stevens.edu/cal/

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Apple 1
by Evan Koblentz 15 Jun '12

15 Jun '12

Sotheby's auction for an Apple 1 ended at $374K this morning. CNN filmed at our museum and aired it yesterday: http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t2#/video/bestoftv/2012/06/14/pkg-maggie-l… The Apple 1 at our museum is a 99% accurate and fully working replica -- it's not the Willegal kit, not the much cheaper (and much less accurate) Briel kit. Yet another Apple 1 sold for $75K on ebay recently.

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