- Members - lists.sigcis.org

sf-lovers
by Christopher S. Leslie 08 Mar '12

08 Mar '12

Dear Colleagues: I am more and more intrigued by a connection between science fiction and the early days of the ARPAnet. As you may know, one of the first group distribution lists that was not directly related to defense research was the mailing list SF-lovers, which was created in Sept. 1979 at MIT by Richard Brodie. When Usenet became available, a connection was established, and the travails of the list after that point are fairly well documented by Saul Jaffe and others. Before the Usenet list, however, there is not so much information. I've been in contact with some researchers about this, but I am hoping that someone on the list might also remember the days of the sf-lovers list before Usenet. I've also heard that there were mailing groups on local computers and BBSs (bulletin board systems) before there were widely dispersed e-mail list, which if they were discussing science fiction, I would love to learn about. If anyone has information to share, or can direct me to someone who does, I would greatly appreciate it. I am writing a book on science fiction and I think this list demonstrates an interesting synergy between science fiction and engineering. Sincerely, Chris Leslie Christopher S. Leslie, Ph.D. Instructor of Media and Technology Studies Department of Technology, Culture and Society Polytechnic Institute of New York University 6 MetroTech Center, RH 213h Brooklyn, NY 11201 (718) 260-3130

2 1

e for eGovernment
by Taylor-Smith, Ella 06 Mar '12

06 Mar '12

Hi I'm new to this list, so please forgive me if this question has been asked before. Does anyone know when and where terms like eGovernment, eDemocracy and ePetitions came about? Or e-government, e-democracy and e-petitions, as they were 10 years ago. I'm particularly interested in the term eParticipation, but it's clear that it derived from eDemocracy etc (or it certainly seemed to, in my experience of its appearance) Thanks for your help -Ella Ella Taylor-Smith Institute for Informatics and Digital Innovation Edinburgh Napier University 10 Colinton Road Edinburgh, EH10 5DT Telephone: +44 (0) 131 455 2392 Email: e.taylor-smith(a)napier.ac.uk http://www.iidi.napier.ac.uk/e.taylor-smith @EllaTasm http://www.facebook.com/OnlineAmbition @OnlineAmbition Edinburgh Napier University is one of Scotland's top universities for graduate employability. 93.2% of graduates are in work or further study within six months of leaving. The university is also proud winner of the Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education 2009, awarded for innovative housing construction for environmental benefit and quality of life. 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

2 1

Washington Post retracts email story & Ombudsman column
by Thomas Haigh 06 Mar '12

06 Mar '12

Hello everyone, Good news from the email battle. The Washington Post's Ombudsman has posted a lengthy and detailed retraction of his previous column. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/omblog/post/origins-of-e-mail-my-mea-cul pa/2012/03/01/gIQAiOD5kR_blog.html This will also make my life easier, as I no longer have to try to present the actual history of email, correct the Post's errors in the original story and Ombusman blog, and debunk Ayyadurai all in one article. We can shift the focus to the real history, which is ultimately more productive. Best wishes, Tom

6 5

more electronic mail references
by Nathan Ensmenger 02 Mar '12

02 Mar '12

Tom --- the earliest reference I have seen to electronic mail in a relatively mainstream publication is from the Harvard Business Review in 1972. Here is the cite. If you want the article, let me know. I have a PDF Bryan Carne. Telecommunications: its impact on business. Harvard Business Review; Jul/Aug72, Vol. 50 Issue 4, p125-132 There is also an "electronic speed mail" system that was pioneered under the Eisenhower administration. I found at least one reference to it from 1959 that uses the term "electronic mail." Tours Scheduled to Put Electronic Mail on View. Washington Post, March 6, 1959. -Nathan -- Nathan Ensmenger School of Information University of Texas at Austin www.ischool.utexas.edu/~nathan/

2 1

Kelty in Al Jazeera
by Bernard Dionysius Geoghegan 02 Mar '12

02 Mar '12

Hi Sigcis Members, More of our extended community in the press. Chris Kelty (is he in SIGCIS) of UCLA has a good piece in Al Jazeera on the shutdown of library.nu (gigapedia). http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/02/2012227143813304790.html And great work Tom et al on the Wash Post piece. Best, B Bernard Dionysius Geoghegan Institut für Kulturwissenschaft Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin www.bernardg.com

1 0

Email Invention: Homing in on Compuserve "GO EMAIL"
by Thomas Haigh 01 Mar '12

01 Mar '12

Hello, I'm now homing in on CompuServe as a possible vector for the popularization of the word "email," perhaps as early as 1979. What I know so far: . In 1979 Compserve, formerly a business oriented timesharing business, launched a consumer oriented $5 an hour service called Micronet. In 1980 this was rebranded as Compuserve Information Service. . Electronic mail using numerical DEC userIDs as account names seems to have been there from the outset. . There was some attempt to brand a Compuserve email service as "Infoplex," circa 1978/9 onward but this may have been a separate service aimed at business. . By 1984 email was definitely accessed on compuserve by typing "GO EMAIL" http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/1984IAPPP..17...11H/0000011.000.htm l <http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1984IAPPP..17...11H/0000011.000.htm l> . Compuserve filed a trademark application for email in 1983, citing a first use in commerce in 1981. It was abandoned in 1984. (Verified with TESS database). Anyone find anything to firmly document "GO EMAIL" before 1984? Micronet was used particularly with the TRS-80, so user group materials might be one source. Tom

3 2

IEEE Life Member's Prize in Electrical HIstory
by Ross Bassett 01 Mar '12

01 Mar '12

Hello everyone, I want to announce the SHOT IEEE Life Member's Prize in Electrical History. Computer history is considered electrical history--the last two winning articles have been pieces in computer history. It is a nice award and nice recognition. The deadline for submitting articles is April 15. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. The details are given in the link below. http://www.historyoftechnology.org/awards/ieee.html Best, Ross Bassett Ross Bassett Associate Professor of History North Carolina State University Box 8108 Raleigh, NC 27695 USA ross_bassett(a)ncsu.edu

1 0

Email History -- unresolved questions
by Thomas Haigh 29 Feb '12

29 Feb '12

Hello everyone, Thanks for all the messages that keep flooding in. To avoid duplication and wasted effort, I'm trying to be clearer on what specific topics we're currently in need of hard evidence on. One thing we do know about: the relevant RFCs (354, 385, 524, 561, 733, etc). Between these, Craig Partidge's very thorough article and some personal communications from participants such as Ken Pogran I'm confident that we know what we need for this short article about ARPANET email and its evolution. Unresolved questions: . "Electronic mail," as a phrase I have usage of Business Week going back to 1975. Am interested in earlier usage, particularly in publications aimed at business or the general public. . "email" or "e-mail" as a word. A Google Groups (formerly Deja News) archive of a May 1981 post suggests that the Compuserve email program might have been called EMAIL. It's clear from a news story that Compuserve had electronic mail in 1980. (Compuserve began in 1969 as a timesharing service provider and only later morphed to a personal computer oriented online service). Does anyone have documentation or other sources to confirm when it first offered email and what its command was called? . How about other commercial timesharing services, such as TYMSHARE or COMSHARE? I assume they had electronic mail by some point in the early- to mid-1970s but have no evidence as yet. (We do know that APL offered its users an early and robust email system by about 1972). These systems might have offered the first way for an individual to buy email access (though of course there were no gateways between services in the 1970s). . We know about CTSS email and the materials at multicians.org, and I'm in touch with Tom Van Vleck. As far as I know nobody has challenged its 1965 claim to be the first mail system on a computer. Are they any other serious claimants? . How about other early timesharing systems, e.g. Michigan. There were some articles in Annals on Michigan timesharing I should pull up. Do we know when these got mail? . Email attachments - anyone know when these emerged as a standard feature? I suspect maybe on office automation style email systems before Internet email, as I remember in the early 1990s having to UUENCODE things and send them in the message body for manual decoding using SUN UNIX. Can't imagine office workers putting up with that. . XEROX PARC email for the Alto. Probably a milestone in terms of GUI client. Best source I know on its "Laurel" software is Butler Lampsons chapter in History of Personal Workstations. That includes a 1981 screenshot. Anyone know of any descriptions or publications prior to that date, or in more detail. Also when did it became operational? Thanks, Tom

3 2

SIGCIS has a DIGEST OPTION for once a day delivery
by Thomas Haigh 28 Feb '12

28 Feb '12

Hello Everyone, I can imagine some of you who don't care so much about email history may be reaching for your spam filters or unsubscribe buttons with the recent flurry of list activity. Just remember there is an alternative: you can receive the members(a)sigcis.org messages in a once-daily compendium. Go to http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members. At the bottom of the screen you'll see a text box. Enter the email address at which you receive mail. You'll get to another screen where you can enter your list management password. Enter it, click "Log in" and you can change your delivery to digest to get just one message a day. Note: this password is not the same as your sigcis.org web password. You should get a reminder email with your list management password at the start of every month. If you can't find this, just click the "Remind" button on the screen you get to after entering your email address. Tom

1 0

Email inventor: Help me set the record straight for the WP
by Thomas Haigh 28 Feb '12

28 Feb '12

Hello everyone, Exciting news! If you read the response from the Washington Post ombudsman, you may remember that it mentioned that the post "has invited Ayyadurai and MIT to write a response to all the readers who wrote in to denounce the story. That also is an excellent way to address the dispute, and enhance the discussion. That will be appearing in coming days." I've just been asked by Emi Kolawole to prepare a piece disputing Ayyadurai's claim and laying out the actual historical consensus on the invention of email. This will presumably run alongside his defense of his position. Not sure about length or format yet. So, who wants to help me get it right? To avoid spamming the list too much, maybe reply to me directly unless you are confident your post will be of general interest to the list. Here are a few areas where I'd like to pin things down more and would welcome assistance. 1) Does anyone have a usage of "email" or "e-mail" prior to 1980? I haven't looked seriously at this. 2) If I had space to mention 6 or 8 milestones in the development of "modern email" what would they be? Say a sentence, a date, and maybe a person or two for each. I'm thinking something like a. CTSS and other timesharing university systems, b. ARPANET network mail, c. Proprietary commercial email systems d. SMTP over TCP/IP, e. desktop clients, f. Notes g. MIME, h. webmail. 3) Does anyone know MIT job titles? Ayyadurai claims to be a "Faculty Lecturer in Biological Engineering" at MIT and this has been widely reported and even survived recent upheavals on his Wikipedia page. This seemed rather tautological to me, as lecturer is not usually a faculty position in the USA. Googling "Faculty Lecturer" MIT gives no other individuals holding this title. One of his personal pages at MIT includes the title, http://web.mit.edu/be/people/ayyadurai.shtml although he does not appear on a list of faculty in Biological Engineering http://web.mit.edu/be/people/alphabetical.shtml. He is listed on another page http://web.mit.edu/be/people/index.shtml as "Research/Teaching Staff". Doing a "people" search from the MIT web page, which pulls official institutional data, gives him only as a Visiting Lecturer (a job title I do understand) in Comparative Media Studies. So does the position of "Faculty Lecturer" even exist at MIT? Tom

4 5