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CHM Blog: A Milestone in Computer Graphics
by Dag Spicer 10 Apr '26

10 Apr '26

Hi everyone, Please enjoy this latest Computer History Museum blog on the first time digital images were displayed in their native electronic form. This 1981 public demonstration of digital art centered on the ‘frame buffer,’ a critical piece of tech that made computer graphics possible. By anthropologist and author Catharina E. Santasilia. <https://computerhistory.org/blog/a-historic-pixel-art-exhibition/> [Framebuffer-Figure-5.jpg] A Historic Pixel Art Exhibition<https://computerhistory.org/blog/a-historic-pixel-art-exhibition/> computerhistory.org<https://computerhistory.org/blog/a-historic-pixel-art-exhibition/> ----- Dag Spicer Senior Curator Computer History Museum Editorial Board, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing ACM History Committee 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd. Mountain View CA 94043 “History is a vast early warning system.” — Norman Cousins, American journalist (1915-1990). Join our Mailing List here: https://info.computerhistory.org/subscribe

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Tony Sale Award 2026
by Martin Campbell-Kelly 10 Apr '26

10 Apr '26

Nominations are invited for the 2026 Tony Sale Award for Computer Conservation. The award, which is open to any individual or group anywhere in the world, recognises achievements in computer conservation or restoration. The Award was established in 2012 in memory of computer conservation pioneer Tony Sale, who rebuilt Colossus, the World War II code-breaking computer. The Award is managed by the Computer Conservation Society, a special interest group of the British Computer Society. The closing date for nominations is June 30, 2026. Presentation of a £1000 cash award and trophy will be made at The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park, England, on Tuesday September 29, 2026. The winner will also receive travelling and accommodation expenses to attend the Awards Ceremony and give a presentation. Full details can be found at: https://www.computerconservationsociety.org/sale-award Martin Campbell-Kelly -- Martin Campbell-Kelly, Professor Emeritus Department of Computer Science University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, U.K. voice: +44 24 7667 3963 email: m.campbellkelly(a)gmail.com

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Call for papers, American Historical Association
by Ceruzzi, Paul 08 Apr '26

08 Apr '26

I saw this call from the AHA for papers about Artificial Intelligence.. Many of the topics suggested have been well-covered by members of SIGCIS, but perhaps the AHA membership is unaware of our (your) work. https://www.historians.org/news-publications/american-historical-review/how… Paul Ceruzzi

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SIGCIS 2026: Known Error registration is now open | early bird rates expire on 4/30
by Gili Vidan 06 Apr '26

06 Apr '26

Dear all, We're excited to share with you that the registration for our upcoming hybrid meeting, SIGCIS 2026: Known Error (June 17-18, Berkeley, CA and virtually) is now open. Register for the conference *here*: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sigcis-2026-known-error-tickets-1986214059720?… This year, we are offering several tiers of registration, depending on employment status and in-person versus virtual attendance: - $200 for faculty or working professionals attending in-person; - $100 for graduate students, VAPs, postdocs, adjuncts and other precariously employed scholars, artists, and practitioners attending in-person; - Suggested donation for virtual participants, which helps SIGCIS cover the costs of running this meeting in its hybrid form without the logistical support of SHOT this year. *These rates are valid through April 30.* Please be sure to register using the email where you would like to receive notifications about the conference. In keeping with SIGCIS's mission to make conference attendance as accessible as possible for junior and precariously employed scholars, in-person attendees who meet certain criteria may request a registration fee waiver (see link and further information on Eventbrite registration page). While we are still finalizing the specific scheduling of papers and panels, you can see the schedule overview here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Iauq2S39_rQIUa6ZhwXWk4hozD7QkyErVtx0X1r… Keep an eye out on this program page as we publish the full roster of exciting sessions in coming weeks. Additional information for in-person attendees about lodging and commuting options around Berkeley, CA is available here: https://meetings.sigcis.org/registration--location.html Hoping to see many of you in June! Sincerely, The SIGCIS Organizing Committee: Morgan G. Ames <http://morganya.org/>, University of California, Berkeley (SIGCIS Co-Chair) Katya Babintseva <https://www.cla.purdue.edu/directory/profiles/ekaterina-babintseva.html>, Purdue University Jason Ludwig <https://www.filmandmedia.ucsb.edu/person/jason-ludwig/>, University of California, Santa Barbara Colette Perold <https://www.colorado.edu/cmci/people/media-studies/colette-perold>, University of Colorado, Boulder Honghong Tinn <https://cse.umn.edu/hstm/honghong-tinn>, University of Minnesota Gili Vidan <https://infosci.cornell.edu/content/vidan>, Cornell University (Vice-Chair of Meetings)

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Computer History Museum Research Travel Grants
by DCBROCK 01 Apr '26

01 Apr '26

I’m delighted to let you all know that the Computer History Museum now has a travel grants program. Applications are open. See: https://computerhistory.org/access-and-research/research-travel-grants/ Best wishes, David ---------- David C. Brock Robert and Bette Finnigan Fellow Director of Curatorial Affairs Director, Software History Center he/him Computer History Museum 1401 North Shoreline Boulevard Mountain View, CA 94043 (610) 810-1886 direct (650) 810-1010 main dbrock(a)computerhistory.org Follow CHM: www.computerhistory.org https://www.youtube.com/@ComputerHistory https://info.computerhistory.org/subscribe

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Annals 48(1) now available
by Troy Astarte 31 Mar '26

31 Mar '26

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details sought on Paul Werbos work on Vietnam for RAND
by Bernard Geoghegan 30 Mar '26

30 Mar '26

Dear colleagues with RAND and Vietnam War expertise! In an interview in the book *Talking Nets*, Paul Werbos, an earlier developer of backpropagation algorithms, tells a story (excerpted below) about a project he worked on for RAND that got leaked to the New York Times. I've emailed with Werbos, but he doesn't seem to have a handy citation for the NY Times report. Does anyone happen to know the report he has in mind or tips on how to locate the report or a gloss on his work for RAND? There are a few comments in Boden's two volume study of AI, but it appears her reconstruction is imprecise. Alternately, I'm not planning a RAND archives deep-dive or site visit, but maybe someone has advice for a well targeted remote search request I could file? This is just a little footnote for a larger project, so I'm trying to not get too sidetracked. Werbos reports: “I went back to Harvard to get a PhiD. in applied math. Having been fortified with humanity from London, I then descended into the bowels of the machine , stopping off at the RAND Corporation for the summer of 1968 along the way....Actually, I did learn a thing that summer that surprised me. It turned out one of their problems was coming up with a measure of success in the Vietnam War....I looked for stable invariants , and they were things like Vietcong attacks on Americans. That was the best stable invariant underlying measure. I used that as a success measure and came to the conclusion that we' should radically change our policy and do things like small unit actions instead of these large sweeps...Of course , it was all classified , and I read it on the front page of the New York Times two weeks later, which immediately made me very cynical about American security. The minute it’s useful , it’s on the front page of the New York Times. That made me very cynical- that event plus a few other things that happened at the RAND Corporation.” Best wishes, Bernard

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The Humanities
by Dag Spicer 28 Mar '26

28 Mar '26

Wonderfully done. <https://thewokesalaryman.substack.com/p/how-humanities-help> [983be836-1667-4fc4-b7e4-67bd3b245508_2160x2700.jpeg] We live in complex times. Here's how the humanities can help.<https://thewokesalaryman.substack.com/p/how-humanities-help> thewokesalaryman.substack.com<https://thewokesalaryman.substack.com/p/how-humanities-help> Dag ----- Dag Spicer Senior Curator Computer History Museum Editorial Board, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing ACM History Committee 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd. Mountain View CA 94043 “History is a vast early warning system.” — Norman Cousins, American journalist (1915-1990). Join our Mailing List here: https://info.computerhistory.org/subscribe

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Thinking Machines event tomorrow, free online streaming
by thomas.haigh＠gmail.com 26 Mar '26

26 Mar '26

Hello SIGCIS, I'll be talking tomorrow (remotely) at an event at the ZKM Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, Germany. The museum is displaying an iconic Connection Machine 2, thanks in large part to the energy of artist and former Thinking Machines designer Tamiko Thiel in getting the machines into major museums. My talk "Why Did They Say The Machines Were Thinking?" will provide some historical context for the 1980s regarding the AI brand, ARPA's history of AI funding, and the Strategic Computing Initiative. I noticed that the livestream links are right there on the event page with no signup required, so thought I would circulate a last minute notification to the list to see if anyone is interested The event runs from 2pm Central European time on Friday, with two further sessions on Saturday. Full program with streaming links at https://zkm.de/en/2026/03/envisioning-ai-legacy-and-impact-of-the-connection -machine. Other speakers include Danny Hillis, Brewster Kahle, and the MIT Museum (is that you, Debbie Douglas?). Tamiko Thiel herself has an interesting website on the Connection Machine and its legacy at https://tamikothiel.com/theory/cm_txts/ (particularly https://tamikothiel.com/cm/cm-30th.html) One of the themes of my forthcoming book The Brand That Wouldn't Die is that the technical contributions of 20th century AI-branded research centers in the 1960s and 70s were considerable but were all incidental to its supposed mission of achieving intelligence (e.g. timesharing systems, search algorithms, electronic publishing and text editing, etc.) Documenting the longer-term influence of ARPA's support for what looked at the time like a failed investment is interesting as example of this continuing in the 1980s. Best wishes, Tom Thomas Haigh Professor & Chair, UWM History Department Chair, IEEE Computer Society History Committee Director, ACM History Committee Turing Awards Project See more at www.tomandmaria.com/Tom <http://www.tomandmaria.com/Tom>

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Call for Submissions: 2026 Joel A. Tarr Envirotech Article Prize
by Ruamcharoen, Boyd 24 Mar '26

24 Mar '26

Dear all, The Envirotech Special Interest Group is inviting submissions for the 2026 Joel A. Tarr Envirotech Article Prize. Please feel free to circulate the call among your networks! In association with the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), Envirotech has established the Joel A. Tarr Envirotech Prize to recognize the best article, published in either a journal or edited volume, on the relationship between technology and the environment in history. The prize is named in honor of the eminent U.S. historian of urban environments and technologies Joel A. Tarr. Awarded roughly every eighteen months (alternating between SHOT and ASEH conferences), the prize recognizes innovative publications that explore new ways of thinking about the interplay between technological systems and the natural environment. Early-career scholars and graduate students are especially encouraged to submit their publications. Articles may be submitted in any language; however, for articles not written in English, the applicant will need to provide a translation. To be eligible for this prize, the article must have been published in a journal or an edited volume between January 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026. Submissions can be final page proofs in lieu of the published PDF, if needed. The winner of the 2026 Joel A. Tarr Envirotech Prize will be announced around the SHOT 2026 conference (held virtually). To apply, please attach your article and a brief curriculum vitae (a one-page PDF file) to this form by July 1, 2026: https://forms.gle/vpx4bRSoiEKW71RL7 For more information and previous winners, see here<https://www.envirotechhistory.org/awards-and-prizes/the-envirotech-article-…>. Please contact co-convenors Boyd Ruamcharoen (bruamcharoen(a)fas.harvard.edu) and Ramya Swayamprakash (swayampr(a)gvsu.edu) with any submission-related issues. Best, Boyd Ruamcharoen Postdoctoral Fellow in Global American Studies Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History Harvard University Website: boydruamch.com<https://www.boydruamch.com>

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