Volunteer Information Exchange Sharing what we know with those we know Volume 5 Number 7 August 17, 2015

Contribute To The VIE Fellows Nominations Open to the public through An exciting issue in many ways: some great articles, August 31. new news, and informative links. The Computer History Museum Fellow Awards publicly Karen Kroslowitz writes on a major milestone -- recognize individuals who have made outstanding 100,000 artifacts cataloged in our Mimsy data base. contributions to computing in areas as diverse as What a huge effort that represents. Thanks to all who artificial intelligence, networking, programming helped achieve it and thanks to Karen for writing it up languages, computer graphics, microprocessors, and for us operating systems. If you know someone that fits this One of those 100,000 was a Dyseac artifact – who description please nominate them today! among us has heard of that early computer. But Sue Click here for more details. The next class of Fellows Mickel has written up that new acquisition for us. will be inducted on Saturday, April 16, 2016. Thank you Sue. (From Carina Sweet) Chris Garcia writes up still more of those new acquisitions—from phones to computer terminals. In VIE 5.06 we re-printed a first hand account of a CHM Blog person who had attended the “announcement” Recent CHM Blog Entries (revelation?) of Colossus. The author's account had some inaccuracies that Dave Levish points out. Kirsten Tashev keeps us up-to-date on new CHM blog Thanks to Dave. entries. CHM staff and volunteers were invited to attend an • Len Sushtek on acquisition of the source code for information session on July 15, 2015, about current Electronic Arts Deluxe Paint early source code. and upcoming exhibitions. Wynne Dobyns writes on • Senior Curator Dag Spicer recapping the 2015 that session in "Make Software: Change the World" CHM Fellow Awards. and "On You." Thank you Wynne. • David Laws history rich blog post on TTL and Also, in VIE 5.06 we erred in the name of Collections Fairchild. specialist Gretta Stimson. (We said Simpson.) Our apologies to Gretta. As always, send us your stories, anecdotes and Contents adventures in computing. Contribute To The VIE 1 Jim Strickland [email protected] Links You Might Enjoy 1 2016 CHM Fellow Nominations Open 1 Links You Might Enjoy CHM Blog 1 • Commodore Amiga 1000 at 30-- the computer that 100,000 Records…and Counting! 2 made the UK games industry. DYSEAC: The First Portable Computer? 3 • Claude Shannon, from the bit to wearable. Dyson Talk at PARC 4 • 1913 "computer" in New York's Grand Central Recent Acquisitions 5 station. Navlab / Sutherland Walker Video on YouTube 5 • TRS 80: The computer that beat Apple—for a while. Colossus Announcement Article: 6 • History of icons Where and when did graphic icons Response come about? "Make Software: Change the World" and "On 6 You" Computers are not intelligent. 7 They only think they are. CHM Audio Tour Coming Events 7 1 100,000 Records…and Counting! KAREN KROSLOWITZ, Director of Collections We embrace technology here at CHM and, thus, we post The Computer History Museum recently hit a major many of our videos to YouTube. But we’d prefer that milestone: More than 100,000 artifact records in its online visitors stay on our website and explore it further collections management database, Mimsy XG!1 rather than to be redirected. Editor & Content Manager However, creating that many records and presenting Jenny de la Cruz identified and researched various them in such cool ways didn’t happen overnight. means of delivering video content online. She and Web Developer Edward Lau (and several other staff), On June 5, Oral History & Media Coordinator David concluded the best way to achieve the goal is to Braught (the newest member of the Collections & continue posting our videos to YouTube then utilize that Exhibitions Department’s team) entered record YouTube url in the published Mimsy XG record to 102740113, the moving image of “Cisco's Padmasree provide more direct access to viewers. CHM’s videos Warrior in Conversation with NPR's Laura Sydell.” This remain protected, and files load and play with ease and particular type of catalog record is demonstrative of just speed. You can enjoy the video of Padmasree Warrior how hard CHM strives to make its collection accessible with Laura Sydell here: to a worldwide audience. Record 102740113 is not a http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/10274 static record with text and a photo or a scan; it’s a record 0113. for a moving image and that actual moving image can be played directly from the search result page. An accurate collections management database (CMS) is truly the most essential tool any museum with a How did CHM achieve this? Many readers of VIE collection can have. So I must give very special “shout already know that building the database has been an outs” to all the C and E staff, past and present, who have ongoing team effort spanning a few decades. If you made this achievement of 100,000 records possible over know CHM history, you know that when the Boston-era the years. Their professionalism and dedication to The Computer Museum (TCM) closed and the creating and maintaining the CMS is valued and collections were shipped to Moffett Field’s TCM History appreciated. Center, those collections were combined—and so were their respective databases. Over the years, the database Last but never least, I want to thank all of our collections was upgraded to the latest and greatest collections volunteers who helped with this over many, many years, management software and more records were added. from the first days at TCM up until today. Without your Mimsy XG was selected and implemented in 2006 for its contributions of knowledge and collaborative spirit the many features that allow CHM to customize fields, Museum could not achieve the monumental task of reports and user views, and the conversion yielded a processing, photographing and digitizing our physical total of 26,500 combined records. and archival collections. You are amazing and we’re so happy you choose to spend your time with us. The interface used to publish the Mimsy XG database records to the online catalog pages requires several As long as CHM’s collection continues to grow, there will “work-arounds.” As with any relational database, the always be more material to process. The good news is data in Mimsy XG is organized in and retrieved from two prestigious grant projects are currently underway: a different tables. However, the image files are merely two-year cataloging project to eliminate the backlog of linked to the database—the actual files are stored on hardware will end this October, and an archives one of CHM’s servers. That makes it a bit more processing project started in April to halve the backlog of complicated to pull the data, reformat it and publish it text continues through 2017. The up-and-coming online. Software History Center and Preservation Lab will read and digitize our vast software collection in all its formats. You’ve likely noticed that CHM produces a wealth of We recently partnered with Google to digitize a collection videos, from those in our exhibitions to public programs, of more than 100 videos and publish them to CHM’s such as Revolutionaries and oral histories. (Bonus YouTube channel. Similar small-scale projects to digitize bragging rights go to the Media Lab’s team of Jon Plutte our media collection are in the works, which will support and Eric Dennis for creating such beautiful productions!) long-term preservation while increasing public access. Each is an artifact worthy of a collections database Volunteer opportunities will be announced following the record. While most published records are only a few move to the Shustek Center—stay tuned. kilobytes (including the static image) and are easy to load in a browser, moving image records like the 1 If you happened to notice that the online catalog aforementioned with a runtime of more than an hour search lists only 92,000 records or so, that’s correct too. present numerous challenges, including file size, The CHM, like all museums, is often unable to publish all copyright protections, and media player requirements. records online due to copyright and other confidentiality issues.

2 DYSEAC: The First Portable Computer? Sue Mickel Collections volunteers working on CCARP (the two-year grant-funded Collections Cataloging and Reconciliation Project) quickly learn that the museum’s collections are full of interesting surprises. On a recent Tuesday, we arrived to find that staff Collections Specialists Gretta Stimson and Sarah Schaefer had some very old logic modules for us to catalog. After more than a year of CCARPing, most of us can quickly spot a really old object. They are heavy (metal, not plastic). They are black, beige, or gray. And they feature vacuum tubes or at least the sockets that used to hold them. These modules passed all 3 tests. The excitement level rose. Just how old were these objects? The curators had left us a one-word clue on a Post-it: “DYSEAC.” Well, we knew about ENIAC and JOHNNIAC and a lot of other “IACs” but had never heard of “DYSEAC.” Was it a mistake? A quick Google search showed that our curators were right as usual.The DYSEAC was the second Standards Electronic Automatic Computer built. Where did the “dy” come from in the acronym? Well, as a guess, “dy” is a prefix (from the Greek) that means “two,” so that may be the origin. “SEAC” is actually the name of the first Standards Eastern Automatic Computer, an earlier computer built in 1950 by the U.S. National Bureau of Standards (NBS).

A more in-depth search yielded an NBS report that devices. In addition to the more usual printer and detailed both the SEAC and DYSEAC computers. The punched card devices, it could connect to magnetic SEAC was a small-scale computer designed to be a stop tapes, magnetic drums, and the then “experimental” gap measure, built quickly and put into operation before magnetic disks. Even more impressive, DYSEAC was the more powerful DYSEAC could be completed. As being designed for solving real-time problems. According might be expected, the SEAC quickly became a proving to the NBS Report, “For the exploration of real-time ground for the new technologies that were being problems, including simulation and control aspects, it will introduced in the very early 1950s including electrostatic be necessary to annex input and output converters to (CRT) memory and etched circuit techniques. permit translation of information back and forth from The DYSEAC was completed in April 1954. It was built digital to analog form. For example, digital-to-analog by the NBS for the US Army Signal Corps. Construction conversion is used when visual display of information of the DYSEAC greatly benefited from experience gained stored inside the computer is provided externally by with the SEAC. It was accomplished in only 18 months means of special cathode-ray tube devices.” Also, they by a team of about 25 people. attached the DYSEAC to the SEAC through input-output interfaces which allowed the two machines to “work It was designed to together in common harness on a number of interesting be housed in a and potentially useful tasks.” Further, they envisioned truck, making it “this mode of operation can … be extended to a widely one of the first dispersed group of information-processing machines that portable are interconnected by means of a communication computers. The network.” Perhaps the first inklings of multiprocessing truck was 40 feet and networking? long and included the computer, acoustic delay line memory, control consoles, magnetic tape and drum units, But back to and air conditioning units to keep the hot vacuum tube- CCARP reality. powered system cool. Clearly, on that Tuesday, the A second truck was needed to haul maintenance team was equipment and the power supply system. DYSEAC used cataloging a 900 vacuum tubes and 24,500 crystal diodes. It had a very valuable minimum of 512 words of mercury acoustic delay line piece of history. memory, expandable to 4,096 words. What exactly DYSEAC’s capabilities are impressive considering its were these era. It was designed to connect to a variety of external logic modules and how did they function in the

3 DYSEAC? A clue was provided by a metal things: maintenance and repair were nearly daily manufacturer’s label affixed to the ends of several of the activities. modules. The manufacturer’s name was “Technitrol So in the end, no definitive connection between our logic Engineering, Inc.” located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. modules and the mercury delay line memory of the Once again Google helped us investigate. DYSEAC could be established. Perhaps someday, a It turns out that Technitrol was founded in 1947 by four PhD candidate doing research at CHM will be able to graduates of the University of Pennsylvania’s Moore establish such a connection. And if so, the catalog will School of Electrical Engineering. One of the founders be updated to reflect that. Until that time, the logic was T. Kite Sharpless who not only was a lead designer modules will keep their secrets as they have for over 60 for the ENIAC computer, but also delivered several of the years. famed Moore School lectures in 1946. One of To learn more about the DYSEAC see National Bureau Technitrol’s main products in the early 1950s was of Standards Circular 551, issued January 25, 1955, mercury delay line memory, the same type of memory Computer Development (SEAC and DYSEAC) at the used in the DYSEAC. National Bureau of Standards Washington, D. C. It is Note that Technitrol is (at least) the second startup available online at Google Books and at Ed Thelen’s company to come out of the ENIAC experience. In the information-packed website (ed-thelen.org). summer of 1946 John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert Those wishing to see catalog entries for DYSEAC also began a startup company in the Philadelphia area, artifacts in the CHM Collection may search the online the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, where they catalog at built the UNIVAC computer. Perhaps there were other http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/search/ with high tech companies founded by ENIAC designers? the search term “DYSEAC.” As CCARP work continues, Given Technitrol’s focus on mercury delay line memory, it photos of all DYSEAC artifacts will be added to the may be that the modules we cataloged that day were catalog entries. part of DYSEAC’s memory components. However, that is For more about the Moore School lectures, see Jim speculation and as good CCARPers, we know better Strickland’s excellent article in an earlier issue of the VIE than to put speculation into the CHM catalog. Where else https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3data.computerhistory.org/c could we find information about these modules? hmedu/VIE_05_003.pdf. Courtesy of Karen Kroslowitz, Director of Collections, I was able to get a peek at the acquisition file for the There are two locations in the Revolution exhibit where DYSEAC donation. The acquisition file holds the acoustic delay line memory is displayed. The UNIVAC I paperwork that accompanies each donation the museum computer completed in 1951 also used acoustic delay accepts. Unfortunately there were no further clues about line memory. A memory module from the UNIVAC is on the specific function performed by the logic modules, but display in the Early Computer Companies gallery. for a history buff like me, it was very interesting to see Several examples of delay line memory modules are also handwritten records from the 1950s! They included a one on display in the Memory and Storage gallery. page list of the DYSEAC Operation Codes and a Thanks are due to Dag Spicer, Karen Kroslowitz, Gretta maintenance log from 1957 on 3-hole lined paper. The Stimson, and Sarah Schaefer for their contributions to maintenance log included many notes about changing this article. vacuum tubes, replacing delay lines and changing fuses, reminding me that the machines of that era were delicate

Dyson Talk at PARC was full of humor. and on and on. ED Thelen sends us this link to a recent talk by George Dyson at a PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) forum. It George Dyson mentioned has a number of very interesting images. It is about an Akrevoe Emmanouilides a hour long, so watch it when you have some time. secretary typing for the ENIAC project at Moore The URL is a PARC lecture with a lot of fun people and School at Univ. of technical tidbits by writer George Dyson, apparently 29 Pennsylvania as her first April 2015 -- might call it a computer history overview job out of high school and following the Turing, von Neumann lineage up through later at the IAS project at Princeton Institute of the Johnniac. Advanced Studies where she got to see even more Among other images are these involving Williams- "greats" including Prof Albert Einstein. Her picture is Kilburn tubes. He also says the movie "The Imitation above. Game" is poor history and horrible characterization of He [Dyson] mentioned that she had been interviewed at Alan Turing. All the people Dyson talked to said Alan the Computer History Museum. Oral History. 4 Recent Acquisitions CHRIS GARCIA X7455.2015 Lumaphone Visual Telephone - 1986 The videophone has been a dream since the 19th century. From AT&T's 1960s-era Picturephone to current “telepresence” systems and Skype, the idea of transmitting live video with sound took a long time to become commonplace. Designed by Atari in the mid- 1980s for Mitsubishi, the Lumaphone was intended as a premium televideo system. Instead of sending live moving video, however, the LU-1000 transmitted a single black-and-white image to its 3.5 inch screen. [Chris: Just one image or did it update every so often?] The Lumaphone's limited video and high cost limited consumer sales, while its weak video conferencing capabilities made it equally unappealing to business users.

X7538.2015 IBM 7094 Drawing by Helmut Jacoby Drawings of computers were used extensively in the first several decades of the computer industry (1950-70). Some works were designed as decorative wall art for executives and waiting rooms. Modernist architectural artist Helmut Jacoby drew this image of a theoretical computer installation in the 1960s for display in IBM offices. A titan of modernist rendering, having made widely-praised drawings for architectural firms like the Bauhaus and Frank Lloyd Wright, Jacoby placed the IBM 7094 mainframe computer in a majestic glass-walled building looking out on a city where factories, warehouses, and an airport blend seamlessly with natural park-like surroundings. The caption of the drawing notes that is was "an impression in ink by a noted architectural designer." Jacoby, raised in Germany, came to New York as an architecture student in the 1950s, returning to Germany in the late 60s as one of the world's most renowned architectural renderers.

X7537.2015 IBM 3277 and IBM 3278 terminals IBM's mainframes ruled computing in the 1960s and ‘70s. Their System/360 and System/370 series of mainframe computers were the most profitable line of computers by any manufacturer until that time and were used in both business and scientific applications. Operator terminals are, in many ways, the “face” of the computer since that is where the human interaction occurs. IBM’s 3270 series of terminals were among the most advanced of their time, allowing both local and remote mainframe access. 3270 terminals were in use well into the 1990s and the “3270” protocol is still used in many large-scale computing systems that run legacy software.

Navlab / Sutherland Walker Video on YouTube CHRIS GARCIA Robots are an important part of the Museum’s collection but to truly appreciate them you must see them in motion. Recently, the Museum's YouTube channel added a video of two fascinating robotics projects. The video opens with Navlab, a computer-controlled passenger van built at Carnegie-Mellon University. The second segment features computer graphics pioneer Ivan Sutherland demonstrating the Six-Legged Hydraulic Walker. The walker, build by CMU and Sutherland, Sproull, & Associates, was funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The video includes a segment of Ivan Sutherland riding and controlling the hexapod walker on a slow-speed journey.

5 Colossus Announcement Article: "Make Software: Change the World" and "On Response You" DAVE LEVISH WYNNE DOBYNS The article on the announcement of Colossus was Computer History Museum staff and volunteers were excellent as always. However I have to point out a invited to attend an information session on July 15, 2015, small inaccuracy. Colossus, by (all?) first person about current and upcoming exhibitions. Kirsten Tashev, accounts was not used to break the Enigma-coded vice president of Collections and Exhibitions, presented messages. It was used almost exclusively for an overview of the new exhibition planned to open in Tunny-coded messages. 2016, Make Software: Change the World, provided final Colossus, arguably the first large-scale electronic funding can be found. The exhibition will present the computer, was used against the German system of history, technology, and impact of computer software teleprinter encryption known at Bletchley Park as through seven game-changing application stories. The “Tunny.” (The British used the names of fish as interactive exhibition will be a 6,000 sq. ft. area where code names for the several German cryptographic the archival processing area (Cyclops) is now located machines and for the messages from those and is designed to appeal to middle school through adult machines). Tunny machines were built by the visitors and families. It will support CHM's STEM- German firm C. Lorenz AG. Technologically more centered education programs for elementary through sophisticated than Enigma, Tunny carried the college students, including Broadcom Presents highest grade of intelligence. From 1941, Hitler and Design_Code_Build. the German High Command relied increasingly on Make Software: Change the World (MSCW) is designed Tunny to protect their communications with Army as a five-year exhibition with an online component. Some Group commanders across Europe. modules of the exhibition are designed to be portable so Turing's Bombe electro-mechanical devices and that software stories can be swapped out over time similar machines were used to help break Enigma based on their current relevancy. MSCW will focus on messages sent by the troops in the field. Of stories about software developed between 1981 and course, it was entirely possible that at the seminar 2010, the period most visitors will relate to. The mentioned, it was stated that Colossus was used exhibition is intended to inspire, delight, and educate against Enigma, especially since "The Ultra visitors by exploring the impact of software on peoples' Secret" and similar books were published around lives; illuminating the relationship between people who the time. create software and those who use it; demystifying how software is created; and revealing the history of software The book in the docent collection, "Colossus" by systems and programs that have changed our lives. Jack Copeland, besides being an excellent read and the subject of a VIE article (Vol 4 Number 2), The key messages are that software has a huge impact makes no reference to it being used for Enigma, on the world and can change lives by affecting the way though it's clear that some experiments on non- things are done, thought about, or made; that software Tunny traffic, as well as programming exercises, has deep historical roots; creating software is a complex were run from time to time. The Colossus book process of planning, designing, testing, marketing, and web site: http://www.colossus- selling the product; and that what software can be computer.com/colossus1.htm l designed to do is limited only by our imaginations. One of the most common misconceptions in the MSCW will comprise four galleries and seven application secondary literature is that Colossus was used stories, with each story focusing on a world-changing against Enigma. Another misconception is that application that affects our daily lives. Application stories Colossus was used against not Tunny but against were selected based on the following criteria: the Sturgeon—an error promulgated by Brian technological breakthrough of a piece of software; impact Johnson’s influential television series and on people's lives; an enticing or dramatic story; and accompanying book The Secret War. Sturgeon impact across multiple industries or diverse areas. The was a crypto teleprinter machine used by the central gallery will be the Software Lab that will allow Luftwaffe and the Navy high commands and was hands-on experimentation. Surrounding galleries will built by Siemans and Halske AG. Its encryption focus on themes of Life and Death (MRI and car crash scheme was even more complex than that of the simulation), Knowledge & Belonging (texting, Wikipedia, Lorenz. World of Warcraft), and Perception & Reality (MP3 and Dave Levish contributed an excellent book report on Photoshop). Titles of the galleries were purposely chosen Jack Copeland's Colossus to the VIE. It appeared in VIE to make an impact and draw visitors' interest. Each 4.02 in February 2014. application story will include a five-minute documentary capturing the story of the maker as well as the impact on the user, an interactive display, graphics, and an 6 engaging story about how the software is made. professional, and homemade devices, including You can read Kirsten's 2012 blog post about the Google Glass prototypes. You can read Marc's exhibition at: blog post about the On You exhibit at http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/make-software- http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/if-the- change-the-world/ . computer-fits-wear-it/ . Following his presentation, Marc led a tour of the exhibit. Following Kirsten's presentation, Marc Weber gave an overview of the temporary exhibit, On You: A Story of Wearable Computing, a traveling exhibit from Georgia Tech, on display in the CHM lobby from June 30 through September 20, 2015. The CHM Audio Tour basic premise of the exhibit is that people have We now have posted little numbered actually experimented with wearable computing for “speaker” symbols on many exhibits over half a century. We began wearing electronics in the Revolution exhibition in when the quartz watch was introduced, but connection with our new app “CHM wearable general-purpose computing is still in its Tours” (available from the Apple App early stages. Will we soon wear compact or Google Play stores). computers on our wrists, shoes, clothing, or heads, At present, visitors must use their and faces? own device. On You addresses the technical challenges There are posters in the lobby wearable computing makers continually face: explaining the app and how to use it. power and heat, networking, mobile input, and display. While Marc indicated that Google Glass was the first successful effort at a consumer wearable computer, the exhibit displays other attempts along the path to developing wearable computing devices. On You exhibits consumer,

Coming Events (Click for details) Date Day Time Event

7:00 PM Program Machines of Loving Grace, Author John Markoff in Conversation Aug 27 Thur. 8:30 PM Book Signing with the Museum's John Hollar. MACHINES OF LOVING GRACE: The Quest for Common Ground Between Humans and Robots,

Medium's Evan Williams & Steven Levy in Conversation with John 7:00 PM Program Sept 17 Thur. Hollar. John Hollar, a former journalist himself, will sit down for an 8:30 PM Adjourn in-depth conversation with Medium's CEO Evan Williams, and the editor-in-chief of its tech hub Backchannel, Steven Levy

SuperBetter Author Jane McGonigal in Conversation with NPR’s 7:00 Program Sept. 22 Thur. Laura Sydell SUPERBETTER: A Revolutionary Approach to 8:30 Book signing Getting Stronger, Happier, Braver and More Resilient - Powered by the Science of Games

MIT's Cynthia Breazeal and Microsoft Research's Eric Horvitz - Sept 24 Thur. 7:00 PM two leaders in the field of artificial intelligence in a conversation with Museum CEO John Hollar to explore and update us on the challenge and promise of artificial intelligence.

9:30 AM Check in Sept 26 Sat. 10:00 AM Program starts Design_Code_Build from Broadcom Sept 27 Sun. Nov. 14 Sat. 12:30 PM Lunch See July 10, July 25, Aug 9 3:00 PM End

7:00 PM Nov. 4 Wed. Hodding Carter III with Museum CEO John Hollar: Journalism 8:30 PM Book Signing After Snowden 7