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David C. Brock @dcbrock.bsky.social · 9h

My oral history interview with Ken Thompson -- of Unix, C, Go, computer chess, and other fame -- for the Computer History Museum and the ACM is now online!
computerhistory.org/blog/a-compu...

A Computing Legend Speaks

Ken Thompson, one of the foremost programmers and computer scientists of the last 50 years, shares stories about his life and career in a newly released oral history.

computerhistory.org

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David C. Brock @dcbrock.bsky.social · 5d

Reading this article is how I learned about this whole thing! It's so great.

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David C. Brock @dcbrock.bsky.social · 6d

Does this prefigure the kind of foreign subsidiary tax shenanigans that the large technology companies all use today? Is it how US tech came to learn of this tax avoidance strategy? Or was this already commonplace in the 1960s among US manufacturing firms? /3 and end

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David C. Brock @dcbrock.bsky.social · 6d

Would this have allowed these US IC makers to "sell" the unassembled IC die to the South Korean subsidiary and then have all the sales of the final ICs exported booked to the foreign subsidiary, and thus remain untaxed in South Korea and at least partially untaxed in the US? /2

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David C. Brock @dcbrock.bsky.social · 6d

History of semiconductors question: Reading about 1966 law in South Korea that offered foreign companies tax exemptions on goods manufactured there for export. This is when Fairchild and other US IC makers opened assembly factories in South Korea, creating local subsidiaries. /1

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David C. Brock @dcbrock.bsky.social · 13d

Lovely letter today from TransUnion telling me that they allowed my SSN and DOB to be hacked, and then offering me free credit monitoring and fraud assistance from...TransUnion.

Reposted by David C. Brock

Yellow Dot Studios @weareyellowdot.bsky.social · 28d

"0.3 per cent of the world’s land area – yes, just the land – would be needed to meet the current energy demand from solar alone, which is LESS THAN THE CURRENT LAND FOOTPRINT OF FOSSIL FUEL INFRASTRUCTURE."

Why solar power is the only viable power source in the long run

Not only is solar more than capable of supplying all the world’s energy, in the long term it is the only power source that won’t fry the planet

www.newscientist.com

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David C. Brock @dcbrock.bsky.social · Aug 24

I believe a thread on this website.

Reposted by David C. Brock

Jason Scott @textfiles.com · Aug 1

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Reposted by David C. Brock

Patrick McCray @patrickmccray.bsky.social · Jun 17

I have a new book coming out this autumn via @mitpress.bsky.social ...details at:

mitpress.mit.edu/978026255348...

#HistSci #Computing #History #Books 🗃️

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Reposted by David C. Brock

Laine Nooney @ 🔥🗑️🔥 @lainenooney.bsky.social · Jul 11

STS and computer history people: please RT, boost, and follow @sigcisconf.bsky.social !

Ben Gross @bhgross144.bsky.social · Jul 10

Hey, hey... @sigcisconf.bsky.social [email protected]'s Special Interest Group for Computing, Information & Society--is on Bluesky!

Follow them if you're interested in #ComputerHistory or the social & political impact of digital technologies like #AI.

#histsci #histtech #histSTM 🗃️📜📚

a man wearing glasses is sitting at a desk in front of a computer monitor .

ALT: a man wearing glasses is sitting at a desk in front of a computer monitor .

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by David C. Brock

Molly White @molly.wiki · Jun 25

schadenfreudescrolling

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David C. Brock @dcbrock.bsky.social · Jun 20

Think about what Andy Grove would say about these guys.

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David C. Brock @dcbrock.bsky.social · Jun 13

Great panel on the effort to recover the text from the Herculaneum scrolls using digital technologies. From the Computer History Museum.
youtu.be/ObbcqmWFNYs?...

CHM Live | AI Decodes Ancient History: The Herculaneum Scrolls

YouTube video by Computer History Museum

youtu.be

Reposted by David C. Brock

David C. Brock @dcbrock.bsky.social · May 15

Really looking forward to this upcoming event at the Computer History Museum. It is on the use of neural networks and other technologies to identify the writing on scrolls that were carbonized and buried in 79CE in Herculaneum!
In-person and On-line.
computerhistory.org/events/ai-de...

AI Decodes Ancient History

Discover how cutting-edge AI technology is revolutionizing the study of ancient history. Join us for an illuminating discussion about the groundbreaking work that has helped decipher and translate fra...

computerhistory.org

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David C. Brock @dcbrock.bsky.social · May 28

I had the pleasure of interviewing Saydean Zeldin, a key programmer for the Apollo Guidance Computer and a software entrepreneur, for the Computer History Museum's Oral History Program. Watch here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCTr...

Oral History of Saydean Zeldin

YouTube video by Computer History Museum

www.youtube.com

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David C. Brock @dcbrock.bsky.social · May 15

Really looking forward to this upcoming event at the Computer History Museum. It is on the use of neural networks and other technologies to identify the writing on scrolls that were carbonized and buried in 79CE in Herculaneum!
In-person and On-line.
computerhistory.org/events/ai-de...

AI Decodes Ancient History

Discover how cutting-edge AI technology is revolutionizing the study of ancient history. Join us for an illuminating discussion about the groundbreaking work that has helped decipher and translate fra...

computerhistory.org

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Reposted by David C. Brock

IEEE Spectrum @spectrum.ieee.org · May 10

“Engineers and computer scientists, please defend humanities research just as loudly as you might defend research in STEM fields.” With thousands of funding cuts across the humanities, it’s vitally important that engineers stand up to support the humanities.

Engineering and the Humanities: It's Complicated

As an electrical engineer turned historian who now studies engineers of the past, I have a good sense of how the engineering profession evolved. And what I've learned is this: Engineers have long…

spectrum.ieee.org

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Reposted by David C. Brock

Science Museum @sciencemuseum.org.uk · Apr 28

🖥️ In the 1980s, the race to develop accessible and affordable home computers had begun, and a British computer scientist was leading the charge. Our latest blog post explores the career of one of its pioneering programmers, Sophie Wilson.

Find out more: bit.ly/4iwKtD3

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Reposted by David C. Brock

The DISCO Network @disconetwork.bsky.social · Apr 15

TOMORROW: Join online or in-person (CA) for a dynamic & timely public forum on tech and the future of news, featuring top newsmakers, experts, and changemakers.

We appreciate the support we've received from the CHM-- check out this event "Making News With Data" by following the link to register! 💻👩‍💻

David C. Brock @dcbrock.bsky.social · Mar 28

Excited for this upcoming CHM event on the past, present, and future of data journalism.

Registration open for in-person and on-line.

As always, free!

computerhistory.org/events/makin...

Making News with Data

From data journalism, which uses data analysis and visualization to uncover and explain news stories, to AI, technology continues to reshape the future of news. Since 2022, CHM has convened a diverse ...

computerhistory.org

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Reposted by David C. Brock

Hex Anderson @dexanderson.com · Apr 15

Just got word from my college roommate - who is the state archivist for the state of South Dakota - that due to the DOGE shutdowns of IMLS, they can no longer fund InterLibrary Loan in SD.

This means exchange between libraries, ability to get books delivered across the system, is gone as of 4/30.

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Reposted by David C. Brock

The DISCO Network @disconetwork.bsky.social · Apr 14

TODAY at 2 PM ET: Join us in-person or virtually for a conversation about Building the Indigenous Internet, with Ashley Cordes, Majerle Lister, and
@lnakamura.bsky.social!

📍 Weiser Hall 10th Floor, University of Michigan & Zoom

More info and register: events.umich.edu/event/130932

Event flier for Building the Indigenous Internet panel and Q&A featuring headshots of Ashley Cordes, Majerle Lister, and Lisa Nakamura.

Flier text:
This panel brings together key voices in infrastructure as broadly imagined, data sovereignty and decolonial perspectives to critically explore the history, present, and future of the Indigenous Internet. The conversation will showcase how Indigenous knowledge has and will continue to shape data worlds by bringing together interdisciplinary perspectives on emerging technologies--ranging from computer science, artificial intelligence, social media, online activism, the work of infrastructure and circuit building, and beyond. By centering Indigenous voices, the discussion aims to create transformative visions for a sustainable, equitable, and inclusive digital future while inviting speculative thinking about post-settler digital worlds.

Free copies of Indigenous Currencies: Leaving Some for the Rest in the Digital Age (MIT Press) by Ashley Cordes will be available for the first 50 attendees!

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David C. Brock @dcbrock.bsky.social · Apr 11

Highly recommended:
spectrum.ieee.org/ai-chatbot

Do AI Chatbots Have Real Understanding? Watch the Experts' Fiery Debate! 🧠⚡

Do AI chatbots truly understand our world, or are they just mimicking that real understanding? In a heated debate, Emily M. Bender, a fierce critic of AI, and Sébastien Bubeck, a proponent of AI's pot...

spectrum.ieee.org

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David C. Brock @dcbrock.bsky.social · Apr 10

“Fauxtomation” is great!!

David C. Brock @dcbrock.bsky.social · Apr 10

Has anyone written a straightforward Marxist analysis of the impulse to replace labor with 'AI' in our current moment, and the continual pursuit of this dream by DODGE, Trump's tariff 'calculations,' 'edtech,' consumer products, etc. despite the continual abject inadequacy of the tech?

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