David C. Brock
@dcbrock.bsky.social
Works at the Computer History Museum, but everything here is solely my fault.
Reposted by David C. Brock
My new book will be out in early December 2025 via
@mitpress.bsky.social
Details at: mitpress.mit.edu/978026255348...
#HistSci #Computing #History #Books 🗃️
@mitpress.bsky.social
Details at: mitpress.mit.edu/978026255348...
#HistSci #Computing #History #Books 🗃️
November 9, 2025 at 1:31 PM
My new book will be out in early December 2025 via
@mitpress.bsky.social
Details at: mitpress.mit.edu/978026255348...
#HistSci #Computing #History #Books 🗃️
@mitpress.bsky.social
Details at: mitpress.mit.edu/978026255348...
#HistSci #Computing #History #Books 🗃️
Rolling into freshman year of high school with this in-wallet.
October 27, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Rolling into freshman year of high school with this in-wallet.
Reposted by David C. Brock
His ROOMBA that had been sending detailed maps of his house god knows where, and bricking itself when he tried to disable the spyware
INCREDIBLE freaking story
Can we have Things with No Internet please, happy to pay extra
INCREDIBLE freaking story
Can we have Things with No Internet please, happy to pay extra
this man hacked into the mainframe of his roomba codetiger.github.io/blog/the-day...
The Day My Smart Vacuum Turned Against Me
Would you allow a stranger to drive a camera-equipped computer around your living room? You might have already done so without even realizing it.
The Beginning: A Curious Experiment
It all started ...
codetiger.github.io
October 26, 2025 at 7:32 PM
His ROOMBA that had been sending detailed maps of his house god knows where, and bricking itself when he tried to disable the spyware
INCREDIBLE freaking story
Can we have Things with No Internet please, happy to pay extra
INCREDIBLE freaking story
Can we have Things with No Internet please, happy to pay extra
Reposted by David C. Brock
Our healthcare system isn’t broken, it’s rigged.
October 23, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Our healthcare system isn’t broken, it’s rigged.
Nice 10 minute video on the history of Siri by my Computer History Museum colleague Marc Weber.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3nA...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3nA...
How Siri Figured Out AI 15 Years Too Early
YouTube video by Computer History Museum: Bytes
www.youtube.com
October 22, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Nice 10 minute video on the history of Siri by my Computer History Museum colleague Marc Weber.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3nA...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3nA...
Ken Thompson on why Unix and C have been so enduring. An excerpt from my recently published oral history with him for CHM and the ACM.
youtu.be/1HyFsZ5t4tk
youtu.be/1HyFsZ5t4tk
Ken Thompson on the longevity of Unix and C
YouTube video by Computer History Museum
youtu.be
October 9, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Ken Thompson on why Unix and C have been so enduring. An excerpt from my recently published oral history with him for CHM and the ACM.
youtu.be/1HyFsZ5t4tk
youtu.be/1HyFsZ5t4tk
Happy to report that my oral history interview with Barbara Liskov -- ACM Turing Award winner and CHM Fellow -- for the Computer History Museum is now online!
youtu.be/lhcGCekk4pk
youtu.be/lhcGCekk4pk
Barbara Liskov Oral History
YouTube video by Computer History Museum
youtu.be
October 9, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Happy to report that my oral history interview with Barbara Liskov -- ACM Turing Award winner and CHM Fellow -- for the Computer History Museum is now online!
youtu.be/lhcGCekk4pk
youtu.be/lhcGCekk4pk
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...
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
October 8, 2025 at 4:06 PM
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...
computerhistory.org/blog/a-compu...
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
October 2, 2025 at 12:07 PM
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
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.
September 25, 2025 at 3:18 PM
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
"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
September 10, 2025 at 8:18 PM
"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."
Reposted by David C. Brock
Reposted by David C. Brock
I have a new book coming out this autumn via @mitpress.bsky.social ...details at:
mitpress.mit.edu/978026255348...
#HistSci #Computing #History #Books 🗃️
mitpress.mit.edu/978026255348...
#HistSci #Computing #History #Books 🗃️
June 17, 2025 at 12:43 PM
I have a new book coming out this autumn via @mitpress.bsky.social ...details at:
mitpress.mit.edu/978026255348...
#HistSci #Computing #History #Books 🗃️
mitpress.mit.edu/978026255348...
#HistSci #Computing #History #Books 🗃️
Reposted by David C. Brock
STS and computer history people: please RT, boost, and follow @sigcisconf.bsky.social !
Hey, hey... @sigcisconf.bsky.social--@shothisttech.bsky.social'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 🗃️📜📚
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
July 11, 2025 at 4:59 PM
STS and computer history people: please RT, boost, and follow @sigcisconf.bsky.social !
Reposted by David C. Brock
Great panel on the effort to recover the text from the Herculaneum scrolls using digital technologies. From the Computer History Museum.
youtu.be/ObbcqmWFNYs?...
youtu.be/ObbcqmWFNYs?...
CHM Live | AI Decodes Ancient History: The Herculaneum Scrolls
YouTube video by Computer History Museum
youtu.be
June 13, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Great panel on the effort to recover the text from the Herculaneum scrolls using digital technologies. From the Computer History Museum.
youtu.be/ObbcqmWFNYs?...
youtu.be/ObbcqmWFNYs?...
Reposted by David C. Brock
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...
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
May 15, 2025 at 5:53 PM
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...
In-person and On-line.
computerhistory.org/events/ai-de...
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...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCTr...
Oral History of Saydean Zeldin
YouTube video by Computer History Museum
www.youtube.com
May 28, 2025 at 1:03 PM
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...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCTr...
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...
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
May 15, 2025 at 5:53 PM
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...
In-person and On-line.
computerhistory.org/events/ai-de...
Reposted by David C. Brock
“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
May 10, 2025 at 2:02 PM
“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.
Reposted by David C. Brock
🖥️ 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
Find out more: bit.ly/4iwKtD3
April 28, 2025 at 8:14 AM
🖥️ 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
Find out more: bit.ly/4iwKtD3
Reposted by David C. Brock
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! 💻👩💻
We appreciate the support we've received from the CHM-- check out this event "Making News With Data" by following the link to register! 💻👩💻
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...
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
April 15, 2025 at 5:52 PM
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! 💻👩💻
We appreciate the support we've received from the CHM-- check out this event "Making News With Data" by following the link to register! 💻👩💻
Reposted by David C. Brock
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.
This means exchange between libraries, ability to get books delivered across the system, is gone as of 4/30.
April 15, 2025 at 1:31 AM
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.
This means exchange between libraries, ability to get books delivered across the system, is gone as of 4/30.
Reposted by David C. Brock
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
@lnakamura.bsky.social!
📍 Weiser Hall 10th Floor, University of Michigan & Zoom
More info and register: events.umich.edu/event/130932
April 14, 2025 at 4:27 PM
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
@lnakamura.bsky.social!
📍 Weiser Hall 10th Floor, University of Michigan & Zoom
More info and register: events.umich.edu/event/130932
Highly recommended:
spectrum.ieee.org/ai-chatbot
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
April 11, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Highly recommended:
spectrum.ieee.org/ai-chatbot
spectrum.ieee.org/ai-chatbot