I'm interested. I can offer anyone a ride -- I have three extra seats. Perhaps wikimedia can provide funding for transportation if there is a large interest from our volunteers? I don't think it would hurt to ask.
Any thoughts or people interested in carpool? Sincerely, Cam Vilay On Feb 24, 2010, at 11:58 PM, phoebe ayers <[email protected]> wrote: > This sounds kind of amazing... and maybe relevant for thinking about > Wikimedia's future. In 41 years, will we have a wikipe...@50 > conference?! > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Brian Dear <[email protected]> > Date: Wed, Feb 24, 2010 at 4:20 PM > Subject: [Air-L] Conference Announcement: 50th Anniv of PLATO System > (June 2-3, 2010) > To: [email protected] > > > [ Conference Announcement ] > > "PLATO @ 50" > A 2-day Conference Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the PLATO > Computer System and its Online Community > > Co-produced by the PLATO History Foundation and the Computer History > Museum, with major support from Microsoft Corporation. > > WHERE AND WHEN: > Computer History Museum > Mountain View, California > June 2-3, 2010 > > --> This is a FREE conference and is open to the public. <-- > > HOW TO REGISTER (FREE): > http://www.computerhistory.org/events/index.php?id=1260822096 > > FOR MORE INFORMATION: > http://platohistory.org/conference/50th-anniversary > > ABOUT THIS CONFERENCE: > This once-in-a-lifetime conference focuses on the history and > significance of the PLATO computer system and online community. PLATO > began in 1960 as an experimental computer-based education system > running on the ILLIAC-1 computer at the University of Illinois. > During the 1960s the system expanded greatly and as early as 1963 > PLATO offered college courses for credit. One of the pioneering > efforts of the 1960s became a true phenomenon by the 1970s, where the > PLATO IV system, funded by NSF and ARPA, supported 1000 simultaneous > users connected via gas-plasma flat-panel display terminals with > built-in touch screens (the gas-plasma flat-panel display was invented > for the PLATO system, decades before it would emerge as a television > technology for consumers). For nearly ten years, there were more > users connected to the various PLATO systems installed around the > world in the 1970s and early 80s than there were on all of ARPANET, > the major precursor to the Internet. This conference > is the first opportunity to discover an entire, amazingly rich and > vibrant history of computing, social media, and online community that > flourished long before many people would have thought it was possible > for such things to exist. > > A HANDS-ON EVENT: > A number of fully-restored, functioning PLATO terminals will be > available during the conference for actual hands-on interacting with a > live PLATO system that includes thousands of courseware lessons on > subjects ranging from elementary math and reading to advanced > chemistry and calculus; games (Empire, Avatar, Moria, etc.); and > social media (TERM-talk, Talkomatic, Notes, Personal Notes, etc.) > > WHO SHOULD ATTEND: > * Anyone interested in Social Media, Social Software, Blogs, Online > Newspapers, Digital Journalism, Online Communities: it all emerged on > PLATO years before anywhere else. > * Anyone interested in Internet Studies (come find out everything that > happened before the Internet took off) and the History of Technology > and Computing > * Anyone interested in the history of online games, online virtual > goods and economies, multiplayer games, MUDs, sports games, card > games, simulations, and how PLATO influenced and continues to > influence and inspire game development today > * Anyone interested in the impact of computers on society, > cyberculture, online relationships, online addiction, privacy issues, > censorship, and the controversies of anonymous online postings. > * Anyone interested in computer-assisted instruction, e-Learning, CBT, > computer-based education, authoring systems, online testing and > administration. PLATO was the largest government-funded system in the > history of educational computing. > * Anyone who loves technology, computers, and the Internet, and wants > to learn what the Future looked like decades ago, at a time when > Google's founders were still in diapers, and Apple and Microsoft had > not yet been founded. > > > PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE: > (NOTE: SUBJECT TO REVISION - follow the platohistory.org site for > updates) > > [----------- Wednesday June 2 -----------] > > 6pm-7pm: Reception > > 7pm: General Introductions, and an Overview of PLATO History > Featuring John Hollar, CEO of Computer History Museum, and Brian Dear, > PLATO History Foundation > > 7:20pm: Panel #1: SEEING THE FUTURE THROUGH THE PAST: A CONVERSATION > WITH DONALD BITZER AND RAY OZZIE > Featuring Dr. Donald Bitzer, Distinguished Research Professor and > creator of PLATO, and Ray Ozzie, Chief Software Architect, Microsoft > Corporation. Dr. Bitzer was only 26 when he began work on creating > the PLATO system in the summer of 1960. Ray Ozzie got his start as a > student programmer on PLATO at the University of Illinois in the > 1970s, and the experience has guided and inspired his career (which > includes creating Lotus Notes, named after PLATO Notes) ever since. > > [----------- Thursday June 3 -----------] > 8am: Coffee > 8:30am Morning sessions > Panel #2: AN EARLY ONLINE COMMUNITY: PEOPLE PLUS COMPUTING GROWS > COMMUNITES > Featuring Dave Woolley, Doug Brown, Kim Mast, and others. How PLATO's > online community emerged in 1972-73, including one of the first > conferencing/message-board systems (PLATO Notes), the first multi-user > chat room (Talk-o-matic), one of the first instant messaging > applications (TERM-talk), sophisticated remote-monitoring > functionality, live online consulting and help, PLATO's electronic > mail (Personal Notes), and more. Learn how the PLATO system provided > its thousands of users with one of the earliest glimpses of what would > be coming decades later with the Internet and Web. > > Panel #3. PLATO GAMES: AN EARLY, ROBUST COMMUNITY OF MULTI-PLAYER, > ONLINE GAMES > Featuring Brand Fortner, John Daleske, Andrew Shapira, and others. > PLATO's games are legendary and some of the earliest examples of > sophisticated multi-player games, including Empire (precursor of > NetTrek and dozens of others), Airfight (precursor of Microsoft Flight > Simulator), Avatar/Moria/Oubliette/DND (precursors of DOOM, EverQuest, > and World of Warcraft), and countless other games. > > 12:00pm LUNCH INCLUDED > > 1pm: Afternoon sessions > PANEL #4: PLATO SOFTWARE: DRIVEN BY A CLEAR, COMPELLING CHALLENGE > Featuring Bruce Sherwood, Michael Walker, Bob Rader, others. Learn > about how the PLATO system software evolved over the years, including > the powerful TUTOR authoring language, the powerful graphics editors, > sophisticated answer judging, and other tools and utilities. > > PANEL #5: EARLY ON-LINE EDUCATION AND COURSEWARE: LESSONS LEARNED, > INSIGHTS GLEANED > Featuring Dr. Ruth Chabay and others. Find out the lessons learned > from one of the earliest and most major courseware development > projects across all areas from elementary education to college-level > to industry and government. What can we learn from the evolution of > courseware from its designers and their subsequent careers? > > PANEL #6: PLATO HARDWARE: MISSION-BASED DEVELOPMENTS LED OTHER PLACES > Featuring Donald Bitzer, Roger Johnson, Larry Weber, others. Learn > about the amazing innovations including the history of the gas-plasma > flat-panel display (which, in 1968, was a major inspiration for Alan > Kay and his "Dynabook" personal laptop computer), PLATO's touch panel, > the CYBER mainframes and custom peripheral systems, and other > innovations. > > PANEL #7: A CLOSE LOOK AT A CULTURE OF INNOVATION: WHAT DON BITZER > WROUGHT; WHAT CAN BE LEARNED FROM IT > Featuring Bob Sutton, CK Gunsalus, Bob Price (former CEO of Control > Data Corporation), David Frankel, and others. Learn about the culture > of the PLATO laboratory at the University of Illinois that enabled and > empowered bright people to excel. Also covered will be lessons > learned from Control Data Corporation's marketing and > commercialization of PLATO, its many years of interactions and > collaboration with the University of Illinois, and CDC's own PLATO > innovations in hardware, software, courseware, and addressing > society's major unmet needs. > > 5:30 (approx) Wrap-up and conference closing. > > (Once again: times, speakers, etc. still subject to some revision and > minor changes). > > This is not your average conference. It is going to be a major > historical event and one that offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity > to hear and meet many of the original PLATO system creators, users, > and researchers. This free event is sure to fill up early, so > register early to make sure you can attend. > > HOW TO REGISTER (FREE): > http://www.computerhistory.org/events/index.php?id=1260822096 > > FOR MORE INFORMATION: > http://platohistory.org/conference/50th-anniversary > > LATEST UPDATES: > see the PLATO History Blog at http://platohistory.org > > See you there! > > Brian Dear > PLATO History Foundation > La Jolla, California > http://platohistory.org > [email protected] > > _______________________________________________ > The [email protected] mailing list > is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org > Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: > http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org > > Join the Association of Internet Researchers: > http://www.aoir.org/ > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-SF mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-sf _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-SF mailing list [email protected] https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-sf
