Newly released recordings from President Richard Nixon’s Oval Office capture his views on marijuana, Black Power and the Vietnam War.
An interdisciplinary research project exploring the history and ideas behind the influential ELIZA chatbot, created in the 1960s. The project aims to contextualize ELIZA, analyze its code, and examine its cultural impact on human-computer interaction.
This article details the results of multispectral imaging on the Voynich Manuscript, revealing previously hidden text and potentially identifying the handwriting of Johannes Marcus Marci.
This video features an interview with Professor Hal Abelson, a pioneer in computer science education. He reflects on his career, starting from his early work with Logo programming language and its use in education. He emphasizes the importance of computer education for everyone, particularly for children who can use technology to make a real-world impact.
Abelson also discusses the risks associated with artificial intelligence and MIT's decision to make educational materials freely available online, which led to MIT OpenCourseWare. He believes computer scientists should not only focus on technical advancements but also consider the ethical implications of their work, asking "What, in fact, is worth making?". The video also highlights resources like Logo, Scratch, and MIT App Inventor, encouraging viewers to explore these tools.
Abelson also discusses the risks associated with artificial intelligence and MIT's decision to make educational materials freely available online, which led to MIT OpenCourseWare. He believes computer scientists should not only focus on technical advancements but also consider the ethical implications of their work, asking "What, in fact, is worth making?". The video also highlights resources like Logo, Scratch, and MIT App Inventor, encouraging viewers to explore these tools.
The Sumerian language was the first to have a written form around 3500 BCE, using a system called cuneiform. This script evolved over time, and was later used by other languages like Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian.
The PiDP-10 is a modern reproduction of the PDP-10, powered by a Raspberry Pi and featuring a front panel with tons of LEDs and switches. It's designed for those who want to experience the computing power of the 1960s, but with a modern twist.
Excavations in Turkey have revealed a previously unknown Anatolian-Indo-European language, Kalašma, dating back around 3,000 years. The language is similar to Luwian and has been deciphered by researchers from the University of Worzburg and Istanbul University.
This paper explores the history of ELIZA, the world's first chatbot, and how it was actually intended as a platform for research into human-machine interaction and interpretation, not as a chatbot.
Article by Danny Hillis for Physics Today reprinted with permission, describing Richard Feynman's involvement with the Connection Machine project at Thinking Machines Corporation in the late 1980s. Feynman contributed significantly to the project, including designing an algorithm for computing logarithms and working on the router design.
An article by Phillip Morrison exploring the concept of machine thinking in the age of computers. The author discusses the recurring question of why life is different from non-life, with each new generation of machines that simulate aspects of life.
