The University of Minnesota's Charles Babbage Institute presents an international conference exploring the gender gap in computing on Friday, May 30, at the Charles Babbage Institute, Anderson Library, 222 21st Ave. S., Minneapolis. The conference is free and open to the public, but registration is required for lunch and/or dinner.

The conference, entitled History | Gender | Computing, features presenters from six countries who will observe that women were active participants in the early days of computer programming, but examine why computing today is one of the most gender-segregated domains of modern life. Complementing the presentations is a scheduled poster session, showcasing additional views and innovative projects, as well as a new exhibit, "Gendered Bits," exploring how gender has shaped the professional identities and material culture of computing.

http://www.umn.edu/~tmisa/gender/

On May 10, 2008, Join the Computer History Museum in launching its exciting new exhibit: "Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2," exhibited for the first time in North America.

This five-ton Engine is one of only two of Charles Babbage's computing engines ever built. Designed to calculate and print mathematical tables, it is made of 8,000 parts of bronze, cast iron and steel and measures 11 feet long by 7 feet high. Come see docents crank the Engine by hand and watch it mechanically calculate - an arresting spectacle of automatic computing.

Zachary Schrag (George Mason Univ.) is giving away many volumes of the Communications of the ACM and Computing Reviews. Below, I've reposted his message (originally from H-SCI-MED-TECH).

Subject: Old computer journals available
From: "Zachary Schrag"
Date: Sat, January 12, 2008 3:55 am
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My stepfather, Robert Fenichel, is cleaning out his Washington, D.C.,
basement and would like to know if anyone wants the following
computer journals:

The GenBank database is turning 25 this year and the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) will be holding a major celebration on April 7-8, 2008. The mood of the event seems to be quite triumphal. Speakers include J. Craig Venter, Sydney Brenner, Francis Collins, and Elias Zerhouni. The event is open to all but registration is required. See:
http://www.tech-res.com/GenBank25/.

To mark a quarter-century of C64 history, CNN.com has posted "Commodore 64 still loved after all these years" as its headline story (12/07/2007). The article also mentions the Computer History Museum's celebration of the anniversary, which will be held on 12/10/2007.

ABC-CLIO has circulated a few messages asking for contributors to its upcoming Encyclopedia of American Technology, edited by Dr. Ed Pershey of the Western Reserve Historical Society. I've posted their H-SCI-MED-TECH call for entries below.

Subject: Encyclopedia of American Technology
From: "Steven Danver"
Date: Wed, November 14, 2007 7:28 pm
(Distributed on H-SCI-MED-TECH on 11/14/2007)

The newest edition of the CBI Newsletter has been published at http://www.cbi.umn.edu/newsletter.html. Check it out!

Charles Babbage Institute launches "Arthur Norberg Travel Fund"

The Charles Babbage Institute at the University of Minnesota is pleased to announce the launch of the Arthur L. Norberg Travel Fund. This new fund provides short-term grants-in-aid to help scholars with travel expenses to use archival collections at the Charles Babbage Institute. This year, we are able to award two $750 grants.