VCF East Presentation Notes

Introduction

• Speaker: Evan (Coordinator)
• Acknowledgements: Thanks to volunteers (40-60) for their contributions.
• Hashtag: Use #VCFEast throughout the event.

Dedication

• In Memory: Andrew Gandhi (2005 original member)
  • Passed away due to stage four cancer.
  • His daughters are present at the event.
  • Known for designing memorable t-shirts.

Sponsorship & Publicity

• Sponsors: InfoAge Science Center, Hackaday, ACM Computer.
• Notable tweets promoting the event:
  • Hackaday: 400,000 followers.
  • ACM Computer: 40,000 followers.
  • Bell Labs: 20,000 followers.
  • Ars Technica: 1.1 million followers.

Event Materials

• Program Booklet: Contains yesterday's schedule and a QR code for a show survey (with polo shirt or VCF swag as incentives).

Museum Improvements

• Recent upgrades to the network:
  • Previous setup: Raspberry Pi 4, consumer-grade router.
  • New setup: Donated equipment includes real servers and Cisco equipment.
• New Acquisition: VAX 9000, last made by DEC, recently acquired for restoration.
• Goals: Raise $250,000 over the next five years for a new building.

Information Kiosk

• New Installations: Interactive touch screen monitors.
• Future plans to have more kiosks throughout the museum.

Artifact Donations

• Encouragement to donate artifacts, funds, or volunteer.
• Mention of receiving the RadioShack store sign and a software store.

Exhibit Halls

• Two exhibit halls:
  • Current Exhibits: UNIX town, Atari exhibit.
  • Special speaker: Joe de Cure from Atari.

Vendor Room & Workshops

• Vendor Room: Located in the lobby.
• Workshops: Glitch works, soldering workshops available.

Fireside Chat Introduction

• Speakers: Ken Thompson and Brian Kernighan.
• Ken Thompson: Co-inventor of UNIX, recipient of multiple awards (ACM Turing Award, National Medal of Technology).

Ken Thompson's Early Life

• Initial interest in computers during school in Berkeley.
• Drifted into electrical engineering and computer science without a clear goal.
• Career Path: Ended up at Bell Labs through an informal recruitment process.

UNIX Development

• Background: Worked on Multics project; inspiration for UNIX came from frustrations with Multics.
• UNIX Features: Developed pipes as a communication method between programs.
• Impact of UNIX: Major contributions to operating systems; still influential today.

Other Contributions

• grep Utility: Created for searching through files, became widely used.
• C Language Evolution: Transition from B to C language influenced UNIX development.

Chess Programming

• Developed a chess machine and participated in ACM chess tournaments.
• Won several championships; notable involvement in chess community.
• Moscow Trip: Invited to demonstrate chess program in the USSR; faced challenges in exporting the machine.

Audience Engagement

• Encouragement to ask questions during the fireside chat.
• Instructions for audience to respect time and allow everyone a chance to engage.