From: cgdemarc@ai.mit.edu (Carl de Marcken)
Date: Fri, 26 Apr 1996 15:56:20 -0400
To: all-ai
Subject: GSB, Friday April 26th, 5:30, 7AI


As most of you know by now, on Wednesday the ACM awarded Bill Gates the
1996 Turing Award.  The Turing Award is presented annually "to an
individual selected for contributions of a technical nature to the
computing community" that are judged to be of lasting and major importance
to the field of computer science.  Bill Gates' lecture will be delivered in
October, presumably titled "Eval, Apply, Litigate: A 3-Step Model of
Computer Programming".

Perhaps in denial, a few of us lisp hackers have embarked an ad-hoc study
of the incoming graduate students in area II.  Here are some of the more
interesting results.

	58% have worked (either full-time or as interns) for Microsoft.
	 0% have worked (either full-time or as interns) for DEC or Symbolics.

	63% routinely program in either C or C++.
	28% do not routinely program but "navigate the web".
	 4% think they have heard of Haskell.
	 0% have heard of "call-with-current-continuation".

	only 17% (and only after extensive explanation) believe that
	  "call-with-current-continuation" does or could exist.

Again perhaps in denial, this week's Girl Scout Benefit will be an
intensive introduction to "call-with-current-continuation".  In particular,
we will look at using cwcc as a means of introducing _qualia_ into computer
programs.  So far as we know, cwcc is the only programming primitive that
can be proven to be _aware_ of its own continuation, and thus the only
primitive that understands itself: cwcc imbues programs with consciousness.
As such, it can be compared with compilers, which can analyze their own
source code but are unaware they are doing so, and side-effecting type
systems, which are cool but unrelated.

Don't miss it.  The air will be alive- scintillating- and the sofas
anhydrous.  Let your mind explore the universe at this week's

               G I R L   S C O U T   B E N E F I T