Computers and Automation, Vol. 14 No. 8 (August 1965) — Third Annual Computer Art Contest

Notes

Berkeley Enterprises, Newtonville MA, August 1965. 52 pp., OCR'd scan from bitsavers.org (Computers_And_Automation/196508.pdf), the source link. The Annual Computer Art Contest of "Computers and Automation": pp. 10–11. Cover: A. Michael Noll's 'Computer Composition with Lines': short black horizontal and vertical bars of random length and width scattered within a circle, thinning in a parabolic region of the upper half, signed '© AMN 1965' at lower left and labelled 'Computer Art Contest First Prize'. The third contest gets two pages (10-11) headed 'The Annual Computer Art Contest of "Computers and Automation"', with the winning design repeated in miniature by the title. The cover is awarded to A. Michael Noll, 'Research Engineer, of Newark, N.J.', for 'Computer Composition with Lines'. Noll's note is printed: bar positions 'have been chosen at random with the constraint that the positions must fall inside a circle', length and width are random within a range, and bars in a parabolic region of the upper half are shortened in proportion to their distance from its edge; 'the motivation for this type of pattern came from Piet Mondrian's "Composition with Lines", 1917'. It is the first appearance of Noll's Mondrian study and the first prize credited to a named individual. Four honorable mentions follow, 'each explained with some notes next to the picture'. D. J. DiLeonardo of Westinghouse's Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory sends 'Neutron Flux Distribution', a FORTRAN isometric Calcomp plot of a neutron-diffusion solution over a 5000-point mesh that 'seems to possess a certain artistic value'. California Computer Products, Anaheim, sends a Calcomp 'Testing Pattern'. Noll adds 'Vertical-Horizontal No. 3', 101 random points joined by alternating vertical and horizontal segments into one line, and 'Gaussian Quadratic', whose end points are Gaussian horizontally and quadratic vertically so the line 'randomly zigzags to the top in continually increasing steps' before wrapping to the bottom. No entry count is given; Noll's equipment is not stated. First prize: A. Michael Noll, Research Engineer, of Newark, N.J. - 'Computer Composition with Lines' (machine not stated). Also: Honorable mention: 'Neutron Flux Distribution' by D. J. DiLeonardo, Westinghouse Electric Corp., Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, West Mifflin, Pa. - FORTRAN isometric plot on a Calcomp Plotter (p. 10); Honorable mention: 'Testing Pattern' by California Computer Products, Inc., Anaheim, Calif. - a pattern used for testing the Calcomp Plotter (p. 11); Honorable mention: 'Vertical-Horizontal No. 3' by A. Michael Noll (p. 11); Honorable mention: 'Gaussian Quadratic' by A. Michael Noll (p. 11). Artists and works as credited: A. Michael Noll - Research Engineer, Newark, N.J. - 'Computer Composition with Lines' (first prize, cover); 'Vertical-Horizontal No. 3'; 'Gaussian Quadratic' - machine not stated; drawings marked © AMN 1965 · D. J. DiLeonardo - Westinghouse Electric Corp., Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, West Mifflin, Pa. 15122 - 'Neutron Flux Distribution' - FORTRAN program drawing isometric plots on a Calcomp Plotter · California Computer Products, Inc. - Anaheim, Calif. - 'Testing Pattern' - Calcomp Plotter. Rest of the issue: A 'Special Issue on the Problem of Computer Personnel': 'Some Programmer-Employer Problems: A Report from the Field' by Ned Chapin (p. 12); 'Personnel Problems in Data Processing Systems: The Approach of Top Management' by Harvey W. Protzel (p. 16); 'Employment, Education, and the Industrial System' by Prof. John Kenneth Galbraith (p. 18); 'Is Computing a Profession?' by Dr. Robert P. Rich (p. 22). Editorials 'The Progress in Programming Computers: Some Questions of Semantics' (p. 7) and 'What's That Price Again, Sir?' (p. 9); throughput 'The Personnel Development Problem' (p. 28); Newsletter (p. 31); Computer Census (p. 46); New Patents by Raymond R. Skolnick (p. 48).