Steven Goodwin
Unemployable general-purpose computer geek
London, United Kingdom
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Steven Goodwin (London, England) has been involved in computing, science, and technology from an early age, building his first synthesizer while still in his teens.
As a systems architect he's designed and built global systems for Unilever, Playfish, and Third Space Learning using a wide range of languages and technologies. He's also highly experienced on the small scale, with work on the iPhone, Arduino, and Raspberry Pi, as well as running teams of between 1 and 30 people.
His position as an industry thought leader in technology implementations includes being a mentor at ed-invent, a start-up consultant, and a futurist. He has given talks around the world on topics as diverse as home automation, HTML5, game development, and quantum superpositions.
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25 years of JavaScript
Steven Goodwin has being coding with JavaScript for 25 years. In that time his seen everything - from when debugging meant calls to alert() and web animations meant Flash, to canvas graphics and real-time MIDI. So, why not see what was considered cutting edge in a world before Facebook and Bitcoin!
From 3D graphics without WebGL, to particle systems, Grand Theft Auto in LEGO, YouTube APIs, WebRTC, speech recognition, VR, WebAudio, Alexa, WebSockets, and myriad frameworks, there are a million things now possible with JavaScript that was unimaginable back in 1999. Come and enjoy the history lesson (if you're young) or the nostalgia (if you're old...er) to be reminded just how great JavaScript can be!
Ada Lovelace and The Very First Computer Program
We all know that Ada Lovelace is credited as the first computer programmer. But what did she write? What did it do? And how does it work?
In this inspirational talk, developer, geek, and digital archaeologist, Steven Goodwin, breaks down the very first program ever written to explain what it does and how it works. He goes on to simulate it within a JavaScript version of Babbage's analytical engine, rewriting it piece-by-piece until it looks like modern code, and thereby demonstrate what features of current languages we now all take for granted.
He finishes up with a discussion on the controversy surrounding her involvement in computing, aiming to answer the question once and for all - "Was she really the first programmer?"
Conversations with Eliza: AI chatbots from 60 years BC (Before ChatGPT)
When the Eliza psychotherapist chatbot was released by Joseph Weizenbaum, in 1966, people believed it real. Even the secretary of its creator thought the machine had feelings, as they discussed relationships and personal issues. But why? How could a simple computer text interface act so human?
In this session our speaker, a computer historian and associate at the Centre for Computer History, uncovers the workings of Eliza, the Eliza effect, and its impact in the modern world, and in films like "THX 1138" and "Her." From the computer hardware to the programming language, and the scripts used to simulate the human traits of empathy and comprehension, he looks at how 233 lines of code was convincing enough to change the world.
Steven Goodwin
Unemployable general-purpose computer geek
London, United Kingdom
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