Hopper HomePage Request for permission

I got an email request earlier this week ... a publisher wanted to cite one of my Web pages in a textbook for 10th grade students ... what follows is our dialog. -=DAH=- 2008-01-05

From: Dennette A. Harrod, Jr 
To: May-Ann Couvaras 
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2008 10:23 AM
Subject: Re: Permission to use text on website

At 02:31 2008-01-03, you wrote:
Hi 
 
I am an educational publisher, and in the process of working on a Business 
Studies book for Grade 10. My author would like to use the text on the First 
Computer Bug (adapted) in our textbook 
(http://www.waterholes.com/~dennette/1996/hopper/bug.htm). Please let me know 
whether we can use the text and acknowledge the source as below.
 
==========
Have you ever wondered about the origins of the term ‘bugs’ as applied to 
computer technology? 

US Navy Captain Grace Murray Hopper has a first-hand explanation. The 74 year 
old captain was a pioneer in computer technology during World War II. 
At Harvard one August night in 1945, Hopper and her associates were working 
on the granddaddy of modern computers, the Mark I. Things were going badly; 
there was something wrong in one of the circuits of the long glass-enclosed 
computer. Finally, someone located the trouble spot and, using ordinary 
tweezers, removed the problem, a two-inch moth. "From then on, when anything 
went wrong with a computer, we said it had bugs in it," Hopper said. 

Source: Adapted from www.waterholes.com/-dennette/1996/hopper/bug.htm
==========
 
I trust that you will find this in order. Please let me know should you 
require any further information. 
 
Regards, 
 
May-Ann Couvaras
Commissioning Editor
 
Lingua Franca Publishers
Tel: 012 343 1748 (Direct)
Fax: 012 344 5979
    
From: Dennette A. Harrod, Jr 
To: May-Ann Couvaras 
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2008 10:23 AM 
Subject: Re: Permission to use text on website

May-Ann ... 

Flattered as I am by the request, all I did was copy an email message that I 
found, as many others have (just Google "ARPAVAX.sjk") ... and my site may 
evaporate soon if I cannot come up with funds to pay for hosting it for 
another year ... the National Museum of American History link 
(http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object.cfm?key=35&objkey=30) is 
probably more authoritative, although the Wikipedia article at 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_bug#Etymology shows that the claim is 
disputed ... one of the citations from that article would probably be more 
appropriate.

Have a better one!  -=Dennette=-

* Mr. Dennette A. Harrod, Jr.     
* WiZ-WORX - "The Source for IGES Tools"(tm) - (202) 541-9434
* www.WiZ-WORX.com - www.IGES5x.org - www.waterholes.com/~dennette
* "It is easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission."
*         -- Rear Admiral "Amazing Grace" Hopper, USN 
    
From: "May-Ann Couvaras" 
To: "Dennette A. Harrod, Jr" 
Subject: Re: Permission to use text on website
Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 15:45:39 +0200

HI Dennette
 
Thank you for your response and help with the cited websites. I've checked out 
both the Wikipedia and National Museum of American History sites and although 
the general information is te same, our book copies the text on your site, 
and not that of Wikipedia/ National Museum of American History. 
 
Should I just remove the aknowledgement, as this is "common knowledge" found 
on more than one site, or would you like your site (even though it might not 
be in existence for long) to be acknowledged.
 
Regards, 
May-Ann
    
From: Dennette A. Harrod, Jr 
To: "May-Ann Couvaras" 
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2008 12:30 PM 
Subject: Re: Permission to use text on website

Hello again, May-Ann ...

Well, you certainly have permission to cite my URL for "The First Computer Bug!" 
currently http://www.waterholes.com/~dennette/1996/hopper/bug.htm ... this is 
one of the pages on my site dedicated to "Rear Admiral Grace Hopper" 
http://www.waterholes.com/~dennette/1996/hopper/ ... this is located on my 
*PERSONAL* website "Dennete's HomeBoy Page" which has been 
http://www.waterholes.com/~dennette/ since 1995.

I give you permission to disseminate this URL to high school age students as 
part of their academic curriculum with the caveats that (a) it is not what 
Wikipedia would refer to as a "reliable source", and (b) there is a close 
proximity to "Dennette's Gallery of Nudes" 
http://www.waterholes.com/~dennette/photography/nudes/xyzzy.htm

I only ask in return that you provide me with a copy of the printed textbook 
for my collection (so I can have the ISBN) ... I have a magazine from Japan 
that did an article on my 366th site back in the 90s ... I don't read Japanese, 
but it was several pages long, and had a couple of screen shots ... you may 
use the surface mail address on my resume.

Have a better one!  -=Dennette=-

* Mr. Dennette A. Harrod, Jr.     
* WiZ-WORX - "The Source for IGES Tools"(tm) - (202) 541-9434
* www.WiZ-WORX.com - www.IGES5x.org
* "Treat people in your debt like family ... exploit them."
*         -- 121st Rule of Acquisition

Dennette's HomeBoy Page Virtual Water Holes HomePage Last update: 2008-01-05 by <Dennette@WiZ-WORX.com>