[ale] Co-founder of BASIC dies, CHips

[Bob Toxen]

This is From:
  ACM TechNews; Monday, November 18, 2024
  (c) 2024 Smithbucklin
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Thomas Kurtz, Co-Creator of BASIC, Dies at 96
Bloomberg (11/14/24) Laurence Arnold

ACM Fellow Thomas E. Kurtz, a Dartmouth College professor who
co-created the BASIC programming code, has died at 96. BASIC (Beginner's
All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) was invented by John Kemeny,
chair of Dartmouth's math department, and Kurtz, one of his faculty
members, as part of their push to open up the world of computing to
a wide community.

"We looked at languages and we both decided that the languages Fortran,
Algol, that type of language, were just too complicated," Kurtz said in
an oral-history interview with Dartmouth.

https://maestro.acm.org/trk/click?ref=z16l2snue3_2-317b3_0x2431c5x020394

and

U.S. Finalizes $6.6-Billion CHIPS Act Grant to TSMC
Nikkei Asia (11/15/24) Yifan Yu

The U.S. finalized a CHIPS Act grant of $6.6 billion to Taiwan
Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), with at least $1 billion to
be disbursed by the end of the year. The funds will be distributed in
phases as the company hits certain project milestones. TSCMC will produce
3 nanometer (nm), 2 nm, and A16 chips at three Arizona fabs.

https://maestro.acm.org/trk/click?ref=z16l2snue3_2-317b3_0x2431c6x020394

I (Bob) am disappointed that these grants don't seem to be going to
U.S. companies.  On the other hand four (or so) Japanese and German
car makers have built plants around the Southeast U.S. over the past
20-30 years.  A friend of mine who worked at one spoke highly of it.