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On This Date in 1964, the First BASIC Program
palegray.net notes that on this day in 1964, the first BASIC program was run. From the Wired article:"Mathematicians John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz had been trying to make computing more accessible to their undergraduate students. One problem was that available computing languages like Fortran and Algol were so complex that you really had to be a professional to use them. BASIC is still alive and well these days, from Microsoft's VB.net to cross-platform variants like REALbasic. For the old-school among us, there's always Joshua Bell's Apple II BASIC emulator implemented in Javascript."
The program was:
10 PRINT "HELLO WORLD"
20 GOTO 10
And it is still running to this day.
Mods that don't understand titles written in BASIC; pesky youngsters...
I have a Wilkinson saftey razor from 1936. I still accepts today's blades, and comes in a marvelous little leather case, with a heavy brass zipper. It bows the blade when closed, and this creates a shaving angle on the razor edge, similar to modern cartridge razors. I used this, when I have the luxury of time. Most otherwise, I am now a "shower shaver", and the usual Gilette, disposable, pivot-head twin-blade does the trick.
Breakfast was a bit of a disaster, this morning, I'm afraid to say. There is an unpleasantness with post-viral symptoms that I won't trouble you with. I did manage a bit of soft potato and some reduced chicken stock.
Astrology is a lovely parlour game. I am a Scorpio, with Sagittarius rising, Venus in Libra and Mars in Leo. This is supposed to account for some outlandishness and idealism. Go figure.
Now, scoot back on your seat, me boy! Your mother doesn't like to think she's wasted all these ears, and you can't yet sit decently at the table!
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."