This is why I’ve long argued that BASIC is the most consequential language in the history of computing. It’s a language for noobs, sure, but back then most everyone was a noob.

Because BASIC is the first language that many computer scientists learn, it has been, for generations, a mother tongue of technologists.

Long before the days of laptops and smartphones, Thomas E. Kurtz worked to give more students access to computers. That work helped propel generations into a new world. Kurtz has died at 96.

Learn computer basics such as using a mouse, identifying computer parts and how the Windows Vista operating system works. Practice time is included in the session.

This three-hour classes teaches basic operations of a computer, how to use the Internet and email. Classes are held in the Wirt Public Library computer lab. Cost is $5 due at registration.

Thomas E. Kurtz, co-pioneer of the BASIC programming language, dies at 96. In the 1960s, he and John Kemeny developed BASIC and the Dartmouth Time-Sharing System, transforming computer access and ...