LaFarr Stuart

LaFarr Stuart (born July 6, 1934 in Clarkston, Utah), now retired, was an early computer music pioneer, computer engineer and member of the Homebrew Computer Club.

LaFarr Stuart
Born (1934-07-06) July 6, 1934
Clarkston, Utah, United States
OccupationComputer engineering (retired)
Websitewww.zyvra.org/lafarr

Career

Computer music

In 1961, Stuart programmed Iowa State University's Cyclone computer, a derivative of the ILLIAC, to play simple, recognizable tunes through an amplified speaker that had been attached to the system originally for administrative and diagnostic purposes. A recording of an interview with Stuart and his computer music was broadcast nationally on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) radio network program Monitor on February 10, 1962.

In a subsequent interview with the Harold Journal, Navel Hunsaker, head of the Utah State University mathematics department, said of Stuart, "He always was a whiz with calculators."

From the late 1970s, Stuart mentored John Carlsen, who later contributed to the rapid growth of personal computer (PC) sound-card maker Media Vision and to SigmaTel.

Control Data

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Stuart worked for Control Data Corporation (CDC), where Seymour Cray designed the CDC 6600, the first commercial supercomputer.

Forth

During the 1970s, Stuart created a version of the programming language Forth, which became known as LaFORTH.[1] It is notable for its implementation without an input buffer.[2]

Zytrex

In the 1980s, Stuart worked for Zytrex, which manufactured complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) Programmable Array Logic (PAL) programmable logic devices (PLDs).

Real-time clocks

Stuart conceived installing battery-operated real-time clocks into computers, for which he received royalty payments until nearly 2000. Stuart jokingly admits contributing to the Year 2000 problem.

Preserving computer history

Stuart owns the first Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) PDP-11 to enter California and often visits the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.

See also

References
  1. Stuart, LaFarr. "My Forth and Mathematical Stuff". Zyvra.org. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  2. Brodie, Leo (27 December 2004). Thinking Forth. Punchy Publishing. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
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