BASIC Turns 50

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BASIC, the simple computer language, first used by millions including Bill Gates, on their personal computers has just turned fifty. Click looks back to its origins with one of its founders, professor Thomas Kurtz, and examines its legacy with Google's Michael Jones. Tech to Catch a Thief Praedial Larceny is an old legal term for theft of agricultural produce. In Jamaica it's a huge issue. Millions of dollars' worth of food is taken every year, stolen on an industrial scale, in some cases adding to the countries rising food importation bill. But now the country is using low cost, tech solutions to deal with the problem. The BBC's Caribbean reporter, Nick Davis reports from Kingston. Oxford Internet Institute The Oxford Internet Institute (OII) has champion the positive values of the internet over many years. But what are its own values and why is there a need for such an institution? Click talks to the acting Director of OII about how the organisation has fared under her stewardship, her plans for its future and about her personal research into child protection on the internet. The Devil's Toy Redux In 1966 in Montreal, Claude Jutra, a young National Film Board of Canada (NFB) director, made one of the world’s first skateboarding films, The Devil's Toy. He did so by simply mounting a camera on his shoulder and with a bunch of skateboarding enthusiasts. The Devil's Toy was a pioneer of the cinéma vérité/Direct Cinema 1960s movement. Its importance is recognised in a new project, The Devil's Toy Redux, with a number of short immersive and interactive films inspired by Claude Jutra's original. Click hears from the producer Hugues Sweeney about the project. (Photo caption: The General Electric 225 computer filled the basement of College Hall. This photo was taken shortly after the first simultaneous execution of two BASIC programs in 1964 © Adrian N. Bouchard/courtesy of Rauner Special Collections Library – used with the kind permission of Dartmouth College)