Micro Live

The only live computer programme on television returns for a new, weekly series. Lesley Judd previews the entries in next week's Computer Animation Film Festival competition, with exclusive clips of the latest and best in computer graphics. Ian McNaught-Davis and American reporter Freff examine the ups and downs of the computer industry since the last series. Plus news of an investigation into the shady world of the cowboy computer maintenance companies, and Fred Harris explains how speech synthesiser add-ons to home micros can be used. Director PATRICK TITLEY Series editor DAVID ALLEN

Every day millions of industrial, commercial and military secrets travel around the world by cable and satellite ... a spy's dream. How secure are modem computer systems? Is computer-bugging a hacker's prank or professional international espionage? Fred Harris joins the army on manoeuvres and discovers whether data is secure on the battlefield. Ian McNaught-Davis explains how data encryption works. and there's news of THE LISTENER Crack the Code competition and its prizes. Lesley Judd casts an eye over the winners of the Computer Animation Film Festival with John Vince, one of the judges. Director TERRY MARSH Series editor DAVID ALLEN

If I Had a Hammer ... A film about computers in the music industry . Narrated by Lesley Judd. Few rock and pop records are made today without the help of sophisticated computer-based synthesisers. They can reproduce the sound of virtually any instrument and replay strings of notes more accurately than session musicians. This film traces their development from the 19th-century Telharmonium to the Fairlight Computer Musical Instrument. 'It doesn't make you a better carpenter because you can bash in nails with your fist,' says music producer MARTIN RUSHENT. 'The smart guy uses a hammer.'

A look at new developments in information technology. The doomed Three Mile Island reactor in Pennsylvania is the focus for work on artificial intelligence by the robotics department of nearby Carnegie Mellon University. American reporter Freff looks at some of the problems involved in designing robot vehicles which can move around on their own, recognise objects and do useful work. The aim: to clean up the radioactive interior. Fred Harris makes the most of music on the micro while Lesley Judd finds out why holding personal data on your computer will probably mean sending E22 to an address in Cheshire.

Every primary and secondary school in Britain has a computer. No other country in the world can make that boast. In March the Government is axing the Microelectronics Education Programme (MEP), its replacement, Microcomputer Support Unit, will have half the budget. This week's programme comes direct from a secondary school in Berkshire and examines the role of computers in schools. Lesley Judd asks why the Government is cutting back school software. Ian McNaught-Davis discovers how chalk and talk is giving way to bits and bytes. Fred Harris goes for a ride on a computer bus.

Lesley Judd , Fred Harris and Freff report on the world of information technology. This week: a look behind the scenes at one of the world's most successful games software companies. Fred Harris takes a further look at how to make music on your home micro, and Freff reports on an American company that has spent $15 million setting up a kind of technological Aladdin's cave to project its image to both employees and customers.

Big Blue and the 40 Dwarves IBM, known as Big Blue, is the largest computer company in the world - ten times the size of its nearest rival. Its first personal computer was so successful that it set a technical standard. Forty other manufacturers now use IBM standards in designing their machines. Ian McNaught-Davis finds out if, now they are embracing Big Blue's standards, the 40 dwarves can get out of its clutches.

A look at new developments in information technology by the only live computer programme on television. Boston, Massachusetts has the only museum in the world in which all the exhibits are less than 40 years old. American reporter Freff, who is also less than 40 years old, visits the Computer Museum, and discovers a very important teapot.... Also from Boston, there's a behind-the-scenes look at the computer games company Infocom, the people who invented Interactive Fiction. And, in the studio, Fred Harris reviewsCommodore's new micro, the AMIGA, and Lesley Judd talks to John Coll about stops, starts and parity bits.

A look at new developments in information technology. American reporter Freff risks using a computer database before buying a painting in a New York antique shop. Fred Harris explains how the home micro can be used to communicate with other computers down the telephone line. Ian McNaught-Davis takes a trip down memory lane to explain the way that computer storage devices have developed over the years. And, looking forward, Freff visits an American research team who are developing 'super memories' that use lasers to read and write data onto protein molecules.

The last of the present series of reports on the new developments in information technology. Ian McNaught-Davis Lesley Judd and Fred Harris with the Christmas micro show. Freff visits the New York Institute of Technology Computer Animation department and checks out the break-dancing fractal trees; a chorus-line of robots exhibit their domestic prowess; and Ann Leslie of the Daily Mail looks at some word processing packages. John Coll takes a look at Christmas presents for computer addicts, and Dick Gilbert announces the results of THE LISTENER Crack the Code competition.

The first Micro Live of 1986 comes from the computer industry's most important exhibition - this week's Which Computer? show, at the National Exhibition Centre, near Birmingham. Ian McNaught-Davis and Fred Harris look at some of the new products and software on display, and Lesley Judd presents the Micro Live RITA awards for achievement in Information Technology. Some of the industry's personalities, including Sir Clive Sinclair , face up to the Micro Live version of Any Questions?

This week Micro Live visits a garden centre which uses a database to help its customers find the plants they need and Fred Harris explains how to use a database on a home micro. From America, Freff reports on the fascinating world of fractals and Ian McNaught -Davis takes a look at a promising new British development in flat-screen technology.

A weekly look at the world of computers and information technology with Ian McNaught-Davis and Fred Harris. From America, Freff reports from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where Carnegie Mellon University is engaged in a massive computer project. The buildings in the university are being linked by fibre optic cable. Individual students will be required to have a computer and even to have access to the computer network from their rooms.

A live look at new developments in information technology. Is Prestel a world-beating information service or just a hacker's delight? Fred Harris investigates British Telecom's dial-up service, and compares it with the French system, Minitel. Lesley Judd trys out a micro-based system for training RAF air-traffic controllers, and visits a disused bra factory in the Cardiff docklands.

Long Distance Information Electronic information is changing the way we do business - forcing even the most ancient British institutions to update themselves. Andrew Neil , Editor of the Sunday Times, gives a special report on the way that the Stock Exchange, Fleet Street and the legal profession are falling dangerously behind as they struggle to keep pace with the booming electronic Information market. Eddy Shah talks about new opportunies to start your own newspaper; a leading barrister admits that now the law is electronic he makes fewer mistakes; while a computer programmer from the Stock Exchange is afraid that his work will destroy the Exchange's famous trading floor.

In this week's programme on Artificial Intelligence, Ian McNaught-Davis asks if the computer will ever be able to make judgments, learn from its mistakes, or write creatively. Freff visits a computer in New York's Greenwich Village that has just published its first book of poetry, and Lesley Judd tries the Turing test - to find out if she's working with men or machines!

Imagine a machine that can read out loud from any book or magazine; or a synthesiser that can reproduce the sound of an entire orchestra. Both were invented by Ray Kurzweil ... Freff reports from Boston. Lesley Judd tries out some software that lets you be your own Robert Maxwell. ... And Ian McNaught-Davis finds out why a £25,000 car needs ten computers to keep it going.

Computers have undoubtedly changed the way many people work since they were first introduced into business in the 1950s. Technology is poised to be much more widely used and to change some jobs hitherto seen as 'safe' - including those in the professions. Speculating with Ian McNaught-Davis and Fred Harris about the future effects of computers on work, are The Rt Hon Shirley Williams, who is also a director of the Turing Institute for artificial intelligence, and Bob Latin of Standard Telephones and Cables.

Training an RAF air traffic controller costs around £86,000. Lesley Judd tries out the multi-million-pound simulator at RAF Shawbury, and reports on a new micro-based training aid that will soon be installed in control towers around the country. How many languages do you speak? Most home micros come with only one - BASIC. It's fashionable to knock BASIC, so Fred Harris considers learning some other languages, like PASCAL, LOGO and C. And a music teacher in Reading explains how a computer has revolutionised her lessons.

In the last programme of the series, Fred Harris talks to John Coll about the meaning of 'benchmarks', and contrasts the performance of the Commodore Amiga with the Atari 520ST. American reporter Freff explains why the computers of the future will have to be capable of doing many things at once. Ian McNaught-Davis looks at the British 'Transputer'. And Lesley Judd tries to fool a system that remembers and recognises faces.