Notes

Tech Tent: Future Farmers, Minecraft And Doom

Tech Tent Future farmers, Minecraft and Doom Rory Cellan-Jones Technology correspondent @BBCRoryCJon Twitter



22 January 2016



Every Friday, Tech Tent on BBC World Service provides the latest tech news. Here's what this week will look like.



Big Data on the Farm



It is the most storied industry in the world, but it is also one you might not consider to be a forward-looking industry. However, farming is experiencing a revolution in data driven technology. Farmers are confronted by an ever-growing amount of data. From drones that offer aerial views of crops, to combine harvesters that measure the output of every square metre, to sensors that give minute-by-minute updates on the health of animals, there's a lot of information. A chicken farmer will discuss his experiences with this innovative method of working. Rob Carter, co-founder of Field Margin, will be our special guest. Field Margin is a smartphone app that assists farmers manage their data. Our colleagues from BBC Radio 4's Farming Today have been covering technology in farming all week. They will present an exclusive report on Saturday's On Your Farm.



Minecraft in the classroom



Since Microsoft bought Minecraft we've heard little about its plans for the hugely loved world-building game. https://djw360.com/ Microsoft has announced a major push into education by launching an educational version of Minecraft. Jane Wakefield, Jane's correspondent went to BETT, the UK’s largest educational technology trade show to discuss with Microsoft about the plan that allows children to learn Minecraft at school and later play it at home. To access the education edition, schools will require an Office 365 account. We'll be asking if this is a part of Microsoft's strategy to compete with Google as the leading software provider in the classroom.



Lessons learned from the experience of Kickstarter



When the Zano mini-drone fell to earth in November of last year, Kickstarter came in for a lot of criticism from those who lost. The crowdfunding platform hired an investigative reporter to examine what went wrong. This week Mark Harris published his 13,000 word report, which is an incredibly detailed description of the wrong way to manage a business in the field of technology and a cautionary tale for anyone who isn't aware that backing a crowdfunded project is not like ordering something from Amazon. We chat with Mark Harris on the show about the place he believes crowdfunding can be an option to get tech ideas off the ground.



Doom increases in level



Twenty three years after the cult game Doom was released, it still has an active community of players, and they're celebrating this week. The first new level in the mid-1990s has been released by one of the original developers John Romero. He spoke to Zoe Kleinman, our reporter. He admitted that he was a bit nervous about the reaction of the community but most fans have been very positive.



Tune in to the BBC World Service at 15:00 GMT for all of that and more, or catch the show later.


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