Building Bridges through Culture; Gadget Guru - Scammers and Novel Keyboards

Basel's English-speaking community Centrepoint is collaborating with GGG West Library for the Building Bridges through Culture event on Thursday 26th October. The library is hosting a programme of Ukrainian culture through music, folk tales, insightful commentary and traditional songs. The evening will feature the Lviv Virtuosos, a renowned string quartet from Lviv. In addition to performing classical and popular music, they will showcase the rich melodies of Ukrainian folk music. Following the performance, guests are invited to mingle and enjoy an apéro featuring Ukrainian finger foods. The event is open to everyone and entrance is free. Vivian Beetle from Centrepoint and Jeanne Darling from GGG joined us to talk about the event. Listen to the interview here.

Ian the Gadget Guru was also with us this evening. It's holiday time, and, unfortunately, the extra online shopping that is normally associated with this time of year also attracts plenty of scammers looking to take advantage of you. The Gadget Guru reminded us that the incidence of cybercrime is still small, but to use common sense when sharing your credit card or personal information online. We also heard about some wacky projects out of Google Japan, like the "hands-free" keyboard – just in time for your holiday wish list. Listen to the segment here.

Tonight, our musical theme was silly songs. You know the ones... you find yourself singing along, even though your smart brain (or your partner) gives you a "judgy" look. We played:

The Kinks - Apeman

Swollen Monkeys - On Vacation

Squirrel Nut Zippers - Hell

Madness - One Step Beyond

Camper Van Beethoven - Take The Skinheads Bowling

The Rutles - Ouch!

Liam Lynch - United States Of Whatever