News from Third Party Developers

All the latest news about software and hardware products from third party developers

The news is organised in chronological order, with the most recent stories at the top. Choose the month you require, then click on a topic heading to jump to the associated announcement.

2003 Dec Nov Oct Sep Aug Jul 2003
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2002 Dec Nov Oct Sep Aug Jul 2002
Jun May Apr Mar Feb Jan
2001 Dec Nov Oct Sep Aug Jul 2001
Jun May Apr Mar Feb Jan
2000 Dec Nov Oct Sep Aug Jul 2000
Jun May Apr Mar Feb Jan

April 2000


New version 4.09 of ASM

30th April 2000

Nick Roberts

Version 4.09 of ASM, a freeware ARM assembler, is now available on my Web site: http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/tigger/

This version supports the LFM/SFM instructions (FP co-pro multiple register Load/Store) that had somehow been missed in previous versions.

It also fixes a bug that caused bad opcodes to be generated for LDF and STF instructions with post-indexed addressing.

Nick Roberts

WebsterXL News + 128 bit SSL information

24th April 2000

R-Comp

Although we've been sending out news updates to WebsterXL customers about the recent exciting steps forward that have been made with the browser, we've purposely kept quiet on c.s.a. announce until things were firmed up.

Many of you will have read our request for programmers to test our 128 bit SSL module. This is to be released in the next week or so as a free download for everyone on the R-Comp web site. The module provides low-level security functions in such a way that 3rd parties can easily write secure software on top. Naturally a new version of WebsterXL's http fetcher upgraded to support https will be sent to all our customers on release. However, the potential use is much more extensive - as anyone can build secure protocols on top of the module.

The logic behind the release of the module for free is to stop the long standing "you can't do secure stuff on RISC OS machines" argument. At the moment there is only the "not quite officially released" Acorn 40bit module, or ANT's commercial module tied to Fresco. By releasing our module for free download (albeit with a few terms and conditions) a much more flexible alternative is available.

It's worth noting from a browser perspective that whatever some may tell you, the real advantage of SSL is in e-commerce and online ordering. The other common use - online banking - tends to be "hard wired" to specific versions of Internet Explorer or Netscape with special Windows software. Some banks (e.g. Barclays) have realised that this isn't the best solution, but for the time being many banks will remain closed to RISC OS users, whatever browser they may use. This is a purposely simplified explanation, and I'd be happy to answer people's questions about it.

Moving back to WebsterXL, we've been doing much work on WebMail systems, which are particularly popular amongst educational customers. Support for file attachments and uploads is now present, alongside many enhancements to JavaScript to support sites such as BT's "Talk21" and others.

We are currently going through a "matching" phase, checking Webster's font/gadget size rendering against Internet Explorer and Netscape to ensure more accurate page rendering.

As a result we intend to have a new version of the browser sent out to registered users before the Wakefield show, and progress across the board continues apace.

Oh, and whilst I think about it, as usual all updates for registered WebsterXL users will be free.

Best regards,

Andrew Rawnsley

Messenger Pro "Trial" version now available

24th April 2000

R-Comp

On several occasions we have been asked for a "demo" version of Messenger Pro, for people to try before they buy. As a company, we usually don't produce trial versions, but in this case we've decided to make an exception.

A trial version of Messenger Pro can now be downloaded from the following URL:

http://www.neutri.nu/messenger/trial.html

The demo is time limited (naturally!) and also indicates its demo status in the message header, but will allow you to try out all the standard features. Please note that the IMAP networking support found in Messenger Pro Online is not present.

IMPORTANT: As something of an innovation in trial software, we've decided to offer proper tech support for the Messenger Pro through all the usual channels. Whilst Messenger Pro is easy to use, the logic behind this offer of support is that however easy a package is to use, the process of moving across can seem a bit daunting. By offering support, we hope that we can make the transition as smooth as possible.

More information about Messenger Pro can be found at the R-Comp web site http://www.rcomp.co.uk/

R-Comp

MagPi-Mo' v1.11

23rd April 2000

David

A small enhancement to the magnifier part of my magnifier cum Pointer Info cum Mouse Setter, MagPi-Mo', is the option to invert the image so you can view negatives quite easily.

Find it (version 1.11) on

http://www.dacha.freeuk.com/free/

David

RISC OS Samba Server 0.07 now available

23rd April 2000

David R. H. Buxton

!smbserver version 0.07 is now available from http://www.merddin.demon.co.uk/riscos.html. !smbserver is a port of Samba which allows Windows and Unix machines to share RISC OS discs using the Microsoft File Sharing Protocol (now known as CIFS).

This version of !smbserver has been tested running on RISC OS 4.02, RISC OS 3.70 and RISC OS 3.10 with the following clients: Windows 98, Linux (using smbclient, smbmount and smbumount), !Omniclient and !LanMan98 (running on a different Risc PC to the server).

What's new in this release:

David R. H. Buxton

!Jcut v2.00

23rd April 2000

David

!Jcut version 2.00 is now on my Free Stuff web page,

http://www.dacha.freeuk.com/free/

!Jcut provides Cut & Paste for JPEGs without the image degradation that results if you decompress the original and then re-compress the processed bit-image file.

Major features in version 2.00 (Sun 23rd April 2000)

Limitations: Because !Jcut uses the JPEG SWIs, it will only work on RISC OS 3.6 or later. The dimensions of areas cut and pasted are limited to multiples of the blocks used in the JPEG. These are usually 16 by 16 pixels.

David

Launch of the new ICENI (formerly SARC) Web site

21st April 2000

Royal "Roy" Moore

Hello All

I am pleased to tell you that the new ICENI Computer Club (Incorporating Suffolk Acorn Risc Club) has ... with the exception of one or to pages ... now been completed and uploaded, and can be accessed at

http://www.archipel.demon.co.uk/ICENI/

The new site has a corporate format and includes various services such as ...

The page links with other clubs is not yet completed. If your club has a Web site and would link to be linked to ours please contact the Webmaster with full details as soon as possible. Banners and logos (of a reasonable size) can also be submitted.

As a further service, we have also set up a web-ring for UK computer club sites. If your club would like to join in, please let us know.

Regards

Royal "Roy" Moore
Vice-Chairman & Webmaster

aICQ 0.21.1 uploaded

21st April 2000

Angelo Melis

I want to announce the upload of AcornICQ version 0.21.1. It can be downloaded from http://www.vigay.com/riscos/icq.

**********************

What is ICQ?

ICQ is a Internet tool that informs you who's on-line at any time and enables you to contact them at will.

AcornICQ is an ICQ client for RISC OS computers. It is a charityware program, which gives RISC OS users access to the world of ICQ.

**********************

If you are already using version 0.17, download the upgrade file, otherwise download the 0.21 full release. I have also removed the extra sprites & sounds files and made these into archives, which can be downloaded also ... If people have drawn other sprites or made other sounds ... please email them to me, so that I can upload them.

The main changes in 0.21.1 are:

Stuff which is very high on the todo list

Another note ... I am working on a new homepage, which is now partly uploaded. Sadly most pages are still empty, but hopefully these will be filled soon. One which will be filled soon is the manual pages. I need to update the manual which was made by Andrew C. Poole for version 0.21 and then I will upload it ...

Angelo Melis

HardBack backup system released as open source

20th April 2000

Theo Markettos

A somewhat belated announcement, but my HardBack backup system which was formerly shareware has now been released under open source licensing terms with the Artistic licence.

Main features are:

It's available for download from
http://www-stu.cai.cam.ac.uk/~atm26/hardback/
where Impression versions of a printed manual can also be found.

I'd like to thank registered users for their support over the years, and will continue to provide technical support for them. The new versions are the most up to date, so registered users can now download updates directly.

Theo Markettos

!FullNames 1.10

20th April 2000

Andrew Booker

The latest version of !FullNames can now be downloaded from
http://www-users.york.ac.uk/~ajb121/fnames.htm

It now provides the following features:

This version also includes a bug-fix that stops !FullNames interfering with attempts to double-click filer icons if you have configured a very small time delay before the full filename is displayed.

Andrew Booker

New Fonts, Reminder and Miscellanea

17th April 2000

Toby Bryans

Hello everyone,

My Web site has recently moved, and is now at:

http://www.bryans.org/toby/

Among the additions are RISC OS conversions of Ben Weiner's typefaces, and these can be found at:

http://www.bryans.org/toby/fonts/

with full information.

For Postscript and Truetype versions of the typefaces, have a look at:

http://www.rdg.ac.uk/~ltu96abw/

As a small reminder, !Floating, my desktop clock can be found at:

http://www.bryans.org/toby/softw/

Toby Bryans

Linux Serial Networking

16th April 2000

Matthew C. Lee

I've just uploaded a page detailing how to network a Acorn and Linux computer over a serial cable, to my Web site. It has instructions for configuring both RISC OS and Linux, and has some suggestions of what to use the link for: eg. Telnet, FTP.

URL: http://www.clementlee.freeserve.co.uk

Matthew C. Lee<

LongFS for the BBC micro

15th April 2000

Sprow

LongFS,a ROM image for the BBC micro,expands on the feeble 7 letter filenaming limit of DFS - which is what most machines are fitted with. The filing system is on top of the DFS,so uses the same disk format!

More info
It works in much the same way as RISC OS long file names patches, by renaming the original file with lots of tildes (~) in it then keeping an index of how those names correspond to the old ones.

It's free
You can download it now from http://www.sprow.co.uk/bbc. Go to the 'free software' section,and choose the BBC micro software.There's a more comprehensive help file to read,and the ROM itself is in a ZIP file.

There's also a BBC BASIC program to unZip ZIP files there too.

Available on ROM
If you can't live with having to load the image into sideways RAM each time you could make use of my EPROM programming service and have it put in ROM for just £4. See http://www.sprow.co.uk/bbc/forsale.htm.

So finally you can copy from ADFS and tapes to DFS...

Sprow

Rio tool and other software

14th April 2000

David O'Shea

Just to let you know that port of Snowblind's rio tool for transferring mp3s (and data) to and from your Rio is now available on my Web site.

http://homepage.eircom.net/~djkoshea

Also updated is my PPPServ utility which now supports connections from Linux (eg, via wvdial) as well as Windows dial up networking.

In case people are wondering, yes I am still working on Amp - look forward to a new version with some nice new features coming soon.

David O'Shea

Aleph One ARMLinux mailing list

13th April 2000

Paul C.Robinson

Aleph One armlinux announce is now live. Anyone who gave us their email address for inclusion in the list are now entered.

Any interested persons who wish to be informed about Aleph One's ARMLinux distribution you can now subscribe to the list by sending an email

To majordome@aleph1.co.uk
Subject (Anything you like this is ignored)

with

subscribe armlinux-announce <optional email address>

In the body of the text message.

PC Robinson

New releases from MW Software

13th April 2000

Martin Wuerthner

There are the following new releases on the MW Software WWW server:

The MW Software WWW server is kindly hosted by ExpLAN Computers Ltd. and can be found at
http://www.explan.demon.co.uk/mw-software/

Your comments, bug reports, etc. on the above applications are welcome.

Martin Wuerthner

OSLib Version 6.00 Released

12th April 2000

Tony van der Hoff

OSLib, the open-source API library for RISC OS computers has been upgraded to version 6.00.

This release includes:

To download the new library, or its source code, follow the links from:
http://www.mk-net.demon.co.uk/oslib.

Tony van der Hoff

Serial Cable Networking: Update

12th April 2000

Matthew C. Lee

I've just uploaded a new page to my serial cable networking Web site, which gives a brief description of how to use your RISC OS machine as a network time server. It includes links to the necessary RISC OS and Windows software.

I've also uploaded Acorn's Internet version 4 TCP/IP stack and System modules, which are available for download from the Requirements page.

Comments and suggestions on this, and the rest of the Web site are welcome.

URL: http://www.clementlee.freeserve.co.uk

Matthew C. Lee<

RISC OS 4 Formatting With Power-tec Products

12th April 2000

Partis Computing

Partis Computing released the new RISC OS 4 formatter on the 31st of March 2000. Unfortunately a couple of problems arose.

Firstly, whilst away on business last week, our main Server died and all email, mailing list and code update systems stopped. This was corrected and restarted yesterday.

Secondly, first thing this morning it became apparent that a #DEFINE in the PowerMgr code was incorrectly set and thus all customers who received their updated code were unable to use the new formatter.

This has now been rectified.

If any customer who had requested a code update, please do so again so that our systems may mail the correct files to you.

Please note that our new formatter will work with:

Power-tec SCSI
Power-tec IDEFS
PowerIDE
PowerZip
PowerJaz
PowerParallel
All PowerROMs
All PowerFLASHs

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Gary Partis, Partis Computing

New R7500 and NetWORX models from RiscStation

11th April 2000

Roy Heslop

RiscStation Ltd
http://www.riscstation.co.uk/, info@riscstation.com
01942 797777 Fax 01942 797711

Now shipping from stock The RiscStation R7500 Lite Plus

The increasingly popular R7500 Lite package with an increased hard drive capacity of 8.4Gb and shipped with a giant 64Mb of RAM!

Cost of this machine is just £579 + VAT.

Also now shipping from stock The RiscStation NetWORX HD

Well received in schools and businesses across the country, the NetWORX computer is available as a stand alone bootable workstation in this new 'HD' edition, arriving with a minimum of 2Gb storage space.

The existing NetWORX and R7500 Lite models have now been shipping from stock for two weeks.

More information as it happens on www.riscstation.co.uk

Many thanks

Roy Heslop

SMSTrans 1.17 released

11th April 2000

Alex Macfarlane Smith

A new version of SMSTrans is now available from my Web site, http://www.toth.org.uk/~aardvark/. It sends SMS messages to digital mobile phones.

This includes a new provider called Vodapage which was provided by Peter Brown, and also now includes cloning and editing providers built in to the frontend. This allows you to for example clone Cellnet as CellnetCC, and then you can alter the dialled number to include a charge card number or similar without having to manually copy the required files.

Alex Macfarlane Smith

Canon BJC-3000 under !Printers 1.64

11th April 2000

ExpLAN Computers Ltd

Canon BJC-3000:

ExpLAN announce a new printer with driver for RISC OS running the new !Printers 1.64 or later.

BJC-3000: A4, 180-720dpi, colour. Up to 100gm paper with top-fed sheet feeder of up to 100 sheets.

The BJC-3000 uses a similar ink system to the existing 6000-series, with four separate ink tanks installed within a single cartridge. This may optionally be replaced by a monochrome-only cartridge, giving a 50% speed increase.

Typical output from Impression from an ARM710 or ARM7500 is 25 secs for page of black text at 180dpi using the standard 4-colour cartridge. A black ink tank will last typically 500 sheets at 5% coverage, and a colour tank about 280 pages at 7.5% coverage.

ExpLAN's RISC OS driver is delivered via their PrintControl utility, which offers facilities for aligning the heads, flushing blocked ink-nozzles and creating test prints. The printer can be commanded to "sleep" after 10 minutes of being idle, with automatic "wake on data".

Price: BJC-3000 incl driver ukp119 +VAT (=139.82) +carriage

Driver only; PrintControl (single user) ukp20 +VAT
BJC-3000 Descriptor file ukp10 +VAT

NB The BJC-3000 will not work on earlier versions of !Printers. The upgrade to !Printers 1.64 is available from the RISCOS Ltd Web site, and is usable on all computers running both RO4 and RO3.x

For further information, contact

ExpLAN Computers Ltd
PO Box 32,
Tavistock,
Devon
PL19 8YU

01822 613868 fax 610868
info@explan.demon.co.uk

ExpLAN Computers Ltd

DigitalCD 2.47

11th April 2000

Andre Timmermans

The new version of DigitalCD is available at

http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Horizon/4471/

New in this version is:

For those who still don't know:

DigitalCD is a desktop music player compatible with RISC OS 3.1 or later (including StrongARM). It provides independent control panels for any connected CD drive and music files playlists. Its main features are:

Andre Timmermans

!X-Word 'The Crossword Game' v0.05

9th April 2000

Alan Trewartha

!X-Word a 'Crossword-style' game in the spirit of the expensively copyrighted game 'Scrabble' (owned by Spear's Games/Mattel) but different in many important ways (tile frequency and scores, board arrangement and size, scoring details, etc.).

This is available free from my web-site: http://www.alant.demon.co.uk/

The game is highly customisable (e.g. you can change the tile scores, board size, other details) and is for 2 to 4 players. Any number of players can be played by the computer. Each computer player can be set to one of 10 skill levels.

Significant changes in this release:

Included in the zip is a small folder of "Xtras". This includes utilities and accompanying notes to create your own lexicon files. This was contributed by Hans van Gink, who has done a marvellous job getting done in assembler what I was trundling through with a slow BASIC listing. The 'Adult' lexicon now takes around 15 minutes to compile rather than 8 hours -- which is why I've included it in the distributable zip.

I've also drafted a quick guide to the 2-letter words used in games like this -- it's amazing the number of arguments they cause :-)

Thank you for your kind attention.

Alan Trewartha

The Chaos Engine: new game now available

9th April 2000

R-Comp Interactive (RCI)

R-Comp Interactive are please to announce that the RISC OS version of The Bitmap Brothers' excellent arcade/adventure/rpg The Chaos Engine is now available. The game is supplied on two high density discs, with a colour manual, reference sheet and usual colour box.

The game is for one or two players (in single player, a second player is controlled by the computer, which gains more and more AI as you progress). It's a "top down" affair, with lots of action and puzzles, coupled with RPG-style character and weapon upgrading between levels.

The game will work on pretty much any RISC OS machine, with an ARM 3 or higher, and works great on A7000/RiscStation/Mico machines right through to SA computers. As you probably gather, this is no "ultra-complex Quake-killer", so don't expect it to be a "show off" game, but for pure unadulterated fun, it's first rate!

The game is priced at 20ukp inc VAT and UK carriage (a cheaper-than-usual price to reflect that it's a disc game, not a CD game).

It will even run on machines without hard drives, although without sound and music. When installed onto hard disc, the game gains its full sound effects, music and other bits and bobs.

The game is great fun for everyone, and unlike the graphic violence of Doom/Quake, it is suitable for all age groups.

Each player selects one of six different characters, each with their own strengths, weaknesses and special powers. As you progress through the game, you will gain money to spend increasing your character's abilities, lives, weapons, and special abilities. This makes The Chaos Engine much more than the run-of-the-mill game, and makes the game highly involving. With a variety of characters, and different paths available, the game can be played over and over, with different features opening up as you play!

For more information, contact us at the details below, or visit our web page, and order online.

Best regards,

Andrew Rawnsley

NetLM and ShareLM updates and URL change

8th April 2000

Dave Ramsden

NetLM and ShareLM are now located at
http://www.teletec.f9.co.uk/networking/riscos/

NetLM and ShareLM have both been updated from previous version. The NetLM update fixes some bugs and has some more features in it. Such as the logon at startup feature which makes like the RM Connect software on Windows machines.

The ShareLM update fixes some bugs and now, like NetLM has its own configuration utility at last.

NetLM is a program that uses either the LanManFS or LanMan98 modules and is a front-end for these. NetLM then logs a user onto their 'personal work area'.

ShareLM is also a front end for either the LanManFS or LanMan98 modules but only logs onto one share with one username and password that is pre-defined in the configuration.

Download them and have a go for yourself.

Dave Ramsden

!Jcut

8th April 2000

David

!Jcut is now on my Free Stuff web page,

http://www.dacha.freeuk.com/free/

!Jcut will save out selected areas from a JPEG file without the image degradation that results if you decompress the original and then re-compress the trimmed file.

The dimensions of the selected area are limited to multiples of the blocks used in the JPEG. These are usually 16 by 16 pixels, although Sony Mavica JPEG blocks are 16 by 8 pixels.

Because !Jcut uses the JPEG SWIs, it will only work on RISC OS 3.6 or later.

As well as an extensive text Help file, !Jcut supports complete interactive help on all icons and options.

I can't guarantee that it will work on all JPEG formats but it has worked okay on all that I've tested it with.

David

LAME 3.70 patch for RISC OS uploaded

7th April 2000

Stefan Bellon

The latest stable release of LAME (3.70) is now available as patch for RISC OS as well.

You'll find it - and detailed instructions - on my home page at http://www.sbellon.de/ after following the LAME link.

For those of you that don't know what this is all about: LAME stands for "LAME Ain't an MP3 Encoder" as it isn't an MP3 encoder itself, but when patched against some other code and compiled, then it becomes a very capable and useful MP3 encoder.

These steps have to be taken, as there are licensing problems with come of the code patched against. That's why binary distribution is not permitted. Please _do_not_ download any LAME binaries from any web sites because this is not legal. At least this applies to most European countries.

Stefan Bellon

Slash2dot released!

7th April 2000

Patrick Mortara

I've just written a small program which changes the names of Email-attachments from (for example) 'name/zip' to 'name.zip'. It can be installed to !newsbase, and other programs probably, so that it works automatically.

You can download it from: www.patrick-mortara.de

Patrick Mortara

MDF collection

7th April 2000

Carlos Michael Santillan

MONITOR DEFINITION FILE COLLECTION

If you are searching a monitor definition file (MDF) for your monitor, take a look to the collection at my ArcSite homepage.

If you have create a monitor definition file, please send it to me.

English version: http://www.arcsite.de/hp/cms/emdf.html
German version: http://www.arcsite.de/hp/cms/mdf.html

Carlos Michael Santillan

RISCOS Ltd: Site update & patch release

7th April 2000

Justin Fletcher

The RISCOS Ltd site has been updated. The following items can be downloaded from there:

The updated site can be found at its new location:

<URL:http://developer.riscos.com/public/>

Justin Fletcher

New Cameras from Spacetech

6th April 2000

Chris Hornby

New Range of Olympus Cameras from Spacetech

C960 Zoom New 920 Zoom replacement
Entry level C830L replaced by C860-L
C2020 Zoom with Movie feature now 100.00 cheaper

Spacetech are pleased to announce 2 new digital cameras from Olympus, the C860-L, the C960 Zoom and a new price for the C2020 Zoom:

The C-960 ZOOM
This camera is offered by Spacetech at only 399.99 which is 50.00 cheaper than its predecessor, the C920L.

Providing great compact zoom performance, its two aspherical lenses ensure that super-sharp images are optimally captured by the high quality 1/2.7" CCD. The precise 3x optical zoom and additional 2x tele allow the photographer to get incredibly close. For accuracy, the C-960 ZOOM takes many readings through-the-lens (TTL) including light metering, focus and white balance (which is also manually adjustable). This attractive and lightweight camera offers a range of ISO equivalent light sensitivities and can also take up to 10 shots in sequence at two frames per second.

The C-860L
This camera is offered by Spacetech at only 299.99 which is 50.00 cheaper than its predecessor, the C830L.

Offering great affordability, the C-860L features a compact, lightweight design and easy handling that make it ideal for almost any occasion. Utilising a high resolution lens system together with the 1.31 million pixel CCD, sharp, true colour results are assured. As well as precise automatic operation, the C-860L also allows manual adjustment of light metering, white balance, and ISO sensitivity. A 2x digital tele and slow synchronisation flash mode are also included.

The C-2020 ZOOM
This camera is offered by Spacetech at only 549.99 which is 100.00 cheaper than its predecessor, the C2000 ZOOM

The possibilities of digital photography are positively broadened by the C-2020 ZOOM. A precision 1/2 inch 2.1 megapixel CCD ensures capture of the sharpest possible pictures with up to 3x optical zoom magnification. An extraordinary list of inclusions encompasses a wide range of control options such as focus, exposure management, ISO equivalent sensitivity and white balance all of which can be regulated either manually or automatically. Topping the model's inventory of innovations are the black and white / sepia modes, and the facility to shoot video sequences.

Chris Hornby

Suffolk Acorn Risc Club (SARC): Change of Name

6th April 2000

Royal "Roy" Moore

CHANGE OF NAME - CHANGE OF FORTUNE
At the AGM of the Suffolk Acorn Risc Club (SARC) based in Ipswich, Suffolk, which took place yesterday (Wednesday 5 April 2000) it was unanimously agreed that the name of the club should be changed as part of a revitalisation plan for the 2000's. As of today (Thursday 6 April 2000) the club will be known as the .......

ICENI COMPUTER CLUB
(incorporating the Suffolk Acorn Risc Club)

This change does not indicate of any abandonment of our RISC OS interests, which will continue to be the backbone of the club. It is intended to reflect the opening of our doors to multi-platform users (eg. PC's, Psion, Linux, etc.), and the catchment area from which the club draws its membership. (ie. the part of south East Anglia associated with the ancient Iceni Tribe).

All the Officers and Committee, with the exception of John Rye (Newsletter Editor) were re-elected to serve for another year, but some of the responsibilities have been re-allocated. In future the Chairman (Peter Dunn) will be editor of the Newsletter, and the Vice-Chairman (Royal "Roy" Moore) will be responsible for Public Relations. Other tasks will be allocated as, and whenever, a need arises.

During the transitional period, the club's Web site, and mailing lists, will be updated. In the meanwhile the club's email address will be .....

iceni@archipel.demon.co.uk

Please alter all the changes in your records. Thank-you.

Royal "Roy" Moore

Shanghai 1.03 now available

6th April 2000

Paul Vigay

And now... for a new version of an old favourite....

I've just released Shanghai for RISC OS. Available to download now from A< HREF="http://www.vigay.com/shareware.html" TARGET="_blank">http://www.vigay.com/shareware.html Shanghai is a desktop version of the classic Chinese game of patience. You must remove pairs of tiles in order to clear the whole board in the quickest possible time.

Three levels are available as well as a configurable background and saved high score table. I've even set up an online high score table to see if people can better each other.

Best of all, it's Freeware, so please enjoy.

The game is dedicated to everyone who subscribes to the argonet.zfc newsgroup. ;-)

Version 1.03 fixes a memory leakage problem causing it to crash after 20 consecutive 'restarts'. I've also added the facility to replay the board with the same arrangement of tiles. Simply hold the SHIFT key down when restarting the game and the same tile arrangement will be used.

Paul Vigay

RISC User in a Nutshell

5th April 2000

Sheridan Williams

With RISC User magazine now ended, everyone should be aware of our RISC User in a Nutshell compilation. Details are as below:

RISC User in a Nutshell
Commemorative CD

The End of an Era
With the final issue of the current volume, RISC User reaches the end of its life. To mark its passing, a limited-edition CD-ROM has been compiled.

RISC User in a Nutshell is crammed to the last few bytes with:

The RISC User in a Nutshell CD-ROM is a strictly limited edition, and will be available only until the end of May.

To be certain of obtaining a copy, you should order the CD now by cheque or credit card (VISA and Mastercard only). Quantities are very limited. Do not delay, or you will miss your chance forever!

Own a valuable piece of Acorn history: RISC User in a Nutshell costs just £35 (inclusive) in the UK, £37 elsewhere, and, like the magazine, it's out of this world!

BEEBUG Limited
7U St Albans Enterprise Centre
Long Spring
Porters Wood
St Albans
AL3 6EN

T: +44 (0)1727 840303
F: +44 (0)1727 840300
E: sales@beebug.co.uk

Sheridan Williams
BEEBUG Ltd

SiteWriter available now!

4th April 2000

Daniel Johnson

SiteWriter
Web authoring the way it should be.

SiteWriter is a complete web site authoring tool for RISC OS. Instead of assisting you to write HTML, SiteWriter allows you to 'draw' your pages in a similar way to DTP. SiteWriter takes the HTML out of web authoring... please visit our Web site for more information.

SiteWriter is available now. Download the new demo and see for yourself how easy web design can be. Our updated web site is a great example of what it can do:

http://www.dansoft.co.nz

Daniel M. Johnson

!Jsize v1.01

3rd April 2000

David

!Jsize is now on:

http://www.dacha.freeuk.com/free/

!Jsize is a useful little application which displays the pixel size, pixel density (i.e. probably scanned resolution) and size in inches and centimetres of any JPEG dropped on it.

The pixel density is used by viewers such as Draw or the Pinboard to determine the display size of the JPEG.

!Jsize lets you try out different pixel densities, recalculating the inches and centimetres as you do so. When you're satisfied with the new values, you can write them to the JPEG file.

Values can be pre-set and a group of selected files dropped on to the !Jsize window for a batch process.

David

Isis RFC3a

3rd April 2000

Isis RFC3a

A new release, RFC3a, of my freeware spreadsheet Isis is now available from:

http://www.geocities.com/nicm32

Isis is a completely free spreadsheet for RISC OS 3.1 and later.

There are not a lot of changes from RFC3 to 3a aside from the following:

And a few other small bug fixes... plus I changed the site and decided I might as well put the latest version on.

Isis RFC3a

Some old and new patches

2nd April 2000

Theo

I've just uploaded a new Web site with all the patches I've wrote the last few years. I've also added the latest version from !ARM_Debug. A disassembler, editor and singlestepper (and much more).

There are a few gamepatches which also need !StrngGrd from The ARM Club:

The next games are working fine with only the patches:

Then there are a few patches for some old applications:

And a patch for the latest basicmodule in RISC OS 4 to make the MENU button works again in !CineWorks.

All these games and applications are working fine on my StrongARM computer with RISC OS 3.7 (Yet) and can be found at:

http://www.dse.nl/~tvdb/

Theo

KiwiSoft Virus Slayer 0.64

2nd April 2000

Rob Kendrick

KiwiSoft's anti-virus tool, Slayer, has reached version 0.64, which includes numerous under-the-bonnet changes, mainly to do with !Boot file repairing and speed. I would also like to point out that I've stopped trying to optimise the detection engine further, as it can (and has been able to do for some time) scan files quicker than OS_GBPB can enumerate and supply them.

It is available from http://www.kiwisoft.co.uk/ in the Software section.

Also, I'm keen to hear peoples comments on Slayer, and suggestions for further development, as it's had nearly a 1000 downloads from the site, plus lots that I've posted to people, but I've had next to no feedback... email me at this address with your whinges! (and some praise, if you feel like it :)

Rob Kendrick

Guy Griffin's updated pages

2nd April 2000

Guy Griffin

I've moved all my pages to RedHotAnt, so anything formerly at http://home.freeuk.net/guy.griffin/

is now at:

http://www.geg.redhotant.com/

For those that aren't familiar with my software, here are the 'highlights':

Calc, a freeware CLI scientific calculator; it's a fully floating-point program that accepts equations in a handwritten format, unlike BASIC :-) Now at version 2.14

BSPICE: I'm now the maintainer of RISC OS SPICE, a very well-known circuit simulator for analogue circuits. Both old versions and my new build are available, but they're quite large!

Many, a CLI prog to do a specified number of star commands - handy for doing 10 compacts in a row, which is more effective than one.

And other stuff - have a look.

Guy Griffin

ASM 4.06

1st April 2000

Nick Roberts

Version 4.06 of ASM, a freeware ARM assembler, is now available for download.

Tbis version fixes a bug and includes a minor enhancement to allow constants to be redefined.

To download ASM, go to http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/tigger/ and follow the "Programs" and "Miscellaneous" links.

Nick Roberts


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