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I've uploaded some new game patches to my homepage:
http://www.vd-boogaert.myweb.nl/
Together with these patches you can play the following games under SA/RO4:
Have fun :-)
!MakeTable is a small utility that will convert CSV/TSV files into HTML tables (and vice versa).
The latest release now includes automatic generation of rowspan and colspan parameters.
It can be downloaded from
http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/tigger/programs/progs.html
The latest version of BookMaker, 1.62, is now available from
http://www.bookmaker.riscos.org.uk/
BookMaker is a freeware hotlist and email address book manager compatible with most major RISC OS browsers and email clients.
I've just uploaded !riscSearch V0.7ß! It can be found at www.riscsearch.de.
Changes in V0.7ß:
For all of you, who don't know about !RiscSearch:
!RiscSearch is meant to be a meta-search engine, and AFAIK it is the only one available for RISC OS anywhere. It helps you to find web-pages about a certain topic by asking different search engines about the keywords you supply. It collects results from (at the moment) 9 different engines, filters out duplicate matches and then presents all links in a window of your web-browser.
!RiscSearch V0.65 is now available on !riscsearch's new Homepage at www.riscsearch.de. In V0.65ß I've tried to prevent !Riscsearch from freezing your machine so often. I've also fixed some of the decoders, especially the altavista one, which give results again ...
For all of you, who don't know about !Riscsearch:
!RiscSearch is meant to be a meta-search engine, and AFAIK it is the only one available for RISC OS anywhere. It helps you to find web-pages about a certain topic by asking different search engines about the keywords you supply. It collects results from (at the moment) 9 different engines, filters out duplicate matches and then presents all links in a window of your web-browser.
Sackcloth and ashes time!
Unfortunately the beta version of !NurseW was posted on my website. While this version works, it is not fully Dr Wimp 3.59 compatible.
The correct version is now on my website.
Apologies for any inconvenience caused.
It is a macro inserter for use with the Dr Wimp programming package. Saves time, effort and spelling mistakes.
As previously announced,the RISC OS version of WebChange, a website manipulation tool, will increase in price from 1st July 2001.
This price increase reflects both the time and effort which went into the recent rewrite, as well as the new features and enhancements which resulted from it.
The new price will be 15ukp (previously 12ukp)
The discounted price for Argonet subscribers will be 12ukp (previously 10ukp).
Online (credit card) ordering is available via http://www.uksharereg.com/webchange.html and should be updated sometime on July 1st to show the new price - until then you may still order at the old price. (The Argonet users discount is not available when purchasing this way).
For mail order customers, to allow for the vagaries of the postal system (which roughly translated means "I've noticed that FREEPOST stuff is taking a couple of days longer to come through than it used to"), orders will be accepted at the old prices if received by Friday 6th July, 2001 at the latest.
To order this way, send a cheque or postal order for the appropriate amount to:
Soft Rock Software
FREEPOST (BS7978)
Westbury-on-Trym
Bristol
BS10 7BR
Please provide your name, address, and email address - the latter of which must be an Argonet address if ordering at the Argonet price.
WebChange is a tool primarily designed to aid website maintainers and designers, by reducing a number of repetitive functions to barely more than a mouse click - replacing a piece of text, or chunk of HTML (or both) on every page in a site, inserting datestamps to reflect when things have been updated, inserting ALT text in IMG tags if none is present already - just a few examples.
The current version is 2.01. Version 2.02 should appear towards the end of July.
More details about the program can be found at http://www.softrock.co.uk/webchange/ros/
To all our customers,
Just to let everyone know that as from the 29th of June iSV Products will be closing its doors. We will not be accepting any orders or technical support requests for RISC OS products after this date. Our accounting system will continue to run until all outstanding customer accounts are cleared.
Sales of all our RISC OS products, including DrawWorks and StarFighter, will continue through APDL (http://www.apdl.co.uk). APDL will also be handling all RISC OS technical support enquires for our range of products. APDL have an increasing large market presence, and our products compliment their existing range, which includes Ovation, Sleuth and Masterfile, to name but three.
Support for our Windows database/web products will continue as normal under a new company name. Individual customers will be advised of these details shortly.
We would like to thank all our RISC OS customers over the last 7 years for their support and encouragement.
To prevent the usual newsgroup guessing game here are the answers to the questions that are likely to get asked.
Why are you closing?
Simple, I have only so many hours in a day. Running iSV, our other companies, as well as editing RISC World magazine means I have little spare time. Something has to give and since I can hand all our RISC OS products over to another company and keep continuity it makes sense to close iSV. This is not a decision that has been taken lightly, a number of factors have come into play. Not least of these is the editorial independence of RISC World.
Does this mean your going to vanish?
No. I will continue to edit RISC World magazine, and I will still be at shows, only I will be on the APDL stand.
What about your e-mail address?
The current AOL e-mail address will continue. However any iSV related mail sent to this address will not get an answer. Instead e-mail to info@apdl.co.uk.
The atimbrell@aol.com address can still be used for RISC World mail and other matters.
What are you going to do now?
Have a break.
Many thanks
Aaron (ISV Products)
Float version 0.20, a replacement Interactive Help client that provides help in small floating panes close to the pointer, is now available for download from my website.
The main improvement over the last released version is that it now uses the ROM Messages file for expanding tokens in help texts; this should ensure that it will work on all versions of RISC OS without problems. There are a few other small improvements and some bugs have been fixed: full details are on the website and in the help file.
Float is Freeware and can be found at
http://www.stevefryatt.org.uk/software/float/
APDL is aware that there are many enthusiasts still using early models and we want to bring some of these people back into the mainstream of RISC OS computing. We have therefore put together an offer you can't refuse.
An exclusive 'Special Edition' MicroDigital Mico for just 399 ukp including VAT
This computer includes a 4.3Gb hard drive, 48x CD ROM, 8Mb RAM, sound card, desktop case, mouse and keyboard, and has a 1 year RTB guarantee. There's also a CD with some high quality commercial software including a database, wordprocessor, clip art, fonts, etc. to get you started.
This is a limited offer, available only while stocks last.
Full details are on the APDL web site at http://www.apdl.co.uk
Clares now stock Hansol 15.1" TFT LCD panels, max res 1024 x 768 @ 75Hz at a cost of ukp499 inc VAT & Carriage
Please contact us for more details.
This major resource for HolyBible users has been 4 years in the making. Main features include:
And as with all HolyBible Resources there are full search facilities, so you can search by words, phrases, author, tune, hymn-book, etc.
Users must hold a current CCL Licence No. and have HolyBible 1.91 or higher. N.B. The Licence No. will be required when you install the resource.
The cost of the Resource (inc. Hymn-Tunes) is ukp30 (inc. p&p) payable to 'Christian Acorn User Group'
Please send to:
Rev'd Colin Randall
The Vicarage
Warwick Bridge
Carlisle
CA4 8RF
01228-560332
email: carandall@freeuk.com
When ordering please state whether you have HolyBible's Resource Builder as two separate Registers will be kept as it is anticpated that those with ResBuild will want to customise the Resource by adding hymn-texts themselves.
Copyright holders with whom we have obtained a Licence to include their material are as follows:
CopyCare Ltd.
Timothy Dudley-Smith
Jubilate Hymns
Make Way Music Ltd.
Oxford University Press
Stainer & Bell Ltd.
Wild Goose Publications (Iona)
The Reporter module provides commands and SWIs which enable debugging information to be easily displayed in a separate multi-tasking window.
Reporter v2.46 is now available, and the main changes are ...
Some of the facilities which previous versions of Reporter already provided ...
Full details are available from http://www.avisoft.force9.co.uk/ and it can be downloaded from there as a zip archive file.
Reporter will also be available from Chris Morison's web site at http://www.organizer.ukgateway.net/
Any comments on the web sites, or the application, always welcome.
Just a brief note to say that if you don't like StrongHelp changing the pointer over links you can stop it by editing the !StrongHlp.!Configure file and changing the line that reads "Pointer 1" to "Pointer 0" - I don't think this is made very clear in the manual.
Following my announcement last week about Locate 0.40, it seems that Tardis' Webserver has chosen a good time to stop working. This makes the URL that I originally placed Locate at unavailable; thanks to the people who pointed this out to me by email, as I hadn't noticed. :-(
While I would guess that everything will be back to normal again fairly soon, this seems like a good opportunity to launch my new web site. All my RISC OS FreeWare (including Locate and Float) is now also available from
http://www.stevefryatt.org.uk/software/
at the same relative positions as before. The URL currently points to my FreeUK site, but please don't rely on this.
The pages on Tardis will be kept in sync for the forseeable future (once they're back online).
Locate is a Desktop utility to search for files, directories and applications meeting a given set of criteria including name, age size and type; Float is an interactive help application to replace Help.
Just to let you know that we have just released our latest RISC OS software product. 'Nuts' (available for 10UKP all in) is a data backup app, providing:
More information is available on our web site at 'imagesoft.co.uk'.
!NurseW, my freeware macro inserter for Dr Wimp, has now reached the dizzy heights of version 1.55. This version now complements Dr Wimp v 3.59. The problems with !Edit mentioned in Archive magazine have been solved.
!NurseW can be downloaded from http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/riscos/soft.html
If there are any Irish Acorn/RISC OS users out there, could they contact mailto:ribu.ias@eircom.net if interested.
I've just uploaded StrongHelp 2.74 on to its homepage, which is
<http://sudden.recoil.org/stronghelp/>
A list of changes is available on the web site.
I've also updated the SH-Refman and SH-Style manuals to reflect the changes, and I've taken the oppertunity to restucture the site so that the dates shown beside the manuals is the date contained within the manual, not the date of the file on the server.
A note to manual authors: /Please/ read the styleguide - it really does contain some very good advice.
Just to let you know, the CBSA (comp.{binaries/source}.acorn) website is back up and running after a makeover, a pile of new material added and a bit of a rest for me!
Highlights include a new GNU ported software page, games and MP3 stuff.
There are also two versions of the site : a JavaScript/Frames version and the old "plain" version. The JS version has the advantage of (1) being pretty and (2) being easier to navigate.
Have a wander around!
http://www.acornusers.org/cbsa/index.html
Whilst exact details cannot yet be given, I'm pleased to say we've come to in-principle arrangements with three companies to acquire and expand the market of a number of top-name titles. Specific details on the titles, etc will follow upon our announcement of their relaunch. At the time of writing, we're optimistic that we'll be able to announce - and have available - new products for the end of June / early July.
It has made me look further into the potential for other programs out there. With that in mind, we'd like to invite - for the first time - programs to be submitted for evaluation. If you've written a good utility, educational title or just have a good idea do please submit it into us. If it's a good idea, we'll consider it. If it's a very good idea we'll publish it and will offer either a royalty or a one-off payment [or a payment and a smaller royalty].
If you've got something you feel is suitable, please email submit@apdl-proaction.co.uk providing details of the product/idea, which language the program is written in (if applicable), how far it is from completion and a demonstration which gives us an idea of how well it works. We'll contact each author to discuss the idea, then follow through our evaluation procedures - with luck we'll have your product available at the next show!
Locate version 0.40 is now available. The main improvements over version 0.30 are (a full list is on the website and in the documentation):
Most of the new features have come from users' suggestions; there are also the usual bug fixes.
The program is Freeware, and can be downloaded from my website at
http://www.tardis.ed.ac.uk/~stevef/software/locate/
If you do download it, I would appreciate your comments and feedback on any bugs or features that could be added/improved. Although it should work on any version of RISC OS from 3.1 onwards, it has only been tested on RISC OS 4 so far; I would welcome feedback on this.
Locate is a Desktop utility to search for files, directories and applications meeting a given set of criteria. It will match filenames using wildcards and will also compare size, age and type; the idea is based very loosely on the 'Find files' utility in Windows and the equivalent on the Mac.
Many of you will have noticed my website some time ago moved from:
http://free.prohosting.com/~chocky/
to:
As of a few moments ago, the Prohosting website no longer exists, including the previous redirection pages which were there. Both the latter address, and my new addresses http://www.chocky.org and http://www.chocks.org are now valid, and point to the same place.
You may also email me at any of these domains, as well as my Freeserve email address peter@erble.freeserve.co.uk.
In addition, I will shortly be closing my pnaulls@usa.net address, as it now receives mainly unsolicted email. Please check your address books and ensure you change this to an alternative.
As well as the items advertised in my signature, my website contains the RISC OS dictionary of Slang, some RISC OS software by myself and a collection of Unix ports to RISC OS.
Following the news from Stuart Halliday that Oaktree's parent company is a going in to Voluntary Liquidation, I've moved my site. It has now been relocated from http://www.atlantic.oaktree.co.uk to a new server at:
I've also taken the opportunity to make a couple of changes, so with immediate effect Atlanta and ImageMap2 have both been switched to a freeware licence.
Atlanta is a font manager for RISC OS that includes;
ImageMap2 is a graphical image map creator for web pages.
Both applications, along with ExtraBar (a desktop enhancer) can be downloaded from:
http://www.zamang.co.uk/riscos/
All email regarding the any of my RISC OS applications should be sent to riscos@zamang.co.uk. Whilst I can't guarantee a reply I will certainly be reading them and updating my to-do lists for each application.
Please note: That it would appear that the atlantic.oaktree.co.uk domain is now completely dead - therefore any email sent to my previous address will be lost.
Users of MovieDB may have noticed that some of its larger databases have become broken in the last few months and a version of the software is finally available which builds them correctly.
For those interested the problem arose because MovieDB was using 24-bit indexes and some data files (actors and plots) now exceed 16MB.
A new database /must/ be built for this version because there is non backward compatibility in the new keyfiles.
The 2nd pass of the key sorting has been improved too which requires up to 4MB of extra memory depending on the list being sorted but is /much/ faster. It should still work if memory is tight (using the old disc thrashing method) but I haven't tested it.
v1.41 is currently a beta release in case there are problems.
MovieDB can be found at http://www.actrix.gen.nz/users/rick/moviedb.html.
It is an off-line browser for the ftp downloadable Internet Movie Database (see http://www.imdb.com and ftp://ftp.imdb.com/pub/interfaces).
I have taken over the development of !Layout from the original author Bernhard Walter. Layout has been in a semi-finished state for around 5 years, and Bernhard has decided that he is unlikely ever to complete the program.
All queries, suggestions and bug reports should be sent to me at
robert79@richards44.freeserve.co.uk.
In our continued commitment to the RISC OS market and our keen interest in developing supporting software for users of Oregano, we are pleased to announce the release of Nutmeg.
Nutmeg is an advanced version of our popular Cassia (Oregano caching software). It not only provides the same caching facilities as Cassia (to provide faster loading of previously visited sites) but also provides a facility for saving out sites, site areas or individual files making up a site, to disc.
Nutmeg is available for 20UKP (fully inclusive), or as an upgrade for users of Cassia at a cost of 15UKP.
Orders can currently only be made by cheque (made payable to Image Software) and sent to the address in the sig. Official orders welcome.
Cassia will continue to be developed and bug fixes will be made available free of charge to existing users, in-line with our 'customer commitment' policy.
If you would like more information on Nutmeg, a temporary web page has been established at http://www.argonet.co.uk/image/nutmeg.jpeg
Please direct all sales enquiries to sales@imagesoft.co.uk
Some of you may not have noticed but Justin Fletcher has recently organised the centralisation of MP3 related modules under System:Modules.Audio.MP3.
My first wish as developer or DigitalCD and the TimPlayer module is to organise the centralisation of at least Tracker and Midi related modules in a similar way to avoid spreading versions of modules all over the user's harddisc and ensure that applications always use the more recent versions.
To that purpose I have created a discussion group on smartgroups. As the the discussion of the above point is merely a matter of agreing to the directory System:Modules.Audio structure and the naming of modules, I propose to turn it into a more generic RISC OS audio developer group for example to:
So I invite developers of sound hardware, of sound related modules or of applications using sound related modules to join the group.
Group Home Page:
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/riscos-audio-developer
Group Email Address: riscos-audio-developer@smartgroups.com
New members can email riscos-audio-developer-subscribe@smartgroups.com.
Following the recent offer to take over its development, I will now be in charge of maintaining StrongHelp. The manual reader may now be found at <URL:http://sudden.recoil.org/stronghelp/> and this is where new versions will be released.
I have also scoured various parts of the internet to try to make a central repository of manuals available from the same place as the reader; I hope this will make the job of keeping up with manual changes easier. Note that due to the way I've uploaded the manuals, all of the dates shown are today's though I have not made any modifications to the manuals or to StrongHelp as of yet.
If you want a manual added to the site, or you have any suggestions of how StrongHelp can be improved, please get in touch.
Users of Compo who want to play around with a more recent version can now trundle off to http://compo.iconbar.com/ at their leisure and grab a patch archive that will give them version 1.21.
Main changes are:
As usual, its a public beta so please don't blame Clares if it makes your computer collapse in a screaming heap.
I /suppose/ you can blame me (if you really want to) but please, try to do it nicely. ;-)
The latest version of Account2, the freeware home accounts application is now available from
http://www.ksedwards.ukgateway.net/riscos/
The new version (1.10) allows separate account files to be linked together so credits to one account can be debited from another in just one action.
The program is very intuitive to use and is ideal for maintaining a record of debits and credits either to a single account, or now to linked accounts. It includes the following features:
RiscStation Ltd.
http://www.riscstation.co.uk/ info@riscstation.com
01942 797777 Fax 01942 797711
It is with regret that, due to unforeseen ill health, RiscStation Ltd. will be unable to attend the RISCOS Expo 2001 show this year.
Please accept our sincere apologies in advance.
Please contact us should any of you wish to discuss any of your RiscStation requirements.
RiscStation Dealers will be at the show including, A4 (Deutschland), Desk and X-ample (Nederlands).
Posum will be showing the new Epos system running on RiscStation machines.
R-Comp have a supply of RiscStation Osaris machines available to purchase at the show.
We would like to take this opportunity to wish all exhibitors and visitors the very best and have a good show.
There have been some changes with eGroups.com being taken over by yahoogroups.com. Has a consequence which they never even thought to notify interested parties everyone who has subscribed to the DigitalCD mailing list will still receive emails normally but to send emails man must use the address DigitalCD@yahoogroups.com.
Also to subscribe to the mailing list you now must send a blank email to: DigitalCD-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Archive now has a new home (as I mentioned in Part 1):
Archive Publications
Nutwood
Middle Road
Great Plumstead
Norwich
NR13 5EG
And we now have both phone and fax lines installed...
Phone: 01603-722544
Fax: 01603-722528
Acorn Arcade's Exile tribute site (http://exile.acornarcade.com) has been updated very slightly with the latest news of PD attempts and a few modifications to the FAQ in case you have any queries about the game.
Hello, please note that if you have problems with StupidPlayer, the solution is very simple...
Increase the Wimpslot to 260 KB, and all should be OK. StupidPlayer needs also the latest 32 bits libs from www.riscos.com.
More to follow (faster version, etc.)
:)
A new version of SpriteClean (freeware) is now available for download from
http://www.sinenomine.freeserve.co.uk/software/
The new version (1.01) fixes an extremely embarrassing bug with the previous version (1.00). The "Clean" option in the application looked as though it allowed you to choose the size of the dirty specks to be cleaned away, but actually the application totally ignored what you entered in the dialogue box!
SpriteClean is a little application specifically designed for cleaning up sprites which originated as scanned line art. It may also be useful for other things, especially weird effects on sprites which were not scanned line art!
Handy facilities are included to allow images to be cropped automatically or manually to remove blank edges.
This is an important posting to inform people that as of 1st July 2001, it will become necessary for VAT to be charged on R-Comp products.
We expect that this will lead to small price increases on the existing prices of R-Comp software. Whilst this will be beneficial for those of you who are VAT registered, the bulk who are not will end up paying a little more. We intend to absorb some of the extra 17.5%, but since almost all R-Comp products are sold at the lowest possible prices, it will be difficult to avoid some increases.
However, if you are considering purchasing R-Comp products such as the R-Comp Internet Suite, Messenger Pro, WebsterXL, HTMLEdit Studio (and components), AddressIt, EasyClip, and all the rest (see web site), then the current VAT-free prices will be held until the end of the month. Therefore, buy purchasing now, you can save yourself some money.
If you have any questions, please contact us on 01925 755043, or email rcomp@rcomp.co.uk
To repeat, the new VAT-inclusive prices will come into effect on July 1st, and there can be no "carry over" past this date for orders at the non-VAT prices.
The main index has been redesigned slightly. New 'better' images and the like.
Most of the mailto links now direct you to a page where you can choose to email me the usual way (with the mailto link) or you can use RickMail so you can send short messages without loading an email client.
I have written up a section on connecting a RISC OS machine to a Windows network. The difference between mine and the others is that I discuss how to use Windows 3.11 for Workgroups (some of us still use it, y'know!).
http://www.heyrick.co.uk/mynet/
QuickVoy is now open source. If you use QuickVoy and missed the message on Drobe, you can download the sources and generally make fun of my coding inabilities. :-)
http://www.heyrick.co.uk/voyager/quickvoy/opensource.html
I have for a long time used a BASIC program I wrote called "extractor" to scan my news, keep interesting things and junk the rest. It was slow, klutzy, and generally boring. So I have made a nice all-singing all-dancing (well, almost) version that whizzes through at a rate of knots. The only caveat is the actual scanning routine /requires/ a dynamic area. I've not coded the file-to-file routine yet.
We're up to version 0.03, and it's all available for download from:
http://www.heyrick.co.uk/voyager/prenews/
Some other updates and additions. I'll leave you to discover these. <g>
Well, it is that time of year again. I'm off to France to deal with some seriously unweildly weeds. I guess it'll take me a few months. Unfortunately, I'm net-less for the duration, so if you wish to email me, please don't expect a reply in any kind of hurry!
My website and the mail form mentions that I've gone, in really big letters so it is obvious. I'm not powering down until 2001-06-13; I just updated my site so I wouldn't forget later. If you want to get me a quick email, you've got tomorrow. :-)
That's all from me, I hope you all have a *great* summer.
And best wishes to the Solo project.
IMHBLIO, this is one to support...
Due to the transfer of the Article Seven domain to a new server, the Vantage users' mailing list has been shut down, moved, and is now fully operative again.
All previous subscribers should have been resubscribed to the new service, and should have received a "welcome back" message by now.
If you had subscribed to the old list but haven't received that message, please contact me at andrew@article7.co.uk to let me know.
And, of course, new subscribers are always welcome. Just send an email to majordomo@article7.co.uk with the incantation:
subscribe vantage
in the BODY of your message. The address from which the email was sent will then be automatically subscribed.
As before, the address for messages to the list is vantage@article7.co.uk.
StrongHelp, now at version 2.72, has the following new features:
In Chris' own words:
"Its main purpose is to allow me to produce a nice 'printed manual' for Organizer whilst only having to maintain the StrongHelp manual. It converts the whole thing into a text file, formats the lines, adds page numbers and a contents page (at the end!), sorts out tables, etc. The results can be quite good. It works on most manuals I've got here."
Of course, you can use it for manuals other than Organizer's!
You can download StrongHelp from:
ftp://ftp.barnet.ac.uk/pub/Acorn/manuals/g.vik/data/
or
http://freenet.barnet.ac.uk/manuals/g.vik/strong.html
In order to provide some macro assistance with the typing needed when using Colin Granville's wonderful !NetChess (http://www.netchess.iconbar.com) I have used ButtonBar (from the Flying Pig... http://www.mat.bham.ac.uk/lleweld/dnload.htm) to create a buttonbar file pre setup to allow some of the common commands used at the Freechess site to be automatically inserted into the !NetChess writable icon.
The buttonbar file, once setup as per ButtonBar's instructions, will auto load when the NetChess window has the input focus and will "disappear" when the NetChess window is not open or doesn't have focus.
If you'd like the file it is available from http://www.denmarkwa.net.au/~kwright/
SpriteClean (freeware) is now available for download from
http://www.sinenomine.freeserve.co.uk/software/
SpriteClean is a little application specifically designed for cleaning up sprites which originated as scanned line art. It may also be useful for other things, especially weird effects on sprites which were not scanned line art!
Handy facilities are included to allow images to be cropped automatically or manually to remove blank edges.
I have included the source code to the application. This is so that people who do not know much C can see how a Wimp application can be written, and so that people who know a lot of C can tell me how it should be written...
A demo version of GedcomWeb is now available for download from
http://www.sinenomine.freeserve.co.uk/software/
GedcomWeb is a program for genealogists. It converts GEDCOM files (as exported from Family, Roots, Ancestor etc.) into JavaScript data suitable for displaying in Web pages. The necessary HTML/JavaScript program is also supplied.
Even if you don't want to display your family tree on the Web, the output is still very useful for sending to relations who may not have genealogy software, as it will work with any modern web browser on any type of computer. It's also very handy for printing family trees.
The demo version is restricted to GEDCOM files containing up to fifty people. The registered version costs just five pounds (or six pounds via credit card). Full ordering instructions are included with the demo version.
An example of the output obtainable from GedcomWeb can be seen at
http://www.sinenomine.freeserve.co.uk/software/gedeg/ftdisp.htm
Note that at present Oregano is the only RISC OS browser supporting enough JavaScript to view the output from GedcomWeb.
FX80Emul (freeware) is now available for download from
http://www.sinenomine.freeserve.co.uk/software/
FX80Emul emulates Epson compatible 9-pin dot matrix printers, of which the Epson FX80 is an example. It takes a file of text and printer control codes and interprets these to form pages which can be viewed on screen and printed or saved as Draw files. You can think of it as being to Epson 9-pin printers what RiScript is to PostScript printers.
FX80Emul was inspired by John Tytgat's PrintEmul. FX80Emul can handle pages containing a mixture of text and bit-mapped graphics.
Alternatively, it is quite a useful way of displaying and printing plain text files, especially if your printer does not have any fonts built in to perform text printing.
Do you wish you could reach your RiscPC's reset switch? Fed up with having to switch off your computer to reset it?
Switching your computer off and on again each time you wish to reset can put unnecessary strain on your hard drive and on the rest of your computer. Using the reset switch does not interrupt the power to your hard drive and components and so can prolong their life.
Owl-Art Un-Ltd. can now offer an external reset switch for the RiscPC in two forms:
Both types have a socket on the back of your computer (either in a spare blanking plate, or fitted to the case) which allows the reset switch to be plugged in. The switch itself is a small 6mm switch in a black box 46mmx32mm and 20mm deep with a 1.5m lead. This means the reset switch can be placed where ever it is most convenient.
For a picture, see http://www.owlart.co.uk/reset.html
Postage: 1.50ukp
Please make cheques payable to "A.M.Conroy". Sorry, we cannot accept credit/debit cards.
58 Newland Road,
Worthing,
West Sussex
BN11 1JX
http://www.owlart.co.uk/
Sales@owlart.co.uk
I thought it was about time I got rid of the Frame look on the Acorn Cybervillage web site (I got fed up with Fresco not being able to navigate Frame-based sites correctly).
I decided to go for a minimal graphic look and I make extensive use of Server Side Includes (for the webmasters out there) to make it easier to maintain.
I've still to add a few bits and pieces, but I feel it's ready go live today.
Don't forget as always we offer a number of great free services for commerical or noncommerical uses.
Like:
Plus the usual links to the very best in RISC OS software.
I hope you will continue to visit the Acorn Cybervillage and keep the site alive for many more years to come (has it really been 6 years?!).
Thanks for being one of our 5000 visitors a day!
I've just put an update to !Pdf on my website: http://www.netchess.iconbar.com/pdf/. It has the following changes:
!Pdf is a public domain Pdf (Adobe Acrobat) file viewer for RISC OS.
ExpLAN announces the release of HolyBible version 1.99 which can be downloaded free of charge from our website at
http://www.explan.co.uk/bible/HolyB.html#hbdownload
This contains better support for the exporting of Bible references in foreign languages, and the capability to display extra-Biblical Resource material with larger numbers of Items for a given verse. This feature is required for the new Hymn-Book Resource shortly to be released by the Christian Acorn User Group.
Users upgrading from a much earlier version of HolyBible (prior to 1.90) should consider upgrading by post and paying for a new printed Release Note with instructions for using the new features.
We have also made available for sale the Swahili New Testament module which we launched in Uganda this spring during the field trials of our new Solo computer. See
http://www.explan.co.uk/bible/Swahili.html
and
http://www.explan.co.uk/hardware/solo.shtml
We would like to announce txt2pdf 5.0 version.
http://www.sanface.com/txt2pdf.html
txt2pdf is shareware; it is a very flexible and powerful PERL5 script that converts text files to PDF format files, so you can use it in every operating systems supported by PERL5, including Acorn. If you prefer we also distribute executables for Windows, Linux, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, and FreeBSD. Inside the Windows version is Visual txt2pdf, a VB GUI.
What's new in this version
We've deleted the print in the first line of title or text file name. It's possible to re-run infinitely (every configured second, sleep feature) txt2pdf on a specific directory (and also its recursice subdirectories) moving the produced PDFs in a specific directory and the original text in a specific directory. -current the program version
Test txt2pdf 5.0!
You can find it at http://www.sanface.com/txt2pdf.html
http://rox.sourceforge.net/rox_filer.php3
It's a developer release, so you may wish to stay with the current stable version, although the new one should be OK.
Please report any bugs found.
Changes since 1.1.3:
The filer is distributed under the GNU General Public License, which means that anyone can modify it, use bits of it in their own (GPL) programs, etc. Indeed, many of the improvements made to the filer were added by other ROX users and posted as patches to the mailing list.
The filer comes with translations for Dutch, French, Hungarian, Italian, Polish and Russian.
http://rox.sourceforge.net
http://rox.sourceforge.net/comments.php3
http://rox.sourceforge.net/screenshots.php3
There are now two mailing lists, rox-users and rox-devel. You can subscribe here, or look at the archives:
http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=3D7023
A selection of tutorials on writing ROX applications is now on-line:
http://rox.sourceforge.net/tutor.php3
More tutorials may be written if there is demand...
Enjoy.
I have at last updated my web site. There is not that much new information there but there is one new section.
I have now managed to fit the Risc PC motherboard in the Phoebe case so that the connectors for the monitor, keyboard ect are now accessable from the back of the case as you would find on a normal computer.
This new design does involve you cutting and drilling your Phoebe case quite a lot though, however if you have already followed my original conversion then this extra part will only take about 2 hours. There is a brief description of how to do this and some pictures will follow soon. Follow the Phoebe Update link from my site.
http://www.btinternet.com/~woodside21/nick
Console 1.04 can now be downloaded from:
http://www.movspclr.co.uk/software.html#console
I believe this to be the first public release of Console. Features include:
Console is a desktop application intended for developers to use to debug their applications. It is designed to take all the 'VDU4' text output that would normally appear at the top left of the screen whilst debugging, and to place this in a simple text display window.
I find Console totally invaluable as a debugging aid, and it's about time that it was released :-)
Astrolog 1.03 (a port of 5.40) can now be downloaded from:
http://www.movspclr.co.uk/software.html#astrolog
This is the first public release of this port of Astrolog. Essentially, it is a plain port of the astrolog 5.40 sources with a couple of changes:
Astrolog is a command line astrology application, with many, many configuration and data output options. I don't pretend to understand most of it and merely did the port for someone on the CSA.* groups. It's pretty, though.
FTPUpdate 1.03 can now be downloaded from:
http://www.movspclr.co.uk/software.html#ftpupdate
This is the first release of FTPUpdate, an incremental FTP site updater. Features include:
I have been using the backend to upload my own website for a few years now, and thought it worthwhile to release to the general public as that was always the intent.
Network Print Server Boxes are growing rapidly in popularity both in the RISC OS and Windows marketplaces at the moment. As a result the various manufacturers have been updating their product lineups and cutting prices, which is good news for RISC OS users!
As a result the "standard" box - with 2 parallel printer ports, one serial printer port and running at 10Mbit network speed (like RISC OS network cards) has dropped to 155ukp inc VAT and delivery. This includes a site licence for our Network Printer Driver software for RISC OS, as well as software for Windows etc...
However, the big change is that a new 3 parallel printer port box has been introduced supporting both 10Mbit and 100Mbit speeds far more cost effectively than before. The price for one of these is now 185ukp inc VAT which is a big saving on the previous price for a similar unit.
The price on the combined internet/print server box remains at 199ukp. To answer the common question, this combined box only has one printer port and there isn't a version with addition printer ports. The 199ukp price includes VAT, delivery and site licences for NetFetch and the Network Printer Drivers.
For those requiring both multi-port printing and the internet access, we can offer bundles of two units together (ie. a print server box and an internet/print box) at "bundle rates".
Following the release of !ImagePrxy we have had a number of enquiries regarding use of the proxy on a stand-alone machine as a cache for Oregano to speed up web browsing.
We are pleased to announce that this has now been tested and has proved to work.
A cut-down version of the proxy ('!Cassia') for users just wishing to use it as a cache for a browser on a single machine is available for 5 UKP. This can run from a RAM based filer (eg. !Memphis or a RAM disc) for improved performance over hard disc use (for machines with enough memory).
For this price we will only supply the software via email (~20K). For an extra 2 UKP we will supply the software on floopy disc, along with an instruction leaflet.
Please direct all sales enquiries to sales@imagesoft.co.uk
This is the latest addition to the range of Kyocera laser printers offered by ExpLAN with RISC OS drivers and administration utils.
The FS-1000 is the 600dpi low-end budget model, and the only one we offer which isn't running under PostScript (although this is an option).
It has an integral 250-sheet cassette, and a separate front-loading multi-purpose tray taking an additional 50 sheets. The FS-1000 uses the usual Kyocera non-toxic toner, has a drum unit that is 'sealed for life' (100,000 pages) and runs at only 0.9p /page (5% coverage).
Our driver has optimised the paper margins, and delivers only 2.5mm at the top & sides, and 5mm at the bottom.
The FS-1000 has a 5-minute timeout to a sleep-mode consuming only 5W of power.
The FS-1000 laser is available new at ukp284 +VAT or as a B-grade unit (12 months warranty) at only ukp229 +VAT (269.07)
Prices include drivers but exclude carriage.
Further info on Kyocera lasers with RISC OS drivers is at
http://www.explan.co.uk/printers/kyocera.html
Printed specifications, information on the ecologically friendly concepts behind Kyocera products, and advice on other models capable of printing on recycled media is available on request.
ExpLAN announce the availability of the Mitsubishi 1700M+ LCD monitor, complete with RISC OS MDF and instructions, and running at 1280x1024 (native), 1360x1024 under our RO driver.
This is the high-end model we displayed at the Wakefield Show, running out of all stocks both at the Show and a subsequent batch back at our base! It has a high contrast ratio and very wide viewing angle.
Pricing: ukp739 +VAT (= ukp868.32) ex-stock
We have also reduced further the price of the L15C 15-inch LCD monitor we displayed at Wakefield, which some people saw running on our Solo computer.
This budget XGA (1024x768) LCD monitor is now only ukp369 +VAT (= ukp433.57) incl RISC OS MDF, instructions and lead for Risc PC or RiscStation.
See http://www.explan.co.uk/hardware/scrn.html for more info.
NB A properly constructed MDF (& appropriate lead) are essential to use an LCD monitor. Unlike a conventional CRT, driving an LCD screen at an incorrect frequency can produce a completely blank screen. The ExpLAN MDF's supplied are checked for accuracy of hor & vert frequency and pixel clock on RO computers with all combinations of VRAM.
Although we are getting requests to do so, we are not in a position to produce MDF's for LCD's bought from other outlets and found to be unsuitable for RISC OS. Some LCD monitors being sold can never be driven from RISC OS computers, producing either a blank screen at certain resolutions, or a shaking or shimmering picture.
Our LCD monitors are supplied on the basis that if they won't work under RISC OS then we'll take it back!
At last, the longed-for move is materialising (isn't moving house stressful?!).
From Friday 8th June, the home of Archive (and, coicidentally, of Paul & Sue Beverley) will be:
Nutwood
Middle Road
Great Plumstead
Norwich
NR13 5EG.
We don't have a phone number yet, but we'll let you know as soon as we do.
!NetTime version 1.04 is now available from my website at http://www.denmarkwa.net.au/~kwright/
NetTime keeps a record of how long it has been running since it was started, and also aggregates how long it has been in use since its last reset.
It is useful, for example, to keep track of the amount of time you spend online per month (the reason I wrote it), or how much time you spend doing something that takes a few sessions to complete, (anyone paid by the hour?)
New in this version:
A popup window to remind you when it is reset time.
A nicer icon.
Example files for auto connect/disconnect with a dialler such as ARMtcp.
!GCCide is a freeware 'front end' for the GCC compilers, v1.15 is the first public release.
The main features include:
Project manager
Compiler switches defined in toolsets
Generates makefiles
Works with all GCC versions
Easy to manage 3rd party libraries
And lots more...
For more information or to download !GCCide, visit this web site:
http://www.davea.web.btinternet.co.uk/gccide/
Today's topic:
MasterWorks Edition
Updated collections
You can find further details at:
http://www.mw-software.com/software/awmodules/mworks.html
The New Full Set Collection contains all the ArtWorks modules produced by MW Software (17 modules) for only 80 Pounds (save 85 Pounds compared to the sum of the individual module prices!).
The Update Collection contains the latest five modules: BMExport, Grids, TextArea, JPEGObject and ColourBar for only 60 Pounds (save 27.50 compared to the sum of the individual module prices!).
You can pay by cheque or order online with your credit card.
You can find further details at:
http://www.mw-software.com/paying.html
Full list of modules and version numbers:
http://www.mw-software.com/software/awmodules/awmodules.html
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