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Version 0.80 of Locate has now been released. 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, type, attributes and contents; the idea is based very loosely on the 'Find files' utility in Windows and the equivalent on the Mac.
Aside from the usual bug fixes, the main new features in version 0.80 are as follows:
Locate is released as FREEWARE. It should run on RISC OS 3.1 and later and has been tested on RISC OS Select. Full details of the new version and downloads can be found on the Locate website, at
http://www.stevefryatt.org.uk/software/locate/
Some of the internal changes required to support the new display mode were very significant and, as a result, the file format has been updated. Files from old versions of Locate will load into the new version, but this will not work the other way: files from 0.80 will be rejected by older versions.
Given the changes, bug reports will be very welcome should any problems be encountered.
For the last few years, computers from around the globe have been working on trying to find the key for an encrypted message for a competition set up by RSA Labs. The underlying network infrastructure and clients were provided and created by distributed.net
The Acorn Users RC5 Cracking Effort group was a strong member of the cracking effort. Their statistics page can be found here:
http://stats.distributed.net/team/tmsummary.php?project_id=5&team=4266
Please note that this page doesn't appear to be properly working, as some of the statistics are very wrong indeed.
Yesterday night, it was announced that the key was finally found. Unfortunately, it wasn't by our group, but nevertheless, we played our part and, by how much work was done by our group, we came 56th, which isn't bad for a worldwide competition!
No. 52 Team MacNN 113195201 blocks, 2820615 blocks ahead No. 53 KKI - StadtSchulNetz ... 112109602 blocks, 1735016 blocks ahead No. 54 Michigan State Univer... 111192923 blocks, 818337 blocks ahead No. 55 RC5 Hardware Network 110665549 blocks, 290963 blocks ahead No. 56 Acorn Users Group 110374586 blocks No. 57 TUZY - the best Polis... 103711645 blocks, 6662941 blocks behind No. 58 QuakeNet RC5 Team 103210095 blocks, 7164491 blocks behind No. 59 Nashville Linux Users... 98287677 blocks, 12086909 blocks behind No. 60 Queens College RC5 Cr... 97899379 blocks, 12475207 blocks behind
Here's a short listing of the team members in the "millionaires' club", i.e. those who have submitted more than a million blocks (sorry I can't list all of you!). Again, this is the last time the statistics appear to have been working.
E-mail address Blocks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. astevenson@awstevenson.demon.co.uk 18787369
2. rc5des@nickelsen.org 8702857
3. jmunro@foulis.freeserve.co.uk 6160111
4. Turbo 3702585
5. Chris M 3480253
6. Alan Sparrow 2692765
7. ray@holmes-ave.freeserve.co.uk 2315104
8. daniel@jadeb.com 2244981
9. Jazz 2101478
10. rc5@my-ste.demon.co.uk 1999327
11. David@nighttime.demon.co.uk 1987751
12. John Morley 1694491
13. David A Brooks 1568162
14. Mike Henry 1528497
15. XORcist 1477126
16. a.pullan@zetnet.co.uk 1377613
17. Keith Rayner 1313005
18. Ian Hawkins (g0tai) 1252207
19. Buggeye 1120463
20. James Sears (rc5@acornusers.org) 1029753
Although we didn't win the competition, and can't have a $1000 party (!) between us, I think we did pretty well, and would like to say a big "Thank you" to all who have worked on this. Let's see how well we can do in OGR!
If you would like to contribute to distributed.net's activities, please visit http://www.distributed.net/. If you would like to join the mailing list discussing RISC OS activities on distributed.net, feel free to visit the (rather out of date) pages at http://www.acornusers.org/rc5/ or join the mailing list by list-subscribe@rc5.acornusers.org. Information in the topic or body of the message is ignored.
After half a year of work, I'm glad to announce that I've finished my port of the newest available version of CVS. (1.11.2)
My port should support all functions as the original program does, it supports pserver and SSH connection as a client and pserver connections when started as a server. CVS is able to use the OLE protocol to edit log messages (when it's started in a TaskWindow)
With the program !CVSServer it's possible to run CVS also as a server on a RISC OS computer. It's a little multitasking program which listens for incomming connections. (Like inetd does under UNIX systems)
CVS has been tested twice in two different alpha releases by (some kind of) alpha testers / CVS experts. I'd like to thank them for spending time doing this!
I'd also like to thank Theo Markketos for porting PuTTY (I used its SSH functions) and for making his port public available and for his help while I was implementing SSH support.
For more information about my port or for a copy of it (or its source files) please have a look at my website:
http://home.student.utwente.nl/m.m.bezemer/cvsuk.html
For more information about CVS itself and what it does, please have a look at the documentation on the official CVS website at one of the following locations:
http://www.cvshome.org/docs
http://www.cvshome.org/docs/manual
Version 0.45 (21 Sep 2002) of BeebIt has now been released.
BeebIt is a freeware BBC Micro computer emulator for RISC OS versions 3.00 and above. It emulates the Acorn BBC Model B, BBC Model B+ and BBC Master 128 computers.
The following improvements have been done since 0.42.
From my testing, I believe that BeebIt should now be able to run 99.9%, if not all, of the BBC games available. I'd be interested to hear of any that still fail to work.
As always, you can get the latest version from
http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/mjfoot/ under the BBC link.
ARMalayser version 0.34 is now available from http://www.armclub.org.uk/free
The exception to this is immediates as parts of ADD/SUB PC,PC,# which are generated as ADR <label> instructions. ObjAsm may produce different value and rotate combinations from the original. Correct code should not be reliant on the side effects of this on the C flag.
It is available for RISC OS with a desktop front end, and command line versions for Win32, ARM and x86 Linux.
Please note that Richard James Butler is unable to continue as administrator of the RISC OS User Group Of Ireland. I would like to thank him for his valuable contributions to this group and wish him well in his future endeavours.
The ROUGoI web-site will be offline for a while until alternate arrangements can be made for its reappearance. The smartgroups (www.smartgroups.com) area, however, still continues and latest announcements often appear there first.
I shall be administering the group and will be happy to provide any information or assistance I can (please feel free to contact me through the smartgroup area or by email to the address above).
This is a Partis Computing Announcement for Power-tec software updates. Updates for registered users is via the usual means.
The new code features:
Yesterday, I've released GnuPG 1.2.0 for RISC OS. It's a release with many new features. If you are keen to know the exact changes, please refer to the NEWS file inside the distribution or linked to from my web page.
GnuPG itself is a commandline tool without any graphical stuff. It is the real crypto engine which can be used directly from a command prompt, from obey scripts or by other programs. Therefore it can be considered as a backend for other applications.
Messenger Pro 2.50 already supports GnuPG in a beta stage, later versions (2.60 onwards) have GnuPG support in release quality. Pluto supports GnuPG since version 2.04 as well. Currently those are the only two mail/news reader for RISC OS that have built-in support for GnuPG. I hope that other mail/news reader authors will support GnuPG in the future in a similar way like PGP 2.6.3ia is supported today. And I'm still hoping for front-ends to GnuPG. Authors, please get in contact with me. ;-)
Have fun and a Pretty Good Privacy,
The seventh release of PsiFS is now available for free download from:
http://www.thouky.co.uk/software/psifs/
The most significant change from version 1.50 is the ability to print from EPOC devices via any RISC OS printer driver. This uses the "Printer via PC" option to print via the PLP (Psion Link Protocol). Full support is included for previewing print jobs, and exporting as Draw files or plain text.
PsiFS is a freeware RISC OS file system that communicates with a remote SIBO or EPOC device via the PLP. Files can be manipulated as if they were on a local harddisc, alebit a slow one, so copying is simply a matter of dragging icons between filer windows. Full source code is available under the GNU General Public Licence.
Reasonably complete descriptions of the Psion Link Protocol and EPOC SIS file format are also available from the same web site under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Two new ROS applications on my web site....
!SAMP - A Simple Sprite Animation and Manipulation Program.
Designed as an aid to produce animated GIF images for web sites. It can quickly generate and process sprite sequences which can then be used to produce an animated GIF. It does not produce or process GIF images, only Sprites files are processed. A few special effect functions are built in along with useful general purpose sprite manipulation functions. The source code is included inside the application.
!NV - My front end for the VIDI digitiser card.
The VIDI is a very old and simple video digitiser for RISCOS machines. The original software delivered with the card supports a maximum output image of 640x256 at 8 bits per pixel (bpp). However the hardware is capable of generating images of 320x512 at 12bpp. !NV generates images of that size and stores them in a file in Acorn deep sprite format. Although not of high quality the images generated are comparable with a cheap webcam. Note that only still images can be produced. The source code is included inside the application.
These programs along with my OCR program !STRing (not been updated for some time - sorry) can be found at:
EXIFinfo, a utility of interest to owners of digital cameras, has been upgraded to version 0.50.
The new version contains many improvements and bug fixes, including a number suggested by users. They include:
You can get the new version from http://www.photodesk.iconbar.com/ which has also been updated with new images and features, including a Photodesk 'tip of the day'.
It is not useful for ordinary JPEGs, or images of any other kind.
This is a beta version of the program, and contains bugs -- some known, many doubtless to be discovered. You use it at your own risk!
As always, feedback is welcome. Send your questions, suggestions, bouquets and brickbats to mailto:photodesk@iconbar.com
Those of you interested in Family History, and particularly in the 1901 census, may be interested in !1901Key.
This is a little programme written using DrWimp, which will decode the page numbers on the 1901 census site into RG13 Piece numbers and the approximate Folio number.
The programme is based on the data put together for Windows users. I thought it would be a pity if RiscOS users were left out.
The programme is available to those interested by email, if they email me expressing interest.
I have recently uploaded version 1.22 (16/09/02) which cures one or two bugs and adds some new features.
It is available from http://www.ksedwards.ukgateway.net/account2/
Account2 is a freeware Home Accounts application.
Visit http://www.narrator.demon.co.uk/senssoft to find out more.
Below are other educational programs by Senssoft:
BlastOff: program for testing multiplication bonds against the clock.
Clozeword: a program to develop reading skills using cloze procedure.
FullMarks: a program to develop correct use of punctuation.
Fuzzword: a program for developing letter sequencing skills.
AND THEY'RE ALL FREE!
Here at TME we have supplied and supported Citrix ICA systems for many years. Unfortunately, development of the RISC OS client stalled several years ago, leaving us with a product that is quite slow and low resolution.
We would like to propose that a group of interested parties combine to fund the development of a fully featured and working ICA client. The parties in question would be resellers and customers. The sums in question need not be huge, although probably more than a single user would be prepared to pay. Under the terms of Citrix' licensing, the finished client could not be resold as a commercial product. It would be expected that it would be available for download from Citrix' website alongside the other variants.
I will be calling people direct about this when time permits. In the meantime, could interested parties respond by email to me as per the return address, or by post as below.
To restate: we would like to see a native RISC OS Citrix client supporting current MetaFrameXP in high resolution, high colour modes at a reasonable speed.
Version 2.02 of !EnBank, The multi-currency accounts package for RISC OS, is now available from the RISC OS pages of the EnVision Software web site: http://riscos.envision-software.co.uk/
Part verified transactions now permit data not related to the verified account to be changed.
Fully verified transactions can now have their analysis Group and Class changed.
Please note that !EnBank requires RISC OS V3.5 or later.
Basic home use of the base unit, that's a maximum of 5 Accounts, 10 Standing Orders and 500 Transactions, is free.
Licence details and prices for an unrestricted base unit, multi-currency and Budget Analysis extensions are on the web site. You can also check out !EnBank's full capabilities by requesting a free, no obligation, 60 day trial licence.
I would like to take this opportunity to announce that I am now in a position to supply the excellent packages of Enterprise Accounts and Enterprise Accounts Professional Version 2.25 Jan 4 2000.
This is the latest version and has been tested on Kinetic RPC 4.03.
If you want further information then please visit the web site at
http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/RMcCann
Hear you can download a Demo version to test and evaluate before purchasing the package.
Please note that the site is changing frequently and must be regarded as under construction.
Special Study Module
More information about this is available at
http://www.logosword.co.uk/biblepacks.shtml
I am very pleased to announce that the Lockman Foundation have given permission for the texts of the
The module, containing all these resources, can be purchased
The Bible text of the NASB uses a wide variety of fonts and type-styles to convey a great deal of information. Inferred words are displayed in ITALICS, quoted passages in SMALL CAPS, Jesus words are in RED type, headings are included in BOLD type, reference letters and numbers are included in SUPERIOR BLUE TYPE to distinguish them from the text, and paragraph marks ¶ are also included.
The extensive reference and translator's notes included provide alternative renderings of the text and cross reference passages and are comfortably viewed in the cross-references panel attached to the Bible display.
The text is enriched with the NASB's own numbering system, so clicking on a word will view the lexicon and concordance information included in this module.
Of course, you can configure the text display to be as simple or complex as you like. For example. reference marks can be filtered out, italics can be displayed in normal type face, headings need not be displayed etc.
The NASB is my own personal favourite, and I'm very pleased to be able to make it available to RISC OS users.
- - - -
LogosLite is a simple Bible text reader which enables you to quickly look up passages in the translation of your choice.
- - - -
Version 3.22 of the mini-Bible browser, LogosLite, has now been released and is available for FREE download at www.logosword.co.uk
This version includes an important bug fix and an updated installation tool, among other changes.
[First, a big thank-you from us at Vermilion Sands to Stuart Marshall, for his untiring work as csaa moderator over the years. And a big welcome to Andrew Conroy who's taking over the, er, 'reigns' ... can't think of a better way to put it!]
{Thanks for that - Mod.}
And now, the news:
EXIFinfo is a new utility of interest to owners of digital cameras, available from the Vermilion Sands Photodesk resources site
EXIFinfo generates files containing the information hidden inside the EXIF files (JPEGs) produced by digital cameras. The program can make anything from a simple text summary to a web page complete with thumbnail images, and because it uses script files it can be made to produce just about any format you want. It can also provide caption files for the splendid image browser Thump.
It is not useful for ordinary JPEGs, or images of any other kind.
Extensive help is provided, and a simple StrongEd colouring mode for script files is also included in the package.
This is a beta version of the program, and contains bugs -- some known, many doubtless to be discovered. You use it at your own risk!
As always, feedback is welcome. Send your questions, suggestions, bouquets and brickbats to mailto:photodesk@iconbar.com
We would be particularly interested in any cameras/photographs it fails to work with, and (just as important) those that *do* work OK. The program will receive regular updates over the next few weeks, so keep an eye on the site for news.
EXIFinfo can be obtained from http://www.photodesk.iconbar.com/
Following on from Stuart Marshall's announcement that he was to resign as Moderator of comp.sys.acorn.announce, I'd like to take the opportunity to thank Stuart for all his hard work as Moderator of c.s.a.announce since 1997. A lot of changes have happened since then, but Stuart has been there through them all, approving some very important articles which have shaped the future of RISC OS.
As a result of Stuart passing the reigns over to myself, there will be a change of submission address. Please note the new submission addresses below:
Submissions to csaa@owlart.co.uk
Related mail to csaa-request@owlart.co.uk
The spidersoft.co.uk addresses will continue to work for a short period, but after that will bounce. Submissions via the newsgroups will continue to work as before.
Hopefully, this should remove the problems that some people were experiencing when posting their submissions by email. Users who may experience problems in the future can post their announcements directly to my personal address <a.m.conroy@argonet.co.uk> but this does not guarantee prompt service if I am away for a few days. Of course, if you post your article via your news reader rather than email, it should always reach us without any problems. I am currently arrangeing for the auto-acknowledgement of postings, so you may not recieve an acknowledgement immediately. Thanks to Simon John for doing this.
The Charter will shortly be available to read at http://www.owlart.co.uk/csaa/. If you have any suggestions as to what else you think should be on the c.s.a.announce website, please let me know.
I have now added version numbers and dates to all the software of the web page http://www.armclub.org.uk/free to make it a bit easier to see if you have the latest version of the programs.
In the process I noticed that version 1.00 of !VECstat had not been uploaded to the site. The only change from the previous version is the use of an officially allocated SWI chunk for its module.
!VECstat monitors vector call usage on the machine in a grphical window. It is a companion application to !APPstat, !SWIstat and !SERVstat, which monitor Application Wimp Poll codes & timings, SWI calls and Service calls respectively.
ARMalayser version 0.33 is now available from http://www.armclub.org.uk/free
The main problem remaining is that the label generation is single pass so sometimes fails if the target is in the middle of a multi-word construct. Labels in the middle of strings are handled by working back to the word at the beginning of the string and adding an offset, but sometimes can be defeated by non word aligned string start addresses.
The other changes have ensured that in the majority of cases the assembler output results in a functionally equivalent binary to the original after passing through Objasm -ABS and Link -bin. It is not always bit for bit identical as ObjAsm may use a different algorithm for calculating the value and shifts in immediate values, than the compiler/assembler used originally. This results in differences in the binary value of ADR instructions, but identical addresses are referenced.
It is available for RISC OS with a desktop front end, and command line versions for Win32, ARM and x86 Linux.
However once the UK has ratified the EU Copyright directive, the current exemption allowing the reverse engineering of copyrighted software for the purpose of interoperability will be abolished, and such actions will then be illegal.
I request that all RISC OS users read up on the implications of this change in the law and register your protests accordingly. Information can be found here:
http://uk.eurorights.org/issues/eucd/ukimpl/critique_uk_impl.html
Prices are inclusive to anywhere in the World (we use the VAT saved to cover the extra postage for destinations outside Europe)
The CD contains:
Other upgrade prices on:
http://www.iconsupport.demon.co.uk/Prices/Upgrades.html
It is with sadness and regret that as of today I have resigned my post as moderator of comp.sys.acorn.announce.
The recent problems with the group (problems primarily outside of my direct control) have taken more time to solve than I have; and therefore have shown it's time for me to move on.
For those interested, I came on board as backup moderator for Alan Glover back in July 1996 - and was then promoted to moderator in January 1997. In my time with the group I have approved around 2800 messages.
Andrew Conroy joined me as backup moderator back in February 1997 and has done a fantastic job with the group in my absence. It's no secret that Andy has handled just about everything with the group for the past couple of years. As of now, the group is his - please treat him as you've treated me :-) There will some changes to the submission addresses in the next few days, but I'll let Andrew tell you all about that (the spidersoft addresses will continue to function in the short term).
Nick Boalch will continue as backup.
I've had some fantastic times over the years, met many people who regularly post to the group and have been privileged to post some exciting announcements to the Acorn community. The most exciting time for me centred around the release of the StrongARM processor. I also enjoyed two fantastic evenings appearing at both the MAUG and WACG meetings.
I'd like to wish everyone well for the future, let's hope RISC OS lives on for many years to come. :-)
Available NOW.
Simtec Electronics are pleased to announce immediate availablity of their USB interface for RISC OS machines. Basic cards with drivers for mice and keyboards cost £79 plus VAT and carriage from one of our development partners.
Full information on the interface card can be found at www.simtec.co.uk
Details of development partners, supported devices and API information can be found at www.riscos-usb.com
Simtec are specialists in ARM processor designs and have been producing upgrades for the RISC OS market for over ten years. The USB interface is the latest in a series of collaborations with other RISC OS companies, such as the NET100 network interface, RiscStation computers and Stuart Tyrrell's PS2 mouse mini adaptor.
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