|-------------------------- Acorn News Service --------------------------|
| |
| http://www.acornusers.org/ANS/ |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| The Acorn News Service is an independent service. |
| It is in no way connected with, or supported by the Acorn Group Plc. |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| ISSUE 4 5 APRIL 1998 |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Editor: E.Abrahams ------ eytan@acornusers.org |
| Proof Reader: J.Ward ------ john@acornusers.org |
| Webmaster: R.Hesketh ------ richard@acornusers.org |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| To send in your news items please use the ANS website, or e-mail. |
| Send comments directly to ans@acornusers.org |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Contents
--------
1) Editorial
2) General News
3) Commercial News
4) PD/Shareware News
5) Club News
6) How to send in news
7) Free Ads
Editorial
---------
Welcome to another issue of ANS. Welcome to all those new readers.....
Once again I must point out, that for ANS to run successfully, and to be THE
Acorn news point, we must have some support from users. Please, as soon
as you hear of any news send it in! Don't worry if it's too short, or
someone else may have sent it in, send it anyway - it will be greatly
appreciated. See below for details on how to send in your news, or check
out the web site. Many subscriptions are arriving every day, and with so
many people connected to Acorn companies or programming themselves, it
cannot be that hard to get some news together! In the meantime, a big
thankyou to our existing contributors!
Many of you have asked where I live. I live in Manchester, England. Keep on
spreading the word of ANS, and adding an ANS link to your websites. As an
incentive to get news items coming in, you may include a free ad, which will
be put in a free ads section in future issues. These are only to be related
to Acorn computers, but can be anything from promoting your website, to
selling that unwanted Acorn gift! ;-) Please keep it short.
(A separate free ads page will appear shortly on the ANS web site, to save
on-line readers the bother of sifting through the newsletter just to find a
short advert! - WebMaster)
I hope you enjoy this issue. As ANS gets more widely known, we will start
having many exclusive news pieces. In this issue alone, we have about five
exclusive news items. I think the plug in May's Acorn User (available now,
folks!) may help!
Thanks to Richard for constantly updating the web page. Over the next few
weeks, some major changes will be applied......so I was told!
(Ahem! See site news page at http://www.acornusers.org/ANS/ for the lowdown
on updates - the tide of fortune has been against me a bit of late! ;)
- WebMaster)
Bye for now.
Eytan Abrahams,
Editor
General News
------------
1) BBC User Guide on-line
There is now an on-line version of the BBC user guide. Find it, and other
BBC-related documents at:
http://www.nvg.unit.no/bbc/doc/
Or download it direct from:
http://www.nvg.unit.no/bbc/doc/BBCUsersGuide-0.7.zip
2) c.{b/s}.a website
Software on the the c.{b/s}.a website is now available via anonymous FTP. All
software which is on the website is available from the FTP site, and uploads
are allowed.
If you are uploading, please read the text file Welcome.txt first for
conditions.
The URL is:
ftp://ftp.acornusers.org/pub/cbsa/
The website will also be moving from next week to:
http://www.acornusers.org/cbsa/ (looks like we are not the only ones now!)
The FortuneCity site will still be available for the next month at least, but
will not be updated.
3) Seeking programmers...
Theo Markettos is currently designing a hardware device for Acorns which he
hopes to produce commercially. Due to a lack of free time, he is now
looking for a programmer to help write some of the driver software for it.
A good knowledge of ARM code and Risc OS programming in general is essential,
and some C, low-level RISC OS or device driver knowledge would be a distinct
advantage. Reasonable e-mail access is also a necessity.
Anyone interested should contact him at:
theomarkettos@letterbox.com
Please give details of any previous programs (small or large, released or
not) and as much information as possible about your Acorn(s) hardware setup.
4) Acorn Arcade Updates
Since moving to a commercial domain, Acorn Arcade (http://www.acornarcade.com/)
now have accurate statistics for the use of the recently founded
Acorn Gaming Paradise.
They are averaging around *60 MEGABYTES* of data transferred PER DAY from
their vast downloads section and the site in general, with around 700
successful page requests per day.
There's no mistaking where to go!
Latest updates include:
- ** NEW **
The only dedicated Acorn Quake pages, including information on how to
get the free patches from the internet working with Peter Teichmann's
ArcQuake
- ** NEW **
Full review of R-Comp's Doom
- The full, bugfixed download of the Exodus Demo from Artex
- The very latest news and rumours
- The biggest, categorised collection of Acorn games specific links on the
Internet. The chances are, it's here!
- Reviews and reliable downloads from their own server of the very best in
free and shareware games
- The official Destiny fanclub
- Interviews with prominent scene figures, including games authors
- Full and free technical support network
Commercial News
---------------
1) IMS lowers GeoFox prices
IMS have been able to reduce their pricing on GeoFox machines.
This means that a 16Mb GeoFox now costs the same as a 4Mb Psion 5 (both
at ukp 439.95 inc).
All GeoFox and Psion machines bought through IMS come with a free copy
of their Acorn / EPOC connectivity software PsiRisc (usually ukp 44.95).
All the new prices can be found on:
http://www.ims-cdc.demon.co.uk/palmtop/
2) New version of SWARM for PCJoy
Matthew Bloch has released a new version of SWARM, including full support for
analogue joysticks, which can be used via PCJoy available from Stuart Tyrrell
Developments.
The new version of SWARM is available from Matthew's website:
http://www.soup-kitchen.demon.co.uk/
...or as an emailed upgrade to registered PCJoy users from the Stuart Tyrrell
Developments website. Replacement disks containing the game will be mailed to
registered PCJoy users on request.
Anybody buying PCJoy will receive a copy of the game with their interface.
Stuart Tyrrell Developments would like to thank Matthew for his time and
effort in developing the new version of the game, and for his kind
permission for STD to distribute it.
3) WebsterXL and JavaScript
The next version of WebsterXL will support JavaScript (at least partially)
under RiscOS. This update will be provided free of charge to all registered
users.
The price of the product has now gone up to 30ukp, due to the amount of extra
work that has been put in to make this the first JavaScript browser for
RISC OS. The site licence price has also risen by 5ukp to 60ukp.
The browser is currently being tested on the ArgoSphere site (highly
JavaScript orientated), of which most now operates correctly. Clearly there
is still more work to be done, but RISC OS users will no longer be blocked
from the many JS sites.
Please note that, since JavaScript is built directly into the main workings
of the browser, it will work with ALL internet stacks, including Termite.
This is in contrast to Java, which is supported through the Acorn plugin
interface, which only works under full Acorn Internet compliant stacks (ie.
not Termite).
WebsterXL works with all RISC OS Internet stacks, including Argonet, ANT,
Termite, Acornet, Intertalk and Acorn's beta stack.
4) Ovation Pro mailing list has moved
Please note that due to changes at Beebug the Ovation Pro mailing list has
moved.
List messages should be posted to:
ovationp-l@pilling.demon.co.uk (NB: the last letter is an ell not a one)
To subscribe to the list send an email to:
maillist@pilling.demon.co.uk
with the subject line:
SIGNON OVATIONP-L
To unsubscribe to the list send an email to:
maillist@pilling.demon.co.uk
with the Subject: line
SIGNOFF OVATIONP-L
The current list of subscribers has been transferred and any stray messages
will be manually sent to the new list, but this was only reliable until
3rd April 1998 - thereafter messages may have been lost.
There is no need to resubscribe.
5) Changes to Xemplar FTP site
Xemplar's FTP site has had a facelift to make it more browser friendly. In
addition to the original URL...
ftp://ftp.xemplar.co.uk/
...users may like to point their browser at a new URL...
http://www.xemplar.co.uk/ftp/
...where all files may now be accessed via a standard webpage interface.
Any feedback relating to the interface should be addressed to
sholroyd@xemplar.co.uk
6) New EconetA module available
As a result of a collaborative effort involving Acorn Computers Ltd, Xemplar
Education Ltd and Design IT, there is a new version of the DCI4 EconetA
module (4.05) available for download from either:
ftp://ftp.xemplar.co.uk/pub/acorn/networking/econetA.arc
...or...
http://www.xemplar.co.uk/ftp/acorn/networking/econetA.arc
The recoding was carried out by Design IT with the support and cooperation of
Acorn Computers Ltd.
EconetA is a driver module that allows Econet and Nexus client computers to
act as full TCP/IP clients as well as enabling gatewaying between the above
systems and standard Ethernet installations.
Users who download the new module should read both the license conditions as
well as the disclaimers carefully before installing it on their systems.
Feedback regarding the contents of the Xemplar FTP site should be addressed
to sholroyd@xemplar.co.uk
7) Cheaper digital cameras from Spacetech
Spacetech Ltd are pleased to announce a drastic price reduction in their
range of Olympus Digital Cameras.
The Olympus C420L digital camera which has a normal retail price of ukp499.99
including VAT is now available from Spacetech at only ukp399 including VAT
and the PhotoLink software for Acorn computers.
The Olympus C820L digital camera which has a normal retail price of ukp899.99
including VAT is now available from Spacetech at only ukp699 including VAT
and the PhotoLink software for Acorn computers.
The Olympus C1400L high-res digital zoom SLR remains unchanged in price at
ukp1299.99. Whilst the supplies of these top of the range cameras are
limited, Olympus Optical Co. (UK) Ltd are committed to ensuring that
Spacetech get a substantial share of the stocks that become available.
Apologies to customers who have been kept waiting.
Chris Hornby, Managing Director said: We hope that this reduction of up to
ukp200 will give a considerable boost to our sales. At last these widely
acclaimed, high-quality cameras are becoming affordable. We have already
seen an increased interest from schools who are working to a tight budget.
They understand that purchasing the cameras from us gives them a considerable
advantage because they are able to use them, not only on their PCs and Macs,
but on their Acorns too.
Both the C820L and the C420L are in a compact camera format, have an LCD
review and view finding screen as well as an optical viewfinder. They also
have autofocus, flash, video and serial digital output. The CCD resolution of
the C420L is 640x480 pixels, and that of the C820L is 1024x768.
The C1400L has a resolution of 1280x1024 and has a built in motorised zoom
lens in an SLR format.
All three cameras have advanced facilities for linking with the host computer
and take the same type of removable smart card memory, either 2,4 or 8MB. All
come bundled with free PhotoLink software.
Spacetech are at http://www.spacetech.co.uk/
8) Budget digital camera software updated
IMS have announced that the software for the Mustek VDC100 digital camera has
been updated. New features include:
* Improved image quality
* Image processing, which allows adjustment of:
- brightness
- contrast
- colour balance
* Faster saving of JPEGs
The Mustek VDC100 with Acorn software is still available for just ukp100
(plus p&p and VAT = ukp124.55). Further details of this high-resolution,
low-cost camera can be found on their website:
http://www.ims-cdc.demon.co.uk/
The new version of the software will be sent out automatically to
registered users.
PD/Shareware News
-----------------
1) Frogger
A version of the classic BBC game, Frogger, is now available for A-series
and RiscPC machines. It features great graphics, sound effects, 10 levels
and numerous other features. Frogger is free, and can be downloaded from:
http://compsoc.man.ac.uk/~ulkesh/peter/acorn/frogger.htm
2) New version of DigitalCD with alpha version of TimPlayer
Version 2.28 of the desktop music player DigitalCD has been uploaded.
There is not much new in the player itself (just a few bug fixes), but the
first alpha version of the new TimPlayer module has been included.
TimPlayer is a soundtrack player that currently supports the following
formats:
- standard MODs
- PC MODs (with more than 4 channels, already found a 28 channels one)
- S3M (ADPCM samples and AdLib samples not supported)
- ITs (a few) with no instrument mode, no packed samples (v 2.14 and above)
Planned features (top priority):
- instrument mode and envelopes, which means more ITs and XM
- saving songs as WAVs, useful for slow machines
- support for 16-bit hardware (SWIs description and tester required)
!DigitalCD has been setup to use TimPlayer for the relevant file types,
so start DigitalCD and drop your files on its music files control panel.
While playing you can run the View program which provides a little
visualisation of the music (RISC OS >= 3.5 only).
The main features are biased toward sound quality rather than speed:
- internal usage of 16-bit linear buffers mapped after mixing in 8-bit log
buffers using all the significant bits: 12 instead of the usual 8-bit
table (quiet sounds are much clearer).
- no multiplications approximated by shifts
- sample interpolation
- mixing of up to 64 channels
- patterns with up to 256 rows
- support for multiple effects on the same channel
- timing of song position and length
- Precalculated Gain Control (an attempt to boost the volume of quiet songs)
Download !DigitalCD from:
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Horizon/4471/dev.htm
3) CDViewer 0.07
The new version of CDViewer is now out.
CDViewer is a replacement for CDFSFiler and provides extra features, such as
a built in CD player application.
The 'Not a toolbox task' bug has been fixed and there are some new features,
such as a small CD player window.
CDViewer is available from:
http://www.brunel.ac.uk/~cs97jjp3/Software.html
4) !Digimail
For those of you who used to use the Digital Databank BBS and used the OLR
!Digimail, it has now been updated and bugs fixed (hopefully).
If you call BBS's and would like to give this program a try, then you can
download it either from the BBS or direct from:
http://www.arcticbb.demon.co.uk/
Please read the licence before use.
Bug reports direct to marc@mlveary.demon.co.uk.
5) Zap update
Zap version 1.39 beta 10 has been released.
Download it now from:
http://www.mandala.co.uk/zap/
6) FSI_Batch 0.82
The latest version of this program has just been released. FSI_Batch is a
frontend to that brilliant program !ChangeFSi and allows you to convert lots
of files rather than just one at a time.
This latest version has a slightly changed control panel, and allows you to
link the x and y scale factors.
You can also apply a filter to all the input files, to allow only known
graphic formats to be processed. This permits you to drop the contents of
a whole directory onto the program, !ReadMe's and all, and only process
known sprites.
FSI_Batch now also displays the command string sent to !ChangeFSI. By
pressing the override button, experienced users can add all the extra
commands that !FSI_Batch does not yet cover. Download it now from:
http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/tudor/
7) !PDF version 0.72a
A new version of !PDF is out.
!PDF is now at version 0.72a. New features are:
- Support for publicly encrypted PDF files
- based on xpdf 0.71a (many fixes)
- URL support
The !PDF page has moved to a new location. The page is now at:
http://people.a2000.nl/lsmiers/
For those who don't know, !PDF is a PDF file viewer for Risc OS. PDF
(Portable Document Format) is a file format designed by Adobe and is
currently much used for publications across the Internet.
8) Replacement of Pinboard Iconizer
After some months of experimenting IconizeBar has been finished. This is a
replacement of the Iconizer built into Pinboard. As the name indicates, it
collects the iconized windows in one bar/window on the top of the screen.
It has some more options (like using sm!spritename if there is no ic_sprite
present), which should make use of IconizeBar really easy.
IconizeBar is shareware and can be downloaded from the Tabsoft website:
http://www.dune.demon.nl/tabsoft/
9) dBoxTools (utility) and !Brew (Guavac front end)
dBoxTools beta release 0.00e is now available from:
http://www.armage.demon.co.uk/software/dBoxTools.html
!Brew, an application using dBoxTools, is also available as a beta release
from the same page. It is a front end for !Guavac.
dBoxTools provides advanced dBox functionality. It takes a toolbox resources
file and controls the objects and components within it according to a set of
rules in a definition file. In this respect it is similar to Acorn's
FrontEnd module. However, unlike the FrontEnd module, it can provide a
service to other applications and pass the results back to another
application by a variety of methods.
At present, strings can be built from the contents of the dialogue boxes
(with automatic string substitution) and executed as commands. Other actions
implemented are quit, hide, show, no more and assign to a gadget.
Coming shortly will be the passing of data to a client application using
messages and via Wimp_ProcessKey. Also planned for immediate implementation
is the loading and saving of configuration files.
The archive contains the application, the manual and the source. It can
be used freely, but please read the copyright information in the manual.
10) Jaw Wars
Jaw Wars is a point and click arcade game being written for the
following platforms:
Acorn - native 32-bit version; currently in Basic, but may use GameSuite
in the final release
PC/Mac - in Macromedia Director 6 format, possibly Shockwave format for
playing over the Internet
At present, the Acorn version is the only one available for download, as the
Director edition is too early in its gestation to be playable.
Point your web browser at...
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Pines/2760/jawwars.html
...where you can download a copy and any future updates. You will also find
screenshots, and information on the current status of the game.
11) Updated Software from Skullsoft
New versions of SkullCrusher and WFRP have been released.
SkullCrusher is an archiving program, it supports Squash and LZH compression
as well as Blowfish encryption and file splitting. This new version (1.00)
fixes several minor bugs that where present in the previous beta release.
The new version of WFRP also fixes some small problems, and has improved
templates.
These can be downloaded from:
http://www.eganc.demon.co.uk/skullsoft/
Club News
---------
1) April User Group Events
Here are the forthcoming attractions and meetings for the Acorn User Groups
in April:
6th - Derbyshire Acorn Risc Club meeting - Fabis Computing
10th - Welwyn/Hatfield Computer Club meeting
11th - Arche Acorn User Club meeting
14th - Liverpool Acorn Usergroup meeting - Acorn with Risc PC II
15th - Northwest London Computer Club meeting
15th - Surrey and Sussex Acorn User Group meeting - AGM
20th - Southampton Acorn User Group meeting
24th - Welwyn/Hatfield Computer Club meeting
28th - Blackpool Computer Club meeting
28th - Bottisham Acorn User Group meeting - AGM
29th - Manchester Acorn User Group meeting - Mike Cook
30th - Bristol Acorn User Group - Peter Bondar from Acorn
For additional dates, and more details on all the Acorn User Groups, visit
the Association of Acorn User Groups website at:
http://www.argonet.co.uk/scs/AAUG/
2) Liverpool University Acorn Users Society
For those in the Liverpool area, there is now an official Acorn Users Society
at Liverpool University, so if you're a student using or interested in
Acorns, or live in the Liverpool area and wish to meet other enthusiastic
Acorn users then drop John Bland, the club secretary, a line at:
pp0u4064@liv.ac.uk
They have links to the current Liverpool Acorn User Group but at the moment
they operate as a separate group.
They hope to promote the use of Acorn computers in education (primary,
secondary and tertiary), act as a source of knowledge in areas such as
programming, networking and hardware and generally promote the Acorn platform
to the Liverpool community.
How to send in news
-------------------
To send in your news items, simply include the following information, and
send it to:
ans@acornusers.org
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
First name:
Surname:
E-mail address:
Subject of item (Person, company, and/or product):
Subject's contact details (E-mail and/or WWW addresses):
Source of information (Include relevant e-mail and/or WWW addresses):
Text of news item (Please be as brief as possible!):
Your Free Ad (If required):
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Free Ads
--------
Coming next month! Remember, to send in a free ad, please send in a news
item as well.
*** End of ANS - Issue 4 ***
*** Updated: Tue 21st April 1998 ***