Acorn User 10/AU_CD10.iso/Archived/Websites/ANS/ans.arc/archive/i11_text

Text File | 2000-06-01 | 28KB | 847 lines

 |-------------------------- 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 11                                                  12 July 1998 |
 |------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 |         Editor: E.Abrahams    ------  [e-mail]             |
 |         Webmaster: R.Hesketh  ------  [e-mail]           |
 |------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 |    To send in your news items use the ANS website, or e-mail them      |
 |                 using the layout explained below.                      |
 |            Send comments directly to [e-mail]                |
 |------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 |    > > Random site pick this issue: http://www.alsystems.co.uk < <     |
 |------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 |            ANS.....The fastest growing Acorn mailing list              |
 |------------------------------------------------------------------------|

 Contents
 --------
 1) Editorial
 2) General News
 3) Commercial News
 4) PD/Shareware News
 5) Club News
 6) How to Send in News




Editorial
---------

Here we are again, into another issue of ANS.  This time, not only are we
saying hello again to all our current members, but also to over 100 new
people who have joined ANS in the last two weeks.  This was due to an error
on our part being realised.  People who were joining ANS by e-mailing:

  [e-mail]

with "subscribe ans" in the subject line, were not being subscribed.  This
is because the "subscribe ans" is meant to be in the BODY of the message.
Now that problem is solved, our membership numbers are shooting up.


Thank you for all your support.  Please remember to tell other Acorn users
about ANS, put a link to ANS on your website, and keep sending in those
news items!

If all goes well, a very large competition should soon be held for all ANS
members, with loads of goodies!  This mainly relies upon companies'
generosity.....we will see!

Enjoy!

Eytan Abrahams,
Editor




General News
------------

1) Acorn Arcade - On the Dark Side

A new section has been added to Acorn Arcade.

On the Dark Side is a section devoted to PC and console gaming, but from
an Acorn point of view.

As well as all the important news and weekly releases, On the Dark Side
also features in-depth feature articles.  The current features are:

  * Dune 2000
  * An ARM Inside
  * Sega's New Dream Machine
  * Tomb Raider III

On the Dark Side can be found by visiting the front page of
Acorn Arcade, at:

  http://www.acornarcade.com/



2) Programs wanted

Alan Wrigley is putting together a compilation of Java and Ovation Pro
applets which will be going on a magazine disc in the near future.

If anyone has any useful applets that they would like to submit for this,
please get in touch with him as soon as possible.

Payment will be made for any that are used, the exact amount depending
on the individual applet:

  http://www.cybervillage.co.uk/alan/




Commercial News
---------------

1) Job Vacancies at LOOKsystems

LOOKsystems are seeking talented, creative software engineers to service
their existing and expanding business and to develop a *major* six-figure
RISC OS based project on behalf of a UK plc.

They are offering a unique opportunity to contribute to a ground-breaking
project with the potential for high profile, national exposure.

Now based in Falmouth (Cornwall), LOOKsystems was created in 1991 and since
then has become renown for producing high-quality, innovative products for
the RISC OS desktop market - with typically 'Acorn-friendly' customer
service to match!

The company has also thrived on developing and licensing a wide range of
RISC OS solutions to customers both in and out of the software industry.

The ideal candidate should have a *detailed* working knowledge of RISC OS,
experience of developing RISC OS compliant applications, and fluency in at
least two of the following languages:

  * C/C++
  * ARM BASIC
  * ARM Assembler

Experience of any of the following areas would be advantageous:

  * Advanced Data Structures
  * Database Management Systems Design
  * Database Design
  * User Interface Design
  * Highly Graphical Displays
  * Geographical Displays
  * Systems Analysis and Design
  * EDI Standards
  * (Inter)networking and TCP/IP
  * I/O Scheduling and device drivers


Initially working on-site, you will form part of a small, highly-focused
team.  You will be responsible for achieving demanding personal deadlines and
for maintaining high quality standards.  In return, we offer an informal and
flexible environment with the possibility of working from home (albeit with
regular progress reviews).

Personal time management will be extremely important.

Applicants must:

  * be able to work on their own as well as in a team
  * have a 'can-do', positive attitude
  * have a natural problem-solving inclination
  * be highly conscientious towards their work
  * have creative flair

Above all, we are looking for committed, talented individuals.

Whilst full time positions based in Falmouth are on offer, part-time posts,
temporary work or contract/teleworkers will be considered.

Salary will be negotiated according to experience and may range from
10,000 to 25,000 ukp pro-rata.

Who should apply?

  * Computer graduates with some experience of RISC OS programming
  * Programmers with a proven track record in the Acorn industry
  * Enthusiasts with an exceptional RISC OS software portfolio
  * Temporary work for high-calibre enthusiasts/undergraduates will
    be considered

Please send or e-mail your current CV with a covering letter/note to:

  LOOKsystems, 15 Grovehill Drive, Falmouth, Cornwall, TR11 3HS

  Tel/Fax: [phone]

First-round, informal interviews may be conducted by telephone (or in
exceptional circumstances by e-mail) with an invitation to a formal interview
in Falmouth to follow.

The LOOKsystems website can be found at:

  http://www.looksystems.co.uk/




2) Epson Stylus Photo driver from Spacetech

Updated PhotoReal Printer Drivers (V1.2) now available from Spacetech Ltd,
including support for the Epson Stylus Photo (other six-ink printers in the
pipeline).

Spacetech have announced, that after much work and testing, they have
produced a new version of PhotoLink which uses an entirely new algorithm
for rasterising bitmap printer dumps.  This results in improved quality
printouts, and more economic use of photoreal inks, as well as improved
performance on glossy paper.  In addition, support for printers using six
colour inks is now incorporated, initially for the Epson Photo Stylus, but
work is also progressing on the Canon BJC7000.

The driver makes use of the same Colour Management System (CMS) normally
found in PhotoDesk to produce high quality four-colour separations from the
output of any RISC OS application, and included with the printer driver is a
calibration utility to allow the experienced user to manipulate the colour
interpretation of the application.

Printers supported so far are the Canon BJC4200, BJC4300, BJC4550, BJC4650
and the Epson Stylus Photo.

PhotoReal is supplied free of charge with printers purchased from Spacetech.
It is available for 69ukp (inc. VAT) to users who have already purchased a
supported printer elsewhere.  Existing users may upgrade free of charge via
the internet, or for a small handling charge by post.

PhotoReal is the latest addition to Spacetech's growing range of photographic
products for Acorn computers.  Spacetech have developed PhotoReal as an
extension to the standard Acorn printer driver system, in order to provide
enhanced support for the emerging range of photo-realistic printers.

PhotoReal utilises an alternative approach to that normally used for the
reproduction of 'simple' computer generated colour graphics, which is
better suited to the more 'sensitive' nature of colours found in real
photographic images.  PhotoReal therefore provides you with an alternative
graphics mode that can be selected when printing photographic documents using
the latest generation of Canon bubble jet printers equipped with Photo
Realism ink cartridges, or the Epson Photo Stylus with its six-ink system.

Now that more and more real photographic images are being brought onto the
RISC OS desktop, thanks to products like PhotoLink and Photodesk, PhotoReal
can be used to provide inexpensive hard copy that does justice to the images
being handled.

  http://www.spacetech.co.uk/



3) Alsystems Power-tec Year 2000 Statement

Alsystems have announced that all Power-tec products will function
correctly until the year 2038.

!BackUp is the only Power-tec application that makes any real use of dates,
which are stored in UNIX time format (i.e. seconds from 1970), and will not
be affected by any date problems until 2038.

The flash ROM reprogramming function of !PowerMgr, which stores 'old' flash
ROM image names in a date format are based on a date stored inside the
image and so will not be affected.

All other timing-dependant code uses the MonotonicTime function in RISC OS,
and thus has no year 2000 dependencies.

If you have further technical questions please e-mail:

  [e-mail]



4) New CDFSFiler beta release

PEP Associates have announced the availability of the fourth beta release
of CDFSFiler.  It had been hoped that this release would, in actual fact, be
the real product rather than another beta release.  However, it has been
discovered that using CDFSFiler with Cumana's SCSI II card causes serious
system failure, so it was felt that it would be better to keep CDFSFiler at
the beta stage until the problem can be resolved.

This beta copy will now expire on 1st October 1998.  CDFSFiler can be
downloaded from:

  http://www.pep-assoc.co.uk/



5) Dr Smiths Professional C Development Toolkit

Just a quick note to announce the availability of Dr Smiths Professional C
Development Toolkit release 1.55.

For those who don't know, Dr Smiths is a suite of utilities for users of
Acorn C v4 and above (Desktop C and C/C++), consisting of 3 main sections:

  1) MemCheck: Compile your program with MemCheck and it automatically checks
     all reads and writes from memory to catch common C problems like stray
     pointers, overflowing arrays etc.

  2) HierProf: Produces Hierarchical profiles showing precisely where your
     program is spending its time.

  3) Various C utilities for manipulating libraries, AOF, AIF, header files,
     makefiles etc.

This latest release of the professional version solves some problems with
using the software with C v4, and also greatly speeds the operation of
MemCheck with many blocks of memory.

The professional version itself builds upon the old 'standard' version by
adding support for both Module and C++ code.

Upgrades from previous releases of the professional version are free on
receipt of two blank, formatted 800K ADFS E-format discs and an SSAE with
a covering note - see website for address.

Upgrades from the standard version cost just 20ukp (plus VAT).

For more information or a demo copy, see:

  http://www.wss.co.uk/



6) Q-tec

Once again, their site has changed!  Pop in for special offers, news and
their personal rants.

Check out their new range of high-quality, low-cost monitor options.
Amazing prices for 15", 17", 19" and 21" monitors!

  e.g. 17" 1280x1024 (3 year On-Site) 229.99 ukp (inc. VAT) - wow!

RAMtastic prices (!):

  e.g. 16mb SIMMs for under 15ukp (inc. VAT)
       32mb SIMMs for under 27ukp (inc. VAT)

Take a look for yourself, at...

  http://www.q-tec.demon.co.uk/



7) Visual Liturgy for !HolyBible

The CofE Liturgy is currently published by Church House Publishing as a
stand-alone product for PCs, called Visual Liturgy

The content has been compiled as a module for use within ExpLAN's HolyBible
software on the Acorn platform, but this module is currently unavailable
for purchase.

Following a meeting between ExpLAN (representing the Christian Acorn Users
Group) and Church House in London on Friday 26th June, a strategy for its
release has been proposed in a formal announcement made at the Acorn S.E.
Show on 27th June:

  "Church House Publishing are actively pursuing the proposal that it
   publishes modules for ExpLAN's HolyBible software.  This will allow
   Acorn users access to the ASB and Common Worship lectionaries and
   also similar amounts of authorized C of E liturgy that appears in
   Visual Liturgy."

  "It is clear at this stage that it will not be called Acorn Visual
   Liturgy and we hope to have more news during the summer once copyright
   and other legal issues have been cleared."

To clarify this, the title "Visual Liturgy", and the computer code bearing
this name are subject to copyright, and are not wholly owned by Church
House Publishing.

The liturgical content is licensed for use within Visual Liturgy only.

Since the HolyBible module must now be re-named, it cannot be covered by
the existing licence agreements.  This licensing work will therefore be
repeated for the new module.

Further announcements on this subject will be made by the Christian Acorn
User Group.  Those wishing to join the the group and be kept informed should
contact the organiser, Rev Colin Randall via e-mail:

  [e-mail]



8) ECS NewSaver

ECS has released a timebombed copy of its first commercial Acorn software
product.  Aimed at educational, home and office users, NewSaver smoothes the
operation of the desktop.  When it comes to saving a file, even the most
experienced users often wish there was a window open ready to take saved
work.  Everyone from Special Needs users to fully competent (Acorn) office
staff will find NewSavers features a great help - as will teachers, who need
never lose students work again. Try it and see. NewSaver provides default
save directories for any number of people or subjects.  The current user's
name may be displayed as a window anywhere on screen.  You simply drag a file
on to it to open the directory.

The timebombed copy of NewSaver will stop working after 30th July, but all
the saved files can still be easily found and used as normal.

To upgrade to the full version, send a cheque for 29 ukp (inc. VAT and P&P),
payable to ECS Ltd, at:

  ECS (Nottingham) Ltd
  Second Floor
  107 Carlton Road
  Nottingham
  NG3 2FB

Take a look at:

  http://innotts.co.uk/~ecsltd/




9) A brace of new products from Cumana

Cumana have announced the release of Acorn drivers for the SyQuest SparQ
parallel port drive.  The SparQ drive is a 1GB removable drive unit which
currently is only available through the parallel port.  One 1GB cartridge
can hold over 650 floppies, 1000+ pictures, 100 minutes of audio, or a backup
of your hard drive.  The drive is easy to install using Cumana's innovative
!BootPP software.

SparQ 1.0GB Parallel external (Acorn and PC software) with 1 cartridge
costs 199 ukp (plus VAT).  The !BootPP software is available on its own, if
you already have the drive,  at 60.00 ukp (plus VAT).  Extra cartridges are
35 ukp (plus VAT).

  -----

Cumana have also announced the release of the Panasonic PD/CD parallel port
drive to add to their "ProTeus" range.  The PD drive combines a 650MB
cartridge removable drive unit as well as 6x CD drive.

The drive requires a bi-directional (ECP/EPP) printer port.  The "ProTeus"
package consists of the drive, connecting cable, Acorn and PC software and a
free 650MB cartridge, priced at 299 ukp (plus VAT).  Extra cartridges cost
26 ukp (plus VAT).

  -----

Finally, they have announced the release of !CDBlaze for the Acorn platform.
This highly sophisticated but easy to use software allows Acorn users with
supported CD-R drives to create their own CD's.  The software supports
multiple CD-RW drives, ISO-9660, CDFS and Joliet file system, drag and drop
ISO image builder, multi-session (including appending data to an existing
session) as well as "write on the fly" which overcomes the problem of
creating large ISO images on hard disc first.

Support for more drives is being added all the time, so please contact
Cumana if you have a drive that isn't supported.  Support is also forthcoming
for parallel port and ATAPI (IDE) CD-R drives, so watch this space.

The price of the software alone is 79.99 ukp (plus VAT and P&P).

Further details:

  * CD-R and CD-RW Supported
  * Supports SCSI-3 MMC compatible drives
  * Supports Multiple CD-R/CD-RW drives (can only write one at a time)
  * Integrated drag and drop ISO 9660 image builder
  * Automatically converts Wave and Replay formatted audio files to raw
    data when writing
  * Writes Audio and Data tracks
  * Background writing
  * Existing CD-ROM drives supported as readers either using CDFS or
    direct SCSI access
  * Play or read audio tracks as Replay file or WAVE files in real time
    (providing the drive supports accurate audio extraction)

Cumana CDBlaze Internal SCSI CD-R drive with CDBlaze - 349 ukp
Cumana CDBlaze External SCSI CD-R drive with CDBlaze - 399 ukp
CDBlaze Software - 79.99 ukp (call for currently supported drives)
CD-R blank discs (box of 10) - 19.95 ukp

For a free demo copy please e-mail:

  [e-mail]

...remembering to include you name, address and company name (if applicable)
so the software can be can registered to you, and a full version sent on if
you like what you see.

  -----

For further information please contact:

  [e-mail]

or telephone:

  [phone]



10) A prioritised interrupt system for RISC OS

This is to announce a module that provides a general prioritised interrupt
system for RISC OS.  Developed by Warm Silence Software and Steven Singer,
this is the first time such a system has been available, radically
improving the potential performance of computationally intensive real-time
tasks (such as sound/video handling or Internet services).

The problem
~~~~~~~~~~~

Consider the situation of several interrupt tasks running at the same time.
When one thread is called, it has a choice:

  1) It could run without reenabling interrupts, risking holding up the whole
     machine, including more time-critical threads.

  2) It could reenable interrupts, but then risks being interrupted by
     another, lower-priority thread.

  3) It could trigger a callback to do the real work on that, but has
     no guarantee when the callback will actually get serviced.

As the demands of modern computing layer more and more real-time tasks
onto a typical machine, scheduling problems such as these become harder and
harder to resolve.  (Consider a MIDI synth playing the background music
from a website fetched from the Internet, with a multitasking movie playing
from local disc with a DMA SCSI card!)

The solution
~~~~~~~~~~~~

The CallBackAfterInterrupt (CBAI) module allows many interrupt tasks to be
registered at different priorities, and ensures that no lower priority task
ever interrupts one at the same or higher priority.

This module was produced in response to direct problems with efficiently
handling multimedia playback under RISC OS, and has provided a simple, easy
to understand and maintain solution.

Where to get it
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The authors have decided to make the documentation and module available
free for evaluation purposes to any interested developer.  If a developer
wishes to distribute the module with software based on it, then a license
will be required.

For more information and a copy of the documentation/module, please contact
them at:

  [e-mail]

or by post:

  Robin Watts
  Warm Silence Software
  P.O. Box 28
  Woodstock
  Oxfordshire
  OX20 1XX



11) TEK, and other news from Artex Software

TEK (for Network Computer and RiscPC)

Interesting news about the realtime strategy game TEK can be found
on the Artex webpage:

  http://www.artex.oaktree.co.uk/

...along with news about other Artex products.  The TEK section will be
updated regularly.

Now that the graphical adventure game Ankh has been released, the website
also contains an Ankh support area, where you will find lots of information
about the game in the future.  At the moment, the latest Ankh updates can be
found there.

If you or your company are interested in information about Artex NC releases
please contact:

  [e-mail]



12) Jaffa Software Website

The site contains details of Jaffa's WimpWorks integrated development
environment for RISC OS, and their development suite for PIC microchips.

Information on the WimpWorks mailing list can be found there, as well as an
interesting comparison between Jaffa Software's own WimpWorks and Clares'
WimpBASIC.

WWBounce & WWHouse are two applications (written in WimpWorks) which
demonstrate client/server technology.  WWHouse is the server - many clients
(WWBounce) can be started, and when windows overlap the ball will bounce
from one to another!

Check it all out at:

  http://www.jaffasoft.co.uk/



13) All-new Fabis Computing Website

The Fabis computing Web Site has now been updated and features:

  * Latest info, full product details and downloadable demos
    for EasyFont Pro, EasyClip and Recycler

  * The latest upgrades for existing users

  * Online registration to receive the latest news and updates

  * Easy 'button bar' navigation

  * Online ordering system

  * NEW LOWER PRICES!


So take a look at:

  http://www.fabis.demon.co.uk/



14) ESP MIDI and Sound Programmer's Guide

The ESP MIDI and Sound Programmer's Guide is now available.

It contains full programming information on the following modules:

  * MIDI (Version 5)
  * MIDISupport
  * SharedSound
  * RealTime
  * MIDIPlay
  * SamplePlayer

There are also SWI and *Command details for each module and some example
code.  The guide also covers information required for high-level activities
such as playing MIDI or sample files, as well as low-level programming such
as writing MIDISupport drivers and sample effects drivers.

The guide costs 15 ukp and can be ordered by phone, fax or email in the
usual way.  Further details are available on the ESP website, or a catalogue
can be sent on request.

  ESP, 21 Beech Lane, West Hallam, Derbyshire, DE7 6GP, UK

  Tel: [phone]   Fax: [phone]

  E-mail: [e-mail]

  Web:  http://www.cybervillage.co.uk/acorn/esp/



15) Octopus Systems Website

Octopus Systems have revamped their website:

  http://www.octosys.co.uk/

Nearly all of the pages have been updated, and the site has the latest news
on Teletext+ and Caller Display products as well as lots of other useful
information:

  http://www.octosys.co.uk/cid.html      Caller Display
  http://www.octosys.co.uk/ttx.html      Teletext+
  http://www.octosys.co.uk/java.html     Acorn Java - an introduction
  http://www.octosys.co.uk/phb.html      Phoebe news
  http://www.octosys.co.uk/newnt.html    Help for new Internet users
  http://www.octosys.co.uk/web.html      Guide for creating Web pages
  http://www.octosys.co.uk/links.html    Useful Acorn and Internet links
  http://www.octosys.co.uk/soft.html     Software development service
  http://www.octosys.co.uk/srch.html     Powerful search page




PD/Shareware News
-----------------

1) id3 Tag Editor

Version 0.04 (Last time I looked, anyway! RH) of !id3edit, a simple id3-tag
editor for Layer 3 MPEG audio files is available at:

  http://www.rz.tu-ilmenau.de/~yahoo/id3/



2) ECS - more shareware

  Inkey - Real-time display of the inkey code of the last button pressed.

  NewApp9 - Shows the time and the current free memory in the same window.
            For details on how it works and how to alter it yourself see the
            Archimedes World WIMP programming series.

Take a look at:

  http://innotts.co.uk/~ecsltd/

If you are interested in education, pentominoes and MyWorld screens, have a
look at:

  http://innotts.co.uk/~sranthony/

...as well.



3) FileFind 1.24

FileFind version 1.24 (released 4th July 1998) is available at:

  http://www.id-software.co.at/

FileFind is a utility for finding files and contents of files.

It searches recursively into a specified directory (and archives)
for the given filename or contents.

With the latest version you can:

  * search for contents using conditional operators like AND, OR and NOT
  * save search results
  * save and load options
  * use wildcards for filenames like "id*ware"
  * show search results in a separate window

The program is most useful when used with an editor which supports
throwback.  The search results will be shown inside the editor from where
you can open files directly.

FileFind is shareware, with a registration fee of 10 ukp.




Club News
---------

1) Seeking all New Zealand schools

The Wellington Acorn Computer Club website is trying to compile a list of
schools in New Zealand that use Acorn equipment in some way.

This information is being used for the sole purpose of putting it on the
club's website, so that other Acorn schools can contact them if they wish
to share ideas, and also to have a public display of Acorn-based schools to
let the world know that Acorn in NZ is *not* dead, contrary to popular
belief!

Due to New Zealand Privacy laws, you should specifically state in your e-mail
that the site is allowed to publish this information.

The WACC pages are at:

  http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/pbrowne/WACC/



2) Southampton Acorn Users Group

The next meeting of the Southampton Acorn Users Group will take place at
Itchen College, Middle Road, Sholing, Southampton, between 1900hrs and
2100hrs on Monday, 13th July 1998.  All are welcome, beginners, experienced
or undecided.  Please pass the message on, and bring friends!  For further
information, directions, even possible transport, please contact either:

  Dave Higton  [phone]

   or

  Ted Lacey    [phone]



3) Derbyshire Acorn Risc Club (DARC) Meetings

The next DARC meeting is on Monday, 13th July 1998 at 1930hrs.  Barry
Thompson will be demonstrating "scanning and all that" (including OCR with
Sleuth 3), and Paul Mellor is in a supporting role with !Edit's search and
replace.  It's surprising how many wrinkles we can all learn from this sort
of thing - definitely worth the visit!

Meetings are held at:

  St Alkmunds Church Hall
  Duffield
  Nr. Derby
  Derbyshire

  (There is a map on the website)

Members get in free, but visitors are charged an entrance fee of 2 ukp.

If you would like further information, please email one of the following:

  Chris Dawson        [e-mail]
  Paul Mellor         [e-mail]
  Margaret Barefoot   [e-mail]


...or visit DARC's website at:

  http://homepages.enterprise.net/julianp/darc/




How to Send in News
-------------------

To send in your news items, simply include the following information, and
send it to:

  [e-mail]

...or use the form on the website.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------