Archive Magazine 1995/ARCHIVE95.iso/text/products/volume_07/issue_05

Text File | 1995-02-16 | 14KB | 249 lines

Å    10 out of 10 French Ö The latest in 4th Dimensionæs 10 out of 10
educational series gives help with learning French. It provides
öchallenges to reinforce facts stated in AT 3 and 4 of the National
Curriculumò. It is aimed mainly at Key Stages 3 and 4 but öthe numerous
parent and teacher customisation options make the software suitable for
all children who are learning the French language.ò 10 out of 10 French
costs ú25.95 inclusive from 4th Dimension or ú24 through Archive.
7.5
Å    10 out of 10 Maths Ö Statistics Ö Another of 4th Dimensionæs 10 out of
10 programs for mathematics is on statistics. It covers ömajor areas of
National Curriculum AT5ò including data handling, probability, charts,
graphs, averages, interpretation, observations, surveys, estimation and
words. 10 out of 10 Maths (Statistics) costs ú25.95 inclusive from 4th
Dimension or ú24 through Archive.
7.5
Å    Another new Acorn monitor Ö Acorn have now discontinued the AKF18 and
are providing instead the AKF52 which should be available by the
beginning of February. They call it a direct replacement although it has
a slightly larger dot pitch Ö 0.42mm cf 0.39mm for the AKF18. (The AKF50
is 0.28mm.) However, it will display all the Acorn screen modes unlike
the AKF30 and 40 which are limited to modes 0-17, 24 and 44-46. The
price is ú299 inc VAT. (Archive price ú300 inc carriage.)
7.5
Å    Archive monthly program disc Ö As well as the support files for the
PipelineZ and Magpie/Genesis Columns the disc contains an index of the
AI CD-ROM as reviewed on page 42.
7.5
Also, Christopher Jarman, a handwriting expert and author of the review
of Letter on page 30 has sent in two fonts that he has produced. He is
happy for them to be used in the public domain and freely distributed.
We have put them on the monthly program disc for you to use.
7.5
This is the Jarman font. The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.
7.5
This is the Jarman oblique font. The quick brown fox jumped over the
lazy dog.
7.5
This is the Quiltalic font. The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy
dog.
7.5
This is the Quiltalic oblique font. The quick brown fox jumped over the
lazy dog.
7.5
Finally, we will put on the disc an update of the ArcScan data for
volumes 6 and 7 (to issue 3) of Archive.
7.5
Å    Audioworks provides a complete suite of sound editing functions in one
application. It is compatible with a whole range of sound files
(MicroSoft WAVe, Armadeus, DataVox, SoundTracker and RawData formats).
In addition to playing back from the standard Archimedes speaker, the
software can sample from and playback to more advanced audio boards,
such as the Eagle MultiMedia card. AudioWorks supports 8 bit, 12 bit, 16
bit, linear signed, linear unsigned, VIDC logarithmic, m-law
logarithmic, mono and stereo samples. Features include: accurate
waveform display with instantaneous zoom; a utility for playing back
from hard disc in the background with various effects; on-screen real-
time spectrum analyser and oscilloscope displays; full background
operation; multiple channel and multiple sample operations. Audioworks
costs ú49 +VAT from Computer Concepts or ú55 through Archive.
7.5
Å    Basic Programmeræs Toolkit Ö Beebug have produced a set of utilities
to aid the process of writing programs in Basic. It includes: program
printer, program formatter, SWI name / number converter, program
analyser, program cruncher, program differentiator, desktop front end
for the Help command, program monitor, procedure library manager and a
library of Basic routines. The Basic Programmeræs Toolkit costs ú15.28
+ú2 p&p +VAT from Risc Developments (ú12.72 +ú2 for Risc User
subscribers).
7.5
Å    Carnage Inc. Ö From the same programmers as Pandoraæs Box comes
Carnage Inc. which is an isometric adventure game. öFrom dazzling fire-
fights to ingenious puzzles, Carnage Inc. will test your reflexes as
well as your mind.ò The price is ú25.95 from The 4th Dimension or ú24
through Archive.
7.5
Å    Colour scanners Ö Irlam Instruments supply a range of colour scanners
for use with Archimedes computers. The software, Proi-Mage (pronounced
Épro-imageæ!) is a desktop application which can be used with a range of
different scanners and supports a wide range of file formats including
industry standard ones. The image is built up on screen as the scan
proceeds and the software multitasks so you can get on with other jobs
while you wait. Sprite output is in monochrome, 16-grey, 256-grey and
256-colour and dithering can be turned off for line art or colour
printing.
7.5
The first scanner supported is the Sharp JX-100 as used in the Risc
Developmentsæ Spectra scanner costing ú549 +VAT (reviewed in Archive
6.11 p62). The Irlam version, including the software, is ú449 +VAT (ú520
inc VAT through Archive). This uses an RS232 serial interface and will
work with all the newer computers: A5000, A3010, A3020 and A4000. If you
have one of the older computers, you need an interface board costing ú69
+VAT (ú80 through Archive) which goes in a standard podule slot. The
scanning area is 100mm ╫ 160mm and it scans at 200 dpi.
7.5
If you want an A4 scanner, there is the Epson GT-6500 at ú875 +VAT
(ú1000 inc VAT through Archive) or the Epson GT-8000 at ú1195 +VAT
(ú1,380 through Archive). As well as having the larger scanning area,
these scanners are faster than the JX-100, partly because they use the
bi-directional parallel port. (Again, older Archimedes computers need
one of the interface boards at ú80 through Archive.) The scanners are
300dpi and 400 dpi, respectively, and have a number of extra features
and options which justify the extra cost. The GT-8000 has a SCSI
interface, so it can be operated at even higher speeds with an
appropriate SCSI interface Ö not all of them work properly with
scanners!
7.5
**STOP PRESS**
7.5
Irlam say they now have a colour hand scanner available Ö we will put
details on the Price List if we can get them in time.
7.5
Å    Cowboys & Indians Ö If you are wanting to make a comic book involving
cowboys and indians then Matt Black have a new clipart pack just for
you. Their Vanguard Graphics Pack 2 (Cowboys and Indians) contains two
discs of coloured drawfiles and a manual giving hints suggesting how you
could create your own comic strips. This pack is aimed at teachers and
parents of 4 Ö 12 years olds and costs ú15 +ú2 p&p from Matt Black.
7.5
Å    DeskEdit 3 Ö Risc Developments have updated DeskEdit again. The price
remains the same at ú31.95 inc VAT or ú30 through Archive. New features
include a 20-entry desktop debugging window, an independent scrolling
window, 20 new invisible markers, a powerful function locator, extended
info on template files, sprites, modules, PCK image files and Basic
programs, an input filter to normalise files coming from foreign
environments and an automatic file backup creator. If you have DeskEdit
1 or 2 and want to upgrade to 3, it will cost you ú9.95 and ú5.88
respectively inc VAT from Risc Developments.
7.5
Å    Desktop Thesaurus new version Ö Risc Developments have expanded their
thesaurus to include antonyms. The new version recognises over 17,450
keywords and contains around 200,000 alternative words. Existing users
may upgrade free-of-charge by returning their original disc with S.A.E.
(or ú2 to cover p&p) to Risc Developments. The price remains at ú19
+ú1.70 p&p +VAT from Risc Developments or ú23 inclusive through Archive.
7.5
Å    Easy C Ö Risc Developments have produced an öeasy-to-useò C
development system. It is a fully RISCáOS compliant application which
provides a WIMP front end for driving the compiler and linker. The
compiler conforms to the latest ANSI standard (although it has not been
validated). It is claimed to be unique in having an integrated ARM
assembler. Easy C is supplied with a library of ANSI functions and
RISCáOS functions. It is compatible with DeskLib, the freeware library,
and it has a library management facility to allow users to create and
maintain their own libraries. Easy C costs ú49 +ú2.70 carriage +VAT from
Risc Developments or ú56 through Archive.
7.5
Å    Explorer is an educational program from Alpine Software which will
help with project work on the solar system and space travel. Aimed at
Key Stages 3 and 4, it costs ú30 +VAT from Alpine Software or ú33
through Archive. For more details, see the review on page 78.
7.5
Å    Grannyæs Garden is now available on CD-ROM! Cumana and 4Mation have
combined to produce this new multimedia version of this popular
educational program. It costs ú29.95 +VAT or ú33 through Archive.
7.5
Å    Heimdall is a Viking adventure game from Krisalis. In this five-disc
game, you follow the Viking warrior Heimdall in his growth from a small
boy to a great warrior. It includes some splendid 3D animations and
realtime combat. Heimdall costs ú29.99 inclusive from Krisalis or ú28
through Archive.
7.5
Å    Kerner Ö Design Concept have produced a utility that can convert your
existing outline fonts to the new RISCáOS 3 format, adding kerning
information. It costs ú15 inclusive from Design Concept. With it, at no
extra cost, they are also supplying Kern-All. The aim of this is to
force all applications, even those which do not currently do so, to use
kerning.
7.5
Å    KleinFS Ö PTW Software are marketing KleinFS, a compression filing
system with many öunique featuresò including the ability to support
networks, allowing users to log-on and log-off. KleinFS costs ú17.95
incVAT from PTW Software.
7.5
Å    Magic Pockets is a scrolling arcade adventure program written by the
Bitmap Brothers and distributed by Renegade at ú25.99 inclusive or ú24
through Archive. It boasts öbonus games, secret rooms, loads of power-
ups, stacks of levels, heaps of weapons and swarms of intelligent
nastiesò.
7.5
Å    Materials, Components & Techniques is the latest in Anglia
Televisionæs series of KEY datafiles. ÉMaterialsæ provides numerical and
textual information about common materials and then the ÉComponentsæ,
ÉToolsæ and ÉJoiningæ datafiles each include a graphic field which
presents a diagram relevant to the record being displayed. Materials,
Components & Techniques costs ú22 +VAT from Anglia Television.
7.5
Å    Mouse-tamer Ö NW SEMERC have produced an aid for younger children or
those with a physical handicap. It is called the SEMERC Mouser and it
allows you to disable any combination of the three mouse buttons thus
simplifying the use of some programs for users with limited motor
control. It also has switch inputs for those for whom even the mouse is
a non-starter. The SEMERC Mouser costs ú47 +ú5 p&p +VAT from NW SEMERC.
7.5
Å    Music Box Ö Topologika have released an educational music program for
primary schools which aims to help the children investigate rhythm,
pitch, harmony and composition. No technical musical skills are needed
but the purpose of the package is to develop transferable musical skills
and it is aimed at AT 1 and 2 at Key Stages 1 and 2 of the National
Curriculum. Music Box is configurable to the needs of the child and
comes complete with a range of support material in printed form and on
disc. Music Box costs ú35 +VAT for a single user licence (ú38 through
Archive) and there are site licences available from Topologika: primary
ú60, secondary ú70 and teacher training licence ú105, all +VAT.
7.5
Å    Sylvia Layne is here at last! The Exotic Adventures of Sylvia Layne
from 4th Dimension is now available for ú25.95 or ú24 through Archive.
It is a scrolling arcade adventure with 50 frame/sec animations and five
layers of vertically scrolling parallax and can be loaded onto hard
disc.
7.5
Å    Talking Rhymes Ö Topologika have produced a set of four nursery rhymes
in both words and pictures which can be set up as jigsaw puzzles for
youngsters to solve. When the jigsaw is complete, the rhyme is spoken
out using digitised speech and a rewarding animation sequence is played.
The complexity of the jigsaws is configurable to suit the age and skill
of the child. The four rhymes are: Humpty Dumpty, Georgie Porgie, Little
Miss Muffet and Little Jack Horner but a further pack of four will be
released later in the year. Talking Rhymes (Pack 1) costs ú40 +VAT for a
single user licence (ú44 through Archive) and there are site licences
available from Topologika: primary ú65, secondary ú75 and teacher
training licence ú110, all +VAT.
7.5
Å    Ultimate Expansion System Ö HCCS now have available a micropodule for
the CC Scanlight 256. It comes in various forms, with and without the
scanner head, as a micropodule on its own or as a Starter Pack including
a multipodule plus PSU and as a combined Starter Pack with either the
Vision colour digitiser or the HiVision colour digitiser. The Archive
prices are as follows:
7.5
ScanLight 256 Micropodule + Scanner Ö ú261
7.5
ScanLight 256 Micropodule only Ö ú114
7.5
ScanLight 256 Starter Pack Ö ú342
7.5
ScanLight 256 + Colour Vision S.P. Ö ú420
7.5
ScanLight 256 + HiVision S.P. Ö ú455
7.5
Å    Wimp Programmeræs Toolkit upgrade Ö Beebug have updated their Wimp
Programmeræs Toolkit to version 3. It now contains fifteen applications
to assist in the developing and debugging of Wimp programs. New features
include Basic procedure and function analyser, wimp poll mask number
generator, program to calculate icon, window and menu flags, Basic
variable lister, pointer icon locator, new template file browser and a
library of wimp applications and procedures. There is also a new 56-page
manual. Prices are ú21.95 inc VAT (or ú7.95 as an upgrade) through
Beebug or ú17.95 and ú4.95 respectively for Risc User subscribers.