PD World
Paul Brett with the latest freeware and PD software
I was chatting with a friend of mine the other day and he was complaining about the lack of new releases for RISC OS. In some ways he was right. there seem to be very few new commercial releases coming along, apart from the long awaited Vantage. However the PD, Shareware and Freeware arena seems somewhat more busy, indeed 6 of this issues 7 offerings have been released in the last 2 weeks!
DareDevil - Michael Foot
A RISC OS port of the original BBC Classic. So you think you could be a stuntman? Well, test your skills against these hazards and see if you're still game. There are only three different scams in this movie, so you shouldn't find the going too tough! There's no denying that the money's good, but the question you should be asking yourself is will you live to spend it?
If you can ride a motorcycle - and wetbike - two of the frames should be child's play, but for the snow scenes, you'll need to be of Olympic class. Well, as I said, the work isn't easy, but the lifestyle's great (if you have a lot of style, you may get to have a life as well) and the rewards are out of this world...
DateCopy - Peter Hillman
Date Copy is an incremental backup program, that allows you to make regular backups of your files. You can choose to back up all files, or just those altered after a certain date. You can also choose to ignore certain files if you wish. If you don't make regular backups of your hard drive now is the time to start.
DrawText - Stephen Murphy
This got featured last month, but as a prolific coder Stephen has produced a new version, so we have included it here. DrawText is a program that allows the easy creation of Draw text areas. A text area is a package of text that is imported into draw as a text file. Once in draw, it can be manipulated in a way similar to frames in a DTP package, albeit in a more limited form. The draw files demo1, demo2 and demo3 (In the !DrawText.Manuals.Demos directory) show examples of text areas created with DrawText. More details of Draw text areas can be found in the Welcome Guide that accompanies your computer.
Dungeon - Michael Foot
A complete copy of the original game from the 1970s. Dungeon is a game of adventure, danger, and low cunning. In it you will explore some of the most amazing territory ever seen by mortal man. Hardened adventurers have run screaming from the terrors contained within. In Dungeon, the intrepid explorer delves into the forgotten secrets of a lost labyrinth deep in the bowels of the earth, searching for vast treasures long hidden from prying eyes, treasures guarded by fearsome monsters and diabolical traps! (sounds like a RISC OS Ltd shareholders meeting - ED)
MP32Wav - David Chapman
This small utility is essential if you're in the habit of downloading files with Riscster and have a CD writer as it will convert your MP3's into WAV format suitable for burning onto a CDR enabling you to listen to your downloaded music through your Hi-Fi. As the program uses the AMPlayer module to decode the files, MP32WAV is a StrongARM only program. Its use is very simple and fairly self explanatory although there is a help file with the application if you feel you need it. Mainly it just involves dragging a single MP3, or a whole directory full, to the MP32WAV window, hitting the OK button and sitting back while it converts them. There are a couple of options such as deleting the MP3's after conversion if disc space is tight and being able to add '/wav' extension if you are editing your wav files with PC software on your PCcard like wot I do. Progress of the conversion process is now displayed in both numerical and graphical formats and a sound will alert you when the conversion of each file is complete and different sound when all files are converted.
Newer - Bernard Veasey
Newer produces a copy of your web site files stored locally on your hard disc that have been altered since a certain date and time, ready for dragging to !FTPc for uploading to your web space on the Internet. Newer also has multi-site capability. FTPc was supplied on a previous issue of RISC World. Newer makes it much easier to update your site without having to remember which files you have altered.
PSIFS - Alexander Thoukydides
PsiFS is a filing system that provides access via a serial link to files stored on a SIBO or EPOC computer. The standard Psion Link Protocol (PLP) is used; there is no extra software to install or run on the remote machine. The documentation for PsiFS is provided in HTML format; any installed web browser may be used to view it. Click MENU over the !PsiFS icon in a filer window, and select "App. '!PsiFS' > Help" from the menu. With the exception of a few components contained in this distribution, PsiFS is supplied under the terms of the GNU General Public License. See the documentation for more details.
Endpiece
If you have any PD, Freeware or Shareware applications you have written and would like featured why not get in touch with the Editor.
Paul Brett