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Letters Page

Its the page written by you for us.

Hi,
I am just writing to say hi and keep up the good work with the mag i got the 3 year sub option just in time to get iss 3-1 and read the cd from cover to cover and then the vol 1 +2 cd's as well and liked what i saw more and more the further i read in to it i am sorry i missed out on the comp's as i was having trouble with my internet connection (BT) so it sometimes would not go on line and sometimes get on but then freeze up on me . I have done some work with DR Wimp from ray favre and have released two pieces of freeware through archive mag and my web site www.arcsite.de/hp/moss they are !Control to control a user port expansion card and !Pport to control the printer port i will e-mail you a copy of both if you want. Oh sorry to hear of your troubles with your Lotus 7 replica hope you can get it sorted soon cheers and thanks for all your hard work on the mag.
Thats all folks
from Cat & Moss

Thank you for the kind words, we do try hard with RISC World, although I must say that even with three people, including myself, checking for mistakes an unacceptable number are still getting through. The only current problem with the Lotus 7 replica is the weather, it's too cold and wet to drive the damn thing. Still back to the subject of mistakes....

Dear Aaron,
Something fun seems to have happened to my article... BTW : Didn't think much to the AGM report - Hugh Jampton's was better.
TTFN
Paul Johnson

Something fun? I did ask Paul for further details and it seems the end of the article was messed up somehow. It looked fine here, did any other readers have a problem? If so let us know as it could be browser specific. It was agreed by those present that some parts of the AGM were too sensitive to be reported in the media. And now a heartfelt Christmas message...

Hi,
You know, if I don't get my RiscStation laptop by Christmas, I shall buy a PC laptop in the New Year Sales, and run VA5000 on it!
(And you may quote me!)
A P Harmsworth

Ah, did any one notice the cunning way I managed to insert a VirtualAcorn plug into the middle of the letters page? And I didn't even have to write it myself! The latest on the RiscStation laptop is that there has been a problem with the prototype motherboard (perhaps a broken collar bone? - HJ) and it is being re-done as I write this. Let's hope it finally makes an appearance soon. And on the subject of things appearing...

Hi,
Thanks for the latest copy/edition. However, you need 'stickier' stamps! I have just collected my copy from the post-office and had to pay 99 pence for the pleasure. Can't make any comments on the contents as I haven't had time to look at it. Regards,
J Vanags

I can only apologise. RISCWorld actually gets mailed out by the Post Office and should be franked. So anyone who has had this happen to them on last issue and has already contacted APDL (before this issue is delivered) should get a free book of stamps. (Note however that you don't get a bookmark in case you get interrupted half way through reading it - HJ).

Hi,
The Index page is blank in my copy of Vol 3/3, both via the !RWORLD icon and INDEX/HTM. I can see what's in it by shift-clicking the latter, and of course can get into the contents via the HTML directory, but it's not very convenient . . . any chance of a replacement disc?

Another weird one this, again did any one else have the same problems? And this prompts a quick reminder, although I edit RISC World I don't do the CD production or mailing, so if you have a problem with one of these you will need to contact APDL directly as I have no CDs here and so can't send any out.

Hi,
RE : Ancestor+ and Genealogy
With APDL developing and selling Ancestor+, and helping to produce RiscWorld, why not include a series of articles on the subjects in RiscWorld. Some may say that it could be interpreted as advertising for APDL, but providing Hints & Tips for any RISC OS application should be part of RiscWorld's task. If you sell a few more copies, why not.
With the vast amount of rapidly growing information on the internet for searchers of their ancestors, detailed advice on how to access particular sites and extract information that might be useful. There must be a number of RISC OS users who have a lot of experience and knowledge that will be useful to others.
I have tried WebsterXL but it does not seem to be very effective. Perhaps it can be used but I do not know how. Oregano does get reasonable access, but it is obvious talking to some friends using Windows software that they are more successful.
The sort of problems / issues we have encountered may help to assemble Hints & Tips articles or more detailed tutorials.
1901 census using Oregano. The screen is black. Luckily someone on Archive-on-line pointed to Display > Use document colours It took me a long time to find this can be unticked from the Choices > Text page.
Searching for a particular name within a year +&- band can produce a large number. Saving these can produce a problem as I have found only alternative pages are saved, eg 1-30, 61-90, 120-150. Back-searching, changing to forward, other tricks, does not seem to make any difference.
An ex-work colleague told me how the family group reference number can be found by holding the mouse pointer over the icon to the left of the name. I would not have found this myself as it only becomes apparent when the page covers the full width of the screen (800x600) or using a higher resolution screen. He also said that the Census PRO reference number can also be found from the free downloads. Useful when a person can get direct access to the census films themselves, saving a great deal of time in an office. I have not seen how this can be done using Oregano. Another friend I mentioned this to, told me that for MSPC users there is a free downloadable program that will sort a large surname download joining families together using the family reference. Even more difficult when only alternate pages download. For us this has to be a pencil and paper job - very time consuming.
IGI - A name search can only be downloaded as text. There is an instruction for 'Select records to download (50 max)' This appears to do nothing so each has to be individually downloaded. However this individual's page can download as HTML.
Just a few points on what can become a time and cash consuming activity. Sharing information must be very helpful, but could also be a spur to others to get started and spend money on Ancestor+.
What was meant to be a short note seems to have grown - apologies
Eric Dobson

Well that sounds like a reader challenge to me. Neither myself or Dave really know enough about genealogy on the Internet to be able to sensibly write about it, perhaps one of our readers does? If so please get in contact. Still here is one I might well be able to help with.

Hi,
I've been following your networking series and have now go my PC running Windows XP and a RISC PC running RISC OS 4.29 networked using a crossover cable. I am interested in your latest article 'sharing an internet connection' as this would freeup my serial port on the RISC PC. Being a 'non techi' could we have a step by step instructions on how to configure Oregano to access the modem on the PC please.
Regards
John Vann

Check out this issue's networking series as it may well help.....

Dear Aaron,
Just reading my column. Well, someone has to! I note that two GIFs are broken, as the image file names are broken on the CD. :-(
Andrew Harmsworth

Yes, I have been meaning to mention this for some time but keep forgetting. A number of authors send in articles using long file names, we don't use long file names as it allows our readers to copy articles to their hard drive for later reference if they want to. Someone using RISC OS 3.7 or earlier would end up with truncated file names and the HTML might not work. So I always try to knock things down to use short file names, and sometimes I miss a file or to. So would it be possible to get submissions in with short file names. Note that this is totally my fault for not telling the authors, not the authors fault!

We will leave the final word to Alan Shooter.

G'day Aaron,
Here is my penny worth. My brother sends me the Acorn User when he has read it. Many years ago I used to have a subscription but due to the third world value of the NZ dollar and the poor wages I would miss out if I did not get it sent. My brother doesn't think much of it, but I find some parts keep me up to date. the parts I like are News, Comms and hardware reviews. I can read a mag during my half hour lunch break or in bed, the monitor is to heavy to take to bed.
I liked the competition and entered when I didn't have the prize or would have found it useful, give other people a chance. I like simple competitions that don't take up a lot of time.
We get the BBC World Microsoft propaganda program, Click On Line, and this from the company that gave its name to a computer. What this show does is to show us what is lacking in our internet browsers.
I always thought that Acorn put too many eggs in one basket and just waiting to be picked off. When I had a trip back to the UK people used to say "get a Acorn, we used them at school" insinuating they were only good enough for kids. Well I am a big kid then!!!!
When talking to a IT person, he said why would he want to put himself out of work with recommending a reliable system.
I would like to thank Dave Holden for the help he gave me with the Interface and CD writer that I got from APDL.
Dave's article on CDBurn is very easy reading, but and there is always a but. At the end of the second part the last sentence states, "In the next session we'll wind up with a look at mixed audio and data CDs. Part 3 turned out to be Multi-session and re-writable CDs. I was looking forward to this article. I copy audio cds to use in the car, we also have the people who nick from cars and also the sun does a lot of damage. When I have copied a cd with a enhancement to play on a computer I find the track that is linked with the video bit copies about half way and then falls over. My personal view is that record companies are conning me by selling me a cd that part of it is useless because it will not play on my system. I should be able to get a cheaper CD that has the audio tracks only. I would like to see a more in depth article about making a audio compilation cd, or maybe I am just not getting what has already been in article 2.
I must say I have had very good service from all the suppliers I have used in the UK. My last major purchase was a DigiFlash card reader which I discussed via e-mail, before I went a head and purchased a canon camera in Dunedin.
As just a user of a computer I hope this gives you some idea of what interests me.
Regards
Alan

Aaron Timbrell