Archive Magazine 1996/ARCHIVE_96.iso/text/products/volume_09/issue_09

Text File | 1996-05-09 | 24KB | 430 lines

Products Available
9.9
APDL price reductions Ö APDLæs PDCD¡1 contains most of the useful
programs and utilities from the APDL library, including a lot of
material useful in education. There are also many classic novels
(properly converted to Acorn format plain textfiles), plus the works of
Shakespeare. PDCD¡2 has over 500 games and novelties, more than 200
demos, and hundreds of cheats for commercial games. There are also more
than 2000 Maestro, Tracker and Digital Symphony tunes, and a selection
of popular music players. The PDCDs now only cost ú15 each through
Archive.
9.9
Clipart CDs DTP¡l and DTP¡2 were reviewed in 9.7 p69. They now only cost
ú20 each through Archive.
9.9
Archive subscription Ö The best way to get new Archive subscribers is by
personal recommendation, so we are prepared to encourage you to
encourage your friends to subscribe. We are always happy to send anyone
who wants one, a free sample magazine Ö just give us a name and address,
and weæll pop a copy in the post, but we are going to try out a new
scheme...
9.9
Free 12 month subscription Ö We will extend your existing subscription
by 12 months, free of charge, for every brand new subscriber you can
bring to us. (Itæs up to you what deal you work out with your friend!)
Just fill in the enclosed form and send it in with a cheque or the
credit card details, and weæll do the rest.
9.9
(Overseas subscribers, this applies to you too Ö just change the amount
on the form from ú25 to ú32 if you are in Europe, ú43 for Australia/NZ
or ú40 elsewhere.)
9.9
Atomwide keyboard encoder allows a wide range of PC compatible keyboards
to be used with pre-RiscPC Acorn computers. This means that users of old
worn-out Archimedes keyboards are no longer restricted to the standard,
expensive Acorn replacement, but can, instead, choose from almost any
type on the market. The encoder is housed inside a case little bigger
than a matchbox. The reset switch that used to be found on Acorn
keyboards is replaced by a small, recessed button on the encoder that
can be gently pushed using a pointed object such as a pen¡tip or paper
clip. All other keys are correctly mapped between Acorn and PC layouts.
Absolutely no configuration is required to install the encoder Ö just
plug in three cables.
9.9
The encoder will come as a great relief to people who regularly use
Acorns and PCs and bemoan the different key layouts. The keyboard
encoder plugs into Acorn A300, A400, A400/1, A540, A4000 and A5000
series machines accepting almost any IBM  PS/2 or Cherry-compatible
keyboard. This includes special types, such as those incorporating card
swipes and barcode readers.
9.9
The Keyboard Encoder costs ú39 +VAT +ú3.50 p&p from Atomwide or ú47
through Archive. The Ecoder, complete with a good, basic PC keyboard, it
costs ú79 through Archive. With a really top quality Cherry keyboard, it
still only costs ú120 through Archive (cf an Acorn old-style keyboard at
ú125!)
9.9
BitFolio 7 CD-ROM Ö After our special offer, we have had a lot of very
positive feedback and have managed to sell enough to extend the special
offer: Full price ú95 Ö offer price ú75 through Archive. This collection
of 10,000+ vector graphics images has attracted unsolicited comments
from readers such as: öquite brilliant, knocking spots off other so-
called upmarket offeringsò, and öif you havenæt got a CD-ROM drive, it
would be worth buying one just for this collection.ò
9.9
CD drive prices down Ö The prices of IDE CD-ROMs are falling and there
is now an eight-speed device available (and dual speed drives seem to
have disappeared altogether). New Archive prices are as follows:
9.9
  Quad speed Ö ú90
9.9
  Six speed Ö ú120
9.9
  Eight speed Ö ú160
9.9
However, the price of SCSI CD-ROM drives has hardly fallen because the
mass market is for IDE devices. This is a shame because SCSI devices do
seem to perform better. (This is another example of Éindustry standardæ
= lowest common denominator.)
9.9
  Quad speed tray-loading Ö ú175
9.9
  Quad speed caddy-loading Ö ú290
9.9
  Six speed caddy-loading Ö ú355
9.9
  6.7 speed tray-loading Ö ú385
9.9
For external versions of these SCSI drives, add ú70.
9.9
CDtracker Plus is an enhanced version of CDtracker with dozens of extra
features Ö see 9.3 p77 for review of the original version. CDs can be
played in Single, Continuous, Programmed, Shuffled, Favourite, Repeat,
Intro scan and Point to point modes and, where appropriate, can combine
any of these facilities Ö e.g. Repeat/Shuffled/Favourites. Other
facilities include a four-format elapsed time clock, select Next/
Previous track, Pause and variable speed Fast Forward and Rewind. The
player interface is both Style Guide compliant and a close emulation of
a real CD player, complete with a keypad just as one might find on an
expensive hifi. Two player interfaces are provided and the user can
toggle between them. Click on a single file icon to play any pre-defined
selection of tracks on any CD that is in the drive.
9.9
The CD database stores seven items of data including: Track title,
Artistæs name, CD title and label and five more of the useræs own
choosing. Export any chosen data in Text or CSV file format or Import in
CSV or SmartCD+ format. Find and Select facilities to pinpoint any track
anywhere in the database. Dynamic linking between player and database so
that a CD in the drive can be located instantly within the database.
9.9
From Werewolf Software, CDtracker costs ú14.95 and CDtracker Plus costs
ú24.95 (add ú1 p&p) or they will do a low cost upgrade.
9.9
Cumana are still very much alive and active in the Acorn market. They
have just produced a new catalogue Ö see the Factfile for contact
details.
9.9
DEC_dATA are in the process of putting together a CD-ROM of clipart,
aimed at Key Stage 2 and 3. It should be ready in a few weeks and will
cost around ú40 Ö more details to come.
9.9
Also new from DEC_dATA is a collection of clipart on disc for Key Stage
2. Each collection consists of full colour drawfiles and is accessed via
a Clearview file that shows a small thumbnail of each image, with a
hotlink to load the file into Draw. In addition, there are a few lines
of information on each picture to help pupils and teachers put the image
in context. Each disc includes maps, diagrams, people of the time,
transport, artifacts, tools, art and music. The collection is made up
of: Anglo Saxons and Vikings; 19th Century Britain; The Greeks and
Romans; The Egyptians; and Earth and the Solar System. They cost ú10 per
set +VAT +p&p from DEC_dATA. Site licences are available at ú15 for up
to 30 machines, and ú20 for more than 30 machines.
9.9
A Textease resource disc, which is also compatible with SEMERCæs Pages
wordprocessor, containing a range of borders, backgrounds, masks and
decorative designs, is now available from DEC_dATA for ú12.95 +p&p.
9.9
Dis-le, the computerised speaking French tutor, has just had a complete
rewrite. The major changes are: 2200+ lower and higher level GCSE
recordings of human words and short phrases; words can be sorted and
quizzed by topic; Jean-Franτois now replaces Catherine as the speaker;
the program is now released on twelve 800Kb discs; it has the old
multi¡choice game, Word Search and Mix æn Match; a computerised
Étraining modeæ now exists; on-line database and speaking dictionary
(8086 words, 2200 speaking); The Face Behind the Voice is included in
the program; spelling quiz now implemented; requires 10Mb of hard disc
space, 4Mb RAM, stand¡alone or very high speed network.
9.9
For an upgrade from either of the earlier versions to Dis-le v3.0, with
the new 2,200 word recordings and resource pack, send ú27.50 (no VAT) to
Mike Smith (address in Factfile).
9.9
EADFS Module Ö The Power-tec EADFS (Extended ADFS) module is a system
extension that allows you to use large hard drives on your existing IDE
bus, but allows partitioning as well. The module integrates fully and
transparently with ADFS, and can handle up to 4Gb (512Kb partitions on
pre RISC OS 3.6 machines, 1Gb partitions on RISC OS 3.6 machines). It
costs ú39.95 +VAT +p&p from Alsystems.
9.9
Fast IDE Interface Ö RapIDE from Yellowstone Educational Solutions is a
32-bit DMA¡based interface for the RiscPC. The interface provides vastly
increased throughput. Using alternative drives, it is possible to
achieve reading speeds in excess of 8Mb/s with 32-bit direct memory
access. It provides two IDE ports, allowing up to four devices to be
connected, including IDE CD-ROMs. The RapIDE interface costs ú119 +VAT
+ú5 p&p from Yellowstone, or ú142 inclusive through Archive.
9.9
FontDirectory 2 is the long-awaited upgradeáto the font management
system from LOOKsystems (see 9.8 p49). Itæs extremely fast and comes
with a whole host of really useful features to make font management more
productive. Font names can be viewed in a number of formats, including
full WYSIWYG display. Speed has been a major consideration in this
latest version, so loading fonts happens extremely quickly. The whole
user interface has been simplified to make using the program much
easier. Bundled with FontDirectory is a utility called FontViewer, which
gives the user the ability to view complete blocks of text in multiple
windows, at varying sizes. Each new window can work independently of the
others and contain a different font, so it makes comparing fonts very
easy. Text can be written straight to a window or imported as a text
file.
9.9
The full version of FontDirectory 2 costs ú45 inclusive from
LOOKsystems, or ú43 through Archive. A light version will also be
available for ú25, or ú24 through Archive. Upgrades for existing users
are ú18.50 from LOOKsystems. Coming later will be a network version made
up of the full version plus the lite version, and more manuals, costing
ú150.
9.9
HP printers Ö Two new HP colour printers are now available. The HP
DeskJet 660C is an A4 colour printer giving up to 600╫600dpi in mono and
600╫300dpi in colour. It does öup to 4 ppmò (pages per minute) in mono
and öup to 1 ppmò in colour. Itáhas a 32Kb buffer (expandable to 512Kb)
and takes about 100 sheets of paper in its input bin. The 660C costs
ú340 through Archive.
9.9
The HP DeskJet 850C is an A4 colour printer giving up to 600╫600dpi in
mono and 300╫300dpi in colour. It does öup to 6 ppmò in mono and öup to
3áppmò in colour. It has a 32Kb buffer (expandable to 512Kb) and takes
over 150 sheets of paper in its input bin. The 850C costs ú440 through
Archive.
9.9
Lark Ö Computer Concepts/Wild Visionæs 16-bit audio sampling and play-
back card for all the Acorn machines is now down in price. It can sample
and playback in stereo and sample up to 48kHz, and features Midi
connection and on-board filtering. The Lark A16 is ú149 +VAT + carriage
from CC or ú172 through Archive.
9.9
N-Connect is an Amstrad NC100 to RISC OS Link. According to the makers,
ÉN-Connect is the most comprehensive system for transferring data
between Acorn RISCáOS machines and the Amstrad NC100 Notepad computer.æ
It makes the NC100 an integral part of your RISC OS desktop. Documents
can be processed on the NC100 under ProText and be dropped into
Impression with styles preserved, and similarly text can be dragged to
the N-Connect icon to send to the NC100. For the programmer, Basic
programs can be ported to and from the NC100 with the minimum of user
intervention, and full diagnostics are provided via the DDE throwback
system if it is present. N-Connect can also detokenise both forms of
Basic into text.
9.9
N-Connect, previously distributed by Senlac Computers, is now available
direct from the author (Tony Howat) at a reduced price of ú14.95. There
is a suitable cable available, costing ú7, or wiring details can be
provided on request if you want to make up your own cable. Prices
include p&p, no VAT to pay. Site licences are negotiable. Official
orders are welcome. Cheques payable to ÉA. Howatæ at 20¡20áSoftware,
12áDover Road, Birkdale, Southport, Merseyside, PR8 4SY. Tonyæs email
address is <[e-mail]>.
9.9
Pocket Book holsters Ö You can now carry your Pocket Book around with
you on a belt or shoulder holster. Meant for intensive use, the cases
are manufactured in a foam Cordura and re-enforced with composite
material on the front and back. What makes them special is the patented
pivoting hinge attached to the back of the case. This fits into a quick
release holder, originally intended for a gun, which you can attach
either to a belt or to the optional shoulder holster. Squeezing the
spring loaded arms on the side of the holster releases the case quickly
and easily.
9.9
Also available are a number of black leather zip cases. These include
velcro fasteners which allow you to use the computer while it is still
in the case. The Junior version has space for cards (though not credit
cards Ö the magnetic stripe can cause the computer problems); and
Executive and Zip & Flip cases also have space for SSDs.
9.9
The holster costs ú21, the cases which attach to it cost ú38.95 for the
open top and ú39.95 for the closed top. The junior case costs ú29.95;
the Executive costs ú24.95 and the Zip & Flip costs ú49.95. All prices
include VAT, but p&p is extra. Available from Widget Software Ltd.
9.9
PortFolio from Kudlian Soft is a multimedia application which has been
developed to allow children, or adults, to display a carousel of images,
either vector graphics or bitmaps, including JPEG images. Each picture
can have a sound file or music or a voice recording associated with it Ö
itæs an ideal tool for displaying childrenæs work using a variety of
styles and media.
9.9
This got a good review (9.6 p72) and weæve also had an unsolicited
comment from Jim Nottingham (see page 43), so we decided we should stock
it. Portfolio costs ú29 +VAT +p&p from Kudlian Soft or ú35 through
Archive.
9.9
Nelson is a hit! Ö Angliaæs multimedia CD-ROM of Nelson has won the gold
award for best multimedia program at the 1996 International Visual
Communication Association Awards. The IVCA judges said ÉNelson and his
Navy combines excellent production values and strong educational content
to produce an engaging and impressive multimedia program.æ
9.9
The CD-ROM was produced in association with the National Maritime
Museum, and brings alive the life and times of Nelson, by using a
combination of animation, photography, illustration, video and sound
clips. It contains a wealth of historical information and allows users
to sail with Nelson to the battles of Trafalgar, the Nile and Cape St
Vincent, as well as go on a 3D tour of his flagship. Nelson and His Navy
costs ú50 +VAT +p&p from Anglia Multimedia, or ú58 through Archive.
9.9
Power-tec Tape Streamers Ö The Power-tec tape streamer option is a low
cost solution to your data protection needs. It mounts internally in a
RiscPC, connecting to your floppy drive cable, or externally, connecting
to your parallel port. It uses 120Mb and 175Mb QIC 80 tapes, which, with
compression, can store up to 250Mb and 350Mb respectively. The software
used to run this drive is fully multitasking, runs over any network and
can also do a timed or selective backup. It comes with a manual for easy
installation and running instructions, and with the software for you to
manage your backups easily. It costs ú175 +VAT +p&p from Alsystems.
9.9
ReTreeval from Kudlian Soft is an application that combines a database
with a sophisticated decision tree program. To create and search the
database, all you have to do is answer questions in natural English. The
amount of information stored about each item grows with your needs.
ReTreeval learns with you so that it always asks questions in an easily
understood language. Behind the scenes, it uses a sophisticated object-
oriented database to handle the decisions and questions required to
structure the data. Full reporting facilities are available, allowing
data to be exported as ASCII, CSV or TSV; a tree can be exported as a
drawfile, and data can have a picture associated with it. ReTreeval
costs ú40 +VAT +p&p from Kudlian Soft or ú47 through Archive.
9.9
Ridiculous Rhymes Ö This new package from Sherston, which should be
ready for the Acorn platform by the time we go to press, is set of
talking rhymesáfor children, written and illustrated by Tony DeáSaulles,
and narrated by Tony Robinson. Designed for 7Ö11 year olds, itæs full of
wacky humour and comical animations. The price will be ú40 +VAT +p&p for
a single copy, or ú47 through Archive. A primary site licence costs ú60,
a secondary site licence costs ú80, both +VAT +p&p.
9.9
Splosh+, from Kudlian Soft, is the sequel to Splosh, the painting
program for young children and those with special needs. Splosh+ allows
access to a far wider range of facilities which will enable children to
exploit the features of the latest hardware, including the RiscPC. It
provides users with, amongst other things, a wider range of brushes and
brush shapes, additional geometric shapes and fills, multiple undo,
imports for JPEG and deep sprites, plus 16, 32, 256 and thousands and
millions of colour modes. Splosh will still be on sale, providing a
introduction to painting programs. Splosh+ costs ú39 +VAT +p&p from
Kudlian Soft or ú46 through Archive.
9.9
Sibelius Junior is a new music program from the developers of the world
famous Sibelius programs, aimed at primary schools. Junior Sibelius has
been designed to allow beginners to take their first steps in music in a
creative and interesting way. The program includes a series of
interactive lessons to develop and reinforce the music skills gained in
Key Stage 1, and introduce some basics of music theory for Key Stage 2.
Topics covered include pitch and note-names, rhythm and time signatures,
keyboard basics, different instruments, accidentals and key signatures,
scales and chords, plus much more.
9.9
Music can be entered straight into the computer via a Midi keyboard, or
with the mouse and keyboard. Once entered, it can then be played back or
printed. Junior Sibelius makes it quick and easy to arrange and print
music for, say, recorder groups or choir. It can even write out separate
parts for different instruments, and transpose music.
9.9
Junior Sibelius works on any Acorn computer with RISC OS 2 or higher Ö
even A310s and A3000s. You donæt need more than 1Mb of RAM, and you
donæt need a hard disc. It costs ú49 for a single copy +VAT +p&p, or ú57
through Archive. A primary school site licence costs ú89 +VAT or ú102
through Archive.
9.9
Talking Wrens Ö Sherston Software, in collaboration with Oxford
University Press, have just launched the latest in the Oxford Reading
Tree Series. The Stage 2 Wrens Talking Stories are narrated by TV
personality, Tony Robinson, well known for his appearances as Baldrick
in the BBCæs Black Adder series, and as the Sheriff in the childrenæs
series, Maid Marion and her Merry Men. The Wrensæ story books have been
designed for children who need support and extra reinforcement of key
verbs and charactersæ names at Stage 2 Ö each story focuses on one key
verb.
9.9
The new set of talking stories includes six stories and accompanying
teacheræs guide. They are: The Headache, At the Park, Fancy Dress,
Push!, Good Old Mum, and The Pet Shop. Each story contains humorous
animations and sound effects to support the text, as well as an
additional interactive extension activity at the end. Talking Wrens is
available on three platforms for ú40 +VAT +p&p from Sherston or ú47
through Archive. A primary site licence costs ú60 +VAT +p&p from
Sherston.
9.9
Teletext+ Ö Your computer can now remind you when your favourite TV or
radio programme is about to start, thanks to the latest version of
Teletext+ from Octopus Systems. Teletext+ software could always search
TV and radio listings for keywords, but now version 6 can extract the
time and set an audible alarm (with a 5 minute warning) to remind you.
Teletext+ also makes teletext fast and convenient Ö the advanced
cacheing algorithms will soon learn which pages you read, and fetch them
for you every day so you will rarely have to wait for a teletext page,
and even sub-pages are cached so you donæt have to wait half an hour to
find the latest Acorn share price!
9.9
The advanced keyword searching can search hundreds of pages for items of
interest which might otherwise be missed. Matches are displayed in a
separate window which effectively gives a personalised magazine of
interesting news, events and programmes. Pages can be saved as Viewdata,
sprite or text files, either manually or under the control of a script
file, and there is an option to allow all sub-pages to be saved in a
single text file. Teletext+ software will work with teletext adaptors
and cards from Morley, Computer Concepts, Ground Control, Design IT,
Irlam, Solidisk and Octopus Systems. It will be particularly attractive
to Morley users as the Morley software doesnæt work in the desktop. It
can also log share prices in a CSV file or in a special format for the
Apricote Studiosæ Shares program, and it provides a set of standard SWI
calls for use by other programs.
9.9
Teletext+ is available for ú39 as a software upgrade for existing
teletext adaptors, or Octopus Systems can supply it with an external
teletext adaptor for ú169 while stocks last.
9.9
Existing users can obtain a new disc and manual for ú12 if they return
their master disc (prices include VAT and carriage). Free upgrades are
also available to registered users, by email. The adaptor connects to a
podule expansion socket via a lead and podule plug, so you should
specify whether you require a full size or a mini podule connector when
ordering. Aátelevision aerial feed is also required.
9.9
(See 9.7 p57 for a review.)
9.9
Tick-Tack CV is intended both as a stand-alone program and as a
supplement to the Tick-Tack Business Pack and the Travel and Tourism
Pack (9.8áp69). Its main purpose is to help young people improve their
chances of finding a job. It provides a framework for analysing their
skills and experience, and it gives them practice in describing
themselves and their background, their aims and ambitions, in a positive
and effective way. The program gives guidance on writing a good CV and
helps in the preparation of letters and telephone calls Ö both in
response to job adverts and for speculative approaches that are made
cold.
9.9
It also provides help in preparing convincing answers to questions
commonly asked on job-application forms and during interviews, and
suggests key questions that candidates themselves should put to
prospective employers. The program can be equally useful whether
students are looking for a job in this country, or seeking work abroad.
Like all the programs in the Tick-Tack range, the pack includes computer
software and a comprehensive manual containing a library of relevant
building-block sentences and other texts that can be selected and edited
to create a rich palette of impressive documents.
9.9
Tick-Tack CV is available from Primrose Publishing initially in English,
but versions in French, German, Spanish and Italian are planned. The
English version costs ú150 +VAT +p&p for colleges and universities, and
ú75 +VAT +p&p for schools.
9.9
Review software received...
9.9
We have received review copies of the following: ÅCDtracker Plus (udm),
ÅDEC_dATA clipart (ec), ÅEncode (u), ÅTextease Resources (c), ÅThe Way
Things Work CD (e).
9.9
d=Database, c=clipart, e=Education, m=music, u=Utility.
9.9