Archive Magazine 1997/ARCHIVE_97.iso/text/products/vol_07/issue_06

Text File | 1995-02-16 | 46KB | 891 lines

Å  Acorn Access is an important new AUN networking product. It is
described as an öentry-level plug and playò networking product. If you
have Acorn computers (RISCáOS 3.1 with 2Mb+) in reasonably close
proximity, you can buy an Access Pack for each one, connect them
together and you will be able to share hard disc and printer facilities
between the computers. Each pack consists of an Ethernet card plus
appropriate drop-leads, T-connectors and thru-connectors to link the
computers together, and the Access software. This allows you to export
hard discs and printers so that they can be accessed by other computers
on the network. It requires no fileserver software or hardware and
therefore has no management overheads Ö no special knowledge is needed
to run it Ö indeed the installation Émanualæ is a single A4 sheet and
the operating instructions are on another A4 sheet. However, you can
link it into an existing Level4 fileserver if you want to do so.
7.6
This is an extremely easy system to set up allowing up to about twenty
machines to be linked together over a distance of up to 185m. Acorn
recommend sharing one hard disc between about five or six machines and
it is possible, say, to share three or four hard discs between fifteen
machines on the same network segment. The hard discs can be shared on
the basis of Éprotectedæ or Éunprotectedæ, i.e. read-only or read/write
so you can prevent things being deleted if you choose! The schools that
have acted as test sites for Access have been extremely pleased with it,
particularly it terms of easy of installation and easy of use.
7.6
We havenæt got any pricing information at present but if it arrives in
time, we will put it in the Membersæ Price List.
7.6
Å  AUN Fileserver Level 4 release 3 is now available. This includes
Application Accelerator (see above) and !Gateway which enables two-way
access between two Ethernet networks of between two different cabling
systems such as Ethernet and Econet. Again, we are still waiting for
confirmation of pricing but I guess that the price will probably stay at
ú399 +VAT or ú430 through Archive. The upgrade for release 1 or 2 to
release 3 is Éhoped to be about ú100æ.
7.6
Å  Application Accelerator is another new AUN networking product from
Acorn. It is an application server which allows applications to be made
available to client machines on a read-only basis about four times as
fast as through the Level 4 Fileserver. However, Accelerator can export
any accessible directory or filing system and is not just limited to a
fileserver. For example, if it is put on an AUN gateway machine, it can
make a shared filing system accessible from both sides of the gateway.
If you have an application server using NFSFiler (from TCP/IP), you can
make this available to clients without them having to use NFSFiler.
Accelerator is compatible with TCP/IP (release 2) and Level 4 Fileserver
(release 3).
7.6
Å  ArcFS2 Ö This is now being distributed by Vertical Twist and the price
has been increased to ú24.99 inc VAT or ú23 through Archive.
7.6
Å  ArcSimp III Ö Mijas Software have now released version 3 of their
RISCáOS compliant electronic simulation package. Its facilities include
digital circuit simulation, analogue circuit simulation, control system
design and mechanical system simulation. It comes in two forms: a
National Curriculum study version at ú55 +VAT (site licence ú150) and a
Professional Design & Research version costing ú105 +VAT (site licence
ú300).
7.6
Å  ArtWorks 1.5 Ö This new version of ArtWorks provides support for 24-
bit sprites. It includes new TIFF file loaders and a fast-load feature.
The price remains at ú169 +VAT from Computer Concepts or ú180 through
Archive.
7.6
Å  ArtWorks 1.5 on CD Ö This includes all of the clipart from the Clipart
CD, the new version of ArtWorks plus all the ArtWorks fonts. The price
remains at ú169 +VAT from Computer Concepts or ú180 through Archive.
7.6
Å  ArtWorks Clipart CD Ö Computer Concepts are selling a CD which
consists of an ArtWorks file viewer plus over 800 ArtWorks example
pictures. It also has a demo version of AudioWorks with example audio
files and dozens of 24-bit photographs. The ArtWorks Clipart CD costs
ú19 from Computer Concepts or ú21 through Archive. (The clipart on this
CD is the same as is included on the CD version of ArtWorks.)
7.6
Å  ArtWorks Made Easy by Ann Rooney is published by Dabs Press. As the
title suggests, this is aimed at the Artworks beginner and takes the
reader step by step through its various features and draws attention to
the principal differences between Artworks and Draw. Artworks Made Easy
costs ú14.95 from Dabs Press or ú15 through Archive inclusive of p&p.
(Books, being heavy are expensive to post.)
7.6
Å  Basic WIMP Programming is a new book by Alan Senior published by Dabs
Press. It enables you to learn how to program the WIMP environment using
Basic. To assist program development, the book gives many example
programs which are designed to be easily adapted and expanded for your
own applications. An extensive library of procedures and functions is
also provided to simplify the program writeræs task. The price of ú16.95
includes a disc of programs, procedures and functions. This is available
through Archive for ú17 inclusive of p&p.
7.6
Å  BearSheet is a ösimple yet sophisticatedò spreadsheet from ERIC
(Education Resources in Computing). It consists of two spreadsheet
programs aimed at different educational levels, does bar and pie charts,
line and scatter graphs and costs ú29.95 inc VAT from ERIC with a
network version at ú59.90 inc VAT.
7.6
Å  BearWords is a wordprocessor/DTP package also from ERIC consisting of
three separate WPs at different levels from elementary to advanced
level. It is also concept keyboard compatible. BearWords costs ú42.95
inc VAT from ERIC and a network version is available from them at ú85.90
inc VAT.
7.6
Å  Bodywise is an animated database of the human body from Sherston
Software. It provides an exploration of the human body for top juniors
and lower secondary pupils Ö just point and click the body-part they
want to know about and watch it work! (The mind boggles! Ed) There is a
setup option which allows teachers to choose which systems are available
to the children and to turn on or off the explanations and animations of
the sexual organs. Bodywise is fully RISCáOS compliant and all
illustrations and text can easily be saved or transferred to other
applications. The package comes with user manual, a booklet of ideas for
classroom use, two sets of Body Search cards and a set of study sheets.
Bodywise costs ú39.95 +VAT from Sherston Software or ú44 through
Archive.
7.6
Å  Brilliant special needs software Ö Brilliant Computing have produced
some more software for special needs children.
7.6
FacePaint allows the children (or you!) to create hundreds of silly
faces with different noses, eyes, ears, hair, hats, etc. Fill in a
Éfeatures chartæ from an eye-witness report and then create your own
identikit picture. FacePaint is ú30 +VAT from Brilliant Computing.
7.6
Look & Listen consists of five mini video games to develop basic road
safety skills. It uses the stereo sound and comes with a free pair of
headphones. It can be used with mouse, keyboard, touch screens or simple
switch. Look & Listen costs ú25 +VAT from Brilliant Computing.
7.6
Sound Stuff consists of five games using a library of 24 sounds and
matching pictures. Find the sound to match the picture, use the stereo
facility to find where the sound is coming from, or play the matching
pairs game. It uses real recorded speech and can be used with mouse or
touch screen and comes with a free pair of headphones. Sound Stuff costs
ú25 +VAT from Brilliant Computing.
7.6
Å  CD-Net is a CD-ROM filing system for AUN. The idea of it is to
overcome some of the limitations imposed by existing hardware and
software. It allows CD-ROMs to be accessed either by special retrieval
software designed for a particular CD-ROM or through a CDFiler. CD-Net
is designed in such a way that, with öappropriate hardwareò, it is even
possible to run Replay movies over the network. CD-ROMs have to be
specifically licensed to be accessed through CD-Net. There are currently
eight titles being licensed but more will be available over the next few
months. A CD-Net Trial Pack costs ú39.95 +VAT from PEP Associates.
7.6
Å  Celtic Clipart disc Ö This includes borders, panels, chains, motifs
and some hints on altering the graphics for your own use. It costs
ú10.99 (no VAT) and is available from: Glyn Howells, Sicar Uchaf,
Brongest, Newcastle Emlyn, Dyfed, SA38 9ET.
7.6
Å  Cistercian Abbeys is a Genesis application that uses graphics, plans,
maps and a database to explore medieval monastic life. Cistercian Abbeys
costs ú45 +VAT from Oak Solutions or ú50 through Archive.
7.6
Å  Clipart & educational resource files Ö a range of clipart and
educational resource files are available from DEC_dATA at prices ranging
from ú3 to ú13 +VAT per set. New ones include Famous Buildings, Hand
Tools and Military Aircraft each ú7.95 +VAT and The Party, Wedding and
Anniversary Collection, a two-disc set at ú14 +VAT. There is also an
Impression Style Resource Disc at ú7.95 +VAT which includes borders,
decorative drawfiles, map of the UK, masks, office symbols and sport
pictures and an Artworks Resource Disc at ú8.95 +VAT which includes
decorative motifs, moulds for the envelope tool, drawings of gears and
stars, moulds for the perspective tool and a good number of sample
files.
7.6
Å  Colour HandáScanner Ö We now have information on Irlamæs hand scanner
as mentioned briefly in Products Available last month. This is an A5
scanner producing 24-bit colour output or 256 grey levels. Resolution is
from 100 to 400 dpi. The scan area is selectable up to just over 4
inches (about 10.5 cm). It has monochrome, 16 grey, 256 grey and 256
colour sprite support. The 24-bit formats include Clear files and
compressed JPEG. Brightness adjustment is done by control on the scan
head and gamma correction and sharpness are adjustable in software. A
version that will work in A3000/3010/3020/4000 machines is in the
pipeline but, at the moment, you need a computer that will take a
standard podules. The Irlam 24-bit Colour HandScanner costs ú359 +VAT
+carriage from Irlam or ú425 through Archive.
7.6
We had a look at this scanner at the BETT Show and it is VERY
impressive. The output has to be seen to be believed. We have put a few
sample scans on this monthæs program disc.
7.6
Å  Colour scanner correction Ö When I mentioned Irlamæs Proi-Mage
software and Epson scanners, I misquoted the scanning resolution. The
Epson GT-6500 (ú1000 inc VAT through Archive) actually scans at
600d.p.i. and is even capable of going to 1200d.p.i. while the Epson GT-
8000 (ú1,380 through Archive) scans at 800d.p.i. and is capable of going
up to 1600d.p.i.!
7.6
Å  Conjugez! Ö This is a software tool from Creative Curriculum Software
for helping you learn French verbs and is applicable right from early
learners of French up to A level and beyond. Conjugez! has 3,500 verbs
built into sets of data files in a range of nine appropriate levels. The
education site licence version also has a utility for adding more verbs
and editing the existing datafiles. Conjugez! is ú24.95 +VAT for a
single user or ú89 +VAT for a site licence from Creative Curriculum
Software.
7.6
Å  Cumana CD-ROM price increases Ö There have been various price rises on
CD-ROMs. The new Archive prices are as follows:
7.6
Creepy Crawlies Ö ú100
7.6
Dictionary of the Living World Ö ú175
7.6
Grooves Ö ú25
7.6
Image Warehouse Ö ú59
7.6
All four of the above Ö ú180£
7.6
Space Encyclopedia Ö ú44
7.6
World of Number
7.6
   Number Games & Short Tasks Ö ú89
7.6
   Perspectives Ö ú89
7.6
   Picture Gallery Ö ú89
7.6
   Who Stole the Decimal Point? Ö ú89
7.6
£Yes, I know thatæs only ú5 more than Dictionary of the Living World on
its own but they say itæs a special offer price, so who are we to argue!
7.6
Å  Cycloids Ö GamesWare have taken over this Software 42 game. The plot
features a unicycle-riding clown whose job it is to save the world! It
features 256-colour cartoon graphics and comical sound effects. Cycloids
costs ú19.99 from Gamesware or ú19 through Archive.
7.6
Å  Desktop Screenturtle Ö Topologika have produced a desktop version of
their easy-to-learn turtle graphics program. It offers a range of Logo
features but always with the aim of making it accessible for the younger
users Ö aimed at 8 to 13+ year olds. The new version has Émany new
featuresæ including a toolbox plus drag and drop loading of screens and
word sets. You can also switch off the need for numbers after commands.
This Éno numbersæ input mode works in conjunction with scaling options
for distance and direction and means that younger children neednæt worry
about numbers bigger than 10. Desktop Screenturtle costs ú45 +VAT or ú49
through Archive. An upgrade from the original version is available at
ú10 +VAT from Topologika.
7.6
Å  DrawPlot upgrade Ö Oak Solutions have upgraded DrawPlot, their HPGL
compatible plotter utility which works, for example, on the Roland CAMM
series. It now supports Graphtec plotters and work is under way on
Plotmate A3M and A4M plotters. DrawPlot allows you, simply and quickly,
to plot, cut or engrave drawings from drawfiles. CAMM1 cutters and CAMM2
millers can be driven in the same way as an HPGL plotter and DrawPlot
can be used, for example, to produce vinyl signs.
7.6
DrawPlot is part of their Draw Print & Plot package, which costs ú30
+VAT from Oak Solutions or ú33 through Archive.
7.6
Å  Eagle M2 Ö The Eagle M2 multimedia card provides 12-bit stereo
sampling and playback at CD rate (44.1kHz), full Midi capability, 24-bit
colour and greyscale still frame digitising, Acorn Replay movie capture
and Eidos real-time movie capture. It has S-VHS and composite video
input, line level audio input and output as well as audio out through
the computer speaker or headphone socket. This is an impressive array of
facilities to have on a single-width podule and the price is impressive
too: ú299 + p&p +VAT (ú358.37) from Wild Vision or ú340 through Archive.
It needs 4Mb and RISCáOS 3.1 and, for Replay movie capture, an A5000 or
A540 with at least 4Mb is recommended.
7.6
David Lenthall has started a series about audio sampling (see page 43) Ö
and he will be mentioning this and other offerings on the Acorn audio
front next month. Ed.
7.6
Å  Exploring Nature is a CD-ROM version of Usborneæs First Book of
Nature. It is targeted at primary and early secondary and aims to keep
up the Usborne tradition of öa very colourful presentation style with
hundreds of beautifully drawn picturesò. The basic approach is to let
children emulate the process of scientific discovery by doing a
simulated field trip on which they ömeasureò such things as temperature
and sunlight, and collect or öphotographò things they find. They can
then study from themed books or look up references in a nature
dictionary. From their collected information, the children can write up
a report or transfer pictures and data to other applications to collate
it further or make a special presentation of their work. Exploring
Nature comes with a teacheræs pack providing explanatory notes, user
guide and National Curriculum linkages. Exploring Nature costs ú120 +VAT
from Hampshire Microtechnology Centre.
7.6
Å  Fortran 77 Ö Intelligent Interfaces distribute a Fortran 77 compiler
and a desktop front-end for Fortran 77. The compiler itself is supplied
with linker, symbolic debugger (ASD) and utility library and costs ú99
+VAT or ú110 through Archive. The front-end, !Fortran77, enables Fortran
programs to be compiled, linked and executed in the RISCáOS desktop
environment. It is supplied with DrawF, Graphics, SpriteOp, Utils and
Wimp libraries and costs ú25 +VAT or ú28 through Archive.
7.6
The compiler was originally distributed by Acorn as the Acornsoft
Fortran 77, release 2, compiler but Intelligent Interfaces have made a
number of changes: the compiler can now be installed anywhere in the
useræs directory structure, the User Guide has been completely re-
written, a Utility Library is included, the symbolic debugger
(previously distributed with the Acorn Software Developeræs Toolbox) is
included with its own user guide, a command to compile and link in a
single operation has been added and instructions on how to use the
linker in Acornæs DDE are given.
7.6
Å  Fonts (low cost) 1 Ö Tekoa Graphics have produced their first pack of
low-cost fonts. They are offering 25 outline fonts for under ú1 a font.
They are suitable for use with RISCáOS 2 and 3 although they do not
contain any auto-kerning data. The fonts (including the number in each
family) are as follows: Academy (2), Bengal (4), Bookmark (4), Chaucer
(medium italic only), Garland (4), Matrix (a fancy font), Moscow (a
Cyrillic font), Optimist (4) and Paladin (4). They are mainly serifed
fonts and are ömostly inspired by (but slightly different from)
industry-standard typefacesò. Fonts Pack One costs ú20 +ú2.75 p&p from
Tekoa Graphics (no VAT as not registered). (See Richard Hallasæ review
next month Ö it wouldnæt fit in this month.)
7.6
Å  Fonts (low cost) 2 Ö The Datafile have renegotiated their licence
agreement with ITC of New York and URW of Hamburg. The result is (a)
lower prices for professional fonts and (b) a Pick æn Mix service so
that you can buy just the fonts you want from a list of 33 families,
totalling 100 weights. The fonts seem to be of very high quality. (See
Richard Hallasæ review next month.) For more details, contact The
Datafile or see the advert on page 20.
7.6
Å  F.R.E.D. Ö The 3D adventure game which was reviewed in Archive 7.1
p24, is now available through Archive at ú19.
7.6
Å  Go-Go! Ö This is a simple turtle graphics program from NW SEMERC for
teaching number, geometry and logic to special needs, primary and
secondary pupils. This is a full RISCáOS multitasking package providing
a range of activities whose simplicity or complexity can be set by the
teacher. It includes a wide variety of ready-made scenes and pointers to
which the pupil must give instructions in order to move it around the
screen to a particular goal. Reward sounds can be programmed to play
when a particular task is completed. A map, ordnance survey symbols and
an on-screen ruler and protractor are provided for taking accurate
measurements. The price of the two-disc set for Go-Go!, including a
curriculum guide with more ideas, is ú40 +ú3 p&p +VAT from NW SEMERC.
7.6
Å  Grannyæs Garden CD-ROM! Cumana and 4Mation have combined to produce a
new multimedia version of this popular educational program. The CD-ROM
version has enhanced graphics so that you can take advantage of higher
screen resolutions if they are available. It also has music and sound
effects together with a narrated introduction to the story by 4Mationæs
own Mike Matson. It costs ú29.95 +VAT or ú33 through Archive.
7.6
Å  Hard drive price drops Ö The prices of Mac hard drives (which work
well on Acorn using most of the SCSI cards currently available) have
dropped recently. The price drops are as follows:
7.6
  170Mb internal ú310 ÖÖ> ú260
7.6
  170Mb external ú440 ÖÖ> ú390
7.6
  525Mb internal ú790 ÖÖ> ú580
7.6
  525Mb external ú910 ÖÖ> ú710
7.6
  1Gb internal ú1040 ÖÖ> ú850
7.6
  1Gb external ú1170 ÖÖ> ú980
7.6
We also have a new drive: a 2Gb external at ú1390.
7.6
Remember though that with Acornæs existing range of Archimedes
computers, the maximum amount of memory that can be handled as a single
logical drive is 512Mb, so the 1Gb would have to be partitioned as two
512Mb drives and the 2Gb drive would take up all four drives possible on
a SCSI interface, leaving no room for a SCSI-type backup device!
7.6
(It would be a reasonable guess that these bigger drives will be more
easily handled on any new range of machines that Acorn might launch in
the future. Ed.)
7.6
A suitable SCSI interface would be a Morley uncached SCSI card (ú160)
for the 170Mb drive and a cached SCSI card (ú220) for the larger drives.
Below about 200Mb, the cache does not make a lot of difference to the
speed.
7.6
Å  Hawk V9 MkII Ö Wild Visionæs Hawk colour digitiser used to be
available in two forms: standard and öhardware ditheredò but the
standard version has now been deleted and the hardware dithered version
has been reduced from ú269 to ú199. This version allows you to have a
live display window in the desktop where the grabbed video picture is
displayed with full dithered colours. It also has a special mono format
useful for preparing material for monochrome DTP work. It comes with
fully RISCáOS compliant software providing an öextensive range of image
scaling and enhancing optionsò allowing sprites produced to be dragged
straight into whatever desktop applications you are using. The price is
now ú199 +ú6 carriage +VAT from Wild Vision or ú229 through Archive.
7.6
Å  Help for dyslexics Ö A new book has been published which has been
sponsored by Acorn Computers and the British Dyslexia Foundation.
Computers and Dyslexia is edited by Dr Chris Singleton and aims to give
an overview of the best in current technology and educational practice
of help to those suffering from dyslexia which apparently affects about
4% of the population. Computers and Dyslexia is published by the
Dyslexia Computer Resource Centre, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX.
200pages, price ú10.95, ISBN 1 898862 00 1.
7.6
Å  High-density floppy disc interface Ö At last, owners of A310/4x0/540
computers can use 1.6Mb floppies and be compatible with the newer
machines. Risc Developments have produced an interface plus software to
allow you to interface to a high-density floppy drive and use F-format
Acorn floppies as well as 1.44Mb and 1.2Mb PC formats. You can buy it
with or without an HD drive unit and it has a set of link jumpers
allowing configuration for operation with a wide range of drive types.
It costs ú119 +VAT for the interface or ú159 +VAT for the interface plus
an HD floppy drive. For A310 to fit one of these drives internally,
there is a special fascia plate costing an extra ú30 +VAT.
7.6
Å  ImageBank from Irlam Instruments is a way of getting 10Mbytes of
colour scans onto a single floppy! It uses standard JPEG image
compression to allow 8-bit and 24-bit images to be archived. One major
advantage of it is that it provides the user with a thumbnail sketch of
each picture in a directory-type display so that you can easily select
the image you want. This can then be decompressed by double-clicking on
it. Images can be exported in JPEG, 24-bit Clear file, 256 colour sprite
or the new 15 and 32-bits per pixel sprites. A cut-down version is also
supplied so that your images can be distributed/sold or shown as
examples to other people. The complete package including the full and
the cut-down versions of ImageBank costs ú25 +VAT from Irlam Instruments
or ú28 through Archive.
7.6
(This monthæs program disc contains some colour scans from Irlamæs new
hand colour scanner presented via the ImageBank reader software.)
7.6
Å  Impression Style is CCæs exciting new WP/DTP package. For ú99 +VAT,
you get facilities which are comparable with Impression II and many of
the facilities are in fact superior to the older (more expensive)
package. We hope to have a review of Impression Style before too long
but suffice it to say that its features include: integrated thesaurus
and dictionary, auto-section and paragraph bulleting, numbering and re-
numbering, full support for 24-bit images, graphics filter with TIFF
loaders, new interactive text ruler system and styles. Impression Style
costs ú107 through Archive.
7.6
Impression upgrades: Impression Junior and Impression II owners can
upgrade to Style for ú29 +VAT through Computer Concepts. Then when
Impression Publisher is released, Impression Style owners and Impression
II owners will be able to upgrade for ú29 +VAT, again through Computer
Concepts. (Many people feel that the extra facilities of Style make it
worth upgrading once from II to Style and then again from Style to
Publisher. Ed.)
7.6
Å  Inkjet Refills Ö For some time now, we have been intending to ögo
greenò(!) by stocking inkjet refills. We have now arranged a deal with
Quill Marketing in Norwich to stock InkMun refills which seem to have a
good reputation for quality and reliability. (However, if you try them,
perhaps you would report back so that we can check that they really are
as good as they seem.)
7.6
The cost savings involved are quite marked. For example, buying HP black
cartridges at ú21 each would give you the same amount of ink as a pack
of two refills costing only ú15. Prices are as follows:
7.6
Hewlett Packard 500/510/500C/550C/310
7.6
(and JP150)
7.6
Black standard Ö 2 refills Ö ú15
7.6
Black high capacity Ö 2 refills Ö ú20
7.6
Cyan standard Ö 2 refills Ö ú15
7.6
Magenta standard Ö 2 refills Ö ú15
7.6
Yellow standard Ö 2 refills Ö ú15
7.6
Triple colour 9 refills (3 each colour) Ö ú30
7.6
Canon BJ10
7.6
Black Ö 2 refills Ö ú15
7.6
Cyan Ö 2 refills Ö ú15
7.6
Magenta Ö 2 refills Ö ú15
7.6
Yellow Ö 2 refills Ö ú15
7.6
Canon BJ200
7.6
Black Ö 2 refills Ö ú15
7.6
Cyan Ö 2 refills Ö ú15
7.6
Magenta Ö 2 refills Ö ú15
7.6
Yellow Ö 2 refills Ö ú15
7.6
Canon BJC600
7.6
Black Ö 3 refills Ö ú15
7.6
Triple colour 9 refills (3 each colour) Ö ú30
7.6
Canon BJC800
7.6
Black Ö 2 refills Ö ú21
7.6
Cyan Ö 2 refills Ö ú21
7.6
Magenta Ö 2 refills Ö ú21
7.6
Yellow Ö 2 refills Ö ú21
7.6
I think these are likely to be the most popular ones which is why we
have been able to work out special prices on them. If you have other
printers for which you want refills, let us know and tell us the sorts
of quantities you are likely to want during the course of a year, say,
and weæll see what we can work out with Quill Marketing.
7.6
Å  IT in the Real World is a Genesis application that looks at the
applications and effects of IT in real life. It is aimed at Key Stage 3
and relates to IT capability levels 3 to 8. The IT in the Real World
pack includes information and worksheets and costs ú30 +VAT from Oak
Solutions or ú33 through Archive.
7.6
Å  Ixion Ö The 3D adventure game (see review on page 32 last month) is
now available through Archive at ú19.
7.6
Å  Keyboards Ö If your keyboard is beginning to get a bit unreliable or
if you just want something of better quality (and cheaper!) than the
Acorn replacement keyboards then Castle Technologyæs Ergo-Keyboards seem
a good bet (see Brian Cowanæs review on page 49). These keyboards are
compatible with the Acorn keyboard, including the mouse socket and the
reset button. They have industry standard 102 key PC layout and hardware
keyboard mouse emulation. (We also suspect that any new Acorn computers
will have standard PC keyboards, so you can get used to the slightly
different PC layout ready for the new machines!) The price is ú99 + ú10
carriage +VAT (ú128.08) direct from Castle Technology or ú120 through
Archive.
7.6
(Because Brianæs review was so positive, we reckoned there would be a
good number of people wanting to try these new keyboards so we have
arranged a special bulk purchase with Castle Technology and can offer
them at the introductory price of ú105 inclusive Ö 18% discount. To take
advantage of this special price, please place your order a.s.a.p.
Thanks.)
7.6
Å  Keyboards for A3000 Ö If your A3000 keyboard is beginning to get a bit
unreliable Castle Technologyæs Ergo-Keyboards can now be attached to an
A3000. The price of the A3000 Ergo-Keyboard, including interface, is
ú129 + ú10 carriage +VAT (ú163.33) direct from Castle Technology or ú155
through Archive.
7.6
(We have arranged a bulk purchase of these keyboards and can offer them
at the introductory price of ú135 inclusive Ö 18% discount. To take
advantage of this special price, please place your order a.s.a.p.
Thanks.)
7.6
Å  Langdale is described by Creative Curriculum Software as öa massive
resource of materials to Key Stage 3 geographyò. It provides OS maps,
diagrams, aerial and ground photographs, data, statistics, charts and
sounds all relating to Langdale in the Lake District. It consists of
eight applications on CD-ROM for ú149 +VAT including a site licence. Two
of the applications, Stickle Project and River Project are available as
separate stand-alone applications on disc for ú89 +VAT each for those
not having access to CD-ROM. Each price includes manual and teaching
materials as well as the CD-ROM or discs.
7.6
Å  Laser printers Ö At the suggestion of Andrew Rawnsley last month (page
23) we have worked out a Écheapæ alternative to Laser Direct HiRes 4
(Archive price ú925). If you get a Écheapæ Laserjet-compatible laser
printer and buy the CC HP TurboDriver (ú53 through Archive) you donæt
need to pay as much as ú925. It wonæt be as fast but if you want the
quality of output that a laser offers, itæs a way of doing so for a
lower price. You can, of course, get a copy of Computer Shopper, or
whatever, and find the cheapest Laserjet-compatible available but if you
want a Égood nameæ printer to get the reliability then we would be happy
to supply either the Epson EPL-5000 at ú630 (ú680 with TurboDriver) or
the Panasonic KX-P4410 at ú560 (ú610 with TurboDriver). These prices are
inclusive of VAT and carriage. They both have 0.5Mb RAM (expandable),
will cope with envelopes and thin card and have paper trays taking 150
and 100 sheets respectively and run at 6ppm and 5ppm respectively.
7.6
(Readers have suggested other laser printers that they have used: Dave
Walsh uses an Oki400e and, with only 0.5Mb RAM, it seems to cope with
all but the most complex drawfiles. It has a straight paper path to take
heavier paper and envelopes, gives good quality output and is reasonably
cheap to run.)
7.6
Å  Lemmings II Ö The Tribes Ö Krisalisæ latest Lemmings extravaganza is
now available. It is truly amazing what they can get those tiny little
animals to do! There is now a huge range of new and exciting Lemmings
types to try out and many new levels to test your ingenuity and stretch
your patience. Lemmings II is ú29.99 from Krisalis or ú28 through
Archive.
7.6
Å  Little Smalltalk Ö A full-blown Smalltalk environment would cost over
ú500 but if you want just to experiment with the concepts of object-
oriented programming, David Pillingæs Little Smalltalk (as mentioned in
Acorn User February 1994) is a good start. Little Smalltalk costs ú5.99
from David Pilling or ú6 through Archive inc p&p.
7.6
Å  Maths Card Ö To help with the teaching of maths at Key Stages 1 & 2,
Creative Curriculum Software have produced Maths Card. Its aim is to
help you produce well laid out maths question sheets quickly and easily
as drawfiles ready for printing. It allows you to set up questions on
addition, subtraction, multiplication and division while controlling
things such as the occurrence of carrying figures, sign left or right,
etc. It also covers decimals, fractions, weight and length, and allows
the use of magic squares using Units to HTU. Maths Card costs ú49 +VAT
from Creative Curriculum Software.
7.6
Å  MidiMax is Wild Visionæs Acorn-compatible Midi card. It has on-board
FIFO buffering to allow reliable operation at maximum data rates. The
standard Midi In, Out and Thru connectors are provided as well as a
second Out connector to ease the interfacing of multiple devices.
MidiMax costs ú69 +p&p +VAT (ú88.12) from Wild Vision or ú83 through
Archive.
7.6
Å  My World 2 + 2 Ö NW SEMERC have produced a large pack of resources
based on their framework package, My World 2. Originally designed with
special needs in mind, My World 2 + 2 can be used by öpeople of all ages
and abilities across many fields of learning and recreationò. It
provides four discs of resources including alphabet jigsaws, an easy
writing screen, sentence building, picture building activities, kitchen
planning, pattern-making from shapes, DIY dinosaurs, solitaire,
draughts, town planning, pattern making, weather maps and charts. My
World 2 + 2 costs ú39 +ú3 p&p +VAT from NW SEMERC.
7.6
Å  Oak Recorder II Ö This product has now been taken over from Oak
Solutions by Solent Computer Products Ltd and sells at ú39.95 +VAT.
7.6
Å  Oak Solutions price drops Ö A large number of Oak Solutionsæ software
products have been reduced in price (since they moved into their new
premises Ö address in Factfile at the back of the magazine). The new
Archive prices are as follows:
7.6
  Arclight Ö ú50
7.6
  Euclid Ö ú55
7.6
  Splice Ö ú33
7.6
  Tween Ö ú33
7.6

7.6
  WorraCAD Ö ú77
7.6
  KiddiCAD Ö ú50
7.6

7.6
  Oak Logic Ö ú77
7.6
  Oak PCB Ö ú77
7.6
  Ancient Egypt Ö ú50
7.6
  Castle Life Ö ú50
7.6
  Saxon Life Ö ú50
7.6
  ClassPrint LD Ö ú77
7.6
  ABC Compiler Ö ú77
7.6
  Cambridge Pascal Ö ú77
7.6
Å  Oxford Reading Tree Stage 2 Talking Stories Ö Sherston Software and
Oxford University Press have combined to produce öan exciting and
motivating way of consolidating vocabulary and learning to read at Stage
2ò. Anyone who has seen Sherstonæs Naughty Stories and More Naughty
Stories will appreciate the value of this team-up with OUP. This pack of
six stories by Roderick Hunt is animated with Alex Brychtaæs
illustrations and Hannah Gordon is the narrator. The cost is ú39.95 +VAT
from Sherston Software or ú44 through Archive.
7.6
Å  PenFriend Ö This is a öpredictive typerò from Design Concept. What
that means is that, as you type, it offers you suggestions of what word
you might be typing. You can then avoid typing the whole word and just
click the mouse or press a function key to select from the list of words
that PenFriend offers you. You can have your own sets of commonly used
words so that it can guess more quickly what word you are typing.
PenFriend costs ú25 +VAT from Design Concept.
7.6
Å  Pocket Book offer extended again Ö Acornæs offer on Pocket Books and
Schedule has been extended again Ö this time to 31st March 1994. The
Pocket Book is therefore still ú200 (instead of ú250) through Archive
and Schedule is ú19 instead of ú49. The Class-pack of 11 Pocket Books
plus an A-Link plus Mains Adaptor is on offer at ú1699.50 +VAT or ú1950
inclusive through Archive.
7.6
Å  Pocket Ethernet Adaptor Ö Atomwide are now offering an Ethernet
adaptor that works on any of the Acorn Computers that have a
bidirectional parallel port (A4, A3010, A3020, A4000, A5000). It is easy
to install and remove and therefore offers a degree of adaptability not
offered by the normal Ethernet podules Ö and, of course, it saves a
podule slot. It is currently only available as a 10base2 interface but a
10baseT version is under development. The Pocket Ethernet Adaptor costs
ú199 +VAT from Atomwide or ú225 through Archive. It is fully IEEE 802.3
compliant, has a 64Kb local buffer memory and offers a transfer rate of
200Kbps peak.
7.6
Å  PocketFS2 Ö The new A-Link software which was reviewed briefly last
month (p71) is now available as an upgrade for existing A-Link owners.
Send ú9.95 (inc VAT & p&p) plus the original A-Link floppy disc to Acorn
Direct in Wellingborough. This offer lasts until the end of April 1994.
7.6
Å  Primary Information Management System (PIMS) is a package produced by
Longman Logotron and Acorn Computers to provide a ready-to-use system
that will handle pupil and staff records, budgeting and accounts,
maintenance, insurance and inventory. It stores individual records
relationally, not hierarchically, giving flexibility in retrieving the
data to put straight into reports such as pupil assessment sheets, class
lists and registers. For those schools already using SIMS (the school
secondary version) all data can be transferred directly into PIMS. The
package includes an A4000 or A5000 computer with SVGA (AKF50) monitor,
inkjet printer, software, hotline support, start-up consumables,
training, delivery, installation and on-site maintenance for an all-
inclusive price starting from ú1,999 +VAT (for the A4000 version) or ú16
a week using the Acorn Options rental scheme.
7.6
Å  PrimeSolver Ö The latest in Minerva Softwareæs öPrimeò series aimed at
education in the primary and lower secondary sector is PrimeSolver. This
is described as öa creative and practical problem solving system for
entertainment purposes whilst being highly educational at the same
timeò. (I had a look at it at BETT and it certainly seemed to be a lot
of fun!) It is basically a way of creating simulations and solving
mechanical puzzles using real-life mechanics of ropes, pulleys, cogs,
engines, pipes, etc. There are almost 60 tools provided to solve various
puzzles, 16 of which are provided with the pack although you can design
your own puzzles with the design mode provided. PrimeSolver costs ú79.95
+VAT from Minerva or ú88 through Archive. There are primary and
secondary site licences available for ú120 and ú320 +VAT from Minerva
Software.
7.6
Å  Pro-Drivers from Oak Solutions Ö Despite what we said last month about
Oak Solutions (Ace) Pro-Printer Drivers no longer being sold (sorry for
the confusion!) they are still very much available. What is more, they
have come down in price making them more competitive than the CC
TurboDrivers. The Ace Pro-Drivers for Canon LBP 4/8, HP compatibles and
Epson ESC-P2 compatibles are now ú35 +VAT each or ú39 through Archive
and if there is an Acorn driver (RISCáOS 3) for your printer then you
can use the Standard Pro-Driver which is only ú15 +VAT or ú17 through
Archive.
7.6
Å  Report Writer from Creative Curriculum Software is a package for the
production of individual reports and assessment sheets using National
Curriculum statements of attainment. It gives easy access to all the
National Curriculum statements which can then be transferred into any
other RISCáOS application. You can add words, phrases and sentences from
within datafiles to produces your reports. A single user version of
Report Writer (for KS 1/2 or KS 3/4) costs ú49 +VAT. You can also buy
upgrade packs to increase the numbers of users and/or get other Key
Stage data discs, manuals, etc Ö contact Creative Curriculum Software
for full details.
7.6
Å  Repro is a professional tool from Oak Solutions which allows the user
to manipulate the exact translation of colours from screen to paper. It
gives complete control over screen size, screen angles, gamma
correction, grey balance and black removal. Multiple palettes can be
defined so that differences caused by various types of printer or paper
can be minimised. You can also use the system to produce special effects
such as tweaking a colour to make it more vivid or enlarge halftones to
show individual colour spots. Repro can also produce colour separations
in various forms. It costs ú50 +VAT from Oak Solutions or ú55 through
Archive.
7.6
(This product only works with Acornæs new RISCáOS printer drivers... but
they arenæt ready yet. Ed.)
7.6
Å  RF design software Ö Steve Hunt has developed a number of applications
which will be of interest to both professional and amateur RF design
engineers. They include a filter designer, a receiver noise figure/
intercept point analysis tool, an inductance Éready-reckoneræ and a
Smith Chart design aid. For more details, contact Steve Hunt at 21 Green
Street, Milton Malsor, Northampton, NN7 3AT (0604-858090 after 7 pm).
7.6
Å  RISCáOS 3 Ö First Steps is another new book by Anne Rooney, again
aimed at the beginner. It replaces, but is considerably bigger (at
around 500 pages long) than, the popular Archimedes First Steps. It
provides an introduction to Acorn RISCáOS 3 computers, dealing with each
topic in considerable depth. It also provides up-to-date information
about developments such as CD-ROM, multimedia and special needs
provision. RISCáOS 3 First Steps costs ú14.95 from Dabs Press or ú15
including p&p through Archive.
7.6
Å  Seelinks are educational packages from ESM. The first, Seelinks Ö
Ourselves, is aimed at children in Key Stages 1 & 2 and provides
material for data handling to enable the children to collect and analyse
data about themselves. This pack costs ú32.50 +VAT (including a site
licence) from ESM or ú36 through Archive.
7.6
The second pack is Seelinks Ö Transport and is aimed at children in Key
Stage 2. It uses the subject of transport to develop skills in the data-
handling area. Transport costs ú39.50 +VAT (including a site licence)
from ESM or ú44 through Archive.
7.6
Å  Sibelius 7 is the much-acclaimed öexpert system for music engravingò.
If you are wanting to produce printed music, it seems that Sibelius 7
has all the facilities you could possibly want. The full package costs
ú760 +VAT but, for non-professional users, there is a special offer
price of ú485 +VAT. We hope to have a review of this amazing package
fairly soon.
7.6
Å  Sibelius 6 is an education version of the full professional music
notation program, Sibelius 7. It has a simplified user interface but it
can still handle complex orchestral scores, all traditional musical
notation and a wide range of contemporary notation, Midi input and
output etc. Sibelius 6 costs ú160 +VAT from Sibelius Software.
7.6
Å  Soundcard Ö This is a 16-bit sound sampling board from Irlam
Instruments. it samples at a wide range of frequencies including CD and
DAT standard. You can record and replay sound directly to and from hard
disc. The Soundcard costs ú299 +VAT from Irlam Instruments or ú330
through Archive.
7.6
(More details will be given about this and the next product in David
Lenthallæs two-part article about digital audio. See page 43.)
7.6
Å  Super Sound Expansion System Ö Expressive Software Products have
produced a podule which provides high quality sound output from the
Archimedes. It contains synthesizer chips with 170 different wavetable
instrument sounds which are sampled from the original instruments. The
output, which is 16-bit CD-quality sound, is fed to an external box
which provides a standard jack output with volume control as well as
Midi, phono and mini-jack outputs. All you then need is your favourite
Midi music package and you are all set to produce CD-quality music.
Super Sound Expansion System costs ú249 +VAT from Expressive Software
Products.
7.6
Å  Talking Computer learning materials Ö Longman Logotron have published
materials to be used with Talking Pendown which are said to make
ölasting improvements in reading, writing and short term memoryò. It has
been tested on 68 children aged between 7 and 14 with serious reading
and memory difficulties and the results obtained were öimpressiveò. The
materials cost ú29 +ú3.53 p&p from Longman Logotron and Talking Pendown
costs ú64 +VAT (or ú69 through Archive) for a single user licence or
ú190 +VAT or ú330 +VAT for a site licence (primary or secondary
respectively).
7.6
Å  The Civil War is the latest in Anglia Televisionæs series of Key Plus
datafiles. It enables students to study the English Civil War of the
17th Century, focussing mainly on events in England and Wales but also
including information and illustrations from Scotland and Ireland. The
datafiles, which are accompanied by a 24-page photocopiable A4 booklet,
include information on 150 battles and skirmishes including information
from the latest research, a Key Plus Map system to help in searching the
data, a case study of the Parliamentary Garrison at Chadfield in
Wiltshire and biographies of many of the principal leaders of the War.
The Civil War Key Plus pack costs ú22 +VAT from Anglia Television.
7.6
Å  Time Detectives Ö The Victorians Ö This is a new adventure-back-in-
time from Sherston Software written by Simon Hosler, author of Crystal
Rain Forest. It begins when three local children mysteriously disappear
in the sleepy seaside town of East Heston and pupils, taking on the role
of a reporter for the local newspaper, are given the task of trying to
track them down. The package focuses on the changes since the Victorian
era in öan original and entertaining wayò. The package includes useræs
manual, a teacheræs book with ideas for classroom use, a catalogue of
Victorian artefacts together with sets of work and information cards to
be used in conjunction with the program. The Victorians costs ú39.95
+VAT from Sherston Software or ú44 through Archive.
7.6
Å  Twain image acquisition software (see Archive 7.4 p4) is now available
for the Canon scanner (ScanLight Professional) and the Epson GT
scanners. They cost ú20 inclusive from David Pilling or ú19 through
Archive.
7.6
Å  Ultimate Expansion CD-ROMs Ö There are now two CD-ROM drives available
that work with the HCCS Ultimate Expansion System. Both are Acorn
Replay, multi-session and PhotoCD compatible. Each includes an interface
in the form of a micropodule for plugging into an Ultimate multipodule.
The single speed drive (150 Kb/s) is ú229 +VAT or ú265 through Archive
and the dual speed drive (300 Kb/s) is ú289 +VAT or ú335 through
Archive.
7.6
Å  Ultimate Expansion System Ö There are also some new (sadly, higher)
prices for HCCS Ultimate Expansion System Starter Packs. We have
therefore changed the Archive prices as follows: The SCSI Starter Pack
has increased to ú114. The HiVision Starter Pack has been withdrawn and
replaced by a Colour Vision Starter Pack at ú182. The Midi + HQ Sound
Sampler Starter Pack has been withdrawn and replaced by a Midi Starter
Pack at ú114.
7.6
Å  XLisp Ö This is a version of Common Lisp with object oriented features
(as mentioned in Acorn User February 1994). It is available from David
Pilling at ú5.99 or ú6 through Archive inc p&p.
7.6
Å  Xword Ö Panda Discsæ crossword puzzle generator/solver program
(reviewed last month on page 59) has had some of Roger Kingæs
suggestions implemented and the price has dropped to ú39.95 inclusive. A
site licence is now ú95.
7.6