Acorn News Service Newsletter

Issue: 165 (22 August 2004)

Featured site this issue: http://www.filebase.org.uk/

General News

RISC OS South-East show at Guildford

The third RISC OS South-East show will take place at Guildford College on 23rd October 2004, organised by the Surrey and Sussex Acorn User Group and supported by Fillin Ltd.

The show will run from 10am until 4pm. Entry, on the door, remains at GBP5 for the third year running.

For details of the venue and travel arrangements see <http://www.fillin.co.uk/seshow/>.

RISC OS links database revamp

Paul Vigay's comprehensive RISC OS links database, which includes over 2100 links for RISC OS users, ranging from software links to user groups and documentation, is now using a re-written database engine, making it faster and more efficient as well as providing a new user interface and look.

<http://www.riscos.org/links/>

New ANS Filebase web site

The ANS Filebase has a new look web site, and a new home at: <http://www.filebase.org.uk/>

The ANS Filebase, a comprehensive directory of RISC OS software, has been updated with a new search system, enhanced link checking and RSS feeds for both updates and new entries.

The new 'Broken link' notification option allows authors to be kept informed if any of their entries become out of date (existing members can switch this option on via their preferences).
A new 'Authors' section at <http://www.filebase.org.uk/authors/> provides quick access to information on any of the members who have added software to the Filebase.
Two Rich Site Summary (RSS) XML feeds are now available, providing details of new and updated entries. These are located at <http://www.filebase.org.uk/new.rss> and <http://www.filebase.org.uk/updated.rss> respectively.

Anyone who wishes to register for an account on the Filebase can do so at <http://www.filebase.org.uk/register>. Registration is free, and the e-mail address you provide will only be used to send you information you request from the site. When you have logged in you can select software you are interested in, and choose how often you are e-mailed with updated information.

The ANS Filebase currently contains more than 800 entries, and users can help by adding details of new software. All links are checked regularly to ensure they are active. Software authors who register can claim the database entry about their programs, to ensure information is accurate and up to date.

<http://www.filebase.org.uk/>

Commercial News

GBP300 off Castle triple input 19 inch LCD

Castle's special offer 18" Dual Input LCD has been replaced by a higher specification 19" Triple Input LCD, available under the current IYONIX pc special offer until 31st August 2004.

This new 19 inch Sharp LCD has the following features:

High contrast ratio (700 to 1)
High brightness (300cd/m2)
19" TFT display (similar viewable area to 21 inch CRT)
Triple input (2 x 15-pin mini D-sub, 1 x DVI-D)
Single button input selection
2 free analogue monitor cables
Swing top design for height and angle adjustment
Built-in power supply
Long life backlight (Approx. 50000 hours)
VESA mounting
Max resolution 1280 x 1024 (1.3 megapixels)
Viewing angle 170deg (Horizontal & Vertical)
Full colour (Approx. 16.77 million colours)
Low-power 'Office' setting
Available in Black or Ivory
Special offer price GBP369 (a saving on Castle's previous dual input 19 inch LCD of over GBP290)

All prices include VAT. Available for GBP369 only when purchased at the same time as any new, top-of-the-range Panther, IYONIX, or X100 pc. (New price when brought individually GBP534.)

<http://www.iyonix.com/>

GoMMC: flash card storage for the BBC and Master

GoMMC is a new file storage system for the BBC and Master.

It allows storage of any number of floppies (hard disks to follow) on an MMC (MultiMedia Card). Individual floppies can subsequently be selected (by name) and accessed just as before, via the usual (albeit slightly patched) filing systems. Up to 1GB of storage is currently possible, and transfer speeds are in the region of 80 to 130 KB/sec.

GoMMC costs EUR75. More details are available at: <http://web.inter.nl.net/users/J.Kortink/home/hardware/gommc/>

PD/Shareware News

New software summary

PassWd, random password generator
A secure random password generator with a number of useful options, including selecting from letters and numbers or selected other characters.
<http://www.vigay.com/software/misc.html#passwd>
Tina, talking clock
A talking clock. Needs the Speak module <http://home.clara.net/jsd/>.
<http://kevsoft.topcities.com/>

Updated software summary

Dict v1.13
A frontend for Stefan Bellon's Dict tool, providing an easy access to Internet dictionaries. UTF8 encodings are supported on an Iyonix.
<http://home.planet.nl/~delink/Dict.html>
GedText v1.01
Produces a text file report of all information contained in a Gedcom (genealogy) file. This version adds the option to sort the output by date of birth.
<http://www.south-frm.demon.co.uk/riscos/risc_os.html>
TapirMail v1.02
Shareware (GBP5) POP3 e-mail client designed to complement the existing e-mail clients available for RISC OS. Its main difference is that it works entirely in memory and does not permanently download emails. This makes it ideal for people who want to read their e-mails on more than one machine, or who check their mail on the move. Bug fixes.
<http://www.flypig.co.uk/tapirmail/>

Club News

Upcoming meetings

BARUG (Bristol), 25th August
<http://www.barug.co.uk/>
ICENI (Ipswich), 1st September - Networking & wireless
<http://www.btinternet.com/~icenicomputerclub/>
WROCC (Wakefield), 1st September
<http://www.wrocc.org.uk/>
NKACC (Kent), 9th September - Digital and Internet TV and radio
<http://nkacc.roundel.net/>
WAUG (Wessex), 11th September
<http://www.mfraz.freeserve.co.uk/waug/>
DARC (Derbyshire), 13th September - Paul Beverley
<http://www.darc-comp.org.uk/>
EAUG (Essex), 14th September - Richard Brown, Oregano UK
<http://www.wattys.fsnet.co.uk/eaug/>
LAUG (Liverpool), 14th September
<http://www.italia.co.uk/laug/>
RONWUG (North West), 15th September
<http://www.ronwug.org/>
ROUGOL (London), 20th September
<http://rougol.jellybaby.net/>

ANS Information

Contact ANS

Editor - James Sears - james@ans.acornusers.org
Webmaster - Stephen Courtney - stephen@ans.acornusers.org
Founder - Eytan Abrahams - eytan@ans.acornusers.org
Life-Webmaster - Richard Hesketh - richard@ans.acornusers.org

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