|-------------------------- Acorn News Service --------------------------| | http://www.ans.org.uk/ | | ISSUE 249 29 March 2009 | | | | An independent monthly newsletter for the Acorn world. | | Send your news items or comments to ans@acornusers.org. | |------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Featured site this issue: http://www.drobe.co.uk/article.php?id=2455 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------| Contents -------- 1) General News 2) Commercial News 3) PD/Shareware News 4) Club news 5) ANS information General News ------------ 1) RISC OS Computer Show Wakefield '09 The 2009 Wakefield show will be open from 10am to 5pm on Saturday, 25th April, at The Cedar Court Hotel, Wakefield. Full details of exhibitors and the theatre programme are available from: 2) Knightsfield School Knightsfield School has again gained the ICT Quality Mark. The school, which has over 40 Risc PCs, was described as "very well resourced and well equipped... The students interviewed were enthusiastic about ICT and they all enjoyed using it. The older students discussed their use of ICT and felt they had access to a wide range of resources." The school is looking for a maths teacher who is also a RISC OS user. For more details see . Commercial News --------------- 1) R-Comp/RCI end of year clearance With the end of the financial year fast approaching and the Wakefield show getting closer, R-Comp have some offers on RISCube demo/used stock. In each case, the machine will be re-worked/rebuilt as if it were a totally fresh system. In most cases you will also be able to specify some of the internal components, and in some cases Linux is available as a cheaper option. * RISCube64 with 3400+ CPU, circa GBP399 (RRP 899/999) This machine has been used at a number of RISC OS shows, with only limited use outside. Memory card reader, no floppy drive. * RISCube Ultra (Centrino edition), circa GBP699 (RRP 999) This is actually a "new" machine, using parts that were in stock but never sold. No floppy drive, quiet external power supply. * RISCube X2, circa GBP799 (RRP 1199) Another "new" machine. This machine can take several hard drives. * Small tower system, circa GBP199 A reconditioned machine. Price will depend on what is required in terms of RAM, hard drive etc. * PCI Express Graphics/TV/Radio/Video Capture, circa GBP49 A graphics card suitable for use on RISCubes or other modern computers with PCI-Express graphics card slots. * Samsung upscaling DVD player (multi-region capable), circa GBP40 * 32" wide viewing angle LCD screen/TV, circa GBP369 This screen has been used for various shows, and includes a TV tuner, and various inputs for VGA, DVI, SCART, Component, S-video and more. * Buffalo 500GB network attached storage, circa GBP99 Not compatible with LanMan98, but it will work with Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and/or VirtualAcorn. * Assorted 15" and 17" CRT monitors, circa GBP5/10 Various Sony, Philips and Acorn CRT monitors. Ideally buyer collects, as shipping is likely to be more expensive than the units! * AMD Athlon system, circa GBP85 Complete machine with floppy, CD/DVD drive, and internal Zip drive. * Assorted A7000 and Risc PC systems, from GBP40 2) Surftec DigiFlash Partis Computing have taken over further development of Surftec's DigiFlash products, a parallel port Compact Flash reader and a parallel port Smart Media reader. Partis Computing originally developed these products for Surftec in 2001/2002, and are thus best placed for continued development. Existing users of these products may acquire the latest versions by completing the registration form at: PD/Shareware News ----------------- 1) New software summary * RISC OS on Puppy Linux Puplet RPCEmu 0.8.2 Spoon Edition combined with the light weight Puppy Linux distribution on a bootable CD. All you need to do is add the RISC OS 4 ROM images. * Spr2BMP, Sprite to bitmap image conversion Generates Microsoft Windows BMP images from RISC OS Sprite images. 2) Updated software summary * CashBook v1.15 (beta) Home accounts application offering multiple accounts, regular transactions, budgeting with multiple analysis headings, and extensive reporting options. The release contains a number of minor tweaks, along with a major new feature of transaction presets. These allow frequently used transactions, or parts of transactions, to be set up as templates and quickly entered into the transaction window. * Fat32Fs v1.14 A DOS/FAT filing system module for the Iyonix that allows reading and writing FAT formatted media that is greater than 2GB in size. The main change corrects a problem with file timestamps after the change to BST. Club News --------- 1) Upcoming meetings * WROCC (Wakefield), 1st April - Mike Cook * LAUG (Liverpool), 14th April * ROUGOL (London), 20th April - NetSurf2 presented by John-Mark Bell * Wakefield RISC OS Show, 25th April * WROCC (Wakefield), 6th May * RONE (North East), 12th May - More networking * RISC OS eXperience 2009 (Netherlands), 16th May * MUG (Midlands), 16th May * ROUGOL (London), 18th May ANS Information --------------- 1) Contact ANS To send in your news items e-mail or use the form on the ANS website . More information about ANS and other contact details are available on the ANS web site . 2) How to subscribe to ANS If you are reading this on the ANS web site, or have received a forwarded copy of ANS and would like to subscribe to the mailing list, simply send a blank e-mail to . Alternatively use the form on the ANS web site at . For details of other commands e-mail . ---------------- Acorn News Service, http://www.ans.org.uk/ ----------------