South West Show goes ahead with new organisers

Jan 142012

The first show of the RISC OS calendar is usually the South West Show, which traditionally takes place during February. Paul Middleton of RISC OS Ltd, who has been organising the show for the last few years, is reported in Archive Magazine issue 23:3 to have told Jim Nagel, the editor, that “he usually learns a date at the last minute when the hotel offers special deals”. However, even last year’s show, which was held later than usual, in March, was officially announced towards the end of November 2010, and the date for the show had been spotted over a month earlier, during October 2010. With it now being January, therefore, it was beginning to look as though there wouldn’t be a South West Show in 2012.

However, keen to ensure that the RISC OS community doesn’t miss out on one of it’s main events, one which was particularly notable in 2011, Orpheus Internet and R-Comp Interactive have joined forces and announced that “the show must go on!” Continue reading »

Christmas offers from R-Comp

Dec 242011

R-Comp have announced that they have a stock of 25 inch LED-backlit monitors. These monitors, from a well-respected brand, offer excellent picture quality, with built-in ISF/image calibration features, and provide HDMI, VGA and older analogue connections, allowing you to use them with older computers such as RiscPCs and IyonixPCs, as well as digital computers such as the ARMini or RISCube. These screens also have built in freeview, allowing their use as ordinary TVs. Continue reading »

CD and DVD support comes to ARMini

Dec 182011

While RISC OS users have been able to access CDs and DVDs from their computers many years, users of R-Comp Interactive’s ARMini computer (as well as those using BeagleBoards in their own right) have only been able to do so via another computer and a network connection: Accessing the media in CD and DVD drives connected to the computer by USB was not an option.

Until recently. Continue reading »

RISC OS-friendly monitors from R-Comp at the London Show

Oct 262011

R-Comp Interactive, who fairly recently announced that they had sourced some new 24 and 27 inch televisions that were suitable for use with the ARMini and other BeagleBoard based computers, will be bringing a selection of 23, 24 and 27 inch monitors to the RISC OS London Show on Saturday 29th October. These screens are tested to produce excellent results at high resolutions on a variety of computers, including R-Comp’s ARMini and RISCube ranges, BeagleBoards, PCs, and also older computers with an analogue output such as the Iyonix or A9home. They will also work with RiscPCs, but at slightly lower resolutions. Continue reading »

R-Comp Interactive announces ARMini software scheme for BeagleBoard users

Oct 242011

With the BeagleBoard forming the heart of R-Comp Interactive‘s ARMini computer, it’s easy to see that some of R-Comp’s developments and releases for their computer might be relevant to those people who have put together their own RISC OS computers using the board. Well, now those “DIY” users have a way to access those developments: R-Comp have announced an annual subscription based scheme whereby users of home built RISC OS computers based around a BeagleBoard can receive the software* and support enjoyed by ARMini owners. Continue reading »

Snippets - 9th October 2011

Oct 092011

Pi in the sky – or, at least, near Heathrow Airport

For those interested in the Raspberry Pi, the RISC OS London Show (29th October, 2011, St Giles Hotel, Feltham) will be well worth a visit, since the tiny, low cost computer is set to make an appearance. It’s not known at this stage if it will be running RISC OS by the time of the show, but it seems likely that it will be on the RISC OS Open Ltd stand, judging by comments in their forum.

Speaking of the Raspberry Pi, in my Snippets post of 6th August I mentioned a logo competition. Well, that competition is now closed and an excellent winning design chosen.

There’s gold in them there web pages

Continue reading »

Snippets - 10th September 2011

Sep 102011

QuadDioph is a new piece of software from Martin Carradus. It’s an application that solves or finds “solution of certain Quadratic Diophantine Equations, of the form x^2 + B.x.y + A.y^2 = z^p, (e.g. x^2 + y^2 = z^2, two squares adding to a square, or x^2 + y^2 = z^3, two squares adding to a cube).” The application is free to download from Martin’s website.

Martin Wuerthner has announced that an ARMv7 compatible version of InterGif. Version 6.18 can be used on the BeagleBoard, ARMini, etc. InterGif is an application for converting graphics from RISC OS Sprite and Draw formats to GIF format with optimised palettes, allowing them to be viewed on other platforms, and used on websites. Originally written by Peter Harley and now maintained by Martin Wuerthner, the software also allows GIF animations to be created from a series of Sprites, and can also convert from GIF to Sprite format.

Continue reading »

The boot's on the other foot

Jul 202011

As sold by R-Comp, the ARMini comes shipped in much the same way any other computer running RISC OS has done – you connect it up, switch on, and moments later you are presented with the familiar RISC OS desktop. For many users, this is what they want – that’s why they’ve bought the ARMini, an out of the box solution, rather than the more DIY approach of a Beagleboard-xm and the necessary bits and pieces to get it up and running. That doesn’t mean users have to stick with just RISC OS, though – ARM Linux has been an alternative for some time for other RISC OS (and ARM based) computers, and R-Comp have themselves opted to put together a suitable Linux distribution (based on Lubuntu – a lightweight variant of Ubuntu) for the ARMini (and Beagleboard-xm).

Continue reading »

ARMini on the bounty

Apr 062011
ARMini Computer from R-Comp Interactive

As the 2011 Wakefield show creeps ever closer, Andrew Rawnsley of R-Comp has initiated a discussion on the RISC OS Open Ltd forums regarding some areas they’d like to see addressed in RISC OS before their ARMini computer goes from being a ‘coming soon’ to a current machine.

Andrew is quick to point out that they “can’t afford to throw mega-bucks at anything” (an understandable position, given the size of the RISC OS community) and that they’re “basically budgeting money from the ‘pre-order’ pot for dev work.” In some cases, for which he believes the amount of work required is relatively small, the offer is for payment in kind (e.g. free software from their catalogue), rather than money.

Continue reading »

South West Show 2011. That was today, that was.

Mar 052011

As a Bristol resident the annual RISC OS South West show, held at the Webbington Hotel near Loxton, is my local event – but one I almost always miss because it usually takes place in February and clashes with a regular holiday. This year, however, the show was held slightly later, so I was able to go along as a visitor. Having missed it for some years now I’ve no real notion of what the show is typically like in terms of  the number of visitors, so I couldn’t say if there was an increase or not this year – but what I can say is that I was pleasantly surprised with the turn out. I can’t help but suspect that it is higher than previous years, and that the reason for it is a combination of the amazing coup that Paul Middleton managed by getting Sophie Wilson to do a theatre presentation, and R-Comp‘s decision to unveil their ARMini computer at the show. That’s the sort of combination that could have the South West Show challenging the Wakefield Show as the premiere event in the RISC OS calendar.

Continue reading »

Older Entries