Get a wisp of a new product from RISCOSbits at ROUGOL – 20th March

At the recent Southwest Show, RISCOSbits‘ Andy Marks was showing off an early version of an in-development product, called Wispy – and Bryan Hogan has managed to get his hands on a pre-release sample, which he will be presenting to the RISC OS User Group of London on the evening of Monday, 20th March, 2017, when the group next meets.

At its simplest, Wispy is a wireless ethernet bridge which is fully configurable from RISC OS – and for those who didn’t attend the show (and who haven’t read the RISCOSitory show report because it has yet to appear) it was providing wireless internet connectivity for both a pi-Top and a Titanium-based computer.

It doesn’t end with just that, however. The device runs a minimal Linux, with the latest version of Firefox installed, and that’s available to RISC OS in a window, allowing access to those websites that are problematic for NetSurf – and there are plans for further, related features.

Bryan is expecting to have a pi-Top computer at the meeting on Monday, into which Wispy will be installed and set up to access the venue’s WiFi connection. Another RISCOSbits product, the Absolute Zero, will also be set up with a Wispy – and together they will forum the smallest ever WiFi-enabled RISC OS system.

Wispy is due for release at the Wakefield Show, so it’s not on the RISCOSbits website as yet – but the hi-tech safe here in the RISCOSitory bunker contains a document¹ marked TOP SECRET with more details about the product, which will be revealed on the site closer to the show.

If you want to know more about it sooner, though, London is the place to be on Monday evening! The meeting starts at 7:45pm, and takes place at the usual venue:

Located between London Bridge and Borough tube stations, the pub is readily accessible by public transport and a five minute walk – and for those who like pedal power, there is ample cycle parking.

Drivers are reminded that Congestion Charging ends at 6:00pm – an hour and three quarters before the meeting starts – but also that parking on double red lines is restricted at all times, and it’s best to park after 7:00pm on single red or yellow lines. The most important piece of advice, though, is to remember that this is central London, so allow for extra time, patience, and maps!

For any help finding the venue, ROUGOL can be contacted by phone on 07970 211 629, by email, or via the group’s Twitter account.

Future meetings

The group’s April meeting will see a visit from Chris Gransden, who will be talking about and demonstrating his ports of various Linux applications to RISC OS, including the Otter browser. A couple of months later, in June, the subject will be Cryptography and Security, with a presentation by Dr Nat Queen of Birmingham University.