Celebrating thirty years of GAG-News with ROUGOL

With very few exceptions, magazines that centre on RISC OS have tended to come and go since the operating system first appeared¹, and only a very small number have stayed the course and continue to be published today. One of those is the magazine published by the German Archimedes Group, GAG-News, which has been published every two months since April 1992 – making it one of the oldest RISC OS magazines still being published, and the oldest – and only – regularly published German language publication for the platform.

That means a whopping 180 issues of GAG-News have been published – covering everything from the latest news, reviews of hardware and software, hints and tips, programming features and courses, and more – and April will be the thirtieth anniversary of the first. In celebration of that, the magazine’s editor, Herbert zur Nedden, will be joining the next RISC OS User Group of London (ROUGOL) meeting (via Zoom) to talk about the magazine, and perhaps to blow out some virtual candles.

So make sure you have your party hats ready, and join in the fun on Monday, 21st March, 2022, from 7:45pm.

For those able to attend the meeting in person – and please do if you can, to help ensure numbers are good enough that the venue can continue to provide a free room – it will take place at:

The Duke of Sussex (upstairs in the Chichester Room – but if not, check the Petworth Room),
23 Baylis Road,
London,
SE1 7AY.

There is no charge for admission, and the pub is within very easy walking distance of Waterloo station, making it easy to reach from anywhere in and around London by public transport. If you’re likely to be coming in by car there is parking outside (on Coral Street – accessed via Waterloo Road/Pearman Street) after 6:30pm. Full directions and a map can be found on the ROUGOL website.

There should be one or more people from ROUGOL on hand – blowing up balloons, no doubt – from 6:30pm.

Anyone further afield who is unable to make it to the physical meeting can join in the fun from home using the Zoom video conferencing software, which is available on most mainstream computer and mobile platforms. All you need – as well as your party hat and a selection of snacks and drinks – are the access details. If you’ve joined other recent ROUGOL meetings, they remain the same for this one, but if you haven’t you can obtain them by contacting the group. The virtual meeting will be open from 7:30pm.

ROUGOL also organises the annual RISC OS London Show, which this year is scheduled for 29th October. The event will take place at its regular venue, the St Giles Hotel in Feltham.