MusicMan and MusicCD updated

Updates for MusicMan and MusicCD are available from R-Comp. Both applications, now at version 2.22, have been updated to remain compatible with the latest versions of RISC OS, and have also been pointed in the direction of a new online database for audio CD look-ups; FreeDB, the service previously used, was recently closed. In addition, MusicCD has been moved onto the same 2.22 codebase as MusicMan, and has therefore gained some features from it – in particular the ability to lookup information online, such as cover art, artist or composer…

Show report: Southwest 2020

I don’t think anyone can possibly disagree with me when I say that 2020, so far, has been an unusual year. Most of the world is in some form of lockdown due to the SARS-CoV-2 (novel coronavirus) pandemic, with movements beyond our homes and interactions with people beyond our own households at a minimum – which means (in a RISC OS context) shows and user group meetings aren’t taking place.

Show report: Wakefield 2019

Six months on from the show itself… that’s almost as long as the Long Gap between the Wakefield and London shows! Ahem. The place to be for discerning RISC OS users (and retro Acorn enthusiasts) on Saturday, 27th April, was Wakefield – more specifically, the Cedar Court Hotel in Calder Grove – because that was where the annual Wakefield Acorn and RISC OS Computer Show took place.

Show report: Southwest 2019

It was the dawn of the third age of mankind second venue for the RISC OS Southwest Show Since its inception, each and every Southwest Show until this year’s had been held at the Webbington Hotel in Somerset – a grand total of twenty one shows, with twenty years between the first, which took place on 7th February, 1998, and last year’s event, which took place on 24th February, 2018.

Show report: Wakefield 2018

That’s last year’s record for a long-delayed show report broken! This year’s Wakefield Show took place on 21st April, at the Cedar Court Hotel, organised by the local user group – the Wakefield RISC OS Computer Club (WROCC). Like last year, I must apologise for another long-delayed RISCOSitory show report. As ever, this is mainly because of how busy I am outside the world of RISC OS, but also because I wanted to edit down my video recordings of the theatre talks to a more manageable length – and video…

Come on and play Koi-koi

It’s a carp-carp card game, doncherknow – but not a version of Go Fish! Rick Murray has released an implementation of a Japanese two-player card game, pitting you against the computer, called Koi-koi (or “come on”). The game is played with a deck Japanese playing cards called Hanafuda, which translates as flower cards, and the aim of the game is to accumulate matches, called Yaku. These are pairs of cards of the same suit, and when the game ends, the winner is the player with the most points derived from…

RISC OS Awards 2017 results

The latest RISC OS Awards poll, covering 2017, came to a close a on Saturday, 26th May – and the results are now known. The Awards website has been updated to show the results, and the winners (for whom I have contact details) will be notified by email later today, with direct links to the results so that they can be referred to on the their own websites. The results have already been announced on the RISCOSitory Twitter feed, but for anyone not using Twitter they are below.

How to: Draw a glass button in eight steps

The following is a step-by-step guide to producing a glass-topped button, where a glassy surface covers the underlying button and any image depicted thereon. The steps are geared towards ArtWorks2, the premier vector editing package for RISC OS, and there is a supporting file on my website showing the full eight steps in ArtWorks format. The basic steps should be generally applicable to other vector graphics packages on other platforms, so there is also PDF version of the file.

News nybble: Wakefield to see the release of RISC OS 5.24 (Updated to clarify target platforms)

Also: No touching – ew! RISC OS Open Ltd will be bringing RISC OS 5.24 to Wakefield. This will be the first public outing of the new stable release of the operating system, which will cover all platforms except iMX6 and OMAP5 – and for Pi users, this will be the first chance for people to get their hands on a copy for themselves, with newly updated editions of the RISC OS Pi and ePic cards. The company will also have the latest edition of the Desktop Development Environment, and…