URLtoIE 1.4 released

Cross platform tool doesn’t get cross if it can’t see the other platform. John Williams, of Pic_Index fame, has released version 1.4 of URLtoIE, his application designed to help with web pages that prove troublesome on RISC OS browsers, by passing them over the network to Internet Explorer on a PC. The application will  take an address contained within an Acorn URI shortcut, an ANT URL shortcut or a plain text file – such as a URL dragged straight from NetSurf, though any text file can be used; it will…

Dungeons of Daggorath ported to RISC OS

Come and ‘ave a go if you think you’re ‘ard enough! Christopher Martin appears to have taken a break from his ongoing stream of releases of new versions of OpenVector, OpenGridPro and DrawPlus, FFmpeg and FFplay, and DRenderer – and has now announced the release of a port of Dungeons of Daggorath. The game originally dates back to 1982, when it was originally available for two systems – the TRS-80 Colour Computer, and the Dragon 32/64. Described as a ground-breaking game, which some have referred to as “the original Doom”,…

DrawPrint 1.38 available

Free printing utility even better value for money than before. DrawPrint is an application that allows the user to print a Drawfile (or Sprite or JPEG) over several pages, with full control of the scale. Margins can be set, with the option of the printed image overlapping from one page to the next, or have page breaks inserted more intelligent way. Free to download and use, the software was originally developed to provide a way to print from NetSurf on the IYONIX pc, but it can also be useful for…

Wakefield 2012 show report

Yet another better late than never report! The last fortnight or so has been a busy one for me, and a major contributor to that has been the annual Wakefield Show, organised as usual by the Wakefield RISC OS Computer Club (WROCC), and held at the Cedar Court Hotel. The show took place on Saturday 28th April, 2012, and it made me busy in the week running up to it because I decided I’d have something new(ish) on show (more on that later), and in the week following it because…

Free books and a magazine to download

David Bradforth of Alligata Media has made two books available as free downloads via his Alligata site on MagCloud. BASIC V for the Acorn Archimedes was written by Mike Williams and originally published by Dabs Press in 1989, and was acquired by Alligata Media in 2005. According to the blurb the “book provides a practical guide to programming in BASIC V on the Acorn Archimedes. Assuming a familiarity with the BBC BASIC language in general, it describes the many new commands offered by BASIC V.”

Snippets – 24th February 2012

Basalt and the Toolbox Steve Drain, prompted by a discussion in the RISC OS Open Ltd forum about AppBasic, has written a document about the using the Toolbox with Basalt which, he explains, has never been very well described. Basalt (“BASic ALTernative keywords”) is a module that extends BASIC by providing “alternative keywords by extending the use of actual keywords and adding new keywords, both of which are used completely as native BASIC keywords.” The document is available online, at the link given above, and it is also included in…

RISC OS London Show 2011 – Preview

The RISC OS London Show 2011 is finally upon us. In the morning, I will be making my way down to the hall at the St Giles Hotel, Feltham, where I’ve already set up my stand, ready for when the doors are open to the public at 11am. The line up for this year’s show includes plenty of regular faces as well as a few less regular (and perhaps first time) exhibitors, and some special treats – so let’s get straight down to business and look at who and what…

Midlands MUG Show 2011 report

The Midlands Midsummer MUG show 2011 took place on Saturday 9th July, 2011, and was perhaps one of the quietest RISC OS shows I’ve attended in as long as I can remember, if not the quietest. However, in spite of the very small attendance by users, I did find myself reasonably busy for most of the day, having some fairly long chats with various people – mostly visitors, and some exhibitors, though often not about things RISC OS! (For example, Martin Wuerthner and I discussed the joys of travelling down…

Wakefield 2011: The morning after

Yesterday’s RISC OS show in Wakefield, held in the show’s original venue of the Cedar Court Hotel, Calder Grove, is the 16th show organised by WROCC and one month short of being held on the fifteenth anniversary of the very first, held in the middle of May, 1996. It is also the 10th anniversary (again, offset by about a month) of my first appearance at the show – at any show – as an exhibitor. I had a reasonably busy day, demonstrating various aspects of WebChange to people, but did…