Steve Potts of the Wakefield RISC OS Computer Club has been a busy snapper.

If you fancy having a look at the baby from Castle, a click to the link above will show all.

He does say also that more pictures are available from his website - so mosey on over and see what folks are foaming at the mouth to get their grubby mits on!

This just in...

GCC is a free collection of compilers that provide the user with a powerful tool for translating C, C++ and Fortran source into fast ARM assembler that is suitable for execution on RISC OS.

GCCSDK is a portable build environment for creating ARM executables to be run natively on RISC OS. The build environment is designed to be hosted on a Unix-like system, such as GNU/Linux, FreeBSD or Solaris.

This is the second release of GCC 2.95.4 and focuses mainly on useability bug fixes, compiler and C run-time library fixes.

The compilers are large programs and will require at least 6Mb of free memory to execute, so you will either require a RiscPC or a an 8Mb machine. See the GCC website for download information.

We consider this to be the best version of GCC for RISC OS and recommend that all existing users upgrade to it. The compiler toolset should be considered stable.

For full download instructions, mailing list information and bug reporting instructions, please visit the GCC website - The main distribution for GCC.

It started as quite an innocent posting on csaa by the wizard known as Dave Ruck (the genius behind probably the most useful product ever, disknight). An unofficial mailing list was closed and a new spangly one covering all RISC OS graphics cards opened.

Innocent enough...

Next, under the "Right to Reply" banner, the graphics hardware whizz supreme, John Kortink gave a response.

All well and good...

Not. The normally tranquil and slighly glowing arena that is csah has become an inferno of claim and counter claim.

As is the case in the world against Viewfinder usenet arguments we see two well known RISC OS bods and quite a lot of users getting embroiled in a mud slinging and handbags at dawn affair.

On the basis of all usenet articles on this matter and a friendly couple of people on both the Viewfinder and RISC OS graphics card list, the weight of evidence firmly falls against JK. Of course, this could be complete bumpkin.

Note: Hmmm, I think I need some sleep!

Discounts seem to be all the rage now. First John Kortnink reduced the price of his Viewfinder card, then we get these..

Clares are pleased to announce the latest price reduction on LCD panels, we can now supply the following

• AOC 15" Silver 1024x768 LCD 295(UKP) inc VAT and carriage
  
• AOC 17" Silver 1280x1024 LCD 429(UKP) inc VAT and carriage.
  

This is followed by this gem from Castle

EPSON A4 USB SCANNER (MODEL 1660 - PHOTO)

• 48-bit colour scanning
  
• True 1600 x 3200 dpi scanning
  
• Built in transparency unit
  
• High speed scanning (A4 scan at 300dpi takes about 26s)
  
• TWAIN 2 driver included
  

Cost...

SCANNER PRICE ukp199
Castle's 4/port USB podule ukp59
D Pilling's Scanning Software ukp20

For more information, have a poke around at Castle's website

And finally today

New permanently low price for RISC OS 4 upgrades

Following the securing of further OTP ROM supplies RISCOS Ltd is pleased to announce a new permanently low price for RISC OS 4 upgrades.

With immediate effect the full RISC OS 4 ROM pack is now available for ukp85 including VAT. For users who want to upgrade more than one machine a set of ROMs only is available for ukp75 including VAT.

Discounts are available for Dealers, Authorised Installers and User Groups who place orders in bulk.

Orders may be placed by Cheque or Credit Card by Post to:-

RISCOS Ltd
3 Clarendon Road
Cardiff
CF23 9JD
Tel 02920 492324
Fax 02920 492326

From http://awk.riscos.org.uk/ you can get a 32-bit compatible version of The One True Awk. To use it you will need to install Clib 5.34 which comes in the package (unless you have an Iyonix). This version of awk (only 43K) is derived from the one described in "The AWK Programming Language" (Addison Wesley, ISBN 0-201-07981-X). It has extra functions for Risc OS, that let you iterate over all the objects in a directory. Also ...

Hi,

I've posted a few snaps from the South East Show.

The show was pretty crushy so I didn't really get any great opportunities to have clear shots. Hopefully these will be of some interest though.

Show Pics

And a quick summary of the show...

Mike Williams, former head honcho of Acorn Publisher, has emailed in to us with the full drop on the new baby from Castle. Hang onto your knees folks - this stuff is HOT!

Iyonix Motherboard

• All new design
  
• ARM XScale processor (80321)
  
• GeForce2 MX400 PCI video card
  
• Up to 1GB DDR (Double Data Rate) memory (200MHz)
  
• UDMA 100 Hard Drive
  
• PCI expansion (32-bit & 64-bit)
  
• Hi-speed podule bus
  
• Gigabit networking (10/100/1000 base T)
  
• Technical Reference Manual (to be published)
  

Tasty or what! - Now read on....

In a late change to our advertised programme of events, the Wakefield RISCOS Computer Club are
very pleased to announce a visit from Jack
Lillington of Castle with the NEW IYONIX computer as shown for the first time at the South East show.

The Simtec wizards have been doing what they're best at - providing top notch hardware and the (unlike some companies) the technical data to back it up.

Recently, the riscos-usb website has been updated to include such gems as

• Simtec will be giving a presentation on USB at the Southeast show (13.00 in the theatre)
  
• A new release of the USB software is available - users should download and upgrade.
  
• News about the recent Acorn User review (incase you missed it)
  
• Printer Definition files available for a wide selection of HP printers from Jonathan Briggs
  

The site is well constructed, contains loads of developer and user info and can be seen here in all it's glory.

Peter Naulls has released another subscription package, but this time it is for those wanting to learn C.

For 40 UKP, you get a 6 month subscription to this service.

For more info, visit the website

However....

Those chaps down at Cerilica really are busy beas. First, we had the large announcement that Vantage is to be 32 bit and now this...

Cerilica release Insignia v1.50

Insignia version 1.50 is now available to new customers as well as being a free upgrade to existing users.

Insignia was released at the beginning of 2002 and it is a unique graphics package that is ideal for creating web, print and presentation graphics without the need to have design experience.

News has reached us that RComp have radically updated their DialUp software.

It has some really fun new features such as

• being able to link different ISPs to different times of the day as well as being able to map no ISP to a time of day (prevents anyone going on line)
  
• news and mail handling has been worked on so that POP3 email boxes can be temporarily disabled and periodic news checks made while online
  
• email can now be sent as soon as it's queued
  
• shortcuts introduced for easier access to your newsgroup listing and accounts.
  
• improved use on home networks and as a backup for when the always on broadband connection becomes always off
  
• now compliant with Select's global clipboard (this actually covers the entire of the RComp Internet Suite as well)
  
• an autoredial has been added (useful for ISPs which time out like Freeserve)
  
• added support for users running proxy software on networks
  
• lots of new ISP configuration files added
  

Obviously all of these improvements will cost and for the stonkingly huge figure of 12UKP (inc. p&p) you can have this wonderful new piece of software (provided you also return your original discs)

Well worth a look at....

The GPL has come under heavy attack in the US House of Reps. It seems that Bill Gates has figured out that what the RIAA can do, he can do, so he set a few bought and paid for reps in an attempt to blast the GPL out of existance. Wired has a good story, Slashdot is buzzing, and Google News has the goods from all over the net.

Read more

VERY WORRYING!

Not being content with new hardware coming around, we are seeing software updated for the new 32 bit OS. In a very large posting from our best mates at Cerilica, the first of the new breed of 32 bit software seems to be hitting the streets at the same time as the new hardware....

Cerilica Vantage goes 32bit


Following recent announcements of exciting new hardware developments on RISC OS web portals such as www.iconbar.com, Cerilica can finally reveal it has been working hard on a 32bit full upgrade version of its leading design and publishing software - Cerilica Vantage. This will allow Vantage to take advantage of the extra processing power offered by the next-generation ARM-based 32 bit-only RISC processors.

A two stage upgrade path is now being planned which will finally release key features already working in development versions and allow users an option to gain further new features. Bug fixes have also been a priority as well as fixes specifically targeted towards OS variations. Release dates will partly depend on external factors but we will post firm information about these events closer to the time.

In the meantime, you may wish to attend the forthcoming South East show where the latest development version of Vantage will be on display and demonstrated.

These are exciting times for the RISC OS platform. Cerilica Vantage has already been demonstrated to work on the long-awaited Microdigital Omega and we believe a choice of hardware can only be a good thing for the market. Our policy to is to cater for as many viable RISC OS platforms as possible to ensure our products have the largest potential user base.

Cerilica Vantage is available from only 175.00ukp fully inclusive of VAT and package and postage (UK) and is supplied with an on-screen and printable PDF manual. A comprehensive printed manual (over 230 pages) is also available as an option.

You want more from Cerilica, well, read on!

In case you've not yet seen it, the Iyonix PC from Castle Technology, is planned to run RISC OS 5, yes that is a five and means with 32Bit support!

The new PC is planned to have DDR Memory, an XScale processor and run 66Mhz PCI peripheral bus. A challenge for the Microdigital Omega offering?

A Beta version of Select 2 is now available for Download. This version contains RISC OS 4.32 plus many updates of RISC OS Tools and Applications.

Goto Select 2i1 Download Area (protected)
Goto Select 2i1 Details (free access)

The CD version of Select 2 is expected to be released in approximately 3 weeks, subject to the usual bug reports on this initial Beta release.

From the Select Website...
"We will be releasing the Source Code to the Frontend of !Printers+ as a publicly accessible collaborative project via the SourceForge Web Site. "

According the the Select website..
"The RiscStation R7500 is now fully supported by Select. The forthcoming RISC OS 4.32 Release of Select will for the first time support all three current RISC OS platforms"
No date for the release of 2.32 yet though.