HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: Gavin.Flower@comp.vuw.ac.nz (Gavin Flower)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: Acorn pushes out small dealers
Date: 24 Aug 92 00:53:28 GMT
Organization: Dept. of Comp. Sci., Victoria Uni. of Wellington, New Zealand.

In article <1992Aug22235410patrick@sideways.welly.gen.nz> Pat Cain <patrick@sideways.welly.gen.nz> writes:
>bcockburn@acorn.co.uk (Bruce Cockburn) in <17981@acorn.co.uk> writes:
>> 
>>   Who would be happy with a dealer who didn't have a good range of third
>> party stuff?  Who would be happy if, when they rang up for technical suport,
>> they were told "we have to get back to you on that" or "sorry our technical
>> person is off on two weeks holiday, my advice is don't switch the computer
>> on again 'till they get back"?
>
>But usually it's the bigger department stores who are the ones who DON'T
>have the technical staff.  Whitcoulls in NZ is a good example of that
>these days.  The small places are usually run by people who are selling
>the machines because they know and like them.
[...]

The best Acorn dealer I had dealings with in the past 10 years, 
Dr. David Fung, has closed his retail outlet, but is still in
business. 

I have had several instances of excellent Service from him over that
time.

I strongly suspect that he would never have met these standards put
out by Acorn, for dealers.

However there was/is (?) a "supposed" dealer of Acorn gear in the
Greater Wellington area, that Acorn could well do without.  This
"person" is much better at talking about providing service, than
actually honouring legitimate requests for it.

I think Acorn does need some criteria, but capital alone, is not the
answer.  Quality of actual service delivered, rather than potential
service required, would be a better criteria.

Acorn itself, should improve its service both to customers and
dealers.  Having said that, Acorn's reputation has gone up over the
last few years, in this country.


Gavin
-- 
Tomorrow's Society                              | flower_g@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz
    Depends on                                   ----------------------------
Today's Children  - help us raise them properly! 
*******  These comments have no known correlation with dept. policy!  *******
From: johny@cogs.sussex.ac.uk (Lord Yak Da Hairy)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: RISC OS 3.1 thoughts
Date: 3 Sep 92 13:43:11 GMT
Article-I.D.: tsunb.27379.9209031343
Organization: The Devastating Rear Shot, Inc.

Got my 3.1 upgrade this morning (ha!) so here are a few thoughts (and this
is BEFORE even plugging it in):

  WHY has the User Guide been changed from ring bound to perfect bound? The
  wretched thing won't stay open at the page of your choice without
  trashing the spine. Augh!

  NO points for putting the ROMS in the anti-static foam; three of them
  were rattling around the box when I opened it.

  Final question: what typeface is the manual done in, and is it available
  from EFF or anyone?

(OK, the main point of this post is just to be smug that I have RO3.1. Sue
me. :-)

-- John Yeates (Lord Yak Da Hairy) ---------------- johny@cogs.susx.ac.uk --
-- ...THIS definitely takes, eats and shits the cake. - allane@unsw.oz.au --
From: zrzm0111@helpdesk.rus.uni-stuttgart.de (MUFTI)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: Applications and RiscOS 3
Date: 27 Aug 92 10:51:07 GMT
Organization: User Help Desk, Comp. Cent. (RUS), U of Stuttgart, FRG

In article <1992Aug25.090948.10337@waikato.ac.nz> pdenize@waikato.ac.nz writes:
>
>The upshot is that in RiscOS 2 if an application does not have a !Sprites then
>the !Boot is executed.  If it still does not have an icon when the directory it
>is in is opened again, the !boot is executed again (it is not under RiscOS 3).
>
>So how can I tell RiscOS - "no you haven't seen this application before" or
>"OK so I'm the !Boot file running now forget you ever saw me"
>

I don't know, if this idea fits to your problem, but you can easily forbid
to execute the commands in the bootdir:

*if "<application$boot>"="" then execute command1 of bootdir
*if "<application$boot>"="" then execute command2 of bootdir
...
...
*if "<application$boot>"="" then execute commandN of bootdir
*if "<application$boot>"="" then set application$boot whatever

This sollution is not the fastest ...

so long
MUFTI
From: arcturus@spuddy.uucp (Geoff Riley)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.advocacy
Subject: Re: RISC OS 3 Applications Discs
Date: 25 Aug 92 18:59:46 GMT
Organization: Spuddy's Public Usenet Domain

In article <1992Aug21.230746.18128@csd.brispoly.ac.uk> r_voisey@csd.brispoly.ac.uk (R Voisey) writes:
>(Hands up everybody who starts a new WIMP application by copying their old
>one and deleting the bits which don't seem relevent..  I'm certainly guilty
>of this, but it can lead to some pretty inefficient code after a 'shell' has
>reached the third or fourth generation.

I started off with Binkley, and I just keep adding to it ;-)

Well, nearly - I'm trying to subtract from it at the moment - I'm endevouring
to get rid of all referrences to RiscOSLib... (can anyone recommend the best
way to replace the menu's bits - that's what's causing me the most hassel ;-))
-- 
Cheerio,
        |~~~      (uucp address: arcturus@spuddy.uucp)
        |__|eoff  (Fidonet address: 2:250/208)

 * Meeeow ! Call Spuddy on (0203) 638780/638693 for FREE mail & Usenet access *
From: thsa@grun.is (Thorvaldur S. Arnarson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.advocacy
Subject: Printerdriver for HP Deskjet 500C ???!
Date: 27 Aug 92 17:36:25 GMT
Organization: G.Run hf

Hi there,

Has anyone connected a HP deskjet 500C (C for colour) to a Risc OS 3 computer?
I think the 500 C is compatible with the PaintJet???!
In the standard printer definition files for deskjet there is no mention
of colour but the Integrex drivers provided imply that this is merely a
matter of using !PrintEdit to define the controlcodes for colourprinting.

I'd bee most gratefull for any facts on the matter not to mention if
someone has a printerdefinition file for the thing lying around :-) 
-- 
Thorvaldur S. Arnarson (thsa@grun.is)  Short .sig rules!
From: r_voisey@csd.brispoly.ac.uk (R Voisey)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.advocacy
Subject: Re: New Acorn MAchines
Date: 27 Aug 92 22:58:42 GMT
Organization: Bristol Polytechnic, England

In article <1992Aug27.085626.10649@lut.ac.uk> C.Wong1@lut.ac.uk (C Wong) writes:
>Hi,
>with a ARM 750 ? (the one used in the new machines is called the ARM250,
>except the Pocket one, a cmos V30 I believe). The 250 has the majority of the
>A400 chipset on one piece of silicon, one chip, but clocked at 12MHz. Perhaps

The ARM250 is probably the best kept secret Acorn have ever had!  (I don't
know anyone who knew about it as any rate..).  And what a nice chip..  the
complete ARM chipset on a single 169 pin quad flatpack.  Shame it's ARM2, but
we can't have everything..   it's also a shame that you can't buy the things
for love nor money!  I believe GEC-Plessey are producing the babies, but they
don't seem keen to sell them to third parties (yet).  I could think of a
hundred applications for them!   Not least - an Archimedes Card for the PC..

Bob


-- 
Robert J. Voisey  :  r_voisey@csd.brispoly.ac.uk   (Janet)
GUI coders do it     Bob Voisey @ 2:252/106.0      (Fidonet)
on the desktop       Bob Voisey @ 100:104/106.0    (TurboNet)
From: osmith@acorn.co.uk (Owen Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.advocacy
Subject: Re: RISC OS 3.1 Upgrade Availability
Date: 3 Sep 92 11:20:51 GMT
Organization: Acorn Computers Ltd, Cambridge, England

In article <1992Sep2.192833.9840@cs.nott.ac.uk> smb@cs.nott.ac.uk (Simon
Burrows) writes:

>The #19 upgrade does not include the manual, 2 of the discs or the tape.

I'd be very surprised indeed if 2 of the 3 discs are not in the #19 upgrade.
RISC OS 3.10 has a new App1, App2 and Support disc and all three are
necessary for upgrading from RISC OS 3.00. However, I think the #19 upgrade
has a combined high density App1 and App2 disc (and a standard Support disc)
whereas the standard pack contains three discs. This may be the source of
the confusion.

Owen.

The views expressed are my own and are not necessarily those of Acorn.
From: r_voisey@csd.brispoly.ac.uk (R Voisey)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.advocacy
Subject: Re: RISC OS 3 Applications Discs
Date: 27 Aug 92 22:55:03 GMT
Organization: Bristol Polytechnic, England

In article <1992Aug25.185946.365@spuddy.uucp> arcturus@spuddy.uucp (Geoff Riley) writes:
>I started off with Binkley, and I just keep adding to it ;-)

You've made a pretty good job of it as well..  does it have full support for
multiple nodelists etc yet?  It's been a while since I've used it..

Cheers

Bob

-- 
Robert J. Voisey  :  r_voisey@csd.brispoly.ac.uk   (Janet)
GUI coders do it     Bob Voisey @ 2:252/106.0      (Fidonet)
on the desktop       Bob Voisey @ 100:104/106.0    (TurboNet)
From: arcturus@spuddy.uucp (Geoff Riley)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.advocacy
Subject: Re: RISC OS 3 Applications Discs
Date: 28 Aug 92 18:58:39 GMT
Organization: Spuddy's Public Usenet Domain

In article <1992Aug27.225503.19034@csd.brispoly.ac.uk> r_voisey@csd.brispoly.ac.uk (R Voisey) writes:
>>I started off with Binkley, and I just keep adding to it ;-)
>You've made a pretty good job of it as well..

Thank you - it's getting there, but it's still a long way from what I really
want.

> does it have full support for
>multiple nodelists etc yet?  It's been a while since I've used it..

It's halfway there - the initial domain support is now in, and Steven Haslam
has produced a new version of nodeserver to allow for multiple nodelists,
however, I've not tested it all out yet.  I'll have to invent a new domain
for testing with [grin]
-- 
Cheerio,
        |~~~      (uucp address: arcturus@spuddy.uucp)
        |__|eoff  (Fidonet address: 2:250/208)

 * Meeeow ! Call Spuddy on (0203) 638780/638693 for FREE mail & Usenet access *
From: r_voisey@csd.brispoly.ac.uk (R Voisey)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.advocacy
Subject: Re: Printerdriver for HP Deskjet 500C ???!
Date: 28 Aug 92 20:44:41 GMT
Organization: Bristol Polytechnic, England

In article <1223@grun.is> thsa@grun.is (Thorvaldur S. Arnarson) writes:
>
>Has anyone connected a HP deskjet 500C (C for colour) to a Risc OS 3 computer?
>I think the 500 C is compatible with the PaintJet???!

I've used a 500C with an A5000, an got some excellent results.

>In the standard printer definition files for deskjet there is no mention
>of colour but the Integrex drivers provided imply that this is merely a
>matter of using !PrintEdit to define the controlcodes for colourprinting.

The RISCOS3 printer driver produces pretty awlful hardcopy - I seem to recall
it only prints colour in low resolutions..  I used a commercial paintjet
driver....  I THINK it was from beebug, but I'll have to check that.

Cheers

Bob
-- 
Robert J. Voisey  :  r_voisey@csd.brispoly.ac.uk   (Janet)
GUI coders do it     Bob Voisey @ 2:252/106.0      (Fidonet)
on the desktop       Bob Voisey @ 100:104/106.0    (TurboNet)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.advocacy
From: C.Wong1@lut.ac.uk
Subject: Re:New Acorn MAchines 
Reply-To: C.Wong1@lut.ac.uk (C Wong)
Organization: Loughborough University, UK.
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 92 08:56:26 GMT

Hi,
I suppose most of you out there have heard about the new machines, A3010,
A4000 and Acorn Pocket Computer (different flavour of The Psion 3), 12
permutations in all. As you've probably guessed they're pitched below the
A5000/A540. But wheres the * really * interesting hardware, wouldn't it
been better to release a revolutionary (even evolutionary) range of machines
that really stand out of the crowd ?!                      

I wonder how long we'll have to wait for the A6000 (A7000 or A8000 ?) range ?
with a ARM 750 ? (the one used in the new machines is called the ARM250,
except the Pocket one, a cmos V30 I believe). The 250 has the majority of the
A400 chipset on one piece of silicon, one chip, but clocked at 12MHz. Perhaps
something similar for the next high-end ARM chip, but may be clocked at 30MHz
or so, with read and write cache (larger than 4k?) and a FP onboard. A full
32bit, higher speed expansion bus would be most useful, an EISA compatible
bus would make sense, so that PC expansion cards could be used, with the        appropriate drivers and s/w. All this + the much speculated VIDC2 would be
a suitable flagship for Acorn and leave the competition gasping. Only IFs !!

regards

Chun


Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.advocacy
From: jons@tellus.unik.no (Jon von Tetzchner Stephenson )
Subject: Some questions
Organization: Universitetsstudiene paa Kjeller (UNIK), University of Oslo, Norway
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 92 14:13:11 GMT

I have been following the Archimedes for some time, watching and waiting
to see if something comes of it. The new machines are interesting (read
affordable 8-}) and I am at the moment seriously considering upgrading my
machine (an Amiga 500).

As I am a computer science student I would prefer that some of the software
listed below is available. Could you please tell me if they are and how 
much they cost?

	o FrameMaker (3.0)
	o Tex/Latex
	o Good C and C++ compilers
	
In addition, as I work with user interfaces, I would be interested in
what is available of libraries, guidelines etc. for user interfaces (ie.
window routines, input control, output control etc.).

I am also interested in music. I have a keyboard, which I connect to my 
current computer. I would like to know if there is a standrad MIDI interface,
how much it costs, what software is available (sequencers, librarians). It
would also be interesting to know of the sound quality (chip or DA converter,
8 or 16 bit, speed, true stereo ...?).

What graphics modes and displays are possible or needed for the various
machines?

Thanks,

Jon.

-- 
********************************
* Jon v. Tetzchner Stephenson. *
* 	jonst@ifi.uio.no       *
*       jons@hal.nta.no        *
*       jons@gauda.unik.no     *
********************************
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.advocacy
From: t-piersh@microsoft.com (Piers Haken)
Subject: Re: Authorship of Acorn Files & Documentation
Date: 28 Aug 92 07:52:01 GMT
Organization: Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA 98052

In article <1992Aug26.113800.22530@cs.nott.ac.uk> smb@cs.nott.ac.uk (Simon Burrows) writes:
[stuff about bugs deleted]
>
>Such significant bugs lead me to wonder whether something ought to be done
>to improve the quality of beta-testing for such Acorn products? 

Like not charging extortionate amounts of money to do so?
Hmmmm...
Piers.

>
>Simon.

-- 
Disclaimer: These views are my own and not necessarily
            those of the company for which I work.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.advocacy
Subject: Re: Some questions
From: banksie@khantazi.welly.gen.nz (Philip R. Banks)
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 19:34:59 +1200
Reply-To: banks_p@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz
Organization: My Arc.

jons@tellus.unik.no (Jon von Tetzchner Stephenson ) writes:

>       o Tex/Latex

   Tex is available in the Public Domain for the Arc. Requires reasonable
amounts of HD space though. (Some 12-17 Meg approx.)

>       o Good C and C++ compilers

   *The* C compiler for the Arc is Acorns Norcroft compiler. As a compiler
my impression is that it is *very* competently programmed. It's support
libraries, most notably RiscOSlib, leave a little to be desired though. C++
is apparently being worked on and will be available for the Arc sometime in
the nearish future. (~1yr away I would guess)

> In addition, as I work with user interfaces, I would be interested in
> what is available of libraries, guidelines etc. for user interfaces (ie.
> window routines, input control, output control etc.).

   *The* guidlines for the interface are contained in the Application Style
Guide put out by Acorn. The Programmers Reference Manuals contain the
essentials of this guide in them as well. Most people build their own
libraries for wimp work but there are commercial plug and play jobs
available like Archway if you don't feel so inclined.

> I am also interested in music. I have a keyboard, which I connect to my 
> current computer. I would like to know if there is a standrad MIDI interface,
> how much it costs, what software is available (sequencers, librarians). It
> would also be interesting to know of the sound quality (chip or DA converter,
> 8 or 16 bit, speed, true stereo ...?).

   The sound chip is 8bit, true stereo, 8 channel & speeds ranging from as
low as 2-3kHz up to 180kHz if you wish to push it. Although at 180kHz you
are only getting 1 channel. It is an 8bit log chip with a dynamic range
quivalent to about 15 bit linear. All in all a very nice sound system. This
is the base system that all Arcs have.

> What graphics modes and displays are possible or needed for the various
> machines?

   The graphics system is highly configurable and will work with :-

High resolution monochrome monitors. (A400,A540?,R100 & R200 series machines)
VGA monitors. (A5000,A4 and A540 Arcs for sure. Possibly the others)
Multisync and Multiscan monitors. (All Arcs)
Medium resolution monitors. (All Arcs)

   Basically the standard Arc is easily capable of from 800x600x16 (creaking
a bit on an ARM2 machine here.) to 320x256x2. With 256 colour screen modes
being the maximum colours per screen normally. 

   It is almost pick a display and the Arc can more than likely use it.

   Gimme an email if you want to know more.

    Philip

--
Philip R. Banks  Syntax: mail < banks_p@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz >            @@@@@/|
                                                                        @@@@/#|
                                                                        @@@/##|
I breathe the air, While they're running in a rat race,                 @@/---|
Way above it all, Standing on higher ground. ---A.P.P.                  @/    |
From: smb@cs.nott.ac.uk (Simon Burrows)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.advocacy
Subject: RISC OS 3.1 Upgrade Availability
Date: 2 Sep 92 19:28:33 GMT
Organization: Nottingham University


One of my local dealers has RISC OS 3.10 upgrades stacked up to the ceiling.
The other hasn't got any at all. Needless to say, I won't repeat what the
manager of that authorised dealership had to say...

I contacted Beebug. Middle of September they said. I phoned NCS (Archive),
and got their answering machine - they have a long waiting list.

(Since Archive magazine is the only one to have published details of the
upgrades so far, and they only accept orders by post, I suspect that they
will have a *huge* waiting list!).

The moral of the story is this: see if your local dealer has upgrades.
Unless you placed an order months ago, the big dealers are likely to
place you at the end of a very long waiting list! The only snag is that
all of my friends have started asking me to get upgrade sets for them!

On another related matter, do you remember the discussions here, long ago,
about whether upgrades should be available for A5000 owners first, or
everyone else. Well, my dealer has lots of upgrades for other users, but
isn't expecting the A5000 upgrades for perhaps a few weeks.

Finally, if you are interested, the #49 upgrade includes the following:

4 x ROMS
1 x manual, combining the 2 RISC OS 3 manuals. NOT spiral bound.
1 x Fitting Instructions
1 x 3.10 release note
3 x discs
1 x audio tape
1 x registration card
1 x licence

The #19 upgrade does not include the manual, 2 of the discs or the tape.

Simon.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Simon Burrows smb@cs.nott.ac.uk psyhsmb@unicorn.nott.ac.uk Tel +44 533 712030
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: smb@cs.nott.ac.uk (Simon Burrows)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.advocacy
Subject: New Acorn Products
Date: 26 Aug 92 11:41:38 GMT
Organization: Nottingham University

Apparently, some Acorn dealers are already distributing brochures, price lists
etc regarding the new Acorn machines & other products.

Perhaps Acorn does need better criteria for selecting its dealers..
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.advocacy
From: C.Wong1@lut.ac.uk
Subject: Re: RISC OS 3.10 availability
Reply-To: C.Wong1@lut.ac.uk (C Wong)
Organization: Loughborough University, UK.
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 92 09:01:28 GMT

RO3.1 is reputed to be available now for 50 pounds from NCS (Archive), sounds
reasonable to me.

Any one know where I can get the ROM carrier boards from ? (for a A340 ?)
( but do I really want to mess up my existing s/w ?? )  :)

regards

Chun


p.s. I know this should be in c.s.a.a but I can't remember if I read it yet!
From: r_voisey@csd.brispoly.ac.uk (R Voisey)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.advocacy
Subject: Re: New Acorn Products
Date: 27 Aug 92 23:09:09 GMT
Organization: Bristol Polytechnic, England

In article <1992Aug26.114138.22661@cs.nott.ac.uk> smb@cs.nott.ac.uk (Simon Burrows) writes:
>Apparently, some Acorn dealers are already distributing brochures, price lists
>etc regarding the new Acorn machines & other products.
>Perhaps Acorn does need better criteria for selecting its dealers..

Most dealers have had the literature for over a week..  I suspect it must
have been tempting to get some advance orders on products when other dealers
weren't even acknowledging their existance.. ;-)

Bob


-- 
Robert J. Voisey  :  r_voisey@csd.brispoly.ac.uk   (Janet)
GUI coders do it     Bob Voisey @ 2:252/106.0      (Fidonet)
on the desktop       Bob Voisey @ 100:104/106.0    (TurboNet)
From: mcg@waikato.ac.nz
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.advocacy
Subject: Re: RISC OS 3.1 Upgrade Availability
Date: 4 Sep 92 19:34:11 +1200
Organization: University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand


> Having now obtained several RISC OS 3.10 upgrade packs, and fitted them
> to a variety of machines, I would like to compliment Acorn on the quality
> of the upgrade as a whole.
> 
> The supplied RISC OS 3 manual is extremely nice, and easy to read. Whilst
> I would prefer it to be spiral bound, it certainly exudes quality and 
> seems very professional. Likewise the quality of RISC OS 3.10

If this is an unchanged RO3 manual you're talking about.. you must be joking 
about being easy to read!

For example, the BBC Emulator: I had to reference a RO2 manual to find out 
that one changes the !Boot in the app to be able to load ROM images while 
in the Emulator (I still have got 100% success in loading 32k BBC roms).

It took c.s.a. to inform people that adfbuffers should be set to 0 *AND* there 
are NOOOOOO examples demonstrating the OS "*" commands in the back of the 
manual.


 But, don't let my negativity of Acorn's documention of an otherwise brilliant 
machine stop people rejoicing over RO3.1.


P.s. Incidentally, has the bug with adfbuffers been fixed (I assume it has...) 
From Martin Glanvill		(mcg@waikato.ac.nz)

Dept. Maths 							      @@@@@/|@
University of Waikato						      @@@@/ |@
Hamilton							      @@@/__|@
New Zealand							      @@/   |@
								      @@@@@@@@

----------------****=====| A quote to make your day |======****-----------------
Randomness: The property required to make statistical calculation come out 
 right.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: smb@cs.nott.ac.uk (Simon Burrows)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.advocacy
Subject: Re: RISC OS 3.1 Upgrade Availability
Date: 3 Sep 92 18:28:48 GMT
Organization: Nottingham University

Having now obtained several RISC OS 3.10 upgrade packs, and fitted them
to a variety of machines, I would like to compliment Acorn on the quality
of the upgrade as a whole.

The supplied RISC OS 3 manual is extremely nice, and easy to read. Whilst
I would prefer it to be spiral bound, it certainly exudes quality and 
seems very professional. Likewise the quality of RISC OS 3.10
is excellent, compared with the earlier 2.00,2.01 and 3.00 public releases,
and the upgrade certainly rejuvenates any sort of Acorn 32 bit machine.

The upgrade may be extremely long-awaited, but it is well worth obtaining.
Let's hope that the PRM's are as well produced (and well priced) :=)

Simon Burrows.