Beagleboard / ARMini compatibility

Jun 082011

I am pleased to report that having now set up the ARMini computer that I purchased at Wakefield 2011, I have been able to briefly test the following pieces of software and found that they appear to work without problem:

  • WebChange – the website maintenance tool for RISC OS computers. The software features a wealth of features that allows the user – you – to simplify what could otherwise be repetitive work when maintaining and updating websites.
  • Seek’n'Link – a search tool that will search HTML and other text files, and generate a HTML file containing the results as links.
  • WaitUntil – a command line tool that allows you to insert ‘pauses’ in Obey files. Such a pause can be for a set amount of time, until a specified file is closed, or for many other reasons.
  • TimeToHex – another command line tool, this one generates a hexadecimal string based on the current time and puts it in the specified system variable.
  • Quicksand – a free text adventure game in which you play the part of Stan Tyler, and must find your way out of the woodland park and back to a world in which fashion sense prevails. Quicksand is written using Trellis, which is itself written in BBC BASIC, but they both require the relocatable module SRSLibrary – so Quicksand (and therefore Trellis) working indicates that this module is compatible. Continue reading »

Soft Rock Software at Wakefield 2011

Mar 102011

I am pleased to confirm that Soft Rock Software will again be attending the premier event in the RISC OS Calendar, the Wakefield Show, which will be held on Saturday, 16th April, 2011, at the Cedar Court Hotel, Calder Grove, Wakefield.

I will be discussing and demonstrating WebChange and talking about anything else available from the main site, as usual, but I’m also interested in hearing people’s opinions on the subject of RISCOSitory.com which, as some may have noticed, I have now started to increasingly use for news and information in the RISC OS world. Is this a good idea? Is there anything else I could do with it to make it more useful? Come along and let me know what you think!

RISC OS London Show

Sep 192010

With apologies for mentioning this a bit later than I should have done, Soft Rock Software will be attending the RISC OS London Show on the 23rd October, 2010, at the St Giles Hotel in Feltham, London. Full details can be found on the official website for the show.

There will, sadly, be no new developments, but I will be able to discuss and demonstrate WebChange, which has been available as a free download for a little while now, and I am always happy to just generally chat about all things RISC OS.

32bit WebChange for RISC OS Now Available

Jun 292010

I am pleased to announce that, as planned, to coincide with Soft Rock Software’s 21st birthday, a 32bit version of WebChange is available for RISC OS users to download, free of charge from the WebChange website.

The software is technically still a beta version – the last of the main functions having been added over the last few days – but most of what is there has been stable for some time; in house testing hasn’t shown up any significant problems, and any that have been reported by people using the development versions have been dealt with. Provided no new problems are found, the version now available will eventually have its version number bumped up to 3.00.00.

The one thing missing is a user manual and, barring any other problems, that is the next thing to be done. In the meantime, the manual for the old 26bit version is available from the WebChange site, and further information can be found by looking at the mailing list archives. I hope that anything not covered (or which has changed) in the old manual or through the archives should be reasonably self explanatory. Anything else, along with any support queries, should be raised on the mailing list.

The full announcement, as posted to comp.sys.acorn.announce, is available here.

Midlands Midsummer Mugshow 2010

Jun 022010

I am pleased to announce that Soft Rock Software will be in attendance at the Midlands Midsummer Mugshow, which this year takes place on Saturday 10th July at St John’s Church Hall, 205 Warwick Road, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, CV8 1HY (full details on the website). This event is the closest one to Soft Rock Software‘s 21st Birthday and will, in effect, be the official launch of the 32bit version of WebChange as a free download, with WebChange Pro (the chargeable upgrade) to come later.

WebChange and WebChange Pro

Apr 202010

Soft Rock Software’s flagship product, WebChange, is to become two products – WebChange and WebChange Pro. The first of these, to be released later this year, will be WebChange. This will be a free download, to replace the 26bit version which is currently free to download from the WebChange website. This free release will provide most of the capabilities found in the WebChange of old, but unlike that version it will run on 32bit hardware such as the IyonixPC and A9Home, as well as RiscPCs and other 26bit hardware.

Once WebChange is complete and available focus will then switch to the development of WebChange Pro, which will be the version users will get when they purchase the software, and will be available to those who have purchased it in the past.  This version will include all of the features of WebChange as well as enhanced facilities and new features, such as a new and more versatile script language.

If you are attending the 2010 Wakefield Show on April 24th, please pop by stand 9 for a chat about WebChange and other items, such as an adventure game cunningly titled It’s No Game!

Soft Rock Software's 21st Birthday

Mar 062010

It’s VAT time at Soft Rock Software HQ and while sorting that out, I’ve become distracted by some old files. Amongst other things, I’ve just found my earliest file of statements for the business bank account.

Missing is sheet number 1, but the statements are monthly and sheet 2 runs from April 20th 1989 to May 19th 1989, sheet 3 from May 20th 1989 to June 19th 1989, and so on. Logically, then, if sheet 1 was produced one month after opening the account, it must have been opened on or very close to 20th March 1989. This means the 21st anniversary of opening that bank account will be on the 20th March 2010 – which is two weeks from today. That date is, therefore, arguably the 21st birthday of the business.

However, since the outset, I have always operated a trading year that ends on 30th June: My first set of accounts were for the year ending 30th June 1990, and I’ve continued on that basis ever since. Knowing this, and being unable to remember the details of when the account was opened, I had previously assumed I’d opened it in or around June 1989. I now know this to be wrong – but at the same time, I now know why I adopted that trading year.

The very first transaction on the account took place on 30th June 1989. This does, of course, mean that first trading year was actually a year and one day, but that first transaction was my own money being put into the account to fund the expenditure that was about to start.

On that basis, then, it’s reasonable to declare Soft Rock Software’s official date of birth as 30th June 1989. So, on 30th June 2010, Soft Rock Software will be 21 years of age.

Wakefield RISC OS Show 2010

Feb 252010

I am pleased to announce that Soft Rock Software has booked a stand at the 2010 Wakefield Acorn and RISC OS Show, which this year takes place on Saturday 24th April at the Wakefield Cedar Court Hotel, where I will be again showing off WebChange Pro.

Temporary problem with riscository.co.uk domain and mailing lists

Jan 262010

Unfortunately, the riscository.co.uk domain is currently unavailable, and therefore the mailing lists provided at that domain are not at this time functioning.

The problem was called by a renewal issue with the domain registration; specifically that I was blissfully unaware it was due for renewal, having received no notifications or requests for payment from the registrars. As a result, the domain has been suspended.

Steps have now been taken to rectify this and, provided nothing else goes wrong, things should return to normal soon.

Your suppliers (and staff) need to know what you are paying

Dec 172009

On Wednesday 16th December 2009, the UK Payments Council came to a decision regarding cheque payments, as explained in this press release. It’s important to note that the situation isn’t quite as simple as some places have reported; it’s not just a case of “cheque payments to end by 2018, full stop” – there’s slightly more to it than that; the goal is to phase out cheque payments while encouraging the use of other methods, but there’s a possibility that it might not be feasible to do so, hence the “go/no go” decision scheduled for 2016.

However, that isn’t the topic of this item – just the inspiration; when reading about the decision to try to phase out cheques it set me to thinking about some of the problems I see when companies make payments to suppliers (some of which apply to cheque payments as much as to any other form of payments). The general problem is that of a lack of identification and clarity – while I see many payments clearly identified in terms of who they are from (or for) and what they are paying, I do see some which lack that information and this leads to time wasted establishing that information. The most common problems I see tend to be one of three: Continue reading »

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