The magazine for members of The WimpBASIC way to program Choosing your Internet Service Provider Tackling PC Problems on the Risc PC Using DrawAid3 when you can't sketch it freehand How to be Bottom in Shakespeare's Dream world Issue 23 — Autumn 1997 EDITORIAL New Logo Costs £5,000,000 he Club’s new logo has now hours of work that go on behind the T been adopted and is gradually scenes to keep the Club running taking over as new documents are efficiently. produced and stationery printed. Everyone is welcome to take an active Graphic design doesn’t come cheap part in the Club’s affairs. Eureka and many people will think that five needs a constant supply of articles on million pounds for a new logo is a all subjects, for readers at all levels of little on the expensive side. computing skills. Help for beginners and guidance for those venturing into Fortunately, we are not talking about more specialised areas are equally The ARM Club’s logo here. The five welcome. million is the reported cost of the BBC’s new logo. Programmers can distribute their work through the Club’s PD Library The Club’s design, like all the other and members with more advanced services provided by the Committee computer knowledge can join the elite who run The ARM Club on members’ group who answer the problems behalf, cost us nothing. We are posed for the Club’s Technical Help extremely fortunate in having among Service. our members a variety of skilled people who are generous with their Comments and suggestions on any time and talents. aspect of the Club’s activities will be carefully read and, if possible, acted This is most apparent in every issue of upon. There is a list of addresses and Eureka, which is filled with phone numbers on our Contacts page contributions from members offering at the back of the magazine. the benefits of their own knowledge and experience, but there are many Peter Jennings All opinions expressed in Eureka are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Club or its Committee members and officers. CONTENTS 28 PC problems on the Risc PC 4 How to be Bottom Feedback on a previous article, A look at the Dream world of with some more advice on using Shakespeare, with added music PC partitions. and games. 31 More Cherisha Cheapies 10 WimpBASIC Two more of those useful, low A programmer’s view of the price, applications from Cherisha application to make Wimp Software. programmers of us all. 34 Hatch ArtWorks Module 13 Web Page Design The plug-in module to add texture The series resumes, with its to your ArtWorks efforts. fourth instalment, giving some useful background advice. 37 The CALL statement in BASIC A useful routine to use, even 16 DrawAid3 when programming in Assembler. The underrated program that lets you use your BASIC ability for 43 XStitch2 drawings you can’t do freehand. The program that turns graphics into embroidery — with the 20 Using the CLI (Part 1) addition of a little needlework. The start of a new series on how to make use of the Command 47 The Psion Series 5 Line Interpreter. A new generation of hand held computing power arrives, using 26 Well I never knew that an ARM 7100 processor. Hints and tips you may have missed on memory problems with 50 Using the Toolbox from BASIC ArcFS, RAM discs and the Risc The second part of our series on PC’s missing Copy key. writing multitasking programs in BASIC, using Acorn’s Toolbox. 2 Eureka 23 — Autumn 1997 The Hatchwork for patchwork kingfisher. See page 34 55 Eureka cover discs: the future 67 Internet Service Providers Double the software coming on Who can connect you to the future issues of the Eureka disc. Internet, what you need and what it all costs. 56 Acorn World 97 Where, when and what to see at 74 BookMaker DTP the big show this year and how to An ‘easy-to-use’ desktop save on the ticket price with the publishing program is teacher- chance of a big prize. tested for use in school. 58 Pocket Book Corner 78 Can you help? The travelling friend for playing Problems with a crashed hard games (and writing for Eureka) disc, Almanac and the PC on a 1,500-mile week’s journey. Emulator. 60 Around the shows 80 Coming in Eureka 24 and Acorn enthusiasts had a wide- Club Contacts ranging choice of shows to visit A brief preview of our next issue while awaiting the big one at and who and where to contact the Wembley this year. right person for the Club services you need. Eureka 23 — Autumn 1997 3 How To Be Bottom o many people, Shakespeare is plot with all its petty jealousies and T an acquired taste and the way his intrigues would be quite a challenge. plays are taught in the classroom may To what extent would this program contribute to the way we view The “open up the world of Shakespeare”, Bard in adult life. It is therefore if at all, or would it content itself with interesting to find a package whose merely a brief exploration of life in aims are to open up the world of Shakespeare' s time and a project or Rilla Paterson brushes up her Shakespeare and puts How to be Bottom top of the class, after a ticking off for some lapses in grammar and unfortunate apostrophes. Shakespeare by giving children two about Puck and the love potion? computer-based experiences linked to This review attempts to find out. one of his plays — and what better choice than the time-honoured The User Guide favourite A Midsummer Night’s The program comes from Topologika Dream. Software and the amusing title How To Be Bottom is guaranteed to put I was instantly curious about this both teacher and pupil in a good mood program. It had originally been as they approach the project for the designed to support a touring first time. The short user-friendly exhibition by the Royal Shakespeare guide is well-presented and colourful Company and it is often surprising to but I confess to having felt mild see how involved junior children can irritation at the programmer' s misuse become when confronted with the full of the humble apostrophe. The main force of a major cultural event when it title screen for the ‘Design A Stage is presented in an accessible and Set’ is headed “A Midsummer Nights exciting way. But Shakespeare is Dream”. Whoops! Later on in the complex and a full appreciation of the Guide, one of the loading instructions 4 Eureka 23 — Autumn 1997 reads: “Due to it’s length” ... Ouch! Still later we find the title appears as “A Midsummer Nights’ Dream”. Crikey — I thought this was an English lesson. Perhaps I am being fussy but I think educational material should be correct in every detail and a simple proof-reading would have put these right. The package The program is large, occupying seven discs, and some of the files need to be unsquashed but the instructions for this are very clear. Discs one and two contain very large programs with associated files and the entitled !MBShake which is supposed utilities needed to access them. I used to be used to create MusicBox files an A5000 with the recommended for playing on MusicBoxS, but it did 4MB. Getting started was rather a nothing at all, presumably because minefield and, because the files did the full MusicBox program — not not always behave as indicated, I had supplied — is needed to run it. This to resort to the Helpline, which part of the package proved to be an proved very prompt and efficient. The unusually difficult corner in an discs revealed two principal programs otherwise very lucid arrangement. but their icons are confusingly labelled. Music in Shakespeare© s Time Discs three and four contain is labelled Shake and can be accessed directories of files which can be used only by loading a utility called only with the cross-curricular !MagpiRead. The second program, program My World. This program is Sound Box, is labelled !MusicBoxS. not supplied but the User Guide This, too, has an associated program claims that many schools have it and Eureka 23 — Autumn 1997 5 my enquiries bear this out. Accessing Music in Shakespeare' s Time the Sets files enables designs to be This is a very well-presented history, built of all the sets for the play. with attendant music, of four Similarly, the child can create Posters instruments of Shakespeare© s time: and Spells from the relevant the shawm, curtal, crumhorn and directories. There is also a wealth of tabor. All the icons are self- ClipArt stored here. explanatory. Full marks for ease of use and sampled sounds. Also The remaining discs are not directly featured is a convincing galliard, concerned with the stated aims of the grinding away in that dreadful program, but they would be useful in Elizabethan drone that makes me glad other ways. Discs five and six contain to live in the 20th century. The 43 textfiles of almost the complete histories were accompanied by works Ð very useful for playbashing excellent pictures and it would have in the drama class Ð and the last disc been useful to have them included in contains a demonstration copy of the huge number of clipart images 4Mation© sB etsi, an adventure game. supplied but, alas, they were not available as Draw files.