Wakefield Show 2022 in Bradford

Next Saturday 21st May, the long awaited 25th physical Wakefield Show will take place, but at the BRADFORD Cedar Court Hotel rather than at Wakefield.

The show will be open between 10:30 am and 4:00 pm. There are some 20 exhibitors this year, with a wide range of companies and organisations among them, including RISCOS Open Ltd, RISCOSbits, CJE Micro’s, R-Comp and RISCOS Developments. The entrance fee is a lower this year at just 2 pounds as a thank you to our visitors.

You can expect to see two exciting new computers at the show this year.

The ever popular Charity Stall will once again be raising much needed funds for Wakefield Hospice. Over the years we have raised more than 26,000 pounds for charitable causes, so a big thank you for your support.

The Show Theatre makes a welcome return and there will be 5 presentations throughout the day – details are on the show website.

This year we will have a really super prize draw with no less than SEVEN prizes to be won, the top one being the new PiRO Noir 2128 Computer from RISCOSbits. Other prizes include a Pi400 and a Voucher worth up to 50 pounds that can be used with any participating exhibitor who has something to sell. It can be used at the show itself but will be valid until the 20th June, so you could use it to get a discount on a new computer or other hardware add-on for example.

Tickets for the Prize Draw cost 1 pound each with a maximum of 2 tickets per person. The draw will take place at 2 pm straight after the previous theatre talk. Tickets can be bought at the WROCC club stand number 1.

The show is taking place in ground floor rooms close to the entrance foyer and bar area, providing easy access for all. The exhibition and theatre suites are air conditioned with fresh air circulating, and hand sanitizer will be available at the show entrance. The rooms are considerably more spacious and with higher ceilings then at the original Wakefield venue, which will aid social distancing and help to provide a safe environment for our exhibitors and visitors alike.

Whilst there are no longer any legal COVID restrictions in place, everyone is advised to take a test before attending if they have any relevant symptoms. The wearing of face masks is optional, but please be extra careful to respect social distancing from anyone wearing one.

Would be interesting if the R-Comp and RISCOSBits stands were next to each other, because the 4té2 and Pi Harder look like twins.

They both use the off-the-shelf DeskPi Pro case

https://www.google.com/search?&tbm=shop&q=deskpi+pro+case

Ugh, Google!

https://deskpi.com/products/deskpi-pro-for-raspberry-pi-4

TIB show reports is now live at https://www.iconbar.com/articles/Wakefield_2022_Show_Report/index1774.html with pictures at https://www.iconbar.com/articles/Wakefield_show_2022_in_pictures/index1784.html

Thanks for the report and photos, very welcome by those who can only watch from afar (Down Under). I was very interested to see a PineBook Pro working with a RISC OS. Hopefully, it will not be too long before there is a release version from Cloverleaf.

Thank you for the report and ’photos.

Following the links led me to the webpages for Messenger Pro 9. They look interesting.

I noticed that there are two pages, one each for Messeger Pro for RiscOS and Windows. Does that mean that if I want it on both platforms I need to buy it twice?

Does the Windows version run on XP?

Also can someone advise me If I can import a couple of decades worth of Outlook Express mail into Mesenger Pro 9 on either or both platforms?

The CD edition of Mpro (RISC OS) includes both RISC OS and Windows versions. I think there’s a licence key for the Windows/Lin/Mac in the !Store version too, but my brain is still swiss-cheese from two shows in a week, so I’d need to check. I know that originally (around Mpro7) it was intended as a perk of the CD edition, to encourage people to upgrade physically at shows.

If you buy it separately (the Win/Lin/Mac) version you get a couple of bonuses, but I doubt either would justify full, separate purchase – 1) Usenet news + Calendar (the bundled version is email only IIRC) and 2) Printed manual. Honestly, if either of these is “make or break”, I’m sure we could arrange something.

Two answer the other questions – yes, XP is supported – I’ll admit it is a while since I tried it on XP, but certainly it was a few versions back, and I can’t imagine that would have changed. Just make sure to use the 32bit version rather than the 64bit edition.

Importing from Outlook Express isn’t automatic, I’m afraid, but I’ve done the job a few times myself. OE allows emails to be exported in a variety of ways – drag’n’drop tends to be easiest (you’ll end up with a folder with a LOT of .eml files). These can be dragged/imported into MPwin IIRC. As I say, swiss-cheese-brain so I’m forgetting if there are other ways too, but suffice to say that it is perfectly do-able.

Thank You for that. It all sounds good.

Whilst not a complete report by any means, there’s some more photos of the event in my photo gallery. I’ve no idea whether or not the gallery is RISC OS browser-friendly, I’m afraid; it’s probably OK with Iris, but I’ve not tried it in NetSurf.

Thanks for the Pics & Info from the show.

How operational is the Pinebook Pro?

Just for your amusement, there is a bit of a saga about the hotel booking.

Originally for Wakefield the Wakefield Cedar Court did not contact me to say they would not honour my booking but WROCC and other exhibitors did tell me.

I therefore booked at Cedar Court Bradford for the Friday and Saturday night – paying in full on 26 March 2022 by Barclaycard. It was a good deal: £129 for two nights including breakfast, £15 off dinner, a free glass of Prosecco and free parking.

I got text messages from two colleagues during my drive up from Bridgnorth on the Friday warning me that I might be contacted about overbooking but I had not been contacted.

When I arrived just before 5pm, I was told that they would not honour my booking for the second night but could accommodate me in their hotel in Huddersfield for the second night.

Despite refusing their offer, after speaking to two managers I realised I didn’t have much option. I pointed out that I wanted to eat with the group at Bradford and they offered to taxi me from Bradford to Huddersfield after the meal and to taxi me back after breakfast on the Sunday to pick up my car.

We had a pleasant meal using the ROOL table for our meal in the Cedar suite (nine of us I recall).

One member of staff said that she would get a £10 bonus for each positive review we posted on Trip Adviser (if we mentioned her name) and, rather optimistically I feel in the circumstances, encouraged us to submit a review. This I have done. It is quite positive about the Huddersfield hotel.

When I checked out on the Saturday morning, my second night’s stay was refunded (for which I have an invoice) and I was told that I would not have to pay anything at Huddersfield when I got there. The refund was small after the cost of dinner (less £15) had been added. I was reminded that I would need to enter my reg no again on the Sunday (which I did).

Huddersfield Cedar Court was excellent that evening. Reception was manned. Vince had given me a lift (saving them one taxi) and we were given a bottle of Prosecco each.

They had forgotten about the taxi the next morning and although the staff were sympathetic, it took me half an hour to persuade them to order it. The Manager was unable to contact the Bradford Cedar Court as they would not answer the phone. This annoyed him and he authorised the taxi saying he would cross charge the Bradford hotel for it. The driver noticed that they had not negotiated a fixed fee and filled his boots by putting it on the meter.

I now find that the £10.45 refund has turned into a pending £54.05 charge.

Without my consent they have re-charged me for the Sunday night.

I have therefore raised a Section 75 claim for the booking with Barclaycard.

Did you mention Sana in your review? She was the woman who sorted it all out for us with the food and looked after us and I thought she deserved some praise.

I agree she tried hard. But my experience overall was rather dominated by being shunted to Huddersfield which is a breach of contract.

Is there a change list somewhere for Messenger Pro v9? The upgrade isn’t expensive, but I’d like to know what I’d gain over v8 before committing.

Is there a change list somewhere for Messenger Pro v9?

Try https://groups.google.com/g/comp.sys.acorn.announce/c/_aJVBbIdAVw

Thanks Steve. I seem to have lost access to newgroups over the last few years, so I don’t even think of looking there now. Maybe updating to MPro9 might give me the impetus to try and access them again.

lost access to newgroups over the last few years

I gave up a good few years ago. I read the link, looked at other stuff in .announce, then went to look at what was on .misc and ran straight into… I’m not even sure how to describe it ¹, suffice to say that it was the kind of spam that reminds me of why I think Usenet is a massive cesspool of filth.

¹ February 12th, posted by “FBInCIAnNSATerroristSlayer”, but you might have noticed the all caps subject line first.

Far less problems than we had here on several occasions. Usenet is old school, displeasure can be be robustly communicated without having to worry about the snowflakes. No CoC on NNTP.

displeasure can be be robustly communicated

Was amusing when I was a teenager.

Now I’m an old git, I realise that life’s too short…

without having to worry about the snowflakes.

That’s only because Usenet is “complicated” (there’s no pointy-clicky interface that requires zero thought).

I’ve always found Usenet to be simplicity itself, compared to the vagarities of forums. But them again many millennials find email difficult, due to too many words and not enough emojis.

But them again many millennials find email difficult, due to too many words and not enough emojis

“Steve do you have to use big words all the time?” and “Why don’t you use emojis to let people know what you’re thinking?”

For the first, the word length exceeding their input buffer size is not my fault. Plus, other people using multi-character malapropisms rather blows that criticism anyway.

For the second, If they knew what I was really thinking I’d probably be in trouble :)

You can do that in plain text, too: v V v V v V!

If they knew what I was really thinking

You’re rather limited in that respect, there are five different emoji for crustaceans, but nothing to convey the same as “FOAD”, for example. There’s just a middle finger and a (smiling!) poop.
Given the strong Japanese influence, there’s not even a mushroom cloud for when you’re livid. Instead, it is 💢 which might not make much sense to somebody who doesn’t watch animé.

Plus, one can be so much more eloquent using actual words instead of doodles and pictures like a preschooler.

There’s just a middle finger and a (smiling!) poop.

Curiously, you’ve identified the two that my wife suggested I would be using regularly, if not exclusively.
End.