Wakefield RISC OS Computer Show 2015

The Wakefield Acorn & RISC OS Computer show is approaching. So whether you’re after the latest RISC OS machines, spares/replacements or upgrades for your old faithful machine or fancy some new software the Wakefield show is the place to be in April.

As usual the show theatre will be on, providing the latest information from the RISC OS scene.

If you have anything for the charity stall, please see the web page before donating!

More details will be avaliable from the Wakefield Acorn & RISC OS Computer Show website as updates come in.

I think R-Comp, ROOL and CJE will all be breathing a collective sigh of relief that the floorplan and stand numbers are provisional – because, somehow, I doubt they’ll quite fit on tables 8, 13 and 15 respectively. :)

9, 14 and 16 make a little more sense.

That’s last year’s floorplan…

It seems that the organisers, when publishing the stand numbers on the site, didn’t bother to ask the website maintainer if the site would know what the 2015 plan looked like. A little thought should have told them that it wouldn’t, as they hadn’t at that point even sent a copy of the new plan to the site maintainer.

ETA: It’s now fixed, and the 2015 floorplan is on the site with stands and numbers that match the key.

A quick reminder. One week today will be the Wakefield show!
RComp’s iMX6, CJE (Perhaps with his A15 “next-generation” RISC OS computer), Richard Keefe with Impression X, the new game Overlord will no doubt be deafening everyones ears as well!
On top of that ROOL will be there, so what more could you ask for! No that’s not an offer for requests! ;-)

so what more could you ask for! No that’s not an offer for requests! ;-)

Pity. I was going to suggest some, ahem, “exotic dancers” – but I suppose if you aren’t looking for suggestions, I could always arrange something for the privacy of my hotel room a little later… ;)

Slightly more on topic, I’ll post something to RISCOSitory later today.

But no MW Software?

ISTR Martin suggesting at the Southwest Show that he was considering skipping Wakefield and hopefully coming to London in October.

CJE and RComp are both showing off their “hardware” in the show theatre though ;-)

Has anyone thought of using a Video link – for Martin W.

Making use of the computers :-)

On that topic – I believe youtube now offers live broadcasting; this might be an avenue to explore for sharing the presentation with those who cannot attend in person?

Hopefully I’ll be able to record the theatre talks, in which case they should appear on YouTube at some point. Although not live, that does mean the presentations are indeed shared with those unable to attend, like last year’s Wakefield and Midlands shows

(I didn’t do so at the Southwest show because with the bigger hall, the ‘mobile theatre’ is more problematic than the Midlands show).

Whichever way it’s done, be sure to grease the floor in front of the camera so that those who wander into view don’t stay for long.

You mean like the annoying ‘professional’ cameraman who obscured the view from my camera during one of last year’s talks? :(

I’ll see if there’s some way I can put the camera higher up this time – such as on a table if there’s one at the back of the room. Another possibility is to use my ‘gorillapod’ – but that also depends on there being something to attach it to. (And in both cases it needs to be in range of a mains supply, and I need to be able to reach the camera to see that it’s set up correctly, and to start/stop it!)

You mean like the annoying ‘professional’ cameraman who obscured the view from my camera during one of last year’s talks? :(

I’ll see if there’s some way I can put the camera higher up this time

How about live ammunition interlink with an optional screen in Overlord :)

Actually, thinking about it further, I quite favour the idea of a trapdoor in front of the camera, leading to a pool of hungry sharks.

Don’t you open that trapdoor….

At last ! A genuine use for a “Selfi-Stick” ? See you there, all being well – Bryn

Slightly more on topic, I’ll post something to RISCOSitory later today.

Yesterday turned out to be a very long day (yes, I sometimes work on a Sunday). Today, however, is another matter

We’ll be releasing yet another new version of RiscOSM the OpenStreetMap-based mapping software. The main enhancement is that RiscOSM can now load data from more than one dataset (e.g. for neighbouring countries) and merge them in memory. Previously if you wanted to see a complete map across a border you had to run a lengthy merging process using OSMConvert which also made it harder to update the data later on.

The new version also supports the Irish grid reference systems and the RD grid for the Netherlands. We will be including postcodes for the Netherlands for the first time, and there are several smaller enhancements such as copy and paste being supported in icons.

Without video-editing software RISC OS users can have trouble filling modern hard drives. We can help with that as we will be offering map data for over 30 European countries on a selection of SD cards! We will also have CD updates for the British Isles data. And if your computer is too old to support CDs or SD cards, bring along a high density floppy disc and we’ll give you the data for Andorra or Liechtenstein absolutely free.

The new version will not be available on the web site until after the show.

I believe youtube now offers live broadcasting

Yes, it does…

You can also switch on the ‘pvr’ system to record it for later playback

Well the Wakefield show was interesting.

R-Comp were selling ‘PiFi’ – software on an SD card to turn a Raspberry Pi computer into a WiFi adaptor along with a suitable USB/WiFi dongle for a combined price of £45 (available separately if you already have a USB/WiFi dongle).

R-Comp were also selling a ‘!Store collection’ CD (DeleGate, CHartWell, PhotoFix and a few other bits of software) but they soon sold out.

R-Comp also had ‘RISCBook essential’ (a laptop with Windows 8.1 running VRPC) as well as ARMX6 computers on sale

R-Comp also were selling a ‘DIY’ alternative for those wanting an i.MX6 motherboard ARMX6 in kit form, with an 8Gbyte SD card (containing a licensed RISC OS and hard disc), CMOS widget, real time clock – for £325 plus VAT. You need to provide a power supply, mouse, keyboard and screen (and SSD SATA drive if you want one). Here’s a picture of it in a clear plastic case (as described in Archive 23:11).

ROOL were selling a 950 page DDE manual in printed form for £54 (20% discount to developers) but quickly sold out (available through Amazon). They also released RISC OS 5.22 for Iyonix, OMAP3 (Beagleboard), Acorn Risc PC/A7000/A7000+. For the first time the stable release also included the OMAP4 port (Pandaboard).

CJE Micros were selling IGEPv5 machines (three different cases available, rudely called the Good, the Bad and the Ugly by an irreverent person) at about £625 depending on case chosen via an early adopter’s scheme. Benchmarks updated to include IGEPv5.

RiscOSM mapping software had another update, now including an overlaid grid for Ireland.

Archive magazine vol 23 issue 11 was available at the show.

Richard Keefe was there taking orders for Impression (web site under construction but should be up in a week or so).

Thanks for the summary. According to Amazon, the new DDE manual set includes updated Desktop Tools and Acorn Assembler manuals, plus an Acorn C/C++ manual which may or may not be the same as the PDF included with DDE 25. Amazon is listing all of them as “currently unavailable” but hopefully ROOL does a second printing. For reference material, a physical book is much more convenient than scrolling through a huge PDF.

It’s good to see a release of 5.22. I’m a little disappointed that there is still no stable Pi release, but I’m sure that it’ll come eventually. If anything, this gives developers more time to have a bigger selection of software available “at launch” so that’s always a good thing!

Nice briefing Chris H, but should this:

R-Comp also were selling a ‘DIY’ alternative for those wanting an ARMX6 in kit form – Wandaboard circuit board,

be referring to a “Wandboard” rather than a “Wandaboard”?

Especially since Wandboard brings up references to iMX6 in google while Wandaboard brings up references to pictures of cakes and stuff.

Wait… Wandaboard wasn’t a typo of Pandaboard?

Wait… Wandaboard wasn’t a typo of Pandaboard?

Wandboard = i.MX6
Pandaboard = OMAP4

I guess you missed the " ‘DIY’ alternative for those wanting an ARMX6 in kit form " reference.

The differences? Oh, where to start? How about SATA?