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Welcome to my home page. This is still very much under construction atthe moment, and has been for the previous 12 years (yes, really!).But it will always be, since any reasonable Web site should be eitherbeing constantly maintained and kept up-to-date, or moribund.

But don't let that stop you having a look around. You may findsomething of interest, although you won't find lots of uselessinformation, flashy graphics, hot links to kew1 sitez, or countersshowing how many have surfed this way before you (except, of course,that they don't - or not accurately anyway). You also won't findany blue ribbons or any whining about the iniquities of the CDA. Ifyou think that these things are really important, then you should tryto get out more.

You'll note that none of my pages say "This must be read with InternetExploder 5.041.217.32", "Best displayed in Netscrape" or "You need toinstall 54 different incompatible plugins to view this page".The 'Net should be usable by anyone no matter what computer orsoftware they are using - let's try to keep it that way. Havingsaid that, you should ideally have a table-capable browser (come on,even Lynx can do that!).

Linux and Related Computer Stuff

The free operating system that everybody has heard of. Not just for hackers,but a real alternative to Microsoft for everyone to use. Try it and see.

• DrawViewallows Draw, Vector or Poster files to be viewed on Linux or any othersystem that supportsQt 4.
  
  
• Some of myfree softwareforLinux:KRepton andKadoomfor KDE,Symlink Properties Plugin for KDE3,guistart,noblink.
  
  
• Some of mymodes and extrasforEmacs:vm-small-icons,sendmail-mode,apache-mode.

If you think that Linux (or Unix in general) is unfriendly, or has nouseful software, then you may be pleasantly surprised. There are twoexcellent graphical desktop environments available now: I prefer theK Desktop EnvironmentbutGnome also showsmuch promise. There is also free software for pretty much any purposethat could be imagined, including the ultimateeditor,graphics package andoffice suite(take your pick for that,freeorcommercial).

Go here for much moreLinux stuff on the Web.

Acorn/RiscOS Computer Stuff

Most of the computer world, especially abroad, has never heard ofAcorn. But they had quietly been designing and producing innovative,powerful and popular desktop machines for home, education and businessfor nearly twenty years (although sadly no longer).

For more information, try some of the links and pages below.

• DrawViewallows Draw, Vector or Poster files to be viewed on Linux or any othersystem that supportsQt 4.View all drawings and all types of object in a scrollable and zoomablewindow, or convert to PostScript or PDF for use in other applications.
  
  
• Vector, GridPro and DrawPlusare now Open Source,released under the GNU GPL.
  
  
• Some of myfree softwarefor download:DrawPlus,WinIcon,Finder,ImpCompr,SpriteFix.
  
  
• Commercial softwarethat I have written for 4Mation, including downloadabledemonstration versions ofVector andGridPro. Now open source, see above.
  
  
• A (fairly technical) how-to guide tobrowsing a CD intended for the Acorn platform under Linux.Not as easy as it might sound, but possible, and an interesting exercisein achieving cross-platform compatibility.
  
  
• Mythoughts on the future of Acorn -posted toUsenet inJuly 1998, some time before their recent "reorganisation", buteven more relevant as a result of that.

For more Acorn or RiscOS information, tryRISC OS Ltd,now owners and developers of the operating system,orriscos.info,a user and technical Wiki.Other useful news sites areArchive Magazine(take out a magazine subscription, it's well worth it) andDrobe.

The oldAcorn Computers company web siteis now totally dead - the newacorncomputers.co.ukhas taken over the name and brand, but is a totally different organisationselling PCs and laptops. No link, because I'm not going to advertise for them.Unfortunately also now dead is the once-very-usefulAcorn Cybervillage.

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Miscellaneous Bits

Also despair that because of the above link and destination page,I regularly get hits on this site from search engines, using search termslike "how to program a virus" or similar. Forget it, there is nosuch information here.

Don't forget that - for Micro$oft Windows users at least - theInternet is a dangerous place, mostly due to the activities of thesort of people who search for such information, and those who havemoved on from needing to look it up. In particular, using InternetExplorer 6 (yes, there are plenty of you who still do) iscomputer suicide, even if you only visit respectable sites and even withanti-virus protection. Consider, at least, using a safer browser suchasMozilla Firefox.

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Page by Jonathan Marten.Last modified: Fri Sep 4 11:21:18 BST 2009