OVER 2 YOU, 022 (22/03/01)

WELSH FLAG SCREENSAVER

I have seen a fluttering Welsh flag screensaver. It was not possible to ask anyone at the time where it came from. I have tried searching the net for this but with no luck. Any ideas? 

Frank Maynard, via email

Firstly, you will need to find an image of the Welsh flag, or whatever else you want on the flag. (I found some at www.flags.net/WALE.htm and www.data-wales.co.uk/flag.htm.) You will need to store this to your hard drive (right-click, then select "Save Picture As...") Now, open the display panel from the control panel (Start>Settings>Control Panel) and select the "Screen Saver" tab at the top of the window. Select "3D flying objects" from the drop-down list box under the word "Screen saver", then click settings. Click the "texture" button, then select the picture of the Welsh Flag. Click OK and you should be able to preview your screen saver.

Jam Smith (15), Hykeham, Lincs.

I run a web site for Morriston Camera Club in Swansea which features a fluttering Welsh flag on it's opening page.  The gif. is rather smaller than full screen size, but I'm sure could be utilized as a screeensaver if necessary.  Mr Maynard is welcome to 'borrow' the animation (just as I did from another site)

The URL of my site is:-  www.MorristonCameraClub.btinternet.co.uk

Jeff Lang,

This can be found at www.3dflags.com

Bill,

SMALL BUSINESS ACCOUNTS

I look after the books etc for my wife's hairdressing business, employing three people. This involves a serious round of calculating and 'looking up' when it comes round to payroll, not to mention the form filling. Can anyone recommend a payroll program that ordinary people can understand? I have tried some demo programs and they seem to be aimed at people who run several businesses. Also, payroll programs are quite expensive but I don't mind spending the money if it is a program I can come to terms with.

S J Rushton, Birmingham

Freeway Software Ltd produces PAYE-Master for Windows, which is simple and brilliant, especially if you're used to manual deduction cards etc.  It's cheap, has a follow up support service and conforms to all the Inland Revenue constraints. We use it in our employment agency for temp wages. It even does my year-end for about 90 people in about half an hour, straight onto disk, which I send to the Inland Revenue, which means no boring paperwork to run off.

Freeway can be reached at: Freeway House, Martland Park, Wigan, telephone 0870-243-1956, it's website address is http://www.freewaysoft.co.uk/. They will even send you a demo disk or CD so that you can try before you buy.

Jean Lyle,

HEDGEHOGS & WORMS

Despite the Internet's reputation for being able to supply every conceivable human desire, I am unable to find anyone selling hedgehogs or slow worms. These are not for occult purposes but as a green alternative to slug pellets. As a gardener who lives in London, I am desperate to deter monopods from eating my bulbs.
Ian C, via email

We are constantly being asked to supply hedgehogs to 'green gardeners', many believing that's what the Charity (Rochdale Hedgehog Rescue) is for. When asked why they want them, the answer is always the same, 'I have a slug problem'. Further conversation reveals that few have the animal's welfare as a priority, so, for the record…

Firstly, the hedgehog is not a sociable animal and leads a solitary life from just a few weeks after birth. It needs space and the freedom to roam in search of its natural food, rarely taking up residency in any particular spot. It is unlikely that the average garden would be large enough to sustain one hedgehog let alone any more than that.

Secondly, whilst hedgehogs will eat a few slugs if there isn't anything more appetising around, they do not consume them in the vast quantities people suppose...beetles, worms and caterpillars being far higher on the preferred diet list.

If the hedgehog is not already a visitor to the garden the reasons generally are a lack of natural food, the wrong environment or being visited by its predators. Whereas the 'green gardener' may offer an oasis for wildlife, more often it is only a speck in an ocean of danger and unsuitability. Please do not be tempted to introduce hedgehogs to an area where they are not already present, you could be condemning them to a shortened life of misery and eventual death without resolving the slug problem. We would suggest to your readers that the old methods of control are far more successful, i.e. a beer trap, putting a ring of sharp sand or bran around the plant or simply just patrolling your pride and joy regularly picking them up.

Sue Lewis, Rochdale Hedgehog Rescue,

The British Hedgehog Society (BHPS) has a site at
http://www.software-technics.co.uk/bhps/ which also has information on
building them "houses for different Council Tax Bands" (joke)
Ealing Council has a site at http://www.ealing.gov.uk/Parks/wildlife.htm which deals with both Hedgehogs and Slow Worms.

Slow worms are more of a problem as they seem to be a protected species and the site at http://www.darkwave.org.uk/~caleb/uklaw.html  gives more information on this. There is also a site at http://www.wildlifetrust.org.uk/

cheshire/slwbapnw.htm, which gives information about a project to protect, study and conserve the slow worm. The wild life trust has information by region on http://www.wildlifetrust.org.uk
Gavin Spence,

CRAFTSMAN SOFTWARE

I am a craftsman goldsmith specialising in the design and handcrafted commissions.  Does anyone know of any software that I could use to show my clients say, for example, a variety of precious stones, settings, basic designs etc and perhaps also a facility to add my own artistic development? In this way I clients would be able to see the piece almost in reality. I know it can be done with clothes and hairstyles and feel sure the technology will have been used elsewhere.

John D. Vaughan, via email

Log onto http://www.gia.org/education/extcadcam.cfm. The Gemological Institute of America has information on software for jewellery silversmithing and 3D imaging.
Frank Hirshfield,

AutoCAD is not the only draughting package available, and for 3D modelling, the AutoCAD package costs several thousand pounds.  (£10,000? with a suitable high-end computer and training). John Vaughan will firstly need to decide how much he is prepared to spend, in both cash and time.  Be warned, the cost of the time will far exceed the cash. We are talking of several thousand pounds.

I would suggest looking also at mid-price packages, such as Solid Edge at about £2,000 to £3,000, and at low-end packages such as TurboCAD at about £200 to £300. I am a Mechanical Design Engineer, and have been using design packages for years. I found Solid Edge difficult to get into, and TurboCAD SolidModeler impossible, although others appear to have managed it.  To get into any of these packages I think an induction course may be necessary, at a cost of several hundred pounds. Annual maintenance costs need to be considered too. The user forum sites for 3D modelling packages carry many messages criticising the lack of documentation and the difficulties in using them.

In a nutshell, these packages are not as simple as the everyday software mentioned in most magazines.  They are very specialised, expensive, and need years of practice to acquire a reasonable competence.

Ken Trees,

MUSIC PROGRAMS

As an amateur pianist who is frequently called on to entertain groups of pensioners or disabled folk I find it necessary to compile music programs which demands recourse to a list of light music titles.  As matters stand I resort to publishers printed catalogues and my own memory but the ideal would be a computerised database to which I have added notes to classify the various titles by style such as sing along, dance, jazz, etc and to indicate speed, musical key, etc. I have from time to time contemplated compiling my own database using Excel or Access which would take a great deal of time I
can ill afford. It would help enormously if a basic list of titles was already available from some source and if so, I would be most grateful for advice where it could be obtained.
D G Clarke, via email

Further to the reply to the letter recommending Masterfile, I am delighted to be able to tell you that Campbell Systems is still very much alive and active. To call it a 'relic from the Spectrum days ..' is perhaps rather unfortunate.  Masterfile when it first appeared in 1982 was indeed designed for use with the Spectrum. Its successors for IBM compatibles, Masterfile PC and more importantly Masterfile Professional, are anything but relics as the rest of your published letter acknowledges. These databases are the best I have come across and, as you say, are highly adaptive and very fast.

After being highly impressed by Masterfile PC, I upgraded to its successor Masterfile Profession in 1992.  John Campbell has continued to develop the program, which is very powerful, flexible, and fast.  It is relational, has an excellent programming language built in with a large range of functions, and a very useful text editor.  It is now available as a network as well as single user version.  I have used it for several years for a serious business application and wouldn't think about attempting the same level of functionality with MS Access.  John Campbell has a very sensible and practical approach to upgrades and the support he gives is superb.  He is now working on the next major revision, but don't wait if your really want a database that does what you want it to do.  My only regret is that Campbell Systems and Masterfile Professional are not more widely known and recognised.

For details about Campbell Systems go to www.campbell-systems.co.uk or for more information about Masterfile and a download demo version go to www.mpro.campbell-systems.co.uk

Richard Carr,
 

CAN YOU HELP?

I am using MS Project version 4 in connection with historical research.  The Gantt chart presentation is ideal for displaying the location of military units between certain dates, but the period of interest is 1940-1970, and Project doesn't recognise dates before 1984.  Can this be changed, because working with a 50-year offset can get very confusing? Or is there another, similar package that will cover the required dates?

Allan G Williams, via email

I have recently bought a barn for conversion and I would like to find some software that would enable me to design the interior "virtually". For example putting in furniture, kitchen, bathroom etc. Ideally I would like to download something over the Internet and I must be able to enter the actual floor plan of the building and be able to save this as a record, so that if I want to change the design around, I can do without having to reload the floor plan. Does anybody out there know of any such program? 

R & M Heys, via email

I'm looking for computer software that will record video on a constant (and variable) loop, allowing you to do a simple edit and save to the hard drive. It means if something you're watching proves interesting and worthy of recording, you can wait for it to finish and edit and save the whole thing -- from a few seconds to a whole programme. I already have such a
thing for audio but can't find it for video anywhere.
John Collins, via email