OVER 2 YOU, 083 (02/06/02)

ON THE RECORD

Having recently discovered that I can listen to Radio stations on my PC, Iwould like to know if it is possible to ‘time-shift’ these programmes,onto the hard disc, like a video recorder, for replay at a future date?
Roger Warwick, Stockport
 

I use High Criteria's Total Recorder (http://www.highcriteria.com), which can be scheduled like a VCR and which can convert on the fly into MP3.  This works very well.  In my case it records from Hauppage Win Radio, which comes with Win TV. This provides up to 30 FM presets. Total Recorder also records to disk from CD and I am sure from cassette tape too.

Mike Hare,

Have a look at Psion's Wavefinder - an USB add-on, which receives DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast), it provides for instant recording. I can receive 23 stations. Many music stations show the name and artist before commencement of playing the tune. It is recorded as MP3 and is of CD quality.

Philip Nelson, Southampton

There are a number of programs that enable recording of radio programmes. A simple but very effective one is VCRadio from: www.sagebrush.com, which is a shareware product, but available for evaluation.  I use a British product called PC-Recorda from www.cel-soft.com, which is very sophisticated, but correspondingly more complex and costly. PC Recorda enables downloading of schedule information from the BBC website to simplify setting up recordings.

If automatic channel selection is required you need to ensure that the PC radio card used is supported by the product. They can be used with an external radio source if channel selection isn't required.
Phil Armstrong,

BY THE BOOK

I have a document typed on MSWord of some two hundred pages and would like to print this 8vo (octavo) in order to then bind it myself as a book complete with photos and other references. Can anyone recommend a website or piece of software that would enable me to print the pages in their correct sequence?

Mike Whitehead, via email

Try Clickbook. It is one of the most adaptable programs around. There is a free trial version available from: http://www.bluesquirrel.com/clickbook/ You can convert this to a full version for $49.95 online from the above address.
 

ClickBook intercepts pages going to laser or inkjet printers and automatically rotates, reduces and realigns pages into the correct order to create double-sided booklets and brochures. ClickBook even prints an instruction sheet showing exactly how to reinsert paper for double-sided
printing.
Richard Williams,

Microsoft Publisher 2000 will do exactly what he wants -- even converting his Word document into Publisher format for him.  In fact I rarely use Word any more as Publisher is just as good for text input or editing and is much more suited to any production that includes graphics or needs fancy formatting.

Gina Mitchell, Dorking

Try FinePrint - Fineprint Software at: www.fineprint.com
Graham Wade,

I recently produced a draft version of my Father-In-Laws’ memoirs. After making enquiries, I was told that Word is capable of doing it, although a bit of dexterity and fiddling about is involved. The finished book was very well received and included a monochrome picture of the author. If Mr Whitehead would like more details he is welcome to contact me.
Colin Mears Baker, 

USING OLD PCS

I have a small collection of four PCs, from 386 to Pentium 1, all of them perfectly serviceable but woefully out of date by current standards. I have promised them to my son’s school and a local charity shop – not that either seemed terribly impressed -- but I was wondering if anyone could come up with a suggestion for using at least one of them in a practical way, doing something around the house, even if it’s only switching the pump in my fish pond on and off? I would like to get back just a little of my initial investment

Doug Steele, via email

If Mr. Steele wishes to try something new he may consider installing the Linux operating system.  While the latest distributions are being aimed at the latest hardware it is still possible to make a "lightweight" install.More information can be found at www.linux.org, where you are also able to download the software.  There are also Linux user groups who may be able to offer help and a list of these can be found at www.lug.org.uk.Joseph Haig, Department of Mathematics, University of Manchester

THE PALM DIET

I recently read a news story concerning a program for a Palm PDA that calculated nutritional and exercise information from basic dietary data inputs to help with balancing your diet. I would like to know if such programs exist for a PC?

Jamie Crossland, via email

The software for a Palm Pilot, which calculates and balances nutrition and exercise is called BalanceLog and is available from: www.healthetech.com/products click on BalanceLog. It’s available also for PCs and Mackintosh.

R. Wells,

WORD PERFECT SEARCH

As a retired typist, retrained as a word processor operator, I find Microsoft Word very limited, I know many will say it is superior, but you ask a typist (and there are some of us left) and they all agree: WordPerfect was more versatile for straightforward typing. Does anyone know of a source of WordPerfect 3.1 or 5.1 diskettes, I’ve tried downloading it from the Internet with no success, PC World said they stocked it until six months ago.

Pip Ward, Tadley, Hants

A big thank you to the huge number of Over2You readers who wrote in with kind offers of Word Perfect discs. Pat accepted the offer from reader Max Wright and at his suggestion has made a donation to charity.

TALKING NEWSPAPERS

We produce a talking newspaper for the blind and currently record these on cassettes. However this technology is rapidly being phased out and we need to establish a viable alternative as we are led to believe that tapes will cease being available in 2004.

Does anyone know have any experience of using CDs for newsletters or similar? Any help would be appreciated including the best way of getting the recordings onto the PC for editing and subsequent distribution.
Geoffrey Thomas, via email

I hope the following may be of interest. High speed copying of digital media is an issue at the moment as only the more expensive copy equipment has the facility. Most operators opt for a multi record unit where one copies a number at once and thereby reduce copy time rather than increasing the speed of one off copies. The multi copy units can be purchased but at the moment for small operators it is still more cost effective to use a duplicating house that will do the job for you, especially where sponsorship can be invoked.
 
From our experience our clients prefer two discs of high quality rather than one longer audio tape. It does not become a hassle to have a second disc with part two clearly indicated.
 
Don't underestimate the listeners. Some of our clients are not PC literate but are okay with a given procedure and it becomes just as easy to use as the old style cassette. They also like to be seen to be embracing New Technology
 
Editing equipment can be obtained for a very small amount (around £50) which would offer a cost effective solution also some Mini Disc and CD-ROM recorders have in built editing programs and therefore offer more than a basic recording device
 
It is clear that as tape based media is phased out, some investment is required to continue the services to clients.  This is no different to when audio tape first came in and a small development fund must be set up to provide longevity to a service which is so helpful to so many people
Nicky Brown,

CAN YOU HELP

Can anyone advise me how to scan thousands of photographs to CD in the least time consuming way possible? I have done a few hundred but I may not live long enough to complete the task at this rate. Also a good filing reference
system at the outset may forestall 'I wish I'd done it differently' later.
Brian Ellis, via email

I’m trying to devise an Excel formula for a world cup fantasy league competition. A formula in a cell that may recognise an alpha/numeric entry in an adjacent cell, e.g. G17 as being the value in a certain cell in a different worksheet (but the same file). Or to put it another way, if cell C5 has text G17 in it, then cell C6 is (worksheet) Goalkeepers H17. Sounds easy doesn't it? I've scrolled through dozens of formulae both in Excel Help and on the web without success.

Tim Hughes, via email

I have a fairly large number of rare technical drawings, including blueprints, which I would like to archive. I suppose scanning them as line art is the obvious answer but I can see any number of problems, e.g. how to avoid jaggies, how to avoid losing thin lines in printouts. How does one maximise resolution and minimise file size, what about stitching? Are there any dedicated archiving programs with appropriate (one would hope - lossless) compression? A small number of the drawings are about A1 size and bordering on the impossible to scan on an A4 scanner. Are there any commercial operations that would scan these for me? 

Richard Danik, via email