OVER 2 YOU, 087 (02/07/02)

AIRLINE SCHEDULES

With so many airlines now operating out of the UK, it would be very useful to know whether there is a website (available not just to the travel trade) which tells you which airlines go where.

Chris Cleland, Farnham, Surrey 

There is a most informative and very well written web site outlining the various airline scheduling services on the Internet, with links to other sites offering this kind of information, it can be found at: http://www.iecc.com/airline/airinfo.html

Sara Bettings, Gosport

SCRABBLE SEARCH

I am desperately looking for the J.W. Spear & Sons version of Scrabble for the PC. I find the Mattell/Ubi Soft version quite awful, Mattel bought out Spears Games and no longer publish the old one, can anyone help?

Neil Brodie, Great Bookham, Surrey

The answer is simple; buy and install a program called "Amiga Forever" then obtain a copy of the Spears version from the internet (try Aminet -via "Google"- which is the worlds largest collection of software, where you will find games by the thousand)
D. A. Cheverst, Bexleyheath, Kent

MAPWARE

Can anyone suggest a reasonably priced computer program that can be used for mapping historical sites, the distribution of artefacts and places? I particularly need the ability to place a symbol at a precise spot on the National Grid reference and the facility to draw in and colour features such as rivers, roads and escarpments etc.

Ann R. Elton, Sevenoaks, Kent

Microsoft MapPoint plus the MapPoint 2002 COM Add-in allows you to import ESRI SHAPE files (.shp) and MapInfo Data files (.mif) into MapPoint. This is a cheap solution, which will allow you to add rivers etc.  Patrick Wills,

It may be overkill, but OziExplorer (www.oziexplorer.com) will allow Ann to scan (or draw) and calibrate maps. From then on, the cursor position is displayed as a BNG (British National Grid) reference to an accuracy of 1 metre, and clicking on the map places icons on the map which can be saved to file. Better still, it can be used in conjunction with a GPS (Global Positioning by Satellite) receiver  - although the accuracy of civilian units is still no better than 5 metres. A restricted version is available for free download and may be all that is needed.
Simon Holt, Bournemouth, Dorset

I suggest Anne visits www.mapmaker.com based at Carradale in Kintyre, Scotland. They make available free, a simple mapping program which is easy to use and which is aimed at students wanting to learn about the basics of making maps and GPS. The program is easy to use and well supported. If she wants to use it as a simple GPS attribute data can be analysed using datafiles in dbf format. I have used a more complex version of this program (MapMaker Pro version 2.4) for several years in my research on field enclosure and historical land use in Cumbria. 

John Penny, Bell College, Lanarkshire

BLUEPRINTS

I have a fairly large number of rare technical drawings, including blueprints, which I would like to archive. Scanning these as line art may be the answer but I can see any number of problems, like how to avoid jaggies and losing thin lines in printouts. A small number of the drawings are about A1 size. Are there any commercial operations that would scan these for me?
Richard Danik

The best solution would be to scan in black and white to a .tif format. This is a raster format (dots on a page) rather than a vector format (lines). Programs such as Paintshop Pro will enable him to clean up the images with a little careful editing. The only reason, which would prompt me to suggest using a vector format, would be if he wanted to be able to import the images and then edit them in a CAD package such as AutoCAD or Microstation. Dominic Olds,

RECORDING RADIO

Having recently discovered that I can listen to Radio stations on my PC, I would 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

It is possible to record all "streamed" audio files for listening to later or copying to CD with a program called "sound capture" which is available from www.magicsofts.com. Even better the demo version, which is  downloadable from a number of sites, Tucows for example, is totally free! This program doesn’t have a timer but it should be possible to start it by using the Windows Task Scheduler, which can be found in My Computer

Paul Farley,

TABLEWARE

Does anyone know of a program that helps in the preparation of a table plan for formal dinners for large numbers without the need to cut up little pieces of paper to move people around until you get it right and then having to write it down?
Richard Hopkinson-Woolley, via email

Setting up a pie chart in Excel is the best solution that I have found. Type in each name as a list in column A and in column B put a 1 (figure one) in each adjoining box alongside each name.  Then "Range" the list names and numbers (cols A and B), click on "Insert" and then "Chart".

Chose a pie chart, click on "Next" and again (to step 3 of 4) and click on "Title" and insert the name of the event and the date, as necessary.  Then click on legend and unclick "Show Legend" i.e. so that no legend is shown; then click on "Data Labels" and click on "Show Labels" (you can also unclick "Show Leader Lines", if you wish).  Finally, click on "Next" and "Finish".

The result is smart and professional, and once you have done table plan this sheet can be saved and used again and again! And moving people around, due to last minute cancellations, is as easy as, well, pie!
Ian Daish, Guernsey

We use Place Planner 2000, which is obtained from Abbotswood Computer Product Marketing Ltd., (e-mail enquiries@abbotswood.co.uk).  This software enables one to draw tables, insert diners, move them around at will, lists of diners seated and not seated, place cards, add text etc. and we find it extremely useful.
Mavis Newton,

SAILING LAPTOP

Later this year I will be off on a sailing adventure lasting approximately five months. The accommodation on board will be fairly rough and ready, with a damp salty atmosphere. Can anyone recommend a laptop or portable PC that will be able to endure this kind of hostile environment?

Janet Leslie, via email

I have begun my fourth season in a 34 ft boat with a Meridian navigation program on my Panasonic CF25 laptop and survived very rough weather and water leaking onto the keyboard. If you are going to use it for navigation it must be robust and available all the time. The later model CF28 is faster and better but just as rugged. Not cheap at £3000, but what price safety? 

Tony Stephenson,

CAN YOU HELP

Can anyone help me? I'm planning a round the world trip, and need to produce a picture of my route. As my photographic editing skills are minimal, I cannot simply edit a world map picture in a graphics package to show a route, but instead I am looking for a website or program that enables me to simply click on destinations around the world, and then draw a line between them, which I can then print off. I have searched and searched, but with no joy so far, as most packages only seem to be car-related and exclusive to Europe.

Patrick Foster, via email

I work for a small wildlife charity and have been delegated to identify a scanner that can scan very old books and texts from a reference library with minimum risk of damage to the spines and bindings. It is essential to have high quality images, and OCR (Optical Character Recognition) capabilities. Ideally, we wish to rent or short-term lease the machine. Can anyone recommend a scanner or a company that could help by supplying a suitable machine with any necessary training?
Iain M W Boardman, Wildlife Information Network

I am irritated by the ever-increasing number of companies using 0870 numbers (which give them a share of the call revenue). Services like OneTel do not save money on these "non-geographic" numbers. According to Oftel, all these numbers sit on top of a normal number. Does anyone know of a site listing these normal equivalents, or any way of discovering what they are in any particular case?

Peter Brown, via email