OVER 2 YOU, 107 (19/11/02)

EXCEL CLOCK

Can anybody suggest how I can display a clock in an Excel 97 spreadsheet cell that always shows the current time? Updating by the second or by the minute would be acceptable. I would also need to be able to use the NOW function to do calculations based on the clock reading i.e. the spreadsheet would recalculate when the clock reading changed.

Paul Lavington, via email

In any cell type “=Now()” and format the cell as time to whatever precision is required.  This cell will only update the time if anything else on the spreadsheet is changed like adding an entry.  The time is also updated if you press F9.   If you want to see the clock ticking why not just run the system clock on top of the excel spreadsheet?

Mervyn Thomas

FOOTBAL FIXTURES

Does anybody know of a way I can download football league and premiership fixtures into an Excel spreadsheet for betting analysis each week? It would also be useful if I could automatically download each team's points total. Currently I just key the data in manually each week.

Roger Thornhill, via email

A TV/Teletext card would be one solution for Roger Thornhill's problem. Ceefax page 317 supplies fixtures data and page 324 (on) gives points totals. No manual keying-in necessary, data is collected automatically via script files. I use my own program to collect share price data. Applying the same methods for this problem would be very straightforward.

Graham Gidney

In a nutshell, if you can get the what you need on a website:
1. Save the frame or copy and paste the info from web onto a text file
2. Open Excel file
3. Import your saved file by retrieving that file while in Excel
4. Dialog box will pop up, asking you "how you would want your columns set up"
5. After that your data will be Excel worksheet form
6. Get data of team's points onto another text file
7. Import this as well via Excel
8. Create a function, =vlookup to retrieve these team data onto the main worksheet you are working on, using name of teams or codes as the search criteria.
Cindy Jaques

BACK TO BASIC

I remember using the For/Next, Let, and Plot commands in BASIC to plot graphs of mathematical functions, and find solutions by iteration. Where can I find some modern software to do this?

John Bunting, via email

I strongly recommend the shareware X(PLORE) by David Meredith of San Francisco State University. This can be unloaded from http://online.sfsu.edu/~meredith/X(PLORE)/xplorepg.html. An earlier DOS version  is also good. The manual, with disk, was published by Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-13-014226-3                  

Bob Throssell

John Bunting could obtain the symbolic algebra package 'Waterloo Maple' from www.adeptscience.co.uk.  It solves equations, plots graphs and much more. It’s rather expensive, unfortunately, unless he can get it as a student.

Thomas Willetts

I used to write programs in QBasic derived from Windows 3 but when I changed my computer with Windows 98 SE installed, various people informed I that QBasic was no longer available. However, on browsing the various files available in the Windows 98 SE CD I came across QBasic together with the associated Help files. It was quite easy to download these and set up a folder to store all my previously written QBasic programs. There is very little difference between the original Basic and QBasic languages.

Ken Taylor

True Basic (Bronze Edition) for Windows is an easy to use program using all the usual Basic statements It is available from Asher Research, 16 Wellsworth Lane, Rowlands Castle, Hampshire. Email: ebillam@asher.u-net.com and includes a Guide with many examples of programs.

Tony Gray

CGT CALCULATOR

Is there any software that can calculate Capital Gains Tax since Mr Brown has changed the rules from complicated to very complicated?

Alan Graham, via email

There is an excellent little programme marked by UPDATA (www.updata.co.uk) which manages portfolio's - not only does this programme look after CGT etc. it also keeps track of income/cash book etc and there are a variety of data feeds that one can add on to ensure the data is always up to date. The programme was until recently called 'Fairshares' and was taken over by Updata I believe last year. It is an excellent piece of software for the small investor and I have worked with it for over 10 years now.
Simon Laxton, Maxey, Peterborough

WORD FOR BEGINNERS

I am in my eighties, my main use of my PC is to e-mail and write letters. Because of lack of use I have forgotten many of the intricacies of word processing that I was taught on a course a couple of years ago and so I am continually referring to manuals. Can anyone recommend a book with tests and exercises to keep me up to scratch?
N. G. B., via email

One of my aims when I retired this year was to try to be a little more adventurous with the computer so I am now working my way through a series of books for children, published by Letts, entitled 'Computer Basics.'  I am finding them extremely helpful and fun. They contain various ICT projects, which are very clearly presented.  I am happily working my way through Book 4 (suggested ages 8-9), and jolly interesting it is too, it's drawing and painting today!

V.H.T., via e-mail

Perhaps an advanced text editor would be better suited to NGB's purposes. A full-blown word processor has so many features it is easy to get lost. A good choice is "Jarte" (http://www.jarte.com/) which has many features, yet is very easy to use and free. "Jarte Plus" for $15 includes technical support. A great advantage of Jarte over many other text processors is that it opens and saves in the MS Word format "doc", which is so widely used.

Captain Daid Null

There are course books to help with the European Computer Driving Licence, which give exercises on various aspects of, Word Processing and other Microsoft products. The exercises appear just after each aspect that has been explained.

Roger Desforges, Formby, Liverpool

I can recommend a series of books with exercises written by Caroline Carter at I.T.’s For You.  E mail its4you@globalnet.co.uk.  From Word Processing and Windows 95/98 through to Power Point, each book has relevant exercises and there is an excellent index.

E. J.M Russ, via email

Word 2002 for Dummies has helped me a lot.

Frieda Harper

Try the Microsoft Quick Course series. They are available for all the Office applications. They are very simple to follow with exercises as you go along. In a couple of hours you'll feel like an expert. Any large bookstore keeps them.
Trevor Buckley, St. Albans

CAN YOU HELP

I have recently started my own business and presumed I could now design and order my new stationery online. However, various search engines have supplied me with only very slow and unreliable sites (which I'd better not name!). Can anyone recommend a fast, easy-to-use online print design system -- preferably not too expensive -- or am I still best off using high street print shops?

Stuart McGregor, via email

I wish to buy books written in Russian. How may I find a wholesaler or company specialising in this kind of material?

Beatriz Pfeiffer, via email

I found the recent discussion on valve amplifiers and old mechanical televisions absolutely fascinating, now I wonder if I can throw in my two ‘pennoth? My hobby, which I have taken up since retiring, is collecting old telephones (pre 1960 and preferably GPO issued) and now I’m the proud but naive owner of an Internet PC, I wonder if any readers can help me track down any informative web sites or direct me to ways of contacting fellow enthusiasts?

Geoffrey Burns, via email