OVER 2 YOU, 118 (18/02/03)

RAPID SEARCH

I have produced separate JPEG digital images (600Kb each) with a high quality camera (Nikon 990) of every page (over 3,000) of the Minutes of a highly respected winter sporting club, going back to its inception in 1885.  Does anyone know of an application/program, which will enable the information to be presented in a format which allows rapid searches of the text (both hand and typewritten) on specific topics, for example as can be done with Encyclopaedia Britannica etc.?

Ken Newman, via email

I think that Microsoft Word will do almost everything that you need, for the typewritten material at least, but the images will have to be converted into text files first, using the OCR (optical Character Recognition) facility on a scanner. If you want to refer to illustrations, pictures or other parts of the documents you can use the Hyperlink facility, All you have to do is highlight the text or item that you want to refer to choose Bookmark on the Insert menu and click Add. Next highlight the link in the document, click Hyperlink on the Insert menu and choose the Bookmark, the highlighted text will now be underlined and if you click on it and it will take you instantly to the referred item.

Word also has a useful indexing facility, this can be done manually or automatically, this is explained in some detail in Word Help, select the Index tab and just type ‘index’.

Michael Taylor, Leytonstone

BRIDGE SCORES

I thought it would be easy to produce my own Bridge Scoring Cards using tables but it all seems to go wrong for me. Can anyone help?

Derek Withey, Wirral

Try 18 columns set out across the page with side margins as narrow as Word will allow.  You then need three rows, the top one deep enough to type ‘We & They’ alternately 9 times. The next row is for Honours and the line across below that leaves room for tricks underneath.  Print in landscape mode and then cut up each sheet to be the width of three We/Theys. I am able to print on both sides of the A4 paper and they cut correctly. 

Ruth Daintree

Word Tables are quite able to produce very acceptable Bridge Score Cards, but it is fiddly.

Simple instructions:

New Document, Page Setup Landscape, with minimum margins your printer allows.  Set left and right margins equal (or around 1.4 cm = largest of the minimums). Set Font 8 point Arial for all document. Format page as 3 columns with column separation same as left and right margins. Insert into first column a table 5 rows by 6 columns.

Set Table properties:

Rows: set exact sizes of 1.2cm, 1.4 cm, .35 cm, 7.5 cm, 7.5 cm

Columns: set preferred widths to .8cm, 1.5cm, 1.5 cm, 1.5 cm, 1.5 cm & .9 cm.

Turn off external borders

Spit table after second row, where you can insert your own comment or club name.

Now add Win, Lose, We & They as required, (align vertical the Win & Lose)

Adjust Border widths as required, and turn a few more off.

Then a little tidying up and that's it.

When the first copy is right, copy to the other two columns.

Rick Brown, Wokingham

Works word processor can produce card game scoring cards. Using "Insert Table" from the tool bar a grid can be created made up of the number of columns and rows of your choice. The cells can be left blank or contain any info you wish and its position and size can be set from the tool bar. To display playing card symbols (hearts, spades etc.) I use "Character Map" from "System Tools". Within Character Map there are many Fonts to choose from; the one I use for playing card is "TT Symbol". These copy and paste into Works o.k.

John McWhan, Nantwich, Cheshire

SWISS CONNECTION

We will be moving to Switzerland in May/June for a three-year period.  We currently use AOL for the Internet and e-mails, unlimited use monthly charge, but they've told us we have to close our UK account and open up a new one when we get to Switzerland! Also we won't be able to keep the same e-mail address.  Does anybody have any experience of Swiss Internet providers, typical monthly rates and the quality of service, etc?
Bob & Kate Minor, via email

I am a Telecomms consultant and have worked in Switzerland on a number of occasions and on a number of different projects, I can assure them that they will get better service than they do in UK. Broadband is now the standard in Switzerland and there are many good providers.
CableCom, the Cable TV provider, which is present in a high proportion of residences and expanding further, also provides a very good broadband service HiSpeed, with email addresses. CableCom are also starting a voice service as well. Pricing is difficult because of the various bundling options. If they do take the TV option then I understand everything else is very competitive.

Swisscom offers ADSL at competitive rates and this is also on wholesale through most, if not by now all, providers including their own ISP, BluWin and the second Telecomms operator, Sunrise. The quality of the service will depend on the ISP they choose and the "contention ratio" that the ISP uses. (Contention ratio is the number of users "sharing" the same bandwidth, so the higher the ratio the lower the probability of good service. In this business you get what you pay for!) Again pricing depends on the bundles taken. Have a look at the various web sites, they are easy to find and normally have an English page. (They generally end in .ch so I would recommend a search in something like Google with "+ISP +.ch" and the area you will live in the search string). There should be no problem getting set up once you
get there, the Swiss are very efficient, once you know the process.
Simon Fawthrop

P.S. I am very jealous as it is a lovely place to work and live.

MICROFICHE RECORDS

I have a collection of parish baptism/marriage/burial records on microfiche negatives, and I no longer have access to a microfiche viewer. There are 70 of them on postage stamp size microfiched foolscap pages on each 100x150mm negative. Is there any attachment available for a PC that will magnify the microfiches so they can be read onscreen?    

Steve Norcliffe, via email

Such a device is available. It appears to use a modified web camera operating in a focussing device. The web site is www.leggtronix.freeserve.co.uk.

Janet E. Jones, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry

HEARING DIFFICULTIES

I wear two behind the ear Widex analogue hearing aids.  I have been denied the use of a mobile phone because every one I try to use results in a high pitched noise rendering reception to be totally inaudible.  Has anyone else experienced this problem and how have they solved it?
Geoff Jackson, via email

I have recently invested in the latest digital technology from Amplivox + Ultratone.  It has only been out just over 12 months.  It involves a pop-in earpiece moulded to one's ear shape and is very cosmetic/indistinguishable and absolutely brilliant.  It has 4 settings depending on 'normal', 'party' or 'restaurant' background noise plus loop - all engaged by small button on the aid.  It has two pin-size microphones AND I use it with hand-held and mobile phones with absolutely no problem.  One just has to learn where to hold the mobile in relations to the microphones.  The aid is programmed through a computer and is set up to avoid feedback.  It really is an amazing appliance.  I did also suffer as Mr Jackson does - but no more.
David Hartridge

DEAD DOG DILEMMA

I was recently given a Sony Aibo ERS-111 robotic dog. Unfortunately ‘Softy’ seems to be very sick. Sony tells me it has to be sent to France and wanted over £100 just to look at it, plus scary sums to replace limbs or the head. Are there any robotic vets in the UK who can see to my poorly plastic pooch?

Emily Trainer, via email

We read with interest the replies and comments from readers concerning their experiences with the Aibo ERS-111. Unfortunately the information provided is not entirely up to date. The ERS-110 and 111 have been hugely successful worldwide. We are aware of a few problems that owners have informed us of. These models today are collector’s items and we sold out (of these models) in December 1999, after just 4 months of them being on sale. These products, and the ones that followed, are the only artificially intelligent robots available on the market and the technology behind them is truly amazing! It is therefore, customary that we request for any defective products to be returned to our factory for repair.

Any European customer, who requires spare parts for their Aibo, can contact our Aibo Clinic on the following number (020 7365 2937) in order for them to retain all of the relevant information. We would like to stress that Sony do not sell reconditioned Aibos and the company destroys any broken spare parts. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the feedback that you have provided us with.

Public Relations Department, Sony Entertainment Robot Europe

CAN YOU HELP?

Can anyone recommend software suitable for recording the contents of a wine cellar?
Richard Jewson, via email

My 8-year-old granddaughter enjoys doing simple crosswords, which I have been compiling myself but it would help if I could use a software program (preferable freeware or shareware) to make the crosswords. Does anyone know of such a program? It would have to be flexible enough to cope with simple ones now but have the ability to produce more difficult ones, as she gets older.

Ian Pembroke, via email

I have a number of events, which have start and finish dates. I would like to display this data on a critical path analysis type of display, which is after all only a bar chart where events do not share a common base. At present I enter the data by hand. Can anyone help?

Peter Morley, via email