OVER 2 YOU, 165 (27/01/04)

ALL THAT JAZZ

I attend night school to study jazz theory and practice.  My handwritten notes are untidy and cover a lot of paper so I am compiling them on my PC to make future reference easier. I prepare the text in Word 6 (I also have Word 2000), and format the manuscript in Musicworks 3 then combine the two by double printing.  Needless to say this is a bit hit and miss. I realise that Musicworks has a text facility but it is very basic. Can anyone recommend a better method or a reasonably priced software package?

R. Ball, via email

It sounds as though you are making a lot of hard work for yourself. Why don’t you just switch to a music notation program? There are lots of them about, two I can personally recommend are Finale Notepad, which is freeware and you will find it at: www.codamusic.com. The other one is PC Composer and there’s a very functional demo that you can try at the following address:

http://www.pcomposer.com

Neville Rhys, via email

I’m not sure what Mr Ball means by ‘reasonably priced’ but I think that all of the features he is looking for can be found in a very advanced musical notation program called MusicTime Deluxe. The full version currently costs £66, which is good value when you consider all of the features. There is a full description on the manufacturer’s web site at: http://www.passportdesigns.com/

Chris Fuller, via email

OUTLINE MAPS

I am looking for software, which will allow me to print a world map in outline. I would like to be able to select countries from a list, and mark them for colouring.

Jeremy Burton, via email

I think your correspondent is going to be very fortunate to find one program that does everything that he wants but none of these jobs are difficult to accomplish, using resources on the web and standard graphics applications like PaintShop Pro or Serif Draw. I suggest that Jeremy starts by downloading the outline maps he requires, there’s plenty on the web, a couple of sites worth visiting that I found include  http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/ and http://www.abcteach.com/Maps/world.htm. There is a good selection of outline map styles and layouts and they are all completely free. The map image can then be saved or copied and scanned and then colours may be added using the Fill tool on his chosen graphics application.

Mary Teacher, via email

A good source of outline maps for colouring in can be found on the Internet’s number one source for images, Google. I suspect that a lot of Google users never venture beyond basic Web searches but if you click on the Images button you can directly search millions of photographs drawings and graphics stored on the web, including as I found, some 2000 ‘outline maps’.  

T. Curry, via email

The graphics program SmartDraw includes an extensive collection of maps in its clipart library and more can be downloaded from the manufacturers web site. The program costs about £30 but you can download a fully functioning trial version and I am sure I have seen it featured on computer magazine discs in the past. The web address for the program and the map drawing features is: http://www.smartdraw.com/specials/

geography.asp?id=35111

Alan Wilkinson, Cardiff

I had a similar requirement some time ago in my role as a primary school teacher. I came across some rather good map graphics in a program called World Features Map Puzzle, which might be of interest to Jeremy Burton. Although it doesn’t have all of the options he is looking for it could be a good starting point for his project. The program is compatible with Windows 3.1, 95 and 968, I don’t know about XP but you can find more details on the Owl & Mouse Software web site which is: http://www.yourchildlearns.com/features.htm

Jane Alder, via email

AIRWAYS MAPS

A 90-year old ex RAF pilot who I meet on my morning walks often asks me where the all aircraft are going when we see the con-trails on cold days. Assuming that details of air corridors are not secret, is it possible to download this type of information from the Internet?

James Hartley, via email

For those interested in aircraft movements, if you have a pilot friend or acquaintance, whether private or commercial, you could ask him to save you the out of date sheets resulting from the continuous amendment service provided by map publishers Jeppesen or Aerad. These will provide not only the airways systems but aerodrome charts from which air traffic control frequencies can be obtained.

The information can be used to listen in to ATC and aircraft frequencies (provided you have an air band radio) and make use of the information for planning flights on one of the extremely realistic flight simulator programs for personal computers.

Doug Coxell, ex RAF and commercial pilot, via email

FREE HIT COUNTER

Can anyone recommend a free web page 'hit' counter that does not involve banners, pop-up boxes or other advertising matter. If it is resettable then so much the better.
Dudley Wheeler, via email

There is an excellent web site hit counter available from www.flowcounter.com. It's free, no pop-ups or banner ads and to my knowledge is re-settable. Full statistics are provided, daily basis for the current month, histogram display on a monthly basis, it counts total hits & unique hits & provides a wealth of information regarding visitor's OS, browser, screen resolution, last 25 hits, referrers etc. They'll even send you a weekly e-mail with hits for that week on a daily breakdown. I think the only condition that applies is that you are limited to 15,000 hits per month.
Nev Hazelwood, Timberscombe, Somerset

GOLF COMPETITION

I am involved in a golf society that runs a knockout competition involving upwards of 180 participants. I am looking for a database application that can handle the random draw for the competition as well as participants’ historical performances and statistics, so I can build league tables based on different criteria, e.g. number of entries, matches played, number of wins, biggest wins, etc.

Andrew Stracey

Andrew Stacey should take a look at www.tee-totaller.com to satisfy his requirement for managing his society’s golf day. It handles all aspects of managing the draw as well as checking the returned cards and building the leader board.

Martin Bach, via email

Our website www.elitegolfsolutions.co.uk may be of interest to Andrew Stacey, as well as other golf societies. Although we do not currently have the facility to perform random draws for a field of competitors, we can offer other management services such as handicap management, match reports, statistical analysis etc.

Handicap cards (business size) calculated in accordance with CONGU rules are also provided, and maintained throughout the membership period.  Our site also caters for golfers who may be members of more than one society keeping all their respective details separate, but held within their own pages.

Thomas Raeburn, via email

CAN YOU HELP

I need to quickly assess the broad content of several hundred old photographic negatives. I thought of using a webcam to display them in positive, but haven't yet found a way of doing it. Can anyone suggest an inexpensive solution?
B. Horstmann, via email

Can anyone suggest a practical use for an old but still perfectly functional Toshiba 233MHz laptop? I am reluctant to scrap it as it cost a small fortune when new, and I know I would only realise a tiny fraction of its original cost if I sold it. I understand schools and charities are now quite choosy and are only interested in more up to date machines so ideally I would like it to see out its days doing something useful in or around the home.

Gerry Michaels, via email