Hillwalker News 2003/12 - Half price software from ISYS
In this Newsletter
- Events
- - Tiso Glasgow
- - DMFF
- Product News
- - MapWise Deluxe Great Britain
- - MapWise 250
- - MapWise International
- - The High Alps
- Hill News
- - National Park
- - Wasdale Auction
- Computer News
- - Broadband for £19.99 a month
- - Petition
- - 64 bit
- Awards
- - BCS IT Professional Awards Best Application 2003
- - Emerald Coolsites
- This Month's Special 0ffers - including half price software
- - MapWise Deluxe
- - Hillwalker Lite
- Hints and Tips
- Yahoo
- Products
- Humour?
The Ordnance Survey maps on CD have kept us very busy. September was our best month by far for several years. We are passing on some of the benefits to users; see the Special 0ffers below. I guess that this is why there was no September newsletter.
I know that you all like special 0ffers! The last newsletter had an offer and the items disappeared like snow off a dyke(1). Check out the Special Offers in this month's Newsletter.
Thursday 30 October Tiso 18:00 to 20:00, Cooper Street, Glasgow
This is Tiso's Club Night where they offer 10 to 15 percent off just about everything to members of walking and climbing clubs. Tiso have accepted that we are a club and you are all invited. Please let me know if you intend to come so that I can warn them if numbers start to become large.
I will be there to demonstrate all the Hillwalker and MapWise programs.
November 28 to 30 - 21st Dundee Mountain Film Festival
The 21st Dundee Mountain Film Festival will be held from November 28 to 30 and celebrate Everest, adventure and exploration, and the achievements of disabled mountaineers. Seven in-person presenters and some 23 films will create an exciting programme for all people with an interest in mountains and montane environments. Stephen Venables is the opening presenter covering 30 years of climbing from Scotland to Everest via Tierra del Fuego. On Saturday the world renowned vulcanologist Carsten Peter will explore the Kamchatka area of Russia which is a hotbed of volcanic activity.
Two Canadians then feature with Jerry Kobalenko [stunning photography and tales of extreme exploration on Ellesmere Island] and Barry Blanchard [reviewing his global career including Himalayas, Hollywood movies, guiding, and new routes in the Rockies]. The Sunday programme features Leo Houlding [at age 11 Leo became the youngest person to free climb The Old Man of Hoy; by his teens a world-class rock-climber both indoors & outdoors; now in his early 20's displaying his talents on the big walls], Tomaz Humar [one of the world's leading mountaineers is at the cutting edge of climbing big walls and faces], and Scotland's own Vicky Jack [a Munroist who then set her sights on the Seven Summits! - see & hear how she fared on her 7th earlier this year]. Among the 23 films to be screened are programmes with themes in natural history, mountain activities, and extreme sports; in addition there will be a wide range of exhibits and displays.
Further information, including details of tickets/prices etc., is available from www.dundeemountainfilm.org.uk; or by telephone 01382 370 315
ISYS will be there!
MapWise Deluxe - a new product
New this month is MapWise Deluxe and 250 GREAT BRITAIN and MAN, all the OS Landranger and Travel maps of Britain and the Isle of Man for just £199, about half the price of buying all the separate CDs. All the maps fit on to just 4 CDs and take just 3Gb on the hard drive, far less than any other Ordnance Survey resellers who do not compress data. ISYS MapWise products are now by far the cheapest way to buy OS maps on CD.
The Travel Maps with 1:250,000 detail is renamed MapWise 250 GREAT BRITAIN and MAN. It is available on its own or combined with all the Landranger maps as mentioned above.
This program is now available. You can enter maps from around the world in Mercator or UTM projections. The Vector map can be drawn in several different projections for fun or enlightenment.
Martin Moran and I still hope to have this CD out during November. We had an interesting discussion on the grid reference of Gran Paradiso, the highest hill wholly in Italy. It turned out that he was using a French Map and I was using an Italian Map. The difference in northing between the two maps was about 250m. Further investigation suggested that the French map was correct. Isn't the Ordnance Survey wonderful?
The Alps have hillnames that use funny letters with graves, acutes, circumflexes and umlauts. As a result, I had to change the hill database 'language' to accommodate these new letters. Now we can at last spell Sgùrr Ùrain(2) correctly, with a grave accent over both the u and the U. (The lower case u with a grave has always been possible but now the uppercase U can have an accent too.)
I cannot believe that we now have 17 current products, not counting upgrades.
The Cairngorms National Park opened in September. There was some controversy about the boundaries. Many wanted the Perthshire hills included. There was even more controversy by holding the opening ceremony at the top of the funicular railway. However, we now have the park which is better than not having the park.
If global warming permits any reasonable snow this winter, I might even use this funicular for some skiing.
Cairngorms is a name derived from Càrn Gorm, one of the hills in Am Monadh Ruadh, the red hills. I thought that Cairngorms were amber coloured quartz stones.
The weather was not kind to the recent Wasdale Mountain Rescue Auction. In addition, the team had to leave on a call out mid Saturday morning, showing everyone that this event was real. Total raised was £6,243 (slightly done on last year) with some more still to come. Wasdale thanks everyone who contributed and hopes that you will all come back next year with even more friends.
ISYS are still offering broadband connexion for just £19.99 per month. Activation fee, normally £80, is £55 during October only. Please note that your exchange must be broadband enabled before you can take up this offer. If in doubt, ask.
I have just read and signed the online petition: "Stop Verisign DNS Abuse" hosted on the web by petitionOnline.com, the free online petition service, at:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/icanndns/
I personally agree with what this petition says, and I think you might agree, too. If you can spare a moment, please take a look, and consider signing yourself.
64 bit processors are getting cheaper. Longhorn, the 64 bit operation version of Windows, is scheduled for 2004. I predict 64-bit computers on our desks next year.
BCS IT Professional Awards Best Application 2003
As you know ISYS Software for the outdoors (Hillwalker and MapWise) was a finalist in the BCS IT Professional Awards Best Application for 2003. We didn't win but the judges were very impressed with the products. The winner was Speedtrap by Profit, a website efficiency tool. What amazed me was your response when I announced that we had reached the finals. Very many of you wrote wishing us good luck. I am sure that this is not something that I would have done in the past, but it was so encouraging to know that people actually cared that I would certainly do it in future.
We have a very nice certificate hanging in the office and we can use the BCS Awards Logo on all the products that were entered.
My sincere thanks to everyone who did send e-mails wishing us well in the finals. I am sure you will understand that I have not responded individually, but all messages were very much appreciated.
The website has just won an Award as a CoolSite, from Emerald. We even got 5 stars, the highest rating. I didn't even know that we had entered! The e-mail just arrived one day. Each month a selection of sites is selected as being 'cool'. Our accolade included the fact that the prices were clearly on display and that the website is easy to use and loads quickly. To learn more visit our website and click the Coolsite logo.
THIS MONTH'S SPECIAL 0FFERS - for 10 days only
Broadband £19.99 per month, activation £55 until 31 October, £80 thereafter.
All the Landranger Maps and Travel Maps for £199, valid until 31 October. Save nearly £200.
MapWise Deluxe SCOTLAND, ENGLAND NORTH and ENGLAND SOUTH, £85 (each!) until 31 October. Save £15.
MapWise Deluxe WALES, £40 until 31 October. Save £10.
MapWise Deluxe ENGLAND, £130 until 31 October. Save £20.
HALF PRICE software from ISYS. Buy another copy of any Hillwalker or MapWise product that you have already registered and pay just half the usual price. Ideal for hillwalking groups and clubs - and Christmas.
The Hillwalker Lites have been relaunched in nice new boxes, see the Website for details. We have a small number of Lites returned in the old packaging from a reseller as I forgot to put on barcodes! These are offered for £20 for all three: Ireland, Peaks, Moors and Dales and Man RRP is £45. When they are gone, they are gone!
To take advantage of any of these offers, telephone or send an e-mail to ISYS Support with cc details, or order from the Website. Use the box at the bottom of the shopping form. Always quote your User Number (from the subject line of this e-mail) and the reference 2003-12.
This month, the tips and hints are PC and Windows related, not much about Hillwalker and MapWise.
When you first get your PC, it comes with CDs and odd leaflets. Don't throw these in the back of a drawer because you don't know what they are. Find a box, like a shoe box, and store everything to do with that PC in that box and store it carefully. Years later, when you need to re-install Windows, everything is to hand either for you or for the person who is going to install for you. When you get a second PC, get a second box.
Running out of disc space? Enormous hard drives are now available for under £100. Don't let the installer replace your existing drive, just add in a second drive, the 'D' drive. Now you don't need to re-install Windows and all your existing programs are just as you left them.
Big monitors are easier to use, but the bigger they are the more expensive they are. So how can you get more screen space fairly cheaply? 17" monitors are now well under £100. Why not put on a second monitor and double your screen size? A Radeon 7000 card with dual output costs about £25. You can now drag windows across from one monitor to the other. The difference is amazing. It is easier to use a dual monitor system if both screens are the same size.
MapWise v5.0.2.5 and above supports a dual monitor configuration.
Buying a new PC? Don't throw the old one out. Buy a couple of network cards for about £15 a pair, and a cat5 crossover cable for about £4 and you have a little network. Each computer can access the other's files and printers. My scanners run on a Pentium 90 under Windows 95. I have upgraded twice since then, but never bothered to move the scanners; networking is easier and the scanners work just fine.
Do you use Hillwalker a lot? An easy way to start the program would be to press CTRL + ALT + H. To achieve this, right click on the Hillwalker or MapWise icon and select Properties. Click in Shortcut Keys and press CTRL + ALT + H then OK. Now you can start Hillwalker or MapWise from your keyboard.
You can use the same technique for any other program.
MapWise 250 is NMEA Enabled
So now you can connect your GPS and show your current position on the map!
Dawn (newdawnpathfinder) offered a MapWise Deluxe ENGLAND SOUTH on eBay. This was a real bargain and was announced on the Yahoo Group. Not yet a member of out Yahoo Group? Join at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hillwalker
If you want to cut down on e-mails, don't click No Mail; instead select Special Announcements Only.
Walk long and safely
Iain R White
ISYS Support
Low cost telephone number for ISYS sales and support: 0845 166 5701
e-mail sales@isysdirect.com or support@hillwalker.org.uk
Web: http://www.hillwalker.org.uk
I might have used this one before but if I can't remember, then maybe you can't either! It has been attributed to George Bernard Shaw in this youth. Beau meets Deb at fancy party and is piling on the chat ...
Beau: Would you come to bed with me for a million pounds?
Deb: Million pounds, eh? Well, .. Well, yes I guess I would!
Beau: Would you come to bed with me for sixpence? (I warned you that it was an old joke)
Deb, slapping Beau: What kind of girl do think I am?
Beau: We have established that. We are now negotiating a price!
MapWise Deluxe
SCOTLAND £100 (OS Landranger)
ENGLAND NORTH £100 (OS Landranger)
WALES £50 (OS Landranger)
ENGLAND SOUTH £100 (OS Landranger)
ENGLAND £150 (Save £50 on England North and England South by buying them together)
GREAT BRITAIN and MAN Deluxe and 250 £199 (Save £191 on separate CDs)
MapWise
MapWise Standard £19.99 (supply your own maps, British or Irish Grid))
MapWise International £40 (supply your own maps, UTM and various projections)
MapWise 250 GREAT BRITAIN and MAN £40 (includes Gazetteer and OS Travel Map)
Hillwalker (available boxed or unboxed)
The Munros £19.99
The Corbetts £19.99
Lakeland Fells £19.99
Mountains of Wales £19.99
The High Alps £24.99 (November)
Hillwalker Lite (New DVD Cases)
Hills of Ireland £14.99
Peaks, Moors and Dales £14.99
Hills of Man 14.99
(1) Snow off a dyke - In Scotland, as elsewhere, many walls round fields are made of stones, both to make walls and to clear the fields of stones. No cement was used, hence the term: dry stane dyke. The stone heats quickly even in weak sunlight and the snow vanishes quickly from these walls or dykes. Dykes were used to dry clothes in summer. In winter, a clotheshorse was used round the fire. In Scotland this was called a 'Winter Dyke'.
(2) Sgùrr Ùrain - Sgurr Urain (with grave accents over both U's) is a Munro in the Five Sisters in Kintail, often misspelled as Fhuarain. The credit for the correct name is given to Sorley Maclean in the Hillwalker program: The Munros.
