Glasgow West End: Pats Guide: John Smith's University Bookshop- Events

THE MUNROS THROUGH WINDOWS IS THE ONLY MUNRO CD TO BE GAELIC APPROVED.

Routes

The routes in the program are from Irvine Butterfield's famous book, The High Mountains of Britain and Ireland. The routes and explained in detail and cover not only all the Munros but all the Tops as well. There is no other publication which includes routes up every Munro and Top.

As a bonus, the routes up the 3000' hills furth of Scotland in England, Ireland and Wales are provided.

The font size of the screen display can be varied. This is useful if discussing with a group when a large font is required. A small font gives much more information on the screen.

Photographs

The program has 600 photographs, which can be accessed in over 1,00 different ways. For example, a photograph of hill A from hill B can be accessed from either hill A or hill B. Most of the photographs are quite stunning. Some aerial photographs of the hills are included. Overall, they give a very good impression of a hill and the surrounding area.

Photographs include a 360∫ panorama from the top of Stob Dubh, Buachaille Eite Beag and a picture of Sheriff Alexander Nicolson from 1878, never known to have been previously published.

A slide show of all the photographs takes an hour and forty minutes before repeating the first photograph.

Slide shows can be of all the photographs, a smaller slide show for all the hills in the area of a Vector Map or for a single hill.

Panoramas

Panoramas can be calculated and printed from any position. The summits of Munros and Tops are the most usual. The distant hills can be identified by clicking at the summit. The name and distance appear. The name can be heard. The bearing can to read from the scale at the top of the panorama. Any map point (lochs, railways, roads etc) can be clicked to reveal its name. A big surprise is to see St Kilda and tiny sea islands such as Sula Sgeir!

The panorama will draw virtually instantly on a big Pentium and can take 5 to 10 seconds on a slow 486. The program caters well for these machines allowing features to be tuned off to allow faster drawing. The panorama can even be restricted in screen height for those with less than the recommended memory.

Where distant hills line up to create confusion, just as in real life, it is possible to rise above the hill and look down on the scene. The confusion sorts itself out and the groups of hills can be separately identified.

Panoramas can be saved to file.

As panoramas can be calculated from any position, a flypast in any direction chosen by the user is possible.

Vector Map Positioning

One of the things that has always annoyed me about books is that a sketch map has an edge. So often I want to know what lies just off the map, what other hills are close by. The problem does not arise with The Munros through Windows, as the maps are instantly re-sizeable.

The program is full of nice touches. To print a map to fill A4 paper, the map must be the same shape as A4. This facility is provided. It would be useful to print so that the A4 sheet is exactly the same scale as a 1:50,000 map so that the grid lines will match exactly. Again, this feature is provided.

Some pre-set starting points for maps are provided: Skye, The Cairngorms (Am Monadh Ruadh in the Gaelic), Scotland and the British Isles. Fine-tuning is by incremental zoom and scroll buttons.

The program can work in several Modes:

• Bearings
• Distances
• Log
• Maps
• Quiz
• Print

Each mode is independent of the others, some work with the panorama as well as the main map.

Image Maps

New in Level 3, is the inclusion of Harvey Superwalker image maps. These maps bring the detail of paper maps right to your screen. The image maps are integrated into the program. Walks, routes and bearing are all drawn on the maps.

The Image on Vector feature shows the position of the Image Map on the Vector Map.

The maps are drawn on the screen at 200 pixels per kilometre. Typically this gives a linear scale larger than the original 1:25,000 map.

Mapped areas include Glen Coe, Glen Nevis, Skye: the Cuillin, the Carn Gorms, Ben Lawers and Torridon.

Image Maps, Vector Maps, photographs and panoramas can all be displayed simultaneously. All Windows will react if, for example, the Current Hill is changed.

Bearings

The Bearings mode allows a bearing to be set from any point to any point. Specifically, the bearing can be from one hill to another or from a hill at a fixed angle. Bearings are transferred among the panoramas, vector maps and image maps.

All bearings are with reference to the local grid. The program even explains why a bearing from a hill in Ireland to a hill in Britain is not 180 degrees different from its back bearing. Such attention to detail is seen everywhere.

Distances

A route consists of many legs, each with a start and finish point, a distance and a bearing. A route can be created from scratch. It can be started from one of Irvine Butterfield's routes or even the user's own last logged route.

Routes can be created by clicking the points on a Vector Map or an Image Map.

Once entered a route can be changed at will. Distances, bearings, times and time of day for each leg and the total are calculated. As many points as are required can be included and the finished route drawn on maps and printed. The route can be saved to file and recalled.

The Routes feature has proved to be a great interest to Duke of Edinburgh training centres and outdoor centres generally.

Log

The log is a chunky piece of code giving more facilities than any other program on the market. Even those programs that do nothing else except keep a diary are put in the shade by this part of The Munros.

First, the user selects the hills along the route his party has walked. If a hilltop is visited twice, to go out to and back from a Top for example, this is handled. As the hills are selected, the route is drawn on the maps. When the route is complete, the log proper can be entered.

The log data can be recorded under 10 different headings, most of which can be omitted if desired and one of which can be set to the user's choice.

Dates can be entered for all the party. The day order entry ensures that when printing climbed hills, the hills appear in the correct order. There is only need to key the date in once and it can be transferred as required to all the party for every hill. If some member of the party does not climb one of the route hills, the program caters for this eventuality.

When the entry for a hill is complete, clicking the Next button brings up the log for the next hill along the route. It also enables the Prior button so that the previous hill can be revisited.

Dates entered in the Log are used to determine whether a hill is ëclimbedí, ëClimbedí hills can be drawn in different colours on the Vector Maps to differentiate them from the unclimbed variety.

Using the program one is very aware that the author has used it himself and that entry is made as simple and as foolproof as possible.

Maps

The outline position of every Harvey and Ordnance Survey map in Scotland is recorded and can be drawn on the computer vector map. This has the big advantage over a book that just tells you that for example Fìonn Bheinn is on Sheet 20 but not that it is right on the edge and that Sheets 19 and 25 would also be useful. The outline of several other maps are also included, especially of the Skye Cuillin.

Again, the attention to detail is obvious when you see that every insert on every map that includes a piece of Scotland is here. The two sides of the SMT map of Skye show different scales and different cartographers are both included even although the National Grid is not shown on either.

Quiz

For a bit of light entertainment, the user is asked to locate hills on the map. He can choose as many sections as he wishes and whether to include Tops or not. This is not as easy as it seems but it certainly helps you to get to know where the hills are.

There is a "Hall of Fame" for those who know the hills well.

Print

Many jokes have been made about carrying a computer up a hill, and these days it is feasible, but why bother when you can print out the route? Another nice touch in the program; you get Irvine Butterfield's signature at the bottom of the route if there is room on the page.

You can also print the panoramic view together with White's Tables, the list of all hills and their bearings round from North through East, South, West and back to North. Armed with these you can identify all the Munros and Tops which you can see. There is scope for humour here, but I shall resist the temptation!

Lists of Munros, with or without Tops, can be selected from as many Sections as desired and printed with alternative names or translations. Climbed Munros can be printed in date or section order.

The print mode allows the map to be printed. The Concordat on Access and the contact points on completion can also be printed.

The Help menu contains a description of the current program, technical notes on the program and a short article on Sir Hugh Munro, all of which can be printed.

Further Information

Some 173 hills have additional information, which can range from a comment on the discrepancy of the height to notes on the Geology or History of the hill.

Some poetry by Derick Thomson, erstwhile Professor of Celtic Studies at Glasgow University, and JC Milne add interest, particularly to the Loch Tay hills and the Cairngorms. Blà Bheinn has a discussion with the bard of Gairloch, William Ross lamenting the passing of a by-done age; and that was at the end of the eighteenth century!

The Reverend Nevil Maskelyne, Sidh Chailleann and the Force of Gravity is a fascinating and authoritative article by Professor Ian S Hughes, who was Professor of Natural Philosophy (now renamed the Department of Physics and Astronomy) at Glasgow University. Everyone knows that Sidh Chailleann was used to weigh the Earth. This article tells them how it was done and gives an insight into the like of the man who did it.

Knightís Peak, a new Top, appearing in Munroís Tables for the first time in 1997 has a walkerís route described and a brief article on the origin of the name.

Hill Lists

Hills can be listed by height, district, height within district or alphabetically. The list can include (or not) Munros, Tops, Deleted Tops and hills furth of Scotland. The List facility can select a hill on the Map, or for inclusion in the Log or Route Cards, or as the start or end point of a Bearing.

More Features

Hills can be selected by typing in the name or part of a name. The name can be in Gaelic or the corrupted form. The real surprise came on typing 'stag'. There are no hills with this string in them yet several appear. The program has an in-built translator! The author has considered what to do when the selected hill is not on the portion of map being displayed and what to do if the scale is too small to show Tops and a Top is selected.

Hills can also be selected by entering the rank number either of the Munro or as a Top.

Another new feature is the ability to export hill data for inclusion into programs such as Microsoft's AutoRoute Express. Having the Munros and Tops in AutoRoute greatly enhances the use of this program for hillwalkers.

The foregoing covers most of the program but still omits the continuous grid; a feature that displays the cursor Grid Reference position at the bottom left of the map. The usual attention to detail is displayed again when the cursor moves outside the area of the grid; the box is blanked. If the cursor moves into the area of the Irish Grid, the grid changes to the Irish format (a single letter and six digits) and the co-ordinates are shown in the Irish Grid system.

The colours of the map can be changed. A default button restores the original if you forget what it was. The colour change is especially useful to distinguish Climbed and Unclimbed hills. When only a few hills have been climbed the Climbed hills can be set to be prominent but after some exercise on the hills, you can emphasise the Unclimbed variety.

The music was specially arranged for the program. It was arranged on a computer but the result is extremely effective.

Much has been said about 'climbed' hills. Climbed can be defined as climbed by the owner or any of the other ten friends. It can also be any combination of any two of these combined in any way, for example Janet or John, Janet and not John, not John. The caveat in the program to keep the definition simple is well heeded.

The random hints cover the entire program and present snippets of advice (and some dreadful humour) to the user. These can be browsed at any time or left to appear randomly when the program is first started.

There are also hints, which describe the function of every button and box. These can be tuned off when you know your way round the program.

The selected hill can be placed at the centre of the map by either double clicking it or by pressing the Centre button.

Throughout, buttons and features are enabled if the action is available and disabled otherwise. This technique drastically reduces the need for error messages and makes the whole appearance of the program user friendly.

90 Days' Free Support

The package comes with support from Isys Computers - included in the price. It has been suggested that the support given for Windows alone is worth the cost of the package.

Finally...

Let me leave you with some quotations from users:

Thank you for making this a very happy Christmas. - GF Edinburgh

I've had a quick play with the program and it is very good. - TJ Glasgow

Can't wait to stand on my next hill armed with my panorama and Gaelic. - DB Aberdeen

I have just had a fascinating time trying out many features of your program. - GA Cheshire

Program is mind-boggling. - CG Lanarkshire

I think that Munros through Windows is a great idea and is worth buying for the Gaelic pronunciations alone. - FC Aberdeenshire

You are a benefactor to society; especially the aged sector of it. - IW Edinburgh

Thanks for your prompt response. JMcQ Kent.

..the program is excellent, well worthy of the 'rave' reviews! MMcC Liverpool

Thank you for a great program. IMcT Fife

Excellent program. AB Edinburgh

The programme is extremely useful and well put together, and saves me the bother of having sit planning out countless routes. FB Inverness

I particularly enjoy the Gaelic pronunciations. AB Inverness

Very polished. PS West Yorkshire

Tens of hours, endless hours, of entertainment. PA West Yorkshire

And from the professionals:

As the complete non-technician, I found this package a revelation; both a practical tool and a pleasing toy. Computer-owning Munroists will find it irresistible - buy it! Me, having Windows, I'm going to buy a computer. It's that good.

- Hamish Brown

It may not make that last blue mountain less steep, but youíll know a lot more about it.

- Hamish MacInnes

Innovative, instructive - a truly new dimension on Scotlandís mountains.

- Robert Jeffrey, The Herald and Evening Times

The following reviews are available from Isys:

• Trail
• The Herald
• The Scotsman
• Scots' Magazine
• The Telegraph
• Flight Magazine
• The following major articles are available from Isys:
• The Scotsman
• West Highland Free Press
• The Daily Mail
• The Dundee Courier
• The Daily Express

The program has also been reviewed on Radio Scotland Out of Doors and Something for the Weekend. The launch was covered by STV, Grampian Television and BBC Scotland.

When selecting a book, you can browse and even read two or three paragraphs. It is much more difficult to get a preview of a computer CD-ROM. This appreciation has been written to help a prospective purchaser by giving a detailed overview of the program. Nothing will ever replace a full demonstration, which takes two hours, or a discussion with existing users, except the experience of running your own copy on your own machine.

The Munros through Windows ISBN 0 9528586 7 3 is available from ISYS Direct, Telephone: 0141-943 1533 Facsimile: 0141-943 1533. Order by post or credit card by telephone or fax. You can also puchase the CD-ROM from John Smith's, University Bookshop, John McIntyre Building, University Avenue, G12 8PP Tel: +44 (O)l4l 339 1463. Fax: +44(0)141 339 3690. email:gu@johnsmith.co.uk. Manager. Lynne O'Neill. Resident Mountain Expert - Paul Currie.

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