Ansible Information Freebies

Since 1985, Ansible Information has come up with an awful lot of small software items -- for our own use, for one-off customer needs, for computer brands now consigned to the dustbin of history, and just for fun. In the course of intended clear-outs, we'll be putting various of these items here. Terms and conditions? This stuff is free, not for resale, and may not be placed on other web or FTP sites without our permission. If passed on, it must not be modified. Accompanying text or help files may suggest an optional donation to a Worthy Cause if you find the program(s) useful or fun. Please don't ask for support.

To download, select the appropriate link and tell your browser to save rather than display the file. ZIP files should be expanded with PKUNZIP or WinZip on older Windows/DOS systems; Windows XP will handle them automatically.

PCs and Compatibles

• APE Plus, the Ansible Apricot Emulator -- see separate page.
• BEAST.ZIP (116k) ... is just for fun. It was written to spoof mystic numerological connections like the awesome discovery that, using a cipher table in which A=100, B=101, C=102 (etc), the letters of HITLER add to 666, Number of the Beast. BEAST.EXE is a Windows 3.x application which also runs under Windows 95 and will attempt to construct ancient, mystic and vaguely plausible cipher tables linking any name with 666 or any other number (e.g. a "significant" link between a name and some year or other can usually be fudged up). Full Help file included.
• CPM.ZIP (25k) ... Ansible CPM.EXE utility program to read from and write to CP/M-format 3 1/2" disks in an IBM PC drive. This is the disk format used by all Amstrad PCW machines with 3 1/2" drives. If you have LocoScript Pro, you can copy your old PCW LocoScript files to the PC and work with them immediately; if you use another PC word processor, convert to ASCII format on the PCW first. Not, of course, suitable for use with Amstrad 3" disks. Runs under DOS 3.0 or higher. In Windows 95 and 98, you may need to shut down and `Restart in MS-DOS mode' before using CPM.EXE. Not suitable for use with Windows ME or XP.
• AICOPY.ZIP (9k) ... Ansible AICOPY.EXE utility program to read from and write to Apricot-format 3 1/2" disks in an IBM PC drive. This means the original non-PC-compatible Apricots -- the PC, Xi, Xen, F2, F10 and Portable -- whose 720k disks used a subtly different format from the PC. Use AICOPY like the COPY command: e.g. AICOPY A:*.DOC C:\ ... In Windows 95 and 98, be sure to shut down and `Restart in MS-DOS mode' before using AICOPY.EXE. Not suitable for use with Windows ME or XP.

Amstrad PCW

• AnsibleIndex, including AnsibleCheck and Grease: our indexing, word counting and vocabulary analysing software for use with documents produced with Amstrad PCW LocoScript (all versions).

Apricot

• DISINFO.EXE (183k) ... self-extracting archive file of all David Langford's 1985-1988 "Disinformation" columns from Apricot File magazine. Besides many rude remarks and coarse anecdotes about Apricot PLC and their ways, these contain copious information about the old non-IBM-compatible Apricot computers (and their most-used software). Includes the definitive table of screen-driver escape sequences for programmers, as never released in full or accurate form by Apricot themselves. All these columns can also be read as eye-friendly web pages on this site.
• (Also relevant: APE Plus, the Ansible Apricot Emulator -- see separate page.)

More may follow as we trawl through our old disks of grotty marvels....