If you would like to unsubscribe from XSWeekly at any time, simply
send an e-mail to xsweekly-unsubscribe@wuzzle.org and you will be
removed.  You can e-mail me at demigod@meganet.net with any questions, 
suggestions, etc.

  XSWEEKLY Shell Related News 02.09.00 - 08.09.00
 -------------------------------------------------

	It seems as if some people are none too happy with my rants.
Now, I know that about 95% of the time, my rants are based on
unfounded rumors and speculation.  They are also based on how I feel
about something that week.  That is what a lot of people who get upset
at my rants seem to fail to realize.  It is a rant about MY feelings 
and not always about what is right or even at times true.  Sometimes
I get a feeling about something or from something that rubs me the
wrong way and I rant about it.  I know that I have mentioned this 
before, but it bears repeating because people keep missing the point
of my rants.  If you are offended by my rants, fell that they are
totally wrong and/or unfounded, shot me an e-mail, and if its not 
full of swears and line after line of telling me how stupid I am, I
will either post it here if its small enough, or post it in the mail
bag section on my page.

- demigod

  ----------
 [ Mail Bag ]
  ----------

  This weeks mailbag question is:

  If shell's were not freeware, would you pay for them and why?

  e-mail - demigod@meganet.net
  url - http://www.xsweekly.com/mail.html

  -----------
 [ Spotlight ]
  -----------

- LiteStep Mailing List Archive

  Many people don't know this but, Bryan (MHolmesIV) has set up a
  searchable archive of the entire mailing list.  This is a very
  handy site for when you know that someone mentioned a tip but you
  can't remember who it was but you know it was on the list.
	
	url - http://wuzzle.org/list/litestep.html

 .................................................
               -= Shell Specific =-
 .................................................

  ------------------
 [ Top News Stories ]
  ------------------

- LS Dev Team In Search Of A Coder (12:16 04.09 ls)

	I was talking to Headius on IRC today and he mentioned to me
	that the LS dev team is in search of a coder with high-level
	COM coding skills.  He realizes that people with this skill
	level usually don't work for nothing, but if you are part of
	the LS community and have the time and the skill, please 
	consider lending a hand.

	e-mail - headius@headius.com
	(source: Headius via irc)

                           +-------<*>-------+

- Tasks.dll Memleak Bug Found (11:45 04.09 ls)

	Jugg and Headius, along with about 20 people sending in
	bug reports, have found the leak in tasks.dll.  Apparently
	it all stems from some horrible M$ coding.  Gee, who would
	have thought of that?!  From Jugg's site:

	"Now, you can do one of two things. Add the command
	'TasksTransparency real' (without the quotes) or upgrade to
	the freshly released LS CVS build 2000-09-04.  The problem
	appears to be Microsofts fault :) See, I knew it wasn't my
	fault!  Anyway, using that tasks setting, bypasses a call
	made to TransparentBLT() in lsapi.dll. And in recent builds,
	it has been using a Microsoft Windows API call, which
	contains the memory leak."

	url - http://jugg.logicpd.com
	e-mail - jugg@earthling.net
	(source: http://jugg.logicpd.com)

                          +-------<*>-------+

- DarkStep Is Filemine.com's Daily Pick (11:05 07.09 ds)

	Christopher Spera gives a very nice write up of DarkStep
	for filemine.com this week.  He has done a lot of research
	into the major shells (LiteStep, DarkStep, IceSphere) and
	give a very comprehensive review of DarkStep.  I would
	personally like to thank Christopher for taking the time out
	to talk to the DS Team and giving it a fair shot.  Head on
	over and read the review.
	
	url - http://www.filemine.com
	(source: http://www.darkstep.com)

  ---------
 [ Modules ]
  ---------

- LSQuickBox 1.50 ~ Epsylon (11:52 04.09 ls)

	"This module is a LiteStep Desktop Module which imitate the
	IE4 Quick Lauch Box in Explorer TaskBar."

	New in this version:

	- Variable QBoxIconSize (1 to 255)

	%%UPDATE%% (10:46 08.09)

	- Seems to be working on Win9x
	- Can Display 32x32 Icons 
	- "QBoxNoHook" Variable
	- Some Drawing Fix
	- Fixed Right Click on Area without Icons
	- Removed Hook System in Win9x
	- Two Bangs Added : "!QBoxChangeDir" "!QBoxChangePos"
	- Added QBoxNoBorde
	- Icons Click is Now Working

	url - http://www.epsylon3.com/
	e-mail - Epsylon3@ifrance.com
	(source: http://floach.pimpin.net)

                           +-------<*>-------+

- jDesk .70 ~ jugg (9:33 05.09 pls)

	"jDesk features improved performance, stability, and
	customization over the Desktop that comes with
	LiteStep. For example, jDesk can execute programs,
	LiteStep action (bang) commands, and combinations
	of any number of commands from a single mouse
	click, or mouse/keyboard combination. Also, jDesk
	can set your initial Work Area (amount of screen
	real estate that a maximized window covers) as well
	as changing the Work Area on the fly."

	New in this version:

	- Complete code/settings rewrite.
	- Added ability to leave any of the work area dimensions
	  unaffected when setting the work area by specifying
	  ".none" in its place.
	- Fixed multiple issues dealing with focus/zorder
	- Basically you should start with a clean setup and build
	  your settings from scratch, just about everything has
	  changed. Enjoy.

	url - http://jugg.logicpd.com/index.html
	e-mail - jugg@earchling.net
	(source: http://jugg.logicpd.com/index.html)

                           +-------<*>-------+

- WharfX 0.2 ~ TrOgI (10:14 05.09 ls)

	WharfX is a modified wharf.dll module that allows for
	the wharf to be horizontal or vertical.  Other improvements
	are on the way.
	
	%%UPDATE%% (9:14 08.09)
	
	- Fixed the move on resolution change to work with
	  WharfHorizontal
	- Added ability to set the folder directionto the same as
	  the wharf with WharfFolderWharfDirection setting
	- Added bang commands !WharfShow and !WharfHide
	- Fixed the wharf autohide feature to work correctly in
	  horizontal mode
	- Added WharfTileWidth and WharfTileHeight settings to use
	  for any size tiles

	url - desktopsource.mindjunction.com
	e-mail - crouson@inreach.com
	(source: LS Mailing List ~ WharfX b0.1 released)

                           +-------<*>-------+

- LsSlider 1.0 ~ Black Hawk (11:30 06.09 ls)

	"LsSlider is a general Slider loadmodule for Litestep. 
	You can use LsSlider to control Winamp, any given Channel
	of your Soundcard or you can use LsSlider to call Bang 
	Commands."

	New in this version:

	- total rewrite
   	- new Winamp mode
   	- new VolumeControl engine
   	- very small and resource friendly
   	- won't need v_bang anymore {was a stupid idea}
   	- [BANG] mode isn't implemented, but i don't think that
   	  anyone did ever use it.

	url - http://www.blkhawk.de
	e-mail - blkhawk@blkhawk.de
	(source: LS Mailing List ~ *** new LsSlider ***)

                           +-------<*>-------+

- V_Bang 2.0lt ~ Black Hawk (11:34 06.09 ls)

	V_Bang is a loadmodule for Litestep that adds !bangs to 
	control the volume of a soundcard. You can also control 
	the balance."

	New in this version:

	- "Lite" version (now only 15kb)

	url - http://www.blkhawk.de
	e-mail - blkhawk@blkhawk.de
	(source: LS Mailing List ~ *** New V_Bang lite ***)

                           +-------<*>-------+

- LSNews 2.4 ~ MrJukes (9:10 07.09 ls)

	LSNews is a loadmodule that will grab the headlines from
	a given site and display it on your screen.

	New in this version:

	- Added support to read local files

	url - http://floach.pimpin.net/SecondPartySoftware/
	e-mail - mrjukes@purdue.edu
	(source: #litestep topic)

                           +-------<*>-------+

- xmouse.dll ~ llornkcor (9:17 08.09 ls)

	"x style auto raise for LiteStep, Works only for Windows98
	and Windows2000"
  
	url - http://modulo.litestep.org
	e-mail - llornkcor@llornkcor.com
	(source: http://modulo.litestep.org)

  -----------
 [ Web Sites ]
  -----------

- Interface Workshop Gets A Facelift ~  philsci (12:33 04.09 na)

	After taking his site down because of the fighting that was
	going on on the LS Mailing List, philsci has had a change of
	heart and reposted Interface Workshop along with a new look.
	Not only that, but he has separated his work of porting
	LS to japanese and his english news into two separate pages.
	Stop on by there and show him your support.

	url - http://www.interq.or.jp/jupiter/philsci/porch_workshop/workshop_index.htm
	e-mail - philsci@jupiter.interq.or.jp
	(source: philsci via e-mail)

  ----------
 [ Programs ]
  ----------

- ShellON 2.16 ~ delusional (11:58 04.09 na)

	ShellON is a shell swapping and loading utility that is
	fast becoming a nice little boot manager.

	New in this version:

	- Fixed Choose Profile with Timer bug, where the default
 	  profile wasn't chosen correctly when the time ran out.

	url - http://shellon.cjb.net/
	e-mail - webmaster@shellon.cjb.net
	(source: http://floach.pimpin.net)

                           +-------<*>-------+

- LSTheme Changer .55 ~ Galois (12:07 04.09 ls)

	This is one of the best theme changers for LS that I have 
	seen.  Not only will it changes themes for you, it gives
	you a preview of what it will look like and a nice gui 
	interface to work with.  This is a MUST HAVE tool imo.

	%%UPDATE%% (9:15 07.09)

	- Fixed some UI flaws
	- Fixed some internals
	- Added clickable address bars
	- Added Set as default
	- Added Preliminary Wallpaper Support - note: The
	  accompanying xml section is not finalized, it is more a
	  RFC.

	url - http://www.ls2k.org
	e-mail - galois@techie.com
	(source: http://www.ls2k.org)

                           +-------<*>-------+

- TweakgUI 4a ~ Vish (12:45 04.09 geo)

	This is a small program that gives you a GUI interface for
	changing setting in geOShell instead of having to root around
	in your registry.

	New in this version:

	- Fixed Error 50003, if tweakgUI 3 was running fine
	  previously, TweakgUI 4a will also run fine now.
	- Added individual geOBar support. 
	- Fixed the Tab Order. 
	- Improved the Skin Preview by hiding the preview if the
	  Curr Dir doesn't have a geOShell skin.

	url - http://vish.htmlplanet.com/geoshell
	e-mail - Vishk@Rediffmail.com
	(source: http://news.geoshell.com)

                           +-------<*>-------+

- geOKee 1.0.0 ~ z0mbi3 (11:42 06.09 geo)

	"geOKee is a hotkey manager, since it allows you to add,
	remove and edit geOShell's Hotkey Service, in other words,
	manage your geOShell's hotkeys. There is a little plugin for
	geOShell calls geOKey that does this as well, but instead
	of using geOShell's Hotkey Service it implements a service
	of it's own. And since geOShell is for all you minimalists,
	I thought if writing something that would make use of
	geOShell only, thus minimizing resource usage."

	url - http://z0mbi3.sempre.nu/
	e-mail - z0mbi3@hackers-pt.org
	(source: http://news.geoshell.com)

                           +-------<*>-------+

- LSDocView ~ Jon Gross (12:04 06.09 ls)

	This is a documentation viewer for LiteStep that digs the
	documentation file off a central server (currently his
	server) and displays it within the application.

	url - http://www.outershell.net/bin/lsdoc.html
	e-mail - aeon@outershell.net
	(source: LS Mailing List ~ Document Program)

  ------
 [ Misc ]
  ------

- XSWeekly Wallpaper ~ philsci (12:36 04.09 na)

	Yup, that's right, XSWeekly has its own wallpaper now.  
	Philsci, web master of Interface Workshop, was nice enough
	to make up a very nice wallpaper based off of the XSWeekly
	logo located on my site.  Thanks a bunch man, it looks great!

	url - http://www.xsweekly.com
	e-mail - philsci@jupiter.interq.or.jp
	(source: http://www.xsweekly.com)

                           +-------<*>-------+

- Scheme Preview OCX ~ Daemon (12:41 04.09 geo)

	"This control enables you to display most of the colors that
	are used by geOShell schemes. If you have seen the widget
	available in the geO Control Panel Applet, this tries to
	emulate it's functionality. It is up  you, the developer, to
	read the color settings from the registry or the REG files.
	It's not that hard anyways and including it into this control
	would have made its scope greater than what it was intended
	for."

	url - http://www.fragmenteized.com/geoshell/
	e-mail - fragmented@subdimension.com
	(source: http://news.geoshell.com)

  ---------------
 [ Latest Builds ]
  ---------------

- LiteStep
     o 24.6 build 090400
     o http://builds.litestep.net/builds/ls-0246-dev-20000904.zip 

- DarkStep
     o 0.971
     o http://www.darkstep.com/files/DarkStep971.zip

- geOShell 
     o 4.6.5a
     o http://news.geoshell.com/Plugins/Download/geoshellr465a.zip

- PureLS
     o 052900
     o http://209.46.69.134/purels/binaries/00-05-29r.zip

 .................................................
               -= Alt OS Specific =-
 .................................................

  ----------
 [ Programs ]
  ----------

- Bad Seal .42 pre-release ~ Bad Sector (12:50 04.09 sel)

	Bad SEAL is a redistribution of SEAL with a lot of addons
	and other GUI updates by Bad Sector.

	New in this version:

	- Fully SEAL 1.0D
	- Beginnings of a new GUI
	- Other undocumented changes

	url - http://michalopoylos.tripod.com/seal/index.html
	e-mail - michalopoylos@hotmail.com
	(source: http://pub8.ezboard.com/bsealsystem)

  -----------
 [ Web Sites ]
  -----------

- New Seal Webring ~ Amos Vryhof (12:53 04.09 sel)

	Because Webring.org is merging with Yahoo, Amos has decided
	to host the ring on his own site.

	url - disvr.cjb.net/webring/
	e-mail - A.M.O.S@juno.com
	(source: http://pub8.ezboard.com/bsealsystem)

                          +-------<*>-------+

- Seal Search Engine ~ Amos Vryhof (9:45 07.09 sel)

	"As anyone who has gone to the Seal WebRing home page knows,
	there is now a Search engine that will search the pages of
	the Seal WebRing.  This search engine has been upgraded a
	bit.  It now searches all kinds of DOS-Related Websites.
	With this new addition, I hope to make the Seal Webring
	Search engine the best engine for finding DOS information
	and resources.  If you find a page you consider to be a
	valuable resource to DOS users or developers, click the
	Index link in the Seal WebRing HTMLFragment and add the URL."

	url - disvr.cjb.net/webring/
	e-mail - A.M.O.S@juno.com
	(source: http://pub8.ezboard.com/bsealsystem)

  ---------------
 [ Latest Builds ]
  ---------------

- SEAL
     o 1D (042900)
     o http://www.home.sk/public/seal/sealexe.zip

- V2_OS
     o 0.63.2a
     o http://www.v2os.cx/downloads/dl_system.htm

 .................................................
            -= Beyond the Specifics =-
 .................................................

  ------------
 [ Intresting ]
  ------------

- Suck's View Of Internet Law Presidence

	While reading /. I ran into an interesting article by suck
	about why the internet is being ruled into the ground.  While
	it is supposed to be humor, it stings of truth and hard
	reality.  Give it a read if you have the time.
	
	url - http://www.suck.com/daily/2000/09/08/

  ----------
 [ Programs ]
  ----------

- RdocEx ~ mlin

	This is a pretty cool shell addon for winfroze that puts
	programs along with the usual files into the Recent
	Documents folder.  It is very useful and comes in a nice,
	small package.  He has also released the source to this
	little diddy.
	
	url - http://www.mlin.net

....................................
 
 All content Copyright (c) 1999-2000 XSWeekly.  All rights reserved.