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  XSWEEKLY Shell Related News 09.09.00 - 15.09.00
 -------------------------------------------------

	Like everyone did not see this coming, but I have something
to say about that Wired article.  It was one of the worse POS articles
I have read in a long time.  Now, don't get me wrong, I like the idea
that shells and customization is making it into hard print but...
this was a travesty of justice.  

	To start off with, the article name, GUIs Just Want to Have
Fun, was just plain sad.  They really could have come up with a 
million other, much better names to grab the users attention.  Instead
they opted to use something so uberlame that it makes me cringe to 
even type it out here.  Comon, this is supposed to be a professional
magazine here people!

	Next we get to the article itself.  Right off the bat you
realize that the author really has no clue on what he is writing about
and just using catch phrases.  He quotes Bowie Poag, creator of the
propaganda tiles, as if he is a driving force in the custo community.
Next he calls the shell IceSphere IceStep.  That right there just
shows how much he really paid attention to what he was researching
on.  And don't even get me started on the line "and the tartly
named DarkStep."

	Ok, after we get past the lameness of his reporting on shells,
he goes on to praise realplayer for an entire page!  What a sell out!
I wouldn't have minded if he has a few things to say about how skinning
and customizing is becoming main stream, but he spends more time on
saying how great realplayer is than on any other one topic.  This is
a blatant sell out right there.

	Now, from what I understand, he had a lengthy interview with
Headius but he is no where to be found in the article.  Headius is one
of the main coders in the LiteStep core and instead we have quotes
from lonerunner and Bowie Poag???  Not to mention that he makes it
seem as if lone is still the head of LS development!  Not only is this
article horrible, its also misleading, filled with propaganda for
realplayer, and written with no regards to any logic that I can
decipher.

	Personaly I love the idea that customization and shells are
finally getting there coverage but like the ZDTV run on LiteStep, it
is totally wrong.  The community is being misrepresented horrible even
when some of its main people are giving their input.  I have sent
my e-mail to Wired stating how saddened I was that they allowed any
monkey with the relative knowledge to use a word processor and a 
spell checker to pump out crap articles to sell out to cooperations
and make a buck.  Send in your letter too, maybe if we send in enough
letter they will actually take the time to screen these monkeys and
get a real writing staff.  Then again, maybe not.

- demigod

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

  This weeks mailbag question is:

  What did you think of the Wired article on customization?

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

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



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

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

- LiteStep, DarkStep, and IceStep? in Wired (10:04 13.09 na)

	Wired recently ran it's article on the customization community
	and mentioned LiteStep, DarkStep, and IceSphere though it got
	the last one wrong.  Although it's nice to see these shell's
	getting some publicity, I with the author had taken more time
	to write this article correctly.
	
	url - http://www.interq.or.jp/jupiter/philsci/porch_workshop_topics/wired-article.zip

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

- geOUser 1.0 ~ Stanislav Antov (10:12 13.09 geo)

	"This is a plugin for geOShell that shows the number of
	people using it (and therefore geOShell too) Some people 
	compare it to LS Count in regard to functionality, but some
	have mentioned that LS Count does not show the users but
	tabulate them on the server."
	
	url - http://www.fragmentized.com/
	e-mail - fragmented@subdimension.com
	(source: http://news.geoshell.com)

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

- xVWMx 1.0 ~ MrJukes (10:06 14.09 ls)

	xVWMx is a virtual windows manager that shows the contents
	of each of the desktops.  You can set the number of desktops,
	refresh rate, and a bunch of other options.
	
	url - http://modulo.litestep.org
	e-mail - mrjukes@purdue.edu
	(source: http://modulo.litestep.org)

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

- IconBox 1.1 ~ MrJukes (10:09 14.09 ls)

	IconBox is a copy of E's iconbox.  It allows for drag and
	drop, auto placement after minimize and a lot of other
	features.
	
	New in this version:
	
	- You don't need to specify the full path for images anymore
	- Fixed drawing to reduce the amount of blackness

	url - http://modulo.litestep.org
	e-mail - mrjukes@purdue.edu
	(source: http://modulo.litestep.org) 

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

- LsSlider 1.1 ~ Black Hawk (9:08 15.09 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:

   	- Added a "WinAmp Volume" Mode 
   	- Removed "Error Closing Step.rc" Messagebox - Darkstep and
   	  purleLS should be able to run it without "Nag-box" on
   	  startup
   	- Fixed various issues with AlwaysOnTop and threaded Sliders
   	- I won't implement a [BANG] mode until s.o. tells me he
   	  need it

	url - http://www.blkhawk.de
	e-mail - blkhawk@blkhawk.de
	(source: http://www.blackhawk.de)

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

- PCP_Vol 0.3 ~ pcppopper (10:29 15.09 ls)

	"This module deals with windows volume controlling system.
	It is loosely..em..loosely based on v_bang.dll by blackhawk.
	I desired to do a rewrite of it since I only have 32 megs of
	ram so every kb counts, (v_bang.dll = 22.016b, pcp_vol.dll
	= 5.632b).  (Note on the sizes: v_bang.dll is packed using
	the upx .exe packer which makes it more than half the original
	size. pcp_vol.dll uses some compiler optimizations to get
	it's small size. the .text and .reloc sections are merged
	with the .data section which makes it a bit smaller.)"
	
	New in this version:
	
	- Fixed a lot of bugs in this readme. Notoriously the v_bang
	  bashing bug (sorry, i didn't mean any harm.) and the bug
	  that prevented channels to be specified correctly.

	url - http://www.ls2k.org
	e-mail - da.box@home.se
	(source: http://www.ls2k.org)

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

- Carapace 1.5 ~ Pixol (9:14 15.09 na)

	Carapace is a shell manager with a ton of features.  It 
	includes crash protection, thread maintenance, per shell
	settings, etc...  This is THE shell manager to use.
	
	url - http://www.dtop.org/pixolpod
	e-mail - pixol@hotmail.com
	(source: pixol via irc)

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

- Shell Trek ~ ne0_akt (10:18 13.09 na)

	This is a very interesting story that ne0_akt is working on.
	It is something like the history of the current shells
	written in a fiction like setting.  I enjoyed it alot and
	am looking forward to the next part.  Check it out, it is
	worth the read.
	
	url - http://www.xsweekly.com/shelltrek.html
	e-mail - ne0_akt@dangerous-minds.com
	(source: PureLS Mailing List ~ [Shell Trek] - A New Beginning)

  ---------------
 [ 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 =-
 .................................................

  ---------------
 [ 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 ]
  ------------

- An Article On Open Source Management

	Another /. link, this time to a well written article on 
	Open Source and the way it is managed or more to the point, 
	not managed.  Great read imo.
	
	url - http://www.lotus.com/developers/devbase.nsf/articles/doc2000091200

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

- Winamp Remote Control

	Saw this on shell city.  This is something that I can use
	for my home lan because I'm too lazy to pick up my second
	kb.  From the readme:
	
	"The broadest overview would have to be that the winamp
	plugin gives winamp the ability to respond to control
	messages from remote machines connected via a network.

	"In more concrete terms - install the plugin, and you can 
	control winamp on machine 1, by using a client application
	on machine 2."
	
	url - http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/patrickmmartin/winampremote/


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