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  XSWEEKLY Shell Related News 20.01.01 - 26.01.01
 -------------------------------------------------

	It appears as if shells are becoming a pretty popular
topic in some of the main stream media.  Just today I got an e-mail
from philsci that Win32 shells are being talked about in a rather
popular web-mag in Japan.  Shell Extension City was listed as the
Help Site of the Week by ZDTV.  A bunch of shells were discussed
on the Investor's Business Daily site.

	All this main stream publicity is great... or is it?  Alot
of the shells are not really made for beginners.  While there have
been a ton of leaps and bounds to make them simpler to use, we are
still basically hand editing cong files or the registry.  Maybe it's
time that we start seriously considering making some GUI configuration
a standard.

	Now, I know that this is a pain to do, and will probably 
increase the size of the shells quite a bit.  This, though, seems to
be the way that we have to go if we are to make the shells more for
the masses and less for the more advanced user.  Still though, I 
wonder if this is even a good idea.  LiteStep, geOShell, and the others
were really never made with the common user in mind.  They are all
about tweaking your system out to the max.  They were never created
for the user who knows how to run three programs on their machine
and that is it.

	I know that I usually advocate the usage of shells to be 
more for the masses but I have a feeling that this turn of events may
end up coming crashing down on us because of the complexity of the
shells themselves.  Of course, I could be totally wrong.

- demigod

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

  This weeks mailbag question is:

  What do you look for in a shell/os site?

  e-mail - mailbag@xsweely.com
  url - http://www.xsweekly.com/mail.html

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

- Desktopian

  While I probably do not need to spotlight this, there are still
  some people who don't know about it.  This is one of the oldest
  shell related sites on the web.  Starting off as Tin_Toys, it has
  grown into a very stable and information packed site.  It's web
  masters tin_omen and qwilk keep up with interesting shell and
  tech news.
  
  url - http://www.desktopian.org

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

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

- MrJukes Releases All His Source Code (10:59 26.01 na)

	Yup, you read it right.  He has put the source to every 
	module and program that he has written, including unreleased
	works, on his site.  And yes, that is a MS e-mail you see.
	
	url - http://floach.pimpin.net/SecondPartySoftware/source/
	e-mail - bretan@microsoft.com
	(source: http://floach.pimpin.net)

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

- Shells In The Japanese Media (11:30 26.01 na)

	philsci sent me this very interesting link to a Japanese
	news site that has a multi-page article on Win32 shells.
	While I can not read any of it, it is still incredible to 
	see the far reaching effects that shells are having.
	
	url - http://pcweb.mycom.co.jp/special/2001/w32shell/
	(source: philsci via e-mail)

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

- WharfX 0.8 ~ TrOgI (10:38 26.01 ls)

	WharfX is a modified Wharf module that allows for multiple
	wharfs, any size wharf, etc...
	
	New in this version:
	
	- Almost a complete rewrite. Some of the code from b0.71 is
	  still here.
	- Revamped the wharf creation code and wharf classes.
	- New syntax for using multiple wharfs (similar to multiple
	  popups).
	- Compatible with old wharf syntax.
	- Wharf tiles now take on their own size from their image.
	- All previous functionalities are supported except
	  WharfCloseOnSwitch, !WharfTasks, and movement on resolution
	  change.
	- Now supports !Refresh.
	
	url - http://desktopsource.mindjunction.com
	e-mail - crouson@inreach.com
	(source: LS Mailing List ~ WharfX b0.8 is ready for your...)

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

- LSNTP 1.1 ~ Pigeon (10:43 26.01 ls)

	Pigeon has ripped apart the old LSClock mod and made it into
	a NTP load module.  Basically, you can use this to time
	sync up a bunch of machines by polling a box with NTP.  While
	he isn't taking any credit for writing this because he tore
	apart LSClock, I think it's still a pretty nice mod.

	url - http://www.ls2k.org)
	e-mail - pigeon@iname.com
	(source: LS Mailing List ~ LSNTP... NTP sync module...)

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

- Label 1.1 ~ Maduin (10:45 26.01 ls)

	"Label.dll allows you to define multiple skinnable labels
	and place them anywhere on your desktop. The labels can
	display any text can be updated at run-time using bang
	commands."
	
	url - http://www.ls2k.org
	e-mail - kschaffe@kent.edu
	(source: Maduin via IRC)

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

- jukeys 1.1q ~ qwilk (10:52 26.01 ls)

	Looks as if qwilk has taken it apon himself to update some
	of MrJukes code that was opened up.  Jukeys is a mod that
	allows for grouping of hotkeys.
	
	New in this version:
	
	- Added jukeysNoTitle (-> current group name not displayed)
	- Added missing keys: Pause, Insert, Delete, Home, End,
	  PageUp, PageDown, Tab, Backspace, Spacebar, Apps, Enter,
	  Mul, Div, Add, Sub, Dec, Num0-Num9
	- !Refresh support (only hotkey definitions are refreshed for
	   now)
	- Compiled with latest LSAPI; now uses LSExecuteEx instead

	url - http://www.desktopian.org
	e-mail - qwilk@desktopian.org
	(source: http://floach.pimpin.net)

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

- HotSpots .54 ~ Pavel (10:56 26.01 ls)

	After 7 months of dormancy, Pavel has thrown out a new
	Hotspots!!  Hotspots is this nifty little mod that draws out
	invisible areas on your desktop.  When your mouse passes
	over it you can execute bang commands.

	New in this version:
	
	- bugfix: hotspot not transparent: definitely fixed.
	- bugfix: resource leak in cursor-handling.
	- Improved fullscreen detection.
	- "Delay" maximum value increased. (actually 864000 = 24h)
	  (requested)
	- Improved cursor setting code.
	- Added HotspotsDisabledInFullScreen.
	- Added 'F' flag. (enabled in Fullscreen)
	- Added bangs !HotspotEnable / !HotspotDisable to control
	  single hotspot. (Same as !HotspotUpdate "Name" "D")
	- Added few new cursors.
	- Now uses kmhook.dll. (keyboard-mouse systemwide hook) Copy
	  it together with hotspots.dll.
	- DLL overhead reduced.
	- hotspots054.zip packed with 7-zip. (*much* better
	  compression ratio compared to PKZIP, WinZip and others)

	url - http://floach.pimpin.net/pavel/
	e-mail - pavel.vitis@seznam.cz
	(source: http://floach.pimpin.net/pavel/

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

- FPN Get A New Look (11:03 26.01 na)

	After over a year, rootrider and kuhndog have set about the
	task of giving a facelift to FPN.  With a spiffy new logo, 
	scanline bg, and some fancy new link colors, its looking
	pretty good.
	
	url - http://floach.pimpin.net

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

- LS Themes .90 ~ galois (10:24 26.01 ls)

	This program is for changing themes on the fly and some
	other basic shell functions.
	
	New in this version:
	
	- Added support for windowblinds.
	- Added preliminary shell support.
	- Reorganised the code.
	- Fixed the running under another shell issue.
	- Fixed some Windows 9x issues.
	- Lots of other minor stuff.
	- PS. If people would like it to support pLS please let me
	  know.

	url - http://floach.pimpin.net/galois/
	e-mail - galois@chungkuo.net
	(source: http://floach.pimpin.net)

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

- LiteStep
     o 24.6 build 010201
     o http://builds.litestep.net/builds/ls-0246-dev-20010102.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 1.0E
     o http://michalopoylos.tripod.com/seal/s1e-disk.zip

- V2_OS
     o 0.70
     o ftp://vp.dyn.dhs.org/0.70/v2_os.img

- AtheOS
     o 0.3.0
     o http://www.atheos.cx/download/list.php3?0.3.0

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

  -------------
 [ Interesting ]
  -------------

- Underground

  This is an online book (also in print) about hackers from the mid
  80's in Australia, the UK, and the US.  It is a very in depth book
  on the mind set of each of the individuals and how hacking affected
  their lives.  These are true stories and I think that it makes the
  book all that much better.  If you have the time, give it a read, it
  really keep me riveted.
  
  url - http://rubberhose.sourceforge.net/underground/

....................................

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