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  XSWEEKLY Shell Related News 24.02.01 - 02.03.01
 -------------------------------------------------

	All these problems lately with LS.net and FPN being down
shed a light on something.  There are so few shell related web sites
these days.  When those sites went down, LS2K was the only place
left to check out news.  While this is great for LS2k, it isn't all
that great for users.

	I can remember about a year ago there were a lot of sites,
either specialized or general, about shells.  Now I can name only
a few.  What happened?  Was it the cut in payout of banner ads?
Lack of interest in Win32 shells?  Lack of time?  I'm sure that all
of these play a part, but where are the new sites to take there
place?

	I really don't know what kind of impact this has on the
shell community as a whole, but I'm pretty sure it isn't all that
good.  We have seen with FPN and Desktopian going down that there
were no other places to go for general shell news.  Oh sure, Shell
Extension City was still up, but he isn't shell specific like the
others.  What we need are more general shell specific sites out
there like there used to be.  Even dedicated ones specific to one
or two shells would be nice.  I'm not talking about geoshell.com,
I'm talking about Phil GeoShell House O' News kind of thing.  Inter-
faceWorkshop fills this gap nicely, but a lot of his news is for his
Japanese audience only.

	I guess this is more of a call to arms more than anything.
With the recent downtimes it is now more evident that we need other
alternatives for news besides a few major sites.  I myself try to 
cover more and more shells as time goes by, but my time is limited
and becoming more limited by the day.

	What I am suggesting is that you take a look at places like
FPN and InterfaceWorkshop and go from there.  Take what interests you
and do up a page on it.  It doesn't have to be elaborate or take a ton
of time.  I think we just need a few more people to contribute back
into the shell community to have it flourish once again.

- demigod

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

  This weeks mailbag question is:

  Do you think there are enough shell related web sites?

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

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

- NeXTer's Dominion

  NeXTer, famous for his work on the LS core, has up and moved
  his site on over to ls2k.org.  Here you will find some of his
  personal software and insights on a bunch of stuff.
  
  url - http://nexter.ls2k.org

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

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

- LiteStep.net In Trouble (9:59 28.02 na)

	Pimpin.net which hosts ls.net and a host of other sites, is
	down grading from dual ds3's to a dsl 1.1 because the banners
	are no longer covering the cost of the bandwidth.  LiteStep.net
	is now in need of new hosts because the dsl 1.1 will not
	be able to support the amount of bandwidth that it pushs.  If
	you can offer any help, please e-mail cccp.
	
	%%UPDATE%% (10:31 01.03)
	
	After only a day of downtime, they have found a host.  FPN
	and LiteStep.net will now be moved to deskmod.  Once the dns
	kicks in everything will be up and running once more.
	
	url - http://www.litestep.net
	e-mail - cccp@litestep.net
	(source: http://www.litestep.net)

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

- LiteStep Mailing List Page Competition ~ Bryan (11:52 28.02 na)

	Bryan, owner of the LS mailing list, has asked for a redo of
	the list page at wuzzle.org.  From the e-mail to the list:
	
	"I'm having a competition,
	
	"I want someone to make the litestep list pages look cool,
	unfortunately, you have a bunch of restrictions.
	
	"Only very minimal changes to the html will be allowed, and
	none to the list display pages (the threads and messages)
	
	"However, the stylesheet is fair game.
	
	"here is the current stylesheet:
	http://wuzzle.org/list/lists.css.txt
	
	"Get creative, you'd be amazed what you can do with a
	stylesheet.
	
	"Winner gets credit, and an email address @litestep.ru.ac.za
	or wuzzle.org or wherever.

	"The pages to be changed: http://wuzzle.org/list
	
	"Bryan"

	url - http://wuzzle.org/list
	e-mail - bryan@wuzzle.org
	(source: LS Mailing List)

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

- FPN on LockerGnome.com ~ rootrider (12:42 28.02 na)

	In the new Daily Update on lockergnome.com, Chris points out
	root's review of WinXP.  Another great step for the shell
	community, and a pretty decent write up by root too.
	
	url - http://floach.pimpin.net
	e-mail - rootrider@wsu.edu
	(source: http://floach.pimpin.net)

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

- DTop/Chunkymunky Gone ~ yaso (13:22 28.02 na)

	Yaso has decided to completely shut down dtop.org.  After the
	name battle over chunkymunky and the switch to dtop, the
	site degraded to almost no posts.  There is, however, a
	light at the end of this tunnel.  Yaso is coding up a new
	site, skinnerz.com.  No word on exactly what this site will
	be about but it seems mildly obvious from the name.
	
	e-mail - yaso@bigfoot.com
	(source: http://www.dtop.org)

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

- geekamp 1.9.61 ~ azathoth (11:46 28.02 ls)

	geekamp is a front end for winamp and now for sonique.
	
	New in this version:
	
	- !Amp_PlayPause now opens Winamp if not already open.
	  (Suggestion by Poul Dam)
	- !Amp_PowerOn now focuses the player if it is already open.
	- !Amp_PowerOn now works again.
	- Code restructuring leads to slightly faster executing time
	  (think 1 or 2 cycles )
	- Constants redefined for easier source reading.
	- Slapped myself on the head for being so damn stupid in the
	  code.
	- Re-wrote readme.txt to be more concise and easy to read.
	- Added changes.txt to shorten main readme size.

	url - http://www.ls2k.org
	e-mail - azathoth@ls2k.org
	(source: http://www.ls2k.org)

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

- Lockpc 1.1 ~ Repugnant (12:37 28.02 ls)

	"A small (3K) module that will let you lock your computer
	through the !LockPC bang command. This is intended for
	Windows 2000 users only (though it should work with Whistler
	too)."

	%%UPDATE%% (10:35 01.03)

	- Works with NT4.

	url - http://www.personal.psu.edu/jew208/
	e-mail - repugnant2k@hotmail.com
	(source: http://www.ls2k.org)

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

- geOAmpList, AmpVol, and AmpTime ~ Rattboi (13:41 28.02 geo)

	Rattboi has coded up three geo plugins for winamp.  They
	are pretty self explanatory off of the names.
	
	url - http://damienent.8m.com/Programs.html
	e-mail - bradonk@hotmail.com
	(source: http://damienent.8m.com/Programs.html)

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

- Label 1.3 ~ Maduin (11:05 02.03 ls)
 
	Maduin has thrown out another version of his desktop label
	program. From the changes this is becoming a swiss army knife
	of a module.

	New in this version:

	- Added support for multiple "Labels" commands.
	- Added the following sysinfo functions.
		o hostName
		o IP
		o randomLine('file')
	- Added the following support functions.
		o capitalize(x)
		o trim(x)
	- Added LabelUpdateInterval: number of milliseconds between
	  updates.
	- Fixed various transparency issues.
	- Known issue: if one item in a label autoupdates, the whole
	  label will do so, so don't mix stuff like randomLine with
	  CPU/mem, etc.
	- Again I haven't updated the docs... next time, I promise! =)

	url - http://trident.mcs.kent.edu/~kschaffe/
	e-mail - kschaffe@kent.edu
	(source: http://floach.pimpin.net)

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

- LiteStep Magazine Online ~ avs (12:33 28.02 ls)

	This looks like it will be an all in one litestep site.
	Some of the future projects will be a list of modules with
	description, positives, and negatives, themeing tutorials, 
	and a ton of other LS related items and articles.
	
	url - http://avs.ls2k.org/
	e-mail - avs@myrealbox.com
	(source: http://www.ls2k.org)

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

- LSDev On SourceForge (11:09 02.03 ls)

	The LS Dev team's current home is up and running. This may be
	just a temporary housing, or it could become permanent. As of
	right now there is a main page, ability to submit bugs and
	post to a simple board. I'll keep you posted as to the
	permanent location of the dev team.

	url - http://sourceforge.net/projects/litestep/
	(source: http://sourceforge.net/projects/litestep/)

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

- ShellON 2.30 ~ delusional (13:25 28.02 na)

	ShellON is a full featured shell manager.  It boasts a ton
	of other features such as the ability to load an unlimited
	number of shells, crash protection, and a ton of others.
	
	New in this version:
	
	- Crash protection (!) Added a thread that sits waiting for
	  the shell to close.
	- Added install parameter to set ShellON as the default
	  system shell.
	- Moved the Parameter code in the config program so it checks
	  earlier in the load process.  It is much quicker now.
	- You can drag the Launcher windows around.
	- Moved wallpaper code for Launcher to a separate thread, so
	  you don't have to wait for all the wallpaper stuff before
	  you can load your shell.
	- Hopefully done more fixing for the NT/2k code.
	- Wallpaper order was not maintained when Monitor Folders
	  function was used.
	- Altered the form settings so the forms appear screen
	  center, not desktop center. Sometimes the forms would
	  appear half on each of two monitors.
	- Changed some of the Windows to tool windows. For no reason.
	- Put the new email and site addresses into the Help File.
	- Deleted the main form, doh! Luckily I had a 2.19 backup,
	  but there was still some coding to redo:(

	url - http://delusional.psionstyle.co.uk/
	e-mail - delusional@psionstyle.co.uk
	(source: delusional via e-mail)

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

- LiteStep (not available at time of publishing)
     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 012201
     o http://www.purels.org/binaries/01-01-28r.zip

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

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

- SealBuilder 1.01 ~ Ganesh (14:55 28.02 sel)

	This is a program generator for SEAL.  It is written in Vb
	and supports the following objects:
	
	+StatText
	+TextBox
	+CommandButton
	+VTrackBar (from Bad Controls )
	+DriveList
	+FolderList
	+Editor
	
	url - http://ganisoft.virtualave.net/seal/
	e-mail - gruswami@emirates.net.ae
	(source: http://pub8.ezboard.com/bsealsystem)

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

- AZoom - chir (10:50 01.03 at)

	AZoom is a basic pixel zoomer app for AtheOS.  It allows for
	multiple sized magnification and the opening of any gfx
	file.
	
	url - http://www.geocities.com/chir_geo/atheos
	e-mail - chir@geocities.com
	(source: AtheOS Mailing List)

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

- BadSEAL.org Shut Down ~ BadSector (13:47 28.02 sel)

	I'm not sure why it has been shut down but it has.  Currently
	you can access BadSEAL via this new url:
	
	http://www.crosswinds.net/~badseal/
	
	BadSector will set up the badseal.org redirect in the 
	future.
	
	url - http://www.crosswinds.net/~badseal/
	(source: http://pub8.ezboard.com/bsealsystem)

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

- SEAL (not available at time of publishing)
     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 0.3.1
     o http://www.atheos.cx/download/list.php3?0.3.1

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

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

- What's Wrong With Copy Protection

  If you haven't read this yet, do so.  It is a very well written and
  thought out article on what is really wrong with copy protection and
  the way that companies are using it as if they were laws.
  
  url - http://www.toad.com/gnu/whatswrong.html

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

- Scope b4

  Fahim is back to coding, but not a shell this time.  Scope is a
  very small, multi-window browser that is coded off of the IE
  engine.  If you are looking for a small, fast browser, this is the
  one for you.
  
  url - http://cyberian.tripod.com

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

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