I see GSPlayer 2.23 is up with a new WM5 version. I've downloaded the source and made all the VGA changes I believe. I'm doing a few days of internal testing, then I will unleash it upon the New Year.

Jon

I'm sometimes asked why I don't sell my software. The number one reason is lack of time to do proper support. My schooling and teaching come first.

A second reason is software registration. The reality for software developer is that if you release a shareware program, it will be cracked. Warez is even making tremendous inroads into mobile applications. Coming up with a way to prevent it is impossible, and the harder you try, the less user-friendly it becomes.

I purchased a game last night from Handango, and the registration process left quite a bit to be desired. It ended up with an email to their support. The reply was prompt and courteous, but the whole experience left me with a bitter taste. Somewhat like DRM, software registration makes me feel like a criminal.

So for now, you guys want free software, you've got it.

Jon

I was looking into how to display the list of installed programs, and I noticed that in WM5 there are no .unload files in the \windows directory. It seems that they have been replaced with xml files in subdirectories under \windows\appmgr

Anyone confirm this or explain the difference?

Jon

So I have some time over break (I'm a grad student) and I like to do a new program over my breaks as a hobby. However, I'm not really sure what program to make next. So, I'm opening it up to suggestions.

Anything goes, but here are some notes that will make your suggestion more likely to be chosen:

1.) It should be generally useful. Sometimes I take on programs that help one or two people with a specific problem, but I prefer to have a much more generally useful program.

2.) No commercial ideas. I'm not looking to start a company or to help your company do something. I don't have the resources to commit to a significant, commercial development.

3.) Game ideas are welcome, but I'm not much of a game programmer, so they're not very likely. Unless they're card games. Then there's a higher chance.

4.) I only have an x50v running WM5. I can emulate WM2003 and PPC2002, but if you're looking for something on a smartphone or PPC Phone Edtion device, I won't be able to test it.

5.) It should be somewhat easy. I know it's hard to know for non-developers what "easy" means ( I often don't know myself) but don't request something like a new web browser or a new office suite. I'm looking for a program to write in a week or 2.

Post a comment with your idea.

Jon

As far as I know, the x51 series has the same audio chip as the x50 series. That means that x50mix should also work on the x51s without a problem.

Leave a note here with your experience to confirm, or let me know if there seems to be a problem.

Jon

I saw a new open source version of FreeCell announced over at PocketGamer and decided to take a look.

Turns out, it isn't VGA aware, and uses the old style cards. I decided I wanted the shiny new cards, so I converted it to run in VGA.

Install from the original CAB or EXE installer here: http://surfvi.com/~nandhp/ceproj/freecell/

Then overwrite the FreeCell.exe on your device with the FreeCell.exe found in here

The modified source code can be downloaded here as well.

There's a rendering bug I can't track down that hides the cards remaining text until you show the SIP and then hide it again. I'm thinking this is a problem with GetClientRect() but I'm not sure.

I also hope to add a VGA icon sometime.

Enjoy!

Jon

I believe I've fixed whatever was causing the hangs on reboot on WM2003 devices. With that in mind, I'm releasing a new version with a few more features:

• Hitting enter in the text field now causes it to search
• The default system web browser is now used. You can change this is the settings dialog
• The settings dialog is now accessable from the globe menu
• The globe menu has 3 types of searches enabled that you can choose from:
  • Search - this sends the text in the textbox to the search engine you have configured
  • http://%s - this allows you to type a url in the box and have it be launched
  • http://www.%s.com - this allows you to type just the main word of the address in the textbar, sort of like hitting CTRL+ENTER allows you to do on the desktop
• Hopefully your settings will be saved now in all cases

I will continue to add a few more features, mainly where you can customize the menu to hold various different search engines to select from.

Thank you for all your patience. Remember to deselect SearchToday in Settings->Today->Items before installing.

Download from: http://www.cs.pitt.edu/~jmisurda/ppc/Se ... ay.ARM.CAB

Jon

Two observations about coding examples and information on the web:

1.) Never trust it
2.) Even (especially?) if it's from Microsoft.

Jon