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As most all of us know by now, IBM has released the long awaited Fixpak 13 for OS/2 Warp 4.

This fixpak "converges" the kernel of Warp Server for e-Business (WSeB) with the Warp 4 Client, and goes against the policy of IBM in that there should be no "major" upgrades or added features in a Fixpak release.

Given the number of users posting to the various maiming lists and usenet news groups, you'd think that this was a initial beta release of a new client Operating System .

The folks at IBM that are responsible for such things are very active in the usenet newsgroups, and have addressed all of the reported problems.

In an effort to keep VOICE members and OS/2 Users informed of "breaking news", The Warpdoctor now has a list of known problems with FP13. And, where appropriate, a fix or workaround to the problems reported.

When visiting the Warpdoctor site (http://www.warpdoctor.org), click on the blinking "WARNINGS" link for all of the info as we know it (so far).

If you go directly to the Reference Library, and Fixpak Install page, you'll find a note and a link to the Warnings page.

We at VOICE hope that you'll find this information useful and timely.

Thanks for your support :-)

BgMetrics, a native OS/2 solution to track Blood Glucose readings and dietary info has been updated.

We have added the FoodListing database, a menu builder and some archiving functions. BgMetrics is now reaching it's planned functionality in almost all areas except for the number of meters supported. We hope to add a few more meters in the near future.

The Accu-Chek Advantage is supported at this time and it is believed that the Accu-Chek Easy has the same data format so we invite users of either of these meters to begin downloading their data into the program.

The downloader will download data from your meter, sort it, search for duplicated information, list all new (unduplicated) records and allow the user to update an existing record or add a new record to the database.

BgMetrics will...

Track Bg readings for specific events during the day.
Track meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks).
Track Calories, Protein, Carbs and Fat values for each meal.
Track user weight.
Track appointments and reminders.
Graph Bg readings, carbs and weight for any date range.
Print Bg and meal reports and graphs.
Download data from supported glucometers.
Build menu's to assist in tracking Calories, Protein, Carbs and Fat values easily.

The reports will...

Track Maximum, Minimum and overall average of Bg readings. Track daily total Calories, Protein, Carbs and Fat values. Track Maximum and Minimum Calories, Protein, Carbs, Fat and Weight values.

Please stop by the PillarSoft web site at:

http://www.pillarsoft.net

and download the latest version. While you are there, drop us a line and let us know what meters you use and if you can find any information on the protocol needed to access it.

SciTech Display Doctor Special Edition has been updated. The OS/2 Device Developer Pak Online indicates "v1.1" as of March 31st, 2000. The file name, however, indicates v7.01.

http://service.software.ibm.com/os2ddpak/html/02C85B26B9A029488725689000530FE4.html

SciTech Display Doctor for OS/2 brings SciTech's proven DOS and Windows device support technologies to the OS/2 Operating System. Although one of the core features of our DOS and Windows products is the support for the VESA VBE/Core standard, the OS/2 version has nothing at all to do with VESA services. Rather SciTech Display Doctor for OS/2 incorporates the new SciTech Nucleus, Graphics Architecture device driver technology to bring SciTech's device support to the OS/2 platform.

Los Angeles, Calif. (07 April 2000) -- A major telephone cable, cut accidentally by a drilling crew last Tuesday morning, still is not fully repaired. The lost circuits have affected, among many others, OS/2 software vendor Sundial Systems and The Southern California OS/2 User Group (SCOUG).

"The break knocked out the 911 emergency service, so that was the highest repair priority," said Sundial president Randell Flint. "We have voice circuits but no web server or email. We're trying to get remote servers up and running since the circuits may be out for a few more days."

According to Flint, last Wednesday evening he drove past the location where the cable break occurred and saw two GTE tractor-trailers, 14 GTE repair trucks and eight GTE supervisor cars on the scene. GTE is the telephone company that services that area.

Rollin White, a Sundial vice-president and past president of SCOUG, is working on the remote servers. "We hope to have partial email service available through the remote location sometime today" said White. "We have a temporary web page up. It's at:

http://www.sundialsystems.com."

For technical support of Sundial products (Junk Spy, Relish, Mesa 2, DBExpert, Rover Pack and Clearlook) you can call Sundial at 562-596-5121 9am-5pm PDT Monday to Friday. Email technical support will resume as soon as the circuits are restored in the affected area.

Full email and web service for both Sundial and SCOUG is expected to be operating by Monday.

IBM has added to the OS/2 Device Driver Pak On-Line one very important update.

USB Printer Support Package (dated 4 Apr 2000) "Provides USB printer support for ALL printers." ALL printers should mean all printers with current device driver support.

http://service.software.ibm.com/os2ddpak/html/6218FF37981954BC872568B90069B9B6.html

An update to Thesus3 took place on 5 Apr 2000.

ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/fixes/v4warp/theseus3/

Theseus/2 is a program for monitoring how much RAM certain applications use, and it's really good for finding memory leaks.

The Worldwide Team OS/2 Locations List is open for applications as of now.

My intention with this list is to help users with problems relating to our beloved OS, to find out if there are any teamers that would be able and willing to help out in their immediate area. Sure, mostly these lists will help excellently, but sometimes only hands-on experiences will do, thus the page.

If you would like to participate on this list, I need some info, as seen below:
Country Location Name E-mail Www Specialties Preferred language Other

The list can be found on following url:

http://surf.to/mjukisdata/

by following the "Team OS/2 Worldwide Help Locations List" link.

If you don't like the redirection url, there is also a direct url:

http://home1.pp.sbbs.se/sorin_srbu/os2help.html

Help spread the word!

Contact: Craig Greenwood captain@warptech.org
1-480-968-8625 office

Take a look at the new sessions just added to the WarpTech 2000 calendar:

http://www.warptech.org/WTSessions.html

You'll find the Advanced sessions on getting highest server availability, Warp Server's technical architecture, using a server cluster and tuneup procedures plus additional Advanced sessions on OS/2 problem determination and the CID install process.

Intermediate sessions on OS/2 programming for multitasking and memory management, remote access, real-time data feeds, plus the new NetRexx Interpreter, XML/XSL, server management, servlets, OS/2 application frameworks plus DSL, cable modem, ISDN, T3 and T1 lines.

Touch-up and starter courses on relational databases, virus control, multiple Object Rexx presentations, Java applet programming, VisualAge C++ and Java, Lotus 1-2-3, using OS/2 in embedded systems, installing a home network, getting sales results from your web site and the tricks used by shareware masters to distribute and sell their shareware offerings.

Then there's "Stump The Experts!", the live help desk with three well-known OS/2 gurus ready to field your questions and give you on-the-spot answers.

Plus Warped Jeopardy! This full-blown multimedia extravaganza from Sundial Systems has big-screen videos, auditorium-style sound, a panel of OS/2 personalities and plenty of audience participation. Do _you_ know the questions that match these OS/2 answers?

WarpTech presentations will be given by OS/2 experts from around the world. Speakers from Australia, Germany, Austria and Mexico City. Speakers from across America. Each one a specialist in his field.

You get three full days of OS/2 sessions when you attend WarpTech 2000. See the Registration page for the low signup cost

http://www.warptech.org/WTRegistration.html

and see the Travel page at

http://www.warptech.org/WTTravel.html

for some great airline deals.

Want the very best room at the WarpTech hotel without paying a penny more? Then reserve it NOW. First come, first served on room selections. Here's the link:

http://www.warptech.org/WTWigwam.html

Come learn what's new with OS/2! Come to WarpTech!

- - -

WarpTech 2000 is a 3-day OS/2 technical conference taking place May 26-28 at a pristine 463-acre desert resort in the beautiful Southwest. Come to Phoenix, Arizona USA for three full days of OS/2 -- the biggest OS/2 conference ever held.

Visit the WarpTech web site at:

http://www.WarpTech.org

To volunteer or just to watch the goings-on, subscribe to the WarpTech 2000 planning list by sending mail to steward@bitranch.comwith the following text in the body (not subject!) of the message: subscribe w2k

Hosted by the Phoenix OS/2 Society, Inc.

According to the README.1ST for FixPak 13 (Warp 4), it requires a new release level of the Corrective Service Facility.

Release level f.142 is now available at:

ftp://service.boulder.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/fixtool/english-us

The self-extracting executable is CS_142.EXE, and the readme is CS_142.TXT.

After FixPak 13 was placed at the link below, an update was made.

ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/fixes/v4warp/english-us/xr_m013

Two diskette images have been replaced.

Go to the link above for details.

If you are looking for a new or older version of OS/2 software or that hard to find utility, take a look at:

ftp://frank.chem.utoronto.ca

You might be able to find it there.

Feel free to bookmark it, it's not going anywhere.

Contact: Craig Greenwood captain@warptech.org
1-480-968-8625 office

WarpTech, the three-day OS/2 conference running May 26-28, is pleased to welcome Warpstock to a prime location in the WarpTech exhibitor hall.

Together, WarpTech and Warpstock will present a total of five days of OS/2 information split between Phoenix and Philadelphia. These carefully chosen locations give a full geographical coverage so that OS/2 users throughout America may attend at least one OS/2 show.

"Come to both shows" says Craig Greenwood, WarpTech 2000 Captain and Warpstock 99's evening entertainment maestro. "The sessions will complement each other so you'll get double the value when you attend both."

WarpTech in May and Warpstock in September. Now you can attend outstanding OS/2 conference sessions and see your favorite OS/2 vendors no matter where you live.

Two great conferences, so get ready now. OS/2 is coming your way.

- - -

WarpTech 2000 is a 3-day OS/2 technical conference taking place May 26-28 at a pristine 463-acre desert resort in the beautiful Southwest. Come to Phoenix, Arizona USA for three full days of OS/2 -- the biggest OS/2 conference ever held.

Visit the WarpTech web site at:

http://www.WarpTech.org

To volunteer or just to watch the goings-on, subscribe to the WarpTech 2000 planning list by sending mail to steward@bitranch.com with the following text in the body (not subject!) of the message: subscribe w2k

Hosted by the Phoenix OS/2 Society, Inc.

Yes, that's right... they're still alive.

A new virus signatures file, av30fn.zip, dated 3 april 2000 for the IBM Antivirus for OS/2 has been released on the Symantec site at:

http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/download.html

FixPak 13 for Warp 4 has been released. You can find it at:

ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/fixes/v4warp/english-us/xr_m013

Play Tic-Tac-Toe as you've never seen it before! This version of the game actually requires thought! ;-)

Challenge your mental imaging capabilities and boggle your mind while getting the pants beat off of you by a stupid computer program running in a FULL SCREEN 640x480 8 bit display in OS/2!

This is a simple application I threw together using Scitech's excellent MGL (Multiplatform Graphics Library). Though it is not terribly graphically impressive, it exercises the ability of MGL to change to 640x480 8 bit color screen mode and display graphics and directly access the hardware color palette. If all reports from this application are good, I will port more graphically impressive applications to OS/2 using Scitech's MGL (such as Retrocade).

CHANGES THIS VERSION:

* BUILT USING EMX .9D.
* SOURCE CODE RELEASED.
* REMOVED ALL OS/2 PLATFORM DEPENDENCIES - this same source file should build under other MGL-supported environments (such as Linux, DOS, and Windows) without touching a single line of code!
* Fixed a bug in scoring. This also fixed a bug in the AI which relied on the scoring working properly.
* Made the fade-in/fade-out sequences a bit faster.
* Fixed the initial "flash" of a block to the wrong color during a fade-in.

REQUIREMENTS:

You *must* install and boot up with a copy of SDDHELP.SYS from Scitech's Display Doctor software from beta 19 or higher. You must do this NO MATTER WHICH VIDEO DRIVERS YOU ARE CURRENTLY USING.

This version also requires that the EMX runtime libraries are installed on your system. Download EMX .9d runtime (EMXRT.ZIP) from Hobbes or your favorite OS/2 software archive.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

If the Scitech Display Doctor video drivers work with your video hardware, USE THEM. :-)

DOWNLOADS:

Scitech Display Doctor and MGL are available at:

http://www.scitechsoft.com

4D Tic-Tac-Toe is available at:

http://emuos2.vintagegaming.com/downloads/mgl_4dttt_11.zip

NOTE- At the time of this posting, my web server was lagging behind and the page and binaries could not be found on it. I will upload it to Hobbes in case this problem persists.

FEEDBACK:

Feedback is very much encouraged and welcome. I thank those that have replied so far. I now need to know how well my EMX-compiled version of MGL is working with your systems. Let me know whether or not this works with your hardware and drivers. Write to mamedev@stny.rr.com.

Be sure to read the ReadMe.OS2 file included completely before using this software.

Fixpak 13 for OS/2 Warp 4 has been released.

I have updated the Fastkick utility used for applying Fixpaks from your Hard Drive, and have updated the pages at "The Warpdoctor" site.

http://www.warpdoctor.org

Reference Library, Fixpak Install

Pfarrakartei/2, a MySQL Client for administrating members of a church community, can be downloaded via my home page:

http://home.t-online.de/~Juergen.Dankoweit

This is from the site:

http://www.jungo.com/os2_news.html

---

The new product from the Successful "WinDriver" series.

April 2nd, 2000 (KRFTech, Israel): KRFTech today announced the release of WinDriver OS/2 Beta version. WinDriver for OS/2 simplifies and tremendously speeds up OS/2 device driver development by freeing the developer from the need to master the OS/2 Kernel and the driver development details. Using WinDriver, developing drivers for the OS/2 platform now takes hours instead of months. WinDriver for OS/2 supports the PCI and ISA busses, and offers enhanced Support for the leading PCI chip-set vendors (PLX, Galileo, V3 and AMCC).

Compatibility:

WinDriver for OS/2 is fully compatible to all other WinDriver versions. Thus - driver code created on one of the supported platforms will run on any other platform that WinDriver supports (Currently - Win95/98/NT4/NT/2000/CE, Linux, Solaris and VxWorks). Using WinDriver, a developer can maintain the same code base between different operating systems. This makes WinDriver a revolutionary cross platform device driver development toolkit.

DrDialog, the well-known Rexx application builder from IBM Developer Connection was uploaded on Hobbes. (C) IBM 1994, freeare.

This tool allows developers to build native OS/2 PM applications with powerful GUI interface - with text labels and buttons, icon containers and notebooks, menus and more. The language used by this builder is Classic Rexx extended for event processing, thread support e.t.c. No run-time libraries (like VRObj.dll) are required for executables.

I (S.P.) shall use this tool to transform Rexx installation scripts for my software to native OS/2 PM applications - Rexx commands like 'Copy' or 'SysCreateObject' used by "*.cmd" installers are supported by DrDialog and works correctly.

For detailed information and screen-shots see an EDM/2 article:

http://www.edm2.com/0601/drdialog.html

The current FTP location is:

http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/incoming/drdialog.zip

Eventually:

http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/dev/rexx/drdialog.zip

In March, 2000, OS2.org has set a new all-time record in popularity. Over 400.000 pageviews have been logged, making OS2.org the most popular OS/2 portal on the Internet. The OS2.org team is proud of the success and will further invest in making OS2.org an even more interesting place to be.

http://www.OS2.org/

Window On WarpTech

The Weekly WarpTech 2000 Report

From the desk of Craig Greenwood, WarpTech Captain

Eight weeks to WarpTech.

There's plenty that still needs to be done. The scheduled WarpTech speakers are busily putting together their seminars, accumulating the charts and display materials they'll need, designing any HTML pages that go along with their topics and squeezing in every last bit of information that will fit in their time slots. WarpTech technical presentations are intended to be concise and in-depth, and when you compare them to university-level classes you see that WarpTech covers more in a shorter amount of time and the "cost per class hour" is lower too.

We're still adding vendors to the WarpTech exhibitor hall. Guests are going to see lots of OS/2 software and get some great price discounts, and one OS/2 user who just registered said that he expects his savings on software that he purchases at WarpTech to pay for his trip.

WarpTech is a big conference. Guests will be part of three days of OS/2 seminars and product demonstrations, and we're making sure the sessions are the very best you'll ever attend. WarpTech is going to be special.

When you register, take a close look at your personal schedule and see if there's an extra day you can spend in the area. WarpTech takes place at a major resort hotel, and the additional "tourist" day won't cost you much since you're already there. We chose the location for WarpTech to give you this option.

So take a look at the WarpTech web site. Session, Exhibitor, Travel and Registration info is all there, and everything is updated constantly as we add new things.

http://www.warptech.org/

See you Friday to Sunday, May 26-28, at WarpTech 2000!

- Captain Craig captain@warptech.org

World Clock is freeware, configurable clock with Daylight Savings Time, Stopwatch, Alarm, Program launcher, Calendar and World Map for 1 to 9 cities from 700 cities in the provided City list.

New in version 1.11:

- Language: English, Croatian, German, Swedish, Polish
- New World maps
- Translation tool: create your own Language support
- 150 new cities

Features:

- Display for each selected city, country, time, date, Universal Time difference, Time Zone descriptor, latitude, longitude, sunrise, sunset, day length ...
- Horizontal or vertical arrangement of selected cities
- Minimized or banner view (only cities and time)
- World time (Standard time in Time Zones) and World map,
- UTC (GMT) Universal date ~time (UDT) and/or Internet time ("Swatch beat") in Title bar
- Easy calculating the TZ environment variable
- Selectable position, size, font and fontsize
- Calendar
- Alarm and Program launcher for each city
- Stopwatch
- Add new cities (your own if not in the list)
- Install/UnInstall program

To download World Clock 1.11, visit:

http://redrival.com/os2util/

F/X Communications has today released version 1.41 of the OS/2 Pluto IKE server.

The Pluto IKE Server for OS/2 is an extended and managed port of Pluto 1.1, found in the Linux FreeS/WAN IPSec implementation. Pluto is released with source code under the GNU General Public License - free of charge.

This version includes recompiled/renamed EMX libraries and accordingly Pluto no longer requires EMX to be installed as a prerequisite. This step is in agreement with the author of EMX, in order to speed up and simplify the installation of Pluto.

More details and the new file is availabe at:

http://www.fx.dk/ipsec

IPSec (Internet Protocol Security) is an Internet standard for interconnected, secure networking devices and the predominant technology in Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).

F/X Communications has released plugin based IPSec support as part of the InJoy Dialer (dial-out), InJoy Connect (dial-in) and the InJoy Firewall (lan-to-lan). IPSec support enables these products to serve as a secure IPSec gateway or function as a simple VPN Client.

The April 2000 "Warped Perspective" is now available at OS/2 Headquarters:

http://www.os2hq.com/

This article deals with the necessary conditions for a revival of native OS/2 application development.

There appears to be a problem with delivery of the daily digests from some or all of the OS2SS hosted mailing lists. Subscribing to the 'immediate delivery' option seems to be the only solution right now. Hopefully, the editors of WarpCast will let us know when this problem has been fixed.

Warpstock might be the biggest OS/2 conference this year, but it won't be the only one. This May, the Phoenix OS/2 Society will be hosting the WarpTech OS/2 conference, and Warpstock will be there as an exhibitor!

No need to scratch your heads - members from the Warpstock 2000 board of directors will be present at WarpTech to promote Warpstock 2000. These representatives will be there to:

- Offer one-time discounted tickets to Warpstock 2000 (cash or check only).

- Sell limited edition Warpstock 2000 golf shirts. People who don't play golf will still be able to purchase these shirts.

- Sell Warpstock '99 CD-ROM's. Attendees of Warpstock '99 will be receiving their free CD-ROM in the mail in June.

- Hold a drawing to win free admission to Warpstock 2000 and a free night's stay at the hotel. Two golf shirts will also be given away.

- Provide information on bidding for Warpstock 2001.

WarpTech is a three-day technical event for OS/2 Warp users, developers, and exhibitors. The event will be held at the world-renowned Wigwam Resort in Litchfield Park, Arizona, USA (near Phoenix) over Memorial Day weekend. More information can be found at the WarpTech web site:

http://www.warptech.org/

Don't miss this opportunity! The WarpTech conference offers a wide array of technical presentations that complement Warpstock, so going to both conferences is the smartest thing an OS/2 user can do this year.

The 4th annual Warpstock conference will be held September 9-10, 2000, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is produced by Warpstock, Inc., a North Carolina non-profit corporation. The Warpstock annual conference is a gathering of OS/2 users and vendors from around the world for the purpose of education and advocacy. More information is available at the Warpstock 2000 web site:

http://www.warpstock.org