Update

I'm still here. I haven't disappeared from the face of the earth yet. I've been quite busy in the past little while so I haven't really got a lot of updates. Anyways, hopefully I'll be updating a bit more soon.

Sound RTS Development Blog

There is now a development blog for Sound RTS which is a real time strategy game. The link is
http://soundrts.blogspot.com

Winamp Version 5.36 Build 1500 Beta Now Available

Winamp version 5.36 build 1500 beta is now available and one place where you can download it from is at
www.majorgeeks.com/Winamp_5_Full_d2490.html.

Here are the changes in this version and there are quite a lot of changes this time!

* New: [in_mp3] Multi-channel mp3surround support
* New: [ml_local] 3 pane view options in 'Add/Edit View' dialog
* New: [ml_local] Smart View Presets
* New: [ml_local] Album Art support/pane
* New: [ml_local] Toolbar buttons to control view options
* New: [ml_plg] Winamp Playlist Generator (powered by Gracenote MusicID)
* New: [ml_pmp] New fields, configurable filter panes & columns, 3 pane view
* New: [ml_pmp] Album Art view & support for iPod and P4S Devices
* New: [ml_pmp] Separate view for video files
* New: Global 'playback thread priority' setting for decoders
* New: Version History drop-down selector and Search (in About dialog)
* Improved: General misc dialog/ui tweaks & improvements
* Improved: Re-tuned and optimized classic Spectrum Analyzer
* Improved: Surround indicator in Winamp Modern skin for multi-channel files
* Improved: [in_cdda] Conductor metadata support
* Improved: [in_cdda] Handling of multiple discs
* Improved: [in_flac/in_vorbis] ALBUM ARTIST & ENSEMBLE read support
* Improved: [in_flac] Advanced Editor mode
* Improved: [in_mod] Added support for more than 256 samples
* Improved: [gen_ff] General freeform skinning engine optimizations
* Improved: [gen_ml] Collapsed/expanded state of treeview items now remembered
* Improved: [gen_ml] Skinned scrollbars for Media Library with Modern skins
* Improved: [gen_ml] Reordering of treeview items (via drag+drop)
* Improved: [ml_disc] Better Unicode support
* Improved: [ml_history] Unicode support
* Improved: [ml_local] Customize Columns menu for top filter panes
* Improved: [ml_local] Option to show horizontal scrollbar for top panes
* Improved: [ml_local] New 'Podcasts' view (appears after downloading a podcast
* Improved: [ml_local] Added ISPODCAST and PODCASTCHANNEL field names
* Improved: [ml_local] Added BEGINSLIKE comparison operator
* Improved: [ml_local] Dragging of headers to sort column order
* Improved: [ml_local] Redesigned Smart View Editor
* Improved: [ml_local] Star Rating display and selection
* Improved: [ml_pmp] 'Copy to Local Media' config separated from CD
Ripping settings
* Improved: [ml_pmp] Portables "Sync" can now keep podcasts updated
* Improved: [ml_rg] ReplayGain calculation support for 64, 88.2 & 96 KHz samplerates
* Improved: [ml_wire] Optional automatic downloading of new podcast episodes
* Improved: [ml_wire] Multi-select, 'Send To' menu and other general enhancements
* Improved: [ml_wire] Podcast downloads now saved in channel subfolders
* Improved: [pmp_ipod] Now uses the iPod's podcast menu for podcasts
* Fixed: Long filepaths corrupted when opening Winamp via Explorer context menu
* Fixed: Oversized preference pages with large DPI setting
* Fixed: Recurrence of multiple instances bug (previously fixed in 5.3)
* Fixed: Selecting 'No' for 'Physically Remove' prompt removes playlist/mldb item
* Fixed: TV button in video window not working
* Fixed: Windows showing if switching from modern to classic skin in minimized state
* Fixed: [ASX Loader] Recursive playlist loading & case-insensitive element matching
* Fixed: [ASX Loader] Handling of entries embedded within a REPEAT tag
* Fixed: [gen_ff] "Can't unload script while in script" error when switching skins
* Fixed: [gen_ff] Transparent docked toolbars for skins using alpha-blending
* Fixed: [gen_ml] %playcount% returning Comment on drag+drop from ML to pledit
* Fixed: [in_cdda] CDDB crash when attempting to rip a CD in a 2nd instance of Winamp
* Fixed: [in_flac] General FLAC Editor quirks (Comments field, Enter key,etc
* Fixed: [in_flac] 24bit files don't play when 'Allow 24bit' settingis disabled
* Fixed: [in_mod] Fadeout value goes below 0.0 sec in in_mod config
* Fixed: [in_mod] Interpolator 'division by zero' crash bug
* Fixed: [in_mp3] Crash on some mp3's with corrupt ID3v2 extendedheaders (rare)
* Fixed: [in_mp3] Crash on loading corrupt id3v2.3 tags of a later revision
* Fixed: [in_mp3] Negative bitrate in File Info for long mp3's
* Fixed: [in_wave/libsndfile] Crash on invalid .au files
* Fixed: [in_wm] Garbage characters when editing filetypes in config
* Fixed: [in_mp4/libmp4v2] Memory leaks
* Fixed: [ml_disc] 0 byte temp files not deleted after ripping
* Fixed: [ml_disc] Double-click drive icon in Rip & Burn not selecting tree item
* Fixed: [ml_disc] Crash when using in playlist filename generation
* Fixed: [ml_disc] Drag+drop from Audio CD view to Playlist Editor
* Fixed: [ml_local] (no album) items adding to Album count in Artist pane
* Fixed: [ml_local] isempty and =0 queries now return same results
* Fixed: [ml_local] Add dir to 'Watch Folders' path truncated to 64 characters
* Fixed: [ml_pmp] Inserting extra period in filename when transcoding to mp4/aac
* Fixed: [ml_wire] Subscription Updates setting always resets to 'Never'
* Fixed: [pmp_ipod] Potential incompatability issue with latest version of iTunes
* Fixed: [pmp_p4s] 'Error In Insert' when transferring to some P4S devices
* Fixed: [vis_milk] Milkdrop DEP incompatibility
* Misc: Removed db.w5s (replaced by new Gracenote database system)
* Misc: Moved drawing engine out of gen_ff to tataki.dll
* Misc: Moved freetype font renderer out of gen_ff to freetype.wac
* Updated: Gracenote MusicID CDDB v2.5
* Updated: libpng 1.2.19
* Updated: [in_flac] FLAC 1.2.0
* Updated: [in_mp3] FhG Decoder v4.10
* Updated: [in_vorbis] libvorbis 1.2.0

Sound RTS Version 1.0 Beta 8 Released

Yesterday night, Sound RTS Version 1.0 Beta 8 was released which included a lot of bug fixes as well as some new features. There is also a version that runs on Mac and Linux. You can go to the
Sound RTS wesite
to get your own copy today!

Note that the quality of the sounds still aren't very good even though it's at 44.1 and in ogg. If you really care about the sounds, I roccomend sticking with the old one for now until Bryan Smart creats a new sound pack.

Review of linux Using Orca Screen Reader

Darragh has made a review of the Orca screen reader which runs on Gnome. The following e-mail from the Orca list explains it more:

Hello all,

It's wet and horrible here tonight so I'm really noth bothered about
going out so instead, I've done an audio review of Orca running on Gnome
with the TTSynth synthesizer, Evolution, Firefox and open office.

This aims to illustrate that a lot of the tasks now done in Windows by
jaws and windows users can now be done in Linux with the same type of
interfaces.

I've tried to keep it as generic as possible by limiting the amount of
technical information provided so I'm hoping I've given enough to get
people interested.

The file is about 35 megs and is available from:
http://www.digitaldarragh.com/linux-and-orca-review.mp3

Please send your feedback.

Darragh

Skype Version 3.5.0.214 Availbable

You can get Skype version 3.5.0.214 at
www.skype.com

here are the changes and bug fixes:

change: Extras Manager updated to version 1.5.0.3
bugfix: Skype sometimes crashed on receiving chat message
bugfix: Skype sometimes crashed when handling mood message
bugfix: Can't resume call after putting it on hold in some cases
bugfix: Video mood and chat messages sometimes displayed wrong thumbnails
bugfix: On call transfer dialogue blocked and deleted contacts were shown
bugfix: Phone number on Outlook contacts was not shown
bugfix: On rare occasions Voice Mail download failed
bugfix API: Switching to silent mode took too long

Sound Forge Version 9.0C Now Available

today, an upgrade has been released for Sound Forge 9.0 users. It features many bug fixes as well as some mini things they've included. Here are the improvements:

An Update loop bar on Mark In/Out check box has been added to the Editing tab in the Preferences dialog
Select this check box if you want to update the loop bar in a data window when you mark the beginning or end of a selection.
When the check box is cleared, the loop bar isn't updated until after you've marked both ends of the selection.
A Seek Cursor on Playback command has been added to the Options menu.
When this command is selected, playback will restart when you position the cursor.
The keyboard shortcut for saving and recalling views has changed. The new shortcuts
are Ctrl+Shift+ to save a view and Ctrl+ to recall a view.
You can now press the 0-9 keys (not numeric keypad) to move the cursor to the corresponding marker or select the corresponding region.
The FLAC file format plug-in has been added to allow you to open and save FLAC files.
Little-endian AIFF files are now supported.
Meters now stretch to fit their windows.
Fixed a bug in Spectrum Analysis when Real Time Monitoring is enabled.
Fixed a bug that could cause Sound Forge to crash when dragging selection to the
desktop when Kjaerhus automated effects exist in the chain.
Fixed a bug that prevented Crossfade Loop from previewing correctly.
Fixed a bug that could cause a crash when undoing and repeating a Mix operation.
Fixed a bug that could corrupt Audio preferences when the Windows
Classic Wave Driver was not available.
Fixed a bug that prevented you from changing the sample rate of a new or empty data window.
The Mix/Replace dialog now preserves the previous preset.
Fixed a bug that could cause Process > Reverse to insert silence in certain cases.
Fixed a bug that prevented Mark In/Out from working during playback.
Fixed a bug that prevented audio plug-ins from inserting tails.
Automated plug-ins in the Plug-In Chainer window now reflect the cursor position.
Fixed a bug that caused the Normal Zoom preference to be ignored.
Fixed a bug that could cause the Video Strip to lose frames at different zoom ratios.
The Lock Length button in the Normalize dialog now updates properly after undo.
Tempo is now maintained when the ruler format is changed.
Loop pre-roll is now applied when dragging the start of a selection.
Playback no longer jumps with Scroll Playback turned off.
Various improvements for ASIO devices.

jaws with windows vista

hey all. My first post on here.
well, I want to discuss jaws opperating on Microsofts new opperating system: Windows Vista
When I first got my computer, I bought new SMAs because my current one didnt support jaws with vista. I had found jaws relatively good with vista. It seems to handle all the new graphics well, however the new arro interface is disabled when you activate jaws.
One of the major setbacks I found was response time with vista. One of the things I have noticed is that jaws doesnt respond as quick as it did when using windows XP. When I first installed jaws, I thought it was my keyboard settings, or even setting the keyboard response time, but everything was at maximum. I then tryed getting a hold of freedomscientific, and they suggested it was my soundcard, and told me to upgrade. Well, thats a bit of an issue, because I have the latest release of my soundcard drivers.
Also, one of the other things I have noticed is my keyboard layout. I dont know weather this is just my brand of keyboard, or windows. I cant access oposterphy, because the oposterphy key rights something else. Everything is off on this keyboard.
I have also noticed that narator starts up everytime I start jaws. I got everythint unchecked in my ease of access sentre, but still I cant get narator to stop coming up with jaws.
So, as you can tell, jaws with vista definitely has its ups, and downs. More downs Iv noticed, but hopefully they can resolve the other issues in the next release of jaws.

Skype version 3.5.0.202 for Windows now available

Skype version 3.5.0.202 for Windows is now available and one place
where you can download it from is at
www.skype.com.
The beta cycle
for Skype version 3.5 is now over and this is the official
release. Here are the changes in this version:

feature: Safety and Privacy Improvements
feature API: SET_INPUT for recording Voicemail
change: IE plugin updated to version 3.3.0.105
change: Extras Manager updated to version 1.5.0.2
change: Dial tone changed
change: Updated all localizations
bugfix: Add video to mood message button was not clickable in entire length
bugfix: Incoming chat message notification displayed video messages wrongly
bugfix: Error message displayed when shutting down Windows while
Skype was running
on some occasions
bugfix: Wrong payment rejection cause displayed when person called
from not compatible
client
bugfix: Send contacts button was active after leaving chat
bugfix: Call was put on hold when screen saver activated
bugfix: Audio devices with the same name were displayed incorrectly
bugfix: Skype crashed when ending a call in some circumstances
bugfix: On some rare cases opening chat resulted in 100% CPU usage

New Poster

I have now another post to my blog. His name is Faisal and he is also visually impaired. I've made it available for him to post here so he can share his opinions about technology. You can visit his personal blog at
Http://www.thegreatfaisal.wordpress.com

Audio Game Maker Released

Yesterday, Audio Game Maker came out as promissed by the developers so now you can all create your own audio games with out any programming knoledge. This application is free and you can find more about it by going to the
Audio Game Maker website.

I like the fact that if people don't have their own website but want to put up their own game, they would have a place on the site to upload them to. However, the bad thing about this audio game maker is that it has some limitations such as not being able to save a game.

NVDA Blog

On the NVDA Mailing list, the main developers of NVDA announced that there is an NVDA Blog which tells of the latest happenings with NVDA wich for those who don't know, NVDA is a free and open source screen reader for Microsoft Windows. For more information, you can go to the home of NVDA by clicking
here.
To go to the blog, you can click
here.

New Version of Sound RTS Released

There is a test version of Sound RTS which has just come out a couple of days ago. You can get it from the
Sound RTS
website.

New features in this update :
List of 6 items
• better voice
• the food limit is 80 divided by the number of players (instead of 20 for each player)
• bugfix: in a multiplayer game with more than 2 players, if one player looses, his remaining units won't stay in the game any more.
• private server (will not be registered in the list)
• connection to any server using its IP address (without using the list)
• when a server is full, it is removed from the list; it is added back to the list when a game is over
list end

I hope you have fun.

Montezuma's Revenge Patch Available

A couple of days ago, USA Games released a pat for Montezuma's Revenge which includes new sounds and bug fixes. You can get it from the
USA Games
website.

Duck Hunt Version 1.1 Released

Today Liam from
L-Works
released Duck Hunt Version 1.1 which has several improvements. First of all, there are three different modes, there is the one duck mode, the two duck mode and the clay Pigeon mode. Also there are bug fixes. I would say the Clay Pigeon mode is the hardest.

Sindero GPS Version 4.0 Released

A new version of the Sindero GPS Software has just been released from
Sindero Group.
There is a podcast up on
Blind Cool Tech
about this new version and all the new changes and features it has. The direct link to download this podcast is
http://media.libsyn.com/media/bct/bct1087SenderoGPSVersion4.mp3

Duck Hunt

Liam from
L-Works
has produced a duck shooting game using the sounds from the original duck hunt game that was for the old game consoles. There isn't a page for that on the L-Works website but there is a download link. The link is
http://www.l-works.net/dhsetup.exe

Sound RTS

A couple of days ago a new audio game came out called Sound Real Time Strategy which is commonly known as Sound RTS. It is a game simular to War Craft in which you have to recruit peasants and footman and other important people in the midevil days so they can help you defeat other armies. This is a free game with a multy player mode where you can have up to four people playing at the same time. The only two bad things about this game are the sounds and the multy player mode. The sounds are in low quality and the multy player mode is not very stable. If you are interested in giving it a try, you can go to
http://jlpo.free.fr/soundrts
this is a very addictive game when you understand how to play it.

New Beta Version of Skype

From the PC-Audio List I got the following e-mail:

Skype version 3.5.0.158 beta is now available and one place where you
can download it from is at
www.majorgeeks.com/Skype_d4245.html.


Here are the changes in this version:

feature: Add video to mood and chat message
feature: Video snapshot
feature: What's New Guide
feature: Support for Firewire Digital cameras
change: Change SkypeMe status to Online for users under 16
change: Updated all language files
change: IE Plugin updated (2.2.0.98)
bugfix: When menu was opened it needed 2 clicks to answer a call on
tray notification
bugfix: Latvian installer did not work
bugfix: Installer did not remember custom install location
bugfix: Profile phone number text was cropped
bugfix: Autoredial attempts were wrongly counted
bugfix: Skype contacts were shown as SkypeOut contacts when sending SMS
bugfix: Accessibility: Not all buttons in profile were selectable via Tabstop
bugfix: Multiple device indicators were overlaying sometimes
bugfix: Status icon was shown wrongly on some machines
bugfix: Unable to copy emoticons while writing chat message
bugfix: Chat did not open from right place when person has extended
keyboard navigation enabled
bugfix: Selecting text with double click did not work as expected
when there were links in message
bugfix: Skype sometimes crashed on call transfer
bugfix: Duplicate entries in contact list
bugfix: Contact groups scrollbar visible when groups not expanded
bugfix: Voicemail event count does not decrease after listening to it
bugfix: Sound error not played on some actions
bugfix: German match case option in chat shown in black
bugfix: Cyrillic characters were shown wrongly on some places
bugfix: Chat messages were shown with too much indent
bugfix: Long usernames displayed wrongly in Events Panel
bugfix: Skype displayes blanks under Audio Settings
bugfix: Name not shown on tray alert on 1680x1050 resolution
bugfix: Call forwarded icon not displayed
bugfix: Changing participants view was not possible in chat window
bugfix: Add to SkypeOut did not work as expected on some rare cases
bugfix: Options accessibility has usability problems with screen readers
bugfix: Chat window content was too wide
bugfix: Chat controls did not appear instantly
bugfix: Video calls should be better on relayed connections
bugfix: Video calls with integrated Intel video cards had green flicker
bugfix API: It was not possible to select default audio device

Regards Steve

Sound Effects Website

Someone found a cool sound effects website that I checked out and I thought that it was wonderful because a lot of the sound effects are very high quality and you can use them for free and comercial games. You can sign up for free and upload sounds that you have made that are high quality. The best thing is that it is very accessible. The website is:
http://www.soundsnap.com