Updates from last month's column:

The WarpZilla team has released Firefox version 1.5 beta 2 as of 10/11/2005. This is an update to Firefox that was demoed by Tony Butka at previous SCOUG general meetings. It is a stand-alone browser based on Mozilla that does not include mail, news, composer, IRC, and the other frills. A recent announcement said that there will not be any more versions of Mozilla (as produced by the Mozilla Foundation) past the 1.7.x series, so Firefox is now the Foundation's official browser. Go to ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/1.5b2/contrib/. The file name is firefox-1.5b2-os2.zip. More info is at http://www.mozilla.org/ports/os2/.

NOTES:
1. Steve Wendt has a WarpZilla tips page at http://www.os2bbs.com/os2news/Warpzilla.html.
2. You must unzip the zip file yourself into a directory and then create or update a program object accordingly.
3. This version requires the GCC runtime: download that at http://download.innotek.de/gccos2/runtime/libc-0.5.1.exe (a self-installing executable). The EMX runtime is no longer required if you don't already have it installed. The GCC runtime installer defaults to x:\OS2\DLL (where x is your OS/2 or eComStation boot drive); it may be preferable to put the runtime in the same directory as the Firefox executable.
4. This version requires an updated version of IPLUGINW.DLL for Java support; go to https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/attachment.cgi?id=196271.
5. There are some icons for Firefox as of 02/13/2004. Use search keys firefoxicon or os2firefox on Hobbes.
6. Tony's notes on installing and running Firefox are at http://www.scoug.com/os24u/2003/scoug310.mozilla.html.

The WarpZilla team has also released Thunderbird version 1.5 beta 2 as of 10/12/2005. This has been demoed by Tony Butka at previous SCOUG general meetings. It is a stand-alone mail and newsgroup client based on Mozilla that does not include the browser, composer, IRC, and the other frills. A recent announcement said that there will not be any more versions of Mozilla (as produced by the Mozilla Foundation) past the 1.7.x series, so Thunderbird is now the Foundation's official mail & newsgroup client. Go to ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/thunderbird/releases/1.5b2/contrib/. The file name is thunderbird-1.5b2-os2.zip. More info is at http://www.mozilla.org/ports/os2/.

NOTES:
1. Steve Wendt has a WarpZilla tips page at http://www.os2bbs.com/os2news/Warpzilla.html.
2. You must unzip the zip file yourself into a directory and then create or update a program object accordingly.
3. This version requires the GCC runtime: download that at http://download.innotek.de/gccos2/runtime/libc-0.5.1.exe (a self-installing executable). The EMX runtime is no longer required if you don't already have it installed. The GCC runtime installer defaults to x:\OS2\DLL (where x is your OS/2 or eComStation boot drive); it may be preferable to put the runtime in the same directory as the Thunderbird executable.
4. This version requires an updated version of IPLUGINW.DLL for Java support; go to https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/attachment.cgi?id=196271.
5. Tony's notes on installing and running Thunderbird are at http://www.scoug.com/os24u/2003/scoug310.mozilla.html.

There is a fix now available to Maul Publisher version 3.02 (see last month's column) to bring it to version 3.03-02.A.5Ge. Four bugs were resolved, plus an updated installer to improve management of any future fixpacks that may be released. Go to http://www.manglais.com/subs/php/product.php?MAULE300.

PCI+AGP bus sniffer version 1.04 has been released as of 10/13/2005. This tool shows PCI, AGP, and CardBus device information, has a huge database of known vendors and devices, and can tell what IRQs are supported by which slot. Use search key pci on Hobbes.

PHPMyAdmin version 2.6.4-pl3 has been released as of 10/23/2005. This is a set of PHP scripts to administer MySQL over the web. Go to http://phpmyadmin.sourceforge.net/.

WGET version 1.10.1 has been updated as of 10/05/2005. It is a utility to retrieve files from the World Wide Web using HTTP and FTP, in batch mode. The recursive retrieval of HTML pages, as well as FTP sites is supported - you can use it to make mirrors of archives and home pages. Re-getting incomplete files from where it left off works on servers (both HTTP and FTP) that support it. The latest version supports downloading files larger than 2GB, and from SSL sites. Go to http://smedley.info/os2ports.html.

NOTES:
1. The GCC runtine LIBC06R1 is needed; go to ftp://ftp.netlabs.org/pub/wvgui/libc06r1.zip.
2. A library routine called iintl6i is also needed; go to http://smedley.info/iintl6i.zip.

CURL version 7.14.1 has been updated as of 10/05/2005. This is a tool for getting files using URL syntax, with SSL support. Go to http://smedley.info/os2ports.html.

FFmpeg version 0.49pre has been updated as of 10/02/2005. This is a complete (command-line driven) solution to record, convert, and stream audio & video. Go to http://smedley.info/os2ports.html.

IBM Alphaworks has released version 1.2.6 of a MPEG-4 player and content creator development kit as of 10/03/2005. It works with Java 1.3.1. According to Steve Wendt, it plays MPEG-4 video (samples included) just fine on a PII-300 MHz machine. Go to http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/tk4mpeg4.

This month's new listings - Drivers:

SciTech SNAP Graphics version 3.1.1 has been released as of 10/28/2005. This is a universal video driver, with support for over 230 graphic chipsets, with extra features like zooming and multi-head. The latest version adds support for more Nvidia and ATI chipsets, video overlays on Intel chipsets, software OpenGL 1.5 support, optional unattended installation, and more. Go to http://www.scitechsoft.com/ftp/snap/os2/; more info is at http://www.scitechsoft.com/products/ent/snap_os2_content.html. The README is at http://www.scitechsoft.com/ftp/snap/os2/readme.txt, the changelog is at http://www.scitechsoft.com/snap2_changes.txt, and the list of supported chipsets is at http://www.scitechsoft.com/chiplist/snap_os2_chiplist.html.

DaniS506 version 1.7.4 has been released as of 10/16/2005. It is a replacement for IBM's IBM1S506 EIDE driver, which features support for many chipsets, PCCard controllers, busmastering, Ultra33 DMA, Ultra ATA-66, Ultra ATA-100, faster PIO due to 32-bit I/O, serial ATA, and much more. Use search key danis on Hobbes.

IBM has updated as of 10/10/2005 drivers that support the USB 1.0 OHCI, 1.1 UHCI, and 2.0 EHCI specifications. If you are a registered eComStation user, go to http://www.ecomstation.com/; after signing-in, you can download the driver (a Zip file).

IBM has updated as of 10/10/2005 the USB printer driver. This driver supports USB printers, as well as providing support for parallel printers attached to the system by means of USB Parallel Converter cables. If you are a registered eComStation user, go to http://www.ecomstation.com/; after signing-in, you can download the driver (a Zip file).

ASPIROUT.SYS version 1.1 beta 10 has been released as of 10/09/2005. It is a pre-requisite for programs that access SCSI (or emulated SCSI for IDE) at an application level, such as SANE and some CD recording utilities. Go to http://home.clara.net/orac/os2.htm.

This month's new listings - Applications:

NewView version 2.17.1 has been released as of 10/02/2005. It is a rewrite of VIEW.EXE that comes with OS/2. It reads .INF and .HLP files. Improvements include a new user interface, remember size/position, select and copy from the window, and more. Use search key newview on Hobbes.

NOTES:
1. The author (Aaron Lawrence) says this may be the final version that is released by him; he is willing to work with someone who knows Sibyl should they want to continue development (it is available under the GPL).
2. Newview comes standard with eComStation.

TxWindows version 1.00 has been released. This is the text-mode windowing library used to build DFSee. Go to http://www.dfsee.com/.

NesCafe version 0.613 has been released as of 09/30/2005. This is a Java Nintendo Entertainment System emulator, which includes the source code under the GPL. Go to http://www.davieboy.net/nescafe/.

NetBeans version 5.0 beta has been released as of 09/29/2005. NetBeans Developer is a Java IDE written in pure Java. The IDE is based on JFC, and uses its' full feature-set. Full support of JavaBeans, use the BeanWizard to generate your own beans in minutes. Integrated full- featured text editor, debugger, compiler, pluggable Look & Feel, and Form Editor with advanced layout manager support. Go to http://www.netbeans.org/.

T&V HappyPlayer version 2.00 beta 4 has been released as of 10/18/2005. This is a PM application that operates TV cards built on the Brooktree BT848 chip, including some ATI and nVidia cards. Go to http://en.ecomstation.ru/projects/happyplayer/.

Linky version 2.7.1 has been released as of 10/05/2005. This is an add-on for Mozilla that adds extra link-related items to the menu, allowing you to perform tasks such as opening all links on a page in new tabs or copying selected links to the clipboard. Go to http://gemal.dk/mozilla/linky.html.

MPEG audio utility version 0.28 has been released a while back (06/19/2005). This utility analyzes all the frames of MPEG audio files, allowing you to manipulate them, such as removing leading and trailing silence. Go to http://www.maazl.de/project/mp3/mp3frame.html.

WarpIn version 1.0.8 has been released as of 10/13/2005. This is an open-source PM installer / uninstaller that can also install quietly through environmental variables. It also offers self-installing executables. Use search key warpin- on Hobbes, or go to http://warpin.netlabs.org/.

PMView Pro, the indispensible graphics viewer, is now at version 3.21 as of 10/28/2005. Some new features and bug fixes are included. Go to http://www.pmview.com/.

NOTES:
1. President Tony Butka discusses the PMView Pro 3.xx series in the July 2003 and September 2003 issues of Ink (http://www.scoug.com/os24u/2003/scoug307.ink.html and http://www.scoug.com/os24u/2003/scoug309.ink.html, respectively).
2. A list of new features/fixes is at http://www.pmview.com/os2new.html.

z! has been updated as of 10/16/2005. This is a text-mode MP3 player that can handle OGG, streaming audio (Shoutcast), and has Normalize support. Go to http://dink.org/z/zmsgbase.html?read=H5K1S7Y0F1.

NOTES:
1. More info is at http://dink.org/z/.
2. A FAQ is at http://dink.org/z/zmsgbase.html?read=A4E7P6Y7K5.

PolarBar Web/2 version 0.13 has been released as of 10/10/2005. This is a CGI web front-end for PolarBar Mailer, that allows you to read e-mail in a web browser. Use search key pbmweb on Hobbes.

bootAble version 4.2 has been released as of 10/09/2005. This is a script which can be used to create a maintenance partition or bootable CD with enough facilities to fully manage and recover your system. It contains support for LVM, HPFS, JFS, FAT32, UDF (turned off by default), and the CD file system. Go to http://www.xs4all.nl/~hrbaan/.

Python, which was demonstrated by Sheridan George at the Dec. 2001 SCOUG general meeting, is now at version 2.4.2 as of 10/09/2005. It is a scripting language that comes from the Unix world. Go to http://www.andymac.org/python-2.4/. Sheridan's comparison of Python vs. REXX is at http://www.scoug.com/os24u/2001/scoug012.rexx_python.html.

NOTES:
1. You can also use search key python on Hobbes.
2. Source is also available.
3. The EMX runtime is required; if you are not running eComStation 1.1 or 1.2 (where it is installed by default), use search key emxrt on Hobbes. For help with installation, see the June 2002 Mr. Know-It-All (http://www.scoug.com/os24u/2002/scoug206.mrkia.html).

FFPlay version 0.49pre has been released as of 10/04/2005. This is a video player that uses the FFMPEG and SDL libraries. Go to http://smedley.info/os2ports.html.

WarpVision, which was demoed by Jordan Fox at the June 2004 SCOUG general meeting, has been updated as of 10/03/2005. This is a player for DivX-3, DivX-4, DivX-5, XViD, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, AVI, and ASF, with MP3/AC3 audio, DVD support, a Mozilla plugin (requires registration and WarpOverlay), and "skin" support (see note 1 below). Go to ftp://ftp.netlabs.org/pub/wvgui/wvgui_latest.zip. Info is at http://warpvision.netlabs.org/.

NOTES:
1. There are downloadable "skins" at http://os2.kiev.ua/en/wv.skins.php.
2. According to the authors, you must delete VIDEO2.INI prior to updating from a previous version of WarpVision.
3. There are some Windows codecs you can use via Odin, available at ftp://ftp.netlabs.org/pub/wvgui/wincodecs/.
4. The WarpVision team accepts donations at https://secure.bmtmicro.com/ECommerce-OffSite/11980000.html, or at http://shop.mensys.nl/uk/warpvision.

ClamAV version 0.87 has been released as of 10/17/2005. This is a GPL anti-virus toolkit, which features a command-line scanner, a tool for automatic updating via the Internet, and integration with mail servers (attachment scanning). Use search key clamav on Hobbes.

FotoGet/2 version 1.0.10 has been released as of 10/19/2005. This is a utility to ease the transfer of pictures from a digital camera. Use search key fotoget on Hobbes. NOTE: You need WarpIn to install.

DVDBurn version 09.12 has been released as of 10/27/2005. This is a GUI front-end for ffmpeg, DVDAuthor, mkisof2, and DVDDAO to transcode video files, create a DVD structure, and build and burn a DVD image. Use search key dvdburn on Hobbes.

EmperoarTV, which was demoed by Jerry Rash at the July 2004 SCOUG general meeting, is now at version 1.08o as of 10/27/2005. This software brings support for the Hauppauge PVR150/250/350/500 TV cards to the OS/2 platform, including high-quality MPEG2 hard disk recording and playback. You can listen to FM radio programs in stereo, watch TV programs in excellent image quality, and more. Also available is DVDFront, a front-end that simplifies the creation of video DVD's out of recordings made by EmperoarTV. It now supports both WarpOverlay and SNAP overlays. Go to http://www.s-t.de/emperoar/.

NOTES:
1. EmperoarTV can be purchased at Mensys (http://shop.mensys.nl/cgi-bin/db2www/mns_art.d2w/report?catname=EmperoarTV).
2. You need WarpIn to install.

Electronic Teller, one of OS/2's oldest shareware home financial applications, is now at version 4.3 as of 10/29/2005. It is a home finance application that allows you to keep track of your checking, credit card, and cash accounts. It can keep track of multiple accounts and multiple users, and can import .QIF files from Quicken. Go to http://home.cybrnet.net/~phcaron/, or use search key et4 on Hobbes.

jPixDb version 1.5 has been released. It is a Java program for organizing, viewing, and printing picture albums. It requires Java 1.4. Go to http://www.bluemontsw.com/.

SCOUG, Warp Expo West, and Warpfest are trademarks of the Southern California OS/2 User Group. OS/2, Workplace Shell, and IBM are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. All other trademarks remain the property of their respective owners.