Ronnie Simon got me thinking about a couple of interesting projects.

A CSV viewer editor, something that shows CSV data in a useful way and allows you to import and export it. I love that idea. All kind of programs can use and generate CSV files. A simple soup in the newton can be converted to a CSV very easily because, sometimes, many entries share the same headers.

And XML. That's something new for me, but from what i've read on the net, XML looks like the most natural way to show *all* the data in the Newton. Some work has be done with it, Escale and the DCL uses it.
I've think about a frame-XML and XML-frame converter. This could be the answer to all the problems we have with syncronization.

The first tests gave me this prueba2.xml . Open it with your browser or you favourite XML viewer and tell me how it looks (i'm using IE). It's just an entry in my Names soup.

Ronnie Simon, from London, and Elizabeth Garlick, from Brussels have been in Malaga this past weekend. It's been really fun and interesting, they're true power users of their newton.
I bought and converted a couple of Conceptronic Bluetooth cards for them, so I have the process clear now, as in, didn't have to open the cards as I had to do with mine. :-)

Paul Guyot has updated GIF Server to version 1.3. Now it can show the built-in bitmaps from the NewtonOS and display a counter using the same numbers displayed in a Newt. Oh! It also "fixes a problem nobody discovered" :-)

Jack Burks of DumbStart has released Jumble, a new game for your Newton.

Paul Guyot has taken over the LPR printer driver started by Eckhart Koeppen. He has released a new version with a lot new features.

Victor Rehorst started a thread at NTLK asking for different annoyances that he'd like to see fixed in the NewtonOS.

I took the challenge and made a couple of extensions, hacks mostly, to alleviate the problems.

The first, ShowOwnerInfo, will open the owner info to the detailed view, instead of the overview, it saves a couple of taps when editing the owner info preferences.

The second one, AutoCloseNotif, will close the Notification windows and the card slips automatically after a soft reset. Useful when you have a Newton web server, that sometimes reboots itself, and want the newton screen clean for those screen shots, NPDS can take.

Both come with Source Code for WinNTK.

The first program, ImageInBox, merges the functionality of the Mail V Image Stationery with the OBex receiving features of Neo, Nitro, Blunt, and IC/VC. In this release, it allows you to view JPEG and GIF files received via OBex in the inbox, rotation, zoom, scroll, etc are part of the Image Stationery features.

It will allow to view the rest of image formats, like PNG, TIFF and PICT in a second release.

These last days I've been getting the touch of programming for the newton again, after a long time without launching NTK.

Eckhart Koeppen has released a LPR (line printer remote) driver for the Newton.
With the correct client in a desktop, it can replace a printpack perfectly.

From the NPDS list:

>>Now can anyone squash the bug in my base station to get my newt back online?
>
>The bug in your base station?

1) Unplug base station.
2) Turn upside down, grasping firmly in both hands.
3) Shake base station vigorously.
4) Bug will be dislodged and hopefully fall out of base station.
5) Reconnect base station.
6) Enjoy your online experience.
g.

>Grant, you are so confused. Those are the instructions
>for rebooting an "Etch-a-sketch" (tm).
ROTFLMAO!
(In a way, rebooting myself.)
g.

Ah... those funny threads...

Eckhart Koeppen has updated a few of his programs, most notably Courier, that now has a search functionality. That update triggered some bug fixes to NHTTPLib and NTox.

Paul Curtis announced the availability of the Card Loaner Program for America. More details in his NTLK post.

I bought a BlueTooth PC card in the hope of making it work with Eckhart Koeppen's Blunt. It didn't work. I crashed the Newton big time. Life with a Newton isn't easy sometimes, but when you make something work, oh, it's so rewarding...

The Card is a Conceptronic CBT100C, 100 m coverage!, its blue LED and a cool retractable antenna.

Making it work involved using a couple of programs to change the settings of the BT module and the UART inside the card. Oh yeah, and opening it...


I'm pretty confident that I can configure other cards that are not supported by Blunt and make them work.

Anyway, now I have a perfect wireless network, that takes almost no power from the newt batteries, for 45 Euro.

Long time NTLK'er Jon Glass had a baby last saturday. Clarissa Grace. Congratulations Jon!!
http://www.dabie.k-ow.net/~jonglass/clarissa.jpg