Silent Development

Aerofoil 1.5.0_01 Out

2009-11-08T19:56:00.005Z

No changes to Aerofoil, just to its installer (About box in Aerofoil still shows "1.5.0").Changes for 1.5.0_01:Added installer options to add a "Configuration" shortcut to the start menu (configuration shortcut starts a copy of the installer for Aerofoil's reconfiguration).Added automatic shutdown of Aerofoil on installer run.These changes should hopefully deal with the concerns raised about the

Image to ZX Spec Tutorial

2009-11-07T03:27:00.008Z

I've put out a YouTube video tutorial on using Image to ZX Spec (app download can be found on the links) showing how I made the ZX Spectrum "Little Shop of Horrors" slideshow and explaining all of Image to ZX Spec's settings. Watch the Image to ZX Spec tutorial

Free and Legal Commercial Application Software

2009-10-24T10:54:00.004Z

Following on from last year's free and legal commercial games here's a list of the download links for application software I use daily, and some of which you may already know.Serif Software - I can recommend free PanaramaPlus 2!Giveaway of the Day - fully licenced promotional copies of commercial software that changes day to day.Open source software - a very wide range of free software, including

Softpedia Mirror Now Available

2009-10-21T11:05:00.005Z

Softpedia has started mirroring some Silent Software that is GPL licenced ...although I didn't actually list some of it!! The following software has been awarded the Softpedia logo shown on this page.Aerofoil on SoftpediaImage to ZX Spec on SoftpediaGesture Magic on SoftpediaPlease note some of the software available on this blog whilst free to download is NOT GPL (CPL and closed source). I'll be

Aerofoil 1.5.0 Released

2009-10-17T15:54:00.019Z

The Award Winning Aerofoil has now been updated to 1.5.0!Aerofoil extends Vista and Windows 7 notebook battery life by:Allowing you to manually disable Aero Glass.Optionally managing Aero Glass user interface.Optionally managing sound muting (NEW!).Optionally managing YOUR chosen power plans (NEW!)Optionally managing Windows Sidebar.Optionally showing a quick hibernate buttonChanging icon colour

FollowMe 1.2 Release Delay :(

2009-09-29T19:34:00.003Z

As happens with other software I write in my free time I've not been able to push FollowMe 1.2 out of the door quickly as I'd like since I've been on holiday and now have a bad head cold (hopefully not the s-flu!) but the software is still on the cards as the next immediate release.Thanks for your patience.

FollowMe 1.2 (the new name for LocateMe)

2009-08-31T15:26:00.007Z

Since its release in early 2008 LocateMe 1.1 has been a great program, but is slipping behind the times compared to now many other similar modern hardware tracking solutions.LocateMe has also unintentionally shared the same name as other similar popular software for iphone and pocket pc (which admittedly has probably helped in its success), so now its name is changing, it's shortly to be called

Image to ZX Spec 1.0.5 Released

2009-07-26T18:00:00.011Z

Image to ZX Spec 1.0.5 "Omega" is now available - try it online (requires Java 6, you will be shown a security prompt) or download it (more links bottom of this post beneath changes).You can find out more about what Image to ZX Spec can do here and hereBill and Ted agree being Omega dithered is most excellent (click image)Changes-------Version 1.0.5Added Bayer Ordered Dither (2x1)Added Omega

Ubuntu: Mount a RAID array, show in Gnome Places as a single disk

2009-07-18T10:08:00.008Z

DISCLAIMER: I accept no responsibility for any damage you may do by following the instructions below, do so at your own risk!! I advise you read all of the instructions before you start.After the pathetic lack of responses on Linux forums for this question here and here I decided to spend a large amount of my time getting this to work so some of you don't have to. In all honestly I've not posted

Image to ZX Spec 1.0.4 Released

2009-07-13T21:29:00.007Z

Hot on the heels of the 1.0.3 release I burnt out to finish 1.0.4 with a number of new ordered dithering options, performance tweaks and other nice things - try it online (requires Java 6, you will be shown a security prompt) or download it (more links bottom of this post beneath changes).You can find out more about what Image to ZX Spec can do hereHere's a sample of the new ordered dither modes,

Image to ZX Spec 1.0.3 Released

2009-07-03T22:03:00.008Z

Lots of improvements in this release - as you can see! For a change list see below, for more info and screenshots see the original post.If you don't fancy the download you can also now try Image to ZX Spec online (requires Java 6). You will be prompted about its digital signature being unverified - you will need to click the "Run" option or it won't start). You don't have to tick the "Always

Wubi Wubi Wubi! Wubi Ubuntu 9.04 Install Error

2009-06-28T11:59:00.005Z

If your Wubi Ubuntu 9.04 install is hanging at "Creating the virtual disks" it's probably down to the file system you are trying to install Wubi on. Fat32 formatted disks have a file size limit of 4GB, so no matter what the Wubi installer tells you, you won't be able to create a >4GB Ubuntu install on this disk.You should convert the disk to NTFS from the command line using the Microsoft convert

Image to ZX Spec 1.0.2 Progress

2009-06-25T22:01:00.009Z

I thought I'd post progress on Image to ZX Spec. I've now added a number of other dither options and a separate dialog for configuration, but I guess what you really want to see is how much it's improved - the following conversions where done with my own "low error" dither based on the Atkinson dither. Click the images to see them full size. Yes... this is what the images will look like on a real

Image to ZX Spec 1.0.1 Released

2009-06-16T20:49:00.004Z

Image to ZX Spectrum has been updated.For a full description of what this application does see the original post.I'm not entirely happy with this release - the "Full Colour Floyd Steinberg Converter" (FCFSC) mode is still quite poor, however I'm releasing it now so users can get a feel for the "Half Colour Floyd Steinberg Converter" (HCFSC) which is new to 1.0.1 and is potentially a lot better (

Genuine Original Windows XP Themes Collection

2009-05-31T11:59:00.007Z

A number of genuine themes have been released for Windows XP over the years.As a convenience to readers I'm listing the download links to the Microsoft sites below - I'll update this post if any more become available (and when I find them - there is a "Watercolor" XP beta theme lurking around somewhere but I can't seem to find a Microsoft signed copy).NameDescriptionZuneOrange and blackWindows

Fixing TFT Monitor Flicker

2009-05-20T18:19:00.007Z

If like me you've got a TFT monitor and you've noticed flickering on some moire images (such as the one right) or high contrast colours it may not be the monitor at fault.The good news is there is an easy way to fix it in Windows - just change the Display Mode Timing. Usually you can find settings like these on your graphics card drivers' control panel application see the NVidia screenshot

Aerofoil 1.5?

2009-05-17T08:50:00.017Z

Recently I've also been thinking of improving Aerofoil to include new features that greatly improve battery life for Vista and Windows 7. This is not to say I will produce an Aerofoil 1.5, but more a general gauge of user feedback as to features you'd like to see. With up to 240 unique hits a day on this blog I'm hoping some of you will be able to give me some info on features you think would be

Image to ZX Spec Released

2009-05-15T20:39:00.013Z

Image to ZX Spec is now available for downloadMany thanks to Viperfang Networks for the hostingImage to ZX Spec allows you to:- Convert JPEGS or GIFs to a ZX Spectrum slideshow (tap file).- Convert JPEGS or GIFs to a ZX Spectrum SCREEN image (.scr file).- Create retro art work, any size image can be "Spectrumized" (.png file).- Convert an entire directory of images, with previews.- Choose from

Retro Art Software "Image to ZX Spec" and Blog Issues

2009-05-10T03:17:00.011Z

UPDATE:Many thanks to Viperfang Networks for the new download hosting - the site should be working normally. If you notice any broken links please drop me a comment.I'm moving web hosting so my downloads and most other content will shortly be offline, although hopefully this should not be for too long (a few hours tops).Unrelated, in the last week I've written Image to ZX Spec, an image converter

Retro fun

2009-04-23T12:24:00.002Z

As usual software development on Gesture Magic and Vampire Castle is taking a back seat, mostly because I've found other more distracting things to do. Hey at least I got LocateME updated to 1.1 :)So now I'm- Playing with and programming for a ZX Spectrum +3, for the hell of it.- Restoring another broken ZX Spectrum +3 I was given.- Playing Fallout 3.- Ebaying- Watching Reaper Season 1 (on import

F*** you to Orange

2009-03-07T17:42:00.012Z

For the sake of over charging me £0.25, this year alone Orange have now just lost at least a guaranteed £150 (£15*10 months) from me (pay as you go) and £350 (£35*10 months) from my fiancée (contract). What's more is that I'm now making around 50% savings and my other half 67% savings for the same service elsewhere* - that's better than I could have hoped! They'll also be losing out from extended

The Fruit Machine Vampire Castle Ramp Up

2009-03-02T13:35:00.005Z

Last weekend I spent Sunday rewriting the The Fruit Machine - Vampire Castle "event model", to put this simply, the existing system couldn't handle the combinations of clicks and options available on the fruit machine without some major code ugliness and risk of bugs.The code is now in a state to progress it further feature wise. I particularly want to make it easier (not easy - because it isn't)

LocateMe 1.1 Released - Free Java ME GPS Tracking Software

2009-02-19T23:26:00.008Z

LocateMe 1.1 is released, downloads below.LocateMe - Free open source GPS tracking software for MIDP 2.0 mobile phones.This small (30-35K) application requires a mobile phone with an integrated GPS or a separate Bluetooth GPS and will show you the direction to a given location (a "target") without maps, using a pulsing direction arrow. You can request the location of other LocateMe users by text

LocateMe Update! Hooray!

2009-02-17T23:29:00.005Z

Thanks to a very helpful user I've been able to improve integrated GPS support in LocateMe 1.0.1 Beta. Subject to extra testing I'll be releasing this as full 1.0.1 with source shortly. This isn't the rewrite I wanted for V2 (with all the extra bluetooth/logging/radar etc. features) but improved support/feature completion for the V1 lineage.The improvements include:- If you have an integrated GPS

Vampire Castle Progress

2009-02-16T12:38:00.002Z

I spent a a whole day trying to move from the PALib library to libnds to make Vampire Castle future proof, unfortunately this proved to be more time consuming than I hoped and backed out the changes (two key problems arose - I can't use anim gifs, and I couldn't alter screen brightness without a lot of faff*). I also didn't fancy rescripting lots of PAGfx ini files to Grit scripts (i.e. the