Hi Peter,
Thanks for asking. We are getting prepared, but still many things to do! I'll say more about the house at the end of this email.
I got the last three modules loading (PDF document import, PNG and JPEG filters) and got 90% of the window drawing issues done. You can actually load documents and see the first page (can't turn pages because of gadgets in the window frame) as long as you don't have to scroll (busted scrollbars) and you won't see text (same problems as windows vista, can't find the fonts yet). You can also draw boxes, place graphics, and the like.
The biggest problem now (besides text which should not take long to fix. Today?) is getting all of the various controls/gadgets/widgets working properly in the dialog boxes. That is probably the only remaining hurdle of significance left which is really good news. But it will take more than a day. Just don't ask how much more than!
Deron
-- Deron Kazmaier - support@pagestream.org Grasshopper LLC Publishing -http://www.pagestream.org PageStream DTP for Amiga, Linux, Macintosh, and Windows
ok, so about the house... If anyone is interested, my wife has a few websites of her own and in her photo albums she has a picture of our last improvement. We actually backfilled around the house so that the crawlspace/cellar no longer is wind swept and put a small deck outside the door so that we have some place to clean the mud off our feet! The "dirt" around here would pass for potters clay and when wet will adhere at least 2" to your boots! (That is 5cm for the rest of you .
Obviously lots of things still to do, but the biggest is getting some kind of heat installed. Insullation is good and we are very well sealed. I would like a little more attic insulation but that can wait. Heat first! I have a 1500gallon water tank under the house and given a free day I am considering building a solar water heater that circulates that water thru the collection plate when the sun is shinning (power a small pump with solar panel). The water tank is used for watering and washing etc so having it warm would only help in every possible way. I have 90% of the materials to make the solar panel myself. The backup heat source (which I will do first) will be a propane wall heater. The space is small enough we don't need much to circulate the heat. The bedroom can be much colder than the office/den/kitchen area so that is not a problem. All it takes is time and money!
I am also collecting parts now for our windmill. I've decided to build a 20ft diameter beast. As soon as the ground dries enough I am getting an axle from a mobile home which will become the center hub. I'm trying to track down some discarded oil well drill pipe for the tower. Doesn't have to be very tall since we have no obstructions to get above! The blades will be a simple (read inefficient) fixed pitch, no twist blades until I get a chance to build better blades next year. Since we don't need as much electric in the winter and the wind blows more in the winter this should work out well.
Also trying to get food and water stockpiled here. The locals warn that we could get trapped for weeks or even months at a time. We can ride out to the highway and catch a ride to town for some supplies if that happened but it would be hard to bring bulky items in so we are doing what we can to be prepared for that. I doubt we will be ready for a serious snow storm that stays but we do what we can and hope that in this case global warming is a good thing.
But this is all just my side project these days. I try and spend an average of 1hr a day on the house and like, but that doesn't alway happen. This computer now dominates my time which is a good thing for PageStream and the bottom line. Hopefully business (read income) will be back to "normal" soon.
Oh, the picture of the house backfilled is at http://www.doesmybuttlookbiginthesaddle.com/?action=Photos&photoid=623. That is our friend Tom running the skidsteer, and his wife Gail leaning on the shovel. The new "porch" can be seen at http://www.faroutliving.com/?action=Photos&photoid=615. You can browse around and see all kinds of other things if you are so inclined including all my wifes other websites To see recent pictures of us (riding on the range) you can see me at http://www.bibledonkeys.com/?action=Photos&photoid=622 and my wife at http://www.theagilerat.com/?action=Photos&photoid=582. I put a few different domains in the url's but they all link to the same photo album so you can browse from the first picture if you want. Just having a little fun.
Ok, back to work...
Deron
Peter Schaff wrote: > Thanks Deron! > > Are you sufficiently winterized? > > - Peter Schaff > > On Oct 18, 2007, at 3:45 PM, PageStream Support wrote: > > >> Just a quick note that I have the issue with loading modules (like >> filters, language modules, etc) fixed and all but 3 recompiled. I >> still >> need to actually compile the PNG and JPG graphic filters and the PDF >> document import filter but that should be done today. >> >> I still have the document window display issue to address but I have >> written a custom hiview to fix mouse tracking problems and some of the >> refresh issues. >> >> When these two issues are fixed I'll be releasing another alpha. >> >> Deron >>
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