380 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
380 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
iNSOMNiA E-Mag Interface History written by fade/rem
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[both the e-mag interface AND the revision notes =)]
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iNSOMNiA #1's interface was written in Turbo Pascal 7.0, and unless
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it gives me any more trouble, then i'll probably revise it in tp7...
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iNSOMNiA #1's features include:
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0% ansi.sys-reliant
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ansi gallery you can scroll around in...
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neato multicolored article viewer
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easily recompilable article index (just add articles!)
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umm...pretty pictures? =)
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those lightbar menus you've probably all come to love.
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far, FAR too much nin influence in the code.
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- when i needed another throwaway var and i didn't know what to
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name it... well... what am i listening to? all right.
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for ruiner := 1 to length(hurt) do inc(piggy)....
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well, you get the idea.
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i sure hope no one is taking this too seriously, because i sure as
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hell ain't. =) if anyone says "dude, the coding on your mag sucks!", i'll
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snap in reply, "you can read the articles, can't you, fucko?"
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er, you >can<, you know. can't you? if you have any problems, let me
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know. /msg me, e-mail me (wagner@crl.com), or kmb - network 23 - 4153812137
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nup: zikzak...
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version 0.01a
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article viewer kludged together. doesn't work very well. files
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not read or displayed correctly. fuck. =)
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version 0.01b
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article viewer revised. changed the input routines from scanning for a
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CR/LF to stop reading one string to just readlning a string... neat eh?
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can now read the sample article i wrote for it, but cannot distinguish
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articles in the same file. progress bars and scrolling functions still
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don't work. only uses '8' and '2'...and as i said before, scrolling doesn't
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work... ain't that a bitch?
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version 0.02
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finally got around to putting in the "line/total" thingamabobber. it
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works, sort of. had to kludge this too, to get it working. depending on
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where i want the viewer to stop scrolling on something, gotta change the
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scroll procedure as well.
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version 0.03
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added in a help screen, pageup,pagedown,f1,home,end, and arrow key
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support. enter & escape both quit the viewer. unfortunately, there's
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not much for it to go back to (haven't done the main menu/filesys).
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version 0.05
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well, the article viewer can practically stand on its' own. it
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determines article length by the first null string in the article, so i
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hope no one is going to hit ENTER a lot and not put any spaces in, because
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then that will fuck it up. i'll see what i can do about that. for now,
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it looks like you'll have to make do with that.
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version 0.06
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added in the progress bar. wrote it in asm. AAAARRRGH!!!!!
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it was tedious, yes. kids, the inside of your computer is a very
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dangerous place. don't mess with the BIOS unless you know what you're
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doing.
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<i didn't, but it's still good advice. =)>
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also added in the title/author thing. iNSOMNiA scans the ARTICLE.DAT
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file for characters at the beginning of the line, and if it finds them,
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it adds the rest of the line into the article database. this allows me
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to add articles on the fly. just gimme an article and i'll show you.
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dead simple.
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also added an "EOA" (end of article) character... groovin'. now the
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viewer doesn't fuck with null strings and just scans for that character. if
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that char ain't there, then it scans for the next article title... finds that,
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then it stops... well... almost. need to tweak that.
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version 0.07
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well, the viewer pretty much works and it's impossible to crash,
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unless you count a successful exit to DOS as a crash. =) which i don't.
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made it into a unit and i am now working on the main menu and fsystem.
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fsystem shouldn't be too hard, just have to write it. =)
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menu should also not be too hard. the worst is over!
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version 0.10
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filesystem works. kinda. scans the ARTICLE.DAT for article names and
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authors (which don't get confused, mangled, shredded, OR truncated... <cough
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cough>terbium!<cough>), and adds them to the Glorious People's Article
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Index... it's so beautifully simple i could cry, but i won't.
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version 0.11
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kludged the main menu together. it works. kinda.
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of course, the main menu doesn't exactly DO anything at the moment...
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filesystem works, but better than kinda. now if i can only get it to
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recognize the end of an article... d'ooooooh!
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version 0.12
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all right, the filesystem finally works the way i want it to. even
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added a few test articles and it worked fine. i can increase the max # of
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articles any time i damned well please...
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starting on the article menu. may not have enough space (using approx
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same sized menu window as the main menu, but a bit wider). but it should
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work, at least in theory.
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art gallery still not done. i'm putting that off as long as possible.
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this mag doesn't need an art gallery. it DOES need everything else.
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<it's a frill, IMO>
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ansi parsing has always been the bane of my existence. =) yes, i am a bit
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lazy. =)
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version 0.15
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had a teeny tiny problem with the viewer unit... it's such a hog that
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i had to move all the screens into a separate unit (ANSIS)...
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to further conserve memory, i'm drawing the screens myself, that is,
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i'm not displaying an article screen and a main menu screen and an art
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screen, i'm just displaying the insomnia menu background and drawing a
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box and window of the appropriate size.
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version 0.16
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forgot to set the viewer's buffer (200 lines, max) strings to
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string[80]s or so, and that crashed the mag just as i had it integrated.
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ain't THAT a bitch?
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well, now let's see if it works... <crash!>
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version 0.17
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widened the article menu to about 70 columns x 10 or 15 or so lines.
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much better. me like. not everyone has a name as short as fade/rem.
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i just imagined someone like nemesis/renaissance trying to fit his
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article name and such on the old menu (tiny!). well, it's not that big a
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deal since i'm drawing them with a few routines now...
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version 0.20
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whoops! don't tell anyone, but i used a goto in the article menu
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code... i feel so bad for doing that... haven't used a goto since my BASIC
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days. =) i used it in the wrong place, anyway... where the local option
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variables are initialized is in the beginning of the loop (duuuuh?) and
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the label is in a position that causes it to reset you back to the beginning
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of the list instead of where you last read an article. works now.
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added color support. #170-#172 or so does it. only for a word or
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until it finds another word (meaning, a space). replaced the article
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printing loop's "writeln(placeinthearticle)" with my own code. =)
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version 0.21
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as soon as i get out of this hole (i've been coding since 0.02 on a
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laptop... =Q), i am going to definitely start soliciting articles. i have
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some scrolling functions in the article selection menu, but i currently
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do not have the following working:
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BGM <background music =)>
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ANSi file support <UNLESS i cheat and save 'em as .PAS in thedraw>
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VGA >ANYTHING< <if you've seen my abortive attempts at VGA, you
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know why... if someone wants to help, GREAT!!!>
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other than that, the mag is theoretically ready to go. it needs a
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.DIZ, a k-k00l nfo file, and SOME FUCKING ARTICLES .. =) ...
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i'm hoping for an early september/late august release date.
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version 0.22
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okay, the scrolling in the article menu DOESN'T work. waaaaah....
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i'm working on it, though. it's only a matter of time, now. =)
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version 0.23
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goddamn, that was quick. article scrolling : fixed.
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this is probably good enough to pass around to people and show them
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that i've been doing something and not just riding my damned bicycle all
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the time. =)
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i will probably have to revise the filesystem if/when i ever try to
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add ansi support. it's a bit beyond me right now... i think i could prob.
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code it if i could just THINK IT OUT... i'm getting there, but slowly. =(
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version 0.23a
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ok, i'm not going to let this thing go until i have the ansi support
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at least in a fully-kludged form... right now it's...really ugly. that's
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just about the best way i can describe it without having to get really
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upset. the code's rather nasty now, but it DOES recognize most of the
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more common codes... it even recognizes that <esc>[;XXH thing that obv/2
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does... =) ... well, by accident, but it works. i don't have that much to
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test it out on, but i think the cursor movement codes are a teeny bit off.
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version 0.25
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i can't believe it. in just about 90 minutes i managed to clean up
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the ansi parser. it works. fully. 'course, now i have to clean up the
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filesystem unit and add in the ANSi gallery........ =)
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version 0.26
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okay, so i got a bit sidetracked.
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instead of REALLY putting in the ANSi gallery functions, i tweaked
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the article menu. but since i will pretty much be duplicating the article
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menu in the art menu (yeah, THAT'S RIGHT. ahhhhh, i cheat so much... =) ),
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there's not much point, really.
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version 0.27
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art gallery function works, as long as you don't fuck with them funky
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h codes... =) ... who needs to change video modes for ansis, anyway?!
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there is currently only ONE bug with the art gallery... it sort of gets
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goofy with the two sample ansis i have there... ugly to look at, but it works
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OK. you can still select them... and the error isn't fatal. it's just a
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bug... if i don't bother with it, i'll just call it a feature. =)
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version 0.28 7.aug.1994
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tweaked the viewer again. now tells ye when you're at the end of the
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article. also no longer uses a screen clearing function when updating the
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screen. the new output procedure fills the line so there's no need for it...
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right now the mag works fine, i'm just trying to get rid of as much flicker
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as i can... and on a laptop, you see a LOT of flicker (damned LCD display)...
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version 0.29 8.aug.1994
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well, in my opinion, i probably have enough done so that i can just set
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insomnia aside (it's done ENOUGH, at least =) ) and start working on a new
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REMVIEW proggy. i have noticed that the file list in REMVIEW is apparently
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hard-coded. i am going to apply the knowledge i've accumulated in coding
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iNSOMNiA to writing this viewer and perhaps then i'll move on to something
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bigger & better... bbs soft? =) <maybe a forum hack... naaaaah...>
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this will probably be the final version of insomnia #1 for a while...
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all the functions work. =) i will not add in anything unless i code
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it myself (no "hmm, i'll just take this VangeliSTracker source...").
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we'll see...
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version 0.30 12.aug.1994
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ok, i'll tweak it a bit more. and i have.
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insomnia was reading the raw menu fine, but the raw was about one line
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too big... shaved off about five characters from it and it's fine... however,
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all of the menu windows are shifted up one line. fixing that right now...
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viewer now reads "end/end" when you reach the last line of the article and
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when you try to scroll down afterwards, as well.
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changed the closing screen. will add the hella k-phunky phresh insomnia
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logo i drew for it after i get home & can color it... <i leave tomorry>
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also fiddled with the menus a bit, not just the locations of them... =)
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fixed the bug in which the "introduction" article (the first one) appears
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in the article viewing menu. it now skips over it completely, so you have to
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go back and go to introduction if you wanna read it.
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there's also a little bug when you hit pagedown in the article viewer...
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it tends to...er...quit.
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version 0.31 12.aug.1994 2:08p
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pagedown still tends to quit (it's not THAT MUCH like "enter" is it? =) ).
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menus are now drawn correctly. flicker is all but eliminated. wheeee!
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changed ansi parser a bit - it was incorrectly reading <esc>[?7h codes
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as <esc>[? and then printing 7h on the screen... baaad. however, 'tis now
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fixed and if i actually gave a shit about the ?7h code i would write the code
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necessary to parse it...... =) after all, who wants to switch screen
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modes?
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there are only two insomnia bugs at this point, and they've been around
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for so long i'm about to call them features... there's the pagedown bug and
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the ansi menu, which is violently fucked up when you hit "up" at the first
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choice... other than that, it works fiiiiiiiiine.... =) probably needs more
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bound-checking...
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version 0.32 12.aug.1994 2:12p
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er... nevermind. fixed the ansi gallery bug. it MAY reappear in a new,
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monstrous form when i put in the other ansis... but... oh well. i'll fix
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that when i get to it...
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version 0.35 7.sep.1994
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escape bug fixed. it now works. i hated it when people said "d00d your
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mag is fucked, it doesn't quit with escape." well, hey, i was on vacation and
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the laptop's keyboard had an escape key that was so far out of the way that i
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forgot an escape key existed. =)
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the pageup/pagedown bug is still there. gotta work on that one.
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version 0.36 10.sep.1994
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with the help of some source someone posted on impact net, i've finally
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figured out dac fading... which was eluding me for quite some time ("can you
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help us? we look for things, to make the screen get dark." =) ) ... so now
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that it works, i am happy and won't feel so bad about releasing the mag. =)
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people continue to drag their asses when it comes to articles. dorks. =)
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hehe...
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just downloaded MIDAS but i haven't read the docs yet. but gosh, i'm so
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confident... i've already asked a few composers to write some tunes for
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insomnia. they will be packaged outside of the executable becase, hey, why
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make work for the mod rippers? it's so much more not-satisfying this way. >=)
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version 0.37 11.sep.1994 16:15
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fading routines are finding their way into most of the rest of insomnia.
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they actually work and don't fuck up, now. =)
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update on sound support/MIDAS:
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working with a temporary module <Krystall/KLF's Space Track S3M>, i have
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actually gotten the fucker working very well. ends rather abruptly when you
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quit the mag, but other than that, no problems.
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insomnia now turns off the cursor when you run it and restores it when
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you quit the mag. looks a lot better now. =)
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version 0.38 12.sep.1994 22:01
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all right, i lied. the cursor doesn't come back on. boo FUCKING hoo.
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i can fix it, though. i'll fix it in the next version. right now, i want
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to release this as the next pre-release. <hopefully the final pre-release. =)>
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send comments, etc., to wagner@crl.com or /msg me on irc... i, surprisingly
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enough, go by the handle Fade. =)
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changes for the pre-release version:
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music support has been removed, ONLY FOR THE PRE-RELEASE. i have it all
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set up, but since i want to keep the size of the zip real tiny, i just removed
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the init routines... and since they set a music flag, it performs silently so
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well you'd swear it never had any music support at all. hmm ... =) trust me,
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it's not a hoax...
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i'm waiting for them damned musicians to start sending me those
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extremely-elite muzax...
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and i also need a music selection screen, mofos! =) don't make me draw
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another one! =) i coded the fucking mag, ain't that enough for ya? hehe...
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version 0.40 23.oct.1994 18:21
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well, it's been a while, and i think i've left out a bit of revisions here.
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so let me just get to the point... i have been seriously tweaking the mag.
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for starters, hadji gets brownie points for being the first musician to
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give me a mod. and then he gave me another one. =) "what," sayeth he,
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"you're actually going to use that?!" ... well, yeah. why not? it's nice.
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cosmetic change! normally, this wouldn't happen until the mag was
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actually seriously released. but i'll make an exception. =) thanks to
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halaster[fire, as of this writing =) ], i have a k-spammy main menu screen.
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and i'm using it, too. since this will require a rewrite of the screens
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unit, i'm rewriting the screens unit. arrgh. while i'm at it, why doesn't
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someone draw me a message header so i can rewrite THE ENTIRE FUCKING VIEWER
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while i'm at it?! =) seriously, though, if you draw an ereet header, i'll
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take it, as long as i don't have to totally rewrite half the viewer (i.e.,
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someone gives me a header longer than 4-5 lines with no space for the article
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info). =) i'm going to switch to another one soon, i think. that i drew. so
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it sucks. =)
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also, i will be relocating the previous main/article/gallery menu ansi
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to the music selection screen. neat, eh?
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version 0.41 29.oct.1994 17:09 [spring forward, fall backwards...]
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well, pretty much replaced the casper menu with hal's...however, the mag
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has the annoying habit of clearing the screen after returning to the main
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menu. it's only a matter of time before i track it down.
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am thinking about adding a reviews and interviews section or something.
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dunno if i need it right now, though. i'd have to spawn a few more copies
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of the filesystem or otherwise tweak it. maybe it's not worth it. =)
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version 0.42 29.oct.1994 17:23 [fnord!]
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ah, it is such a wonderful thing to squish all the bugs into tiny little
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splotches. if you were to look at insomnia at around 0.20, you might think
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it's a different mag by now. =) heheh...well, gee, if things were on time,
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i'd be releasing #2 by now. but at least the mag looks like a #2, even tho
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it's a #1.
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still waiting on a few more articles, and also Nemesis's tune for the mag,
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if he is in fact doing one. i don't really want to get pushy about it
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because i'm sure he's got better things to do anyway. =) but it's time to
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crack the whip...if i could FIND HIM... =) now what was the name of that mud
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he frequents.......
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version 0.45 27.nov.1994 1:30
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got the spontaneous quitting bug. the keypad keys send out two signals -
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one is a 0 value and the second is a value from 0-255, as normal. but pagedown
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sends the same value as the 'Q' key, hence it quit all the time.
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oopsie. it's fixed.
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also have a weird new fader in, using it here and there... =)
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hal turned in his article. yay.
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version 0.46 29.nov.1994 20:46
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rewriting input routines to make things easier. except, of course, it's
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turning out to be harder. dagnabbit! the article and main menus work a lot
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better now, since they handle pageup/pagedown/home/end as well as up/down,
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as well as q/Q/esc/Enter. might add F1 support if it seems necessary, but i
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doubt it.
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i might add Save to File support, maybe. dunno.
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version 0.50 30.nov.1994 23:27 halfway point? =)
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that music selection screen still irritates me. it's not pretty. =(
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other than that, the mag's pretty much ready to go. i'll send it to mage
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and he can take care of the rest, i suppose. the universal input processor's
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in... it uses two routines, one for handling lightbar input and moving the bar
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as it deems appropriate, and the other for scrolling lightbar stuff (scrolling
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article selection menus, etc.). i have made this expandable in case it
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becomes necessary to separate the "articles" section into "articles,"
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"reviews," "interviews," whatever.
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discounting the chance of getting a few fonts or getting a music selection
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screen, this will probably be the second-to-the-last revision of insomnia for
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a while. i might try to beautify the music selection screen, anything to make
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it a bit less disgusting than it looks right now. =)
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version 0.51 4.dec.1994 15:48
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i lied. =)
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first of all, i fucked up on the ansi gallery menu and forgot to add a few
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things. like responding to the "ENTER" key. oopsie.
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got a couple more articles. huzzah! rewrote the ansi displayer to include
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scrollback and other k-spammy shit. might try a few other things. like
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including reviews of the ansi or artist's comments which will appear in a popup
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window. =) i dunno.
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version 0.60 19.dec.1994 19:43
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ansi viewer routines work pretty well. smooth-scrolling routines are
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there but buggy, so i'm disabling them for the final magazine release and i'll
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work on them for ish 2. perhaps i'll toy with vga after i'm satisfied with
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the ansi interface...
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rewrote the progress bar indicator as well. it's now a bit more accurate
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in its portrayal of one's position in the article...
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this will most likely be the final version before the release of insomnia
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issue#1. i hope so at least. =)
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