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Jan 3, 2002, 3:56pm

I'd like to announce the release of the brand new Activeworlds Utility 1.10,
an update to the previously released Activeworlds Utility 1.03. New users
can download the entire program at
http://www.shoemakervillage.org/programs.html, while existing users can
simply run their existing versions and upgrade. If your upgrade utility
stops functioning for 10 minutes or more, then simply download the full
updated version.

Most of this update is related to stability. Disconnection handling is now
enabled so that the bots will automatically reconnect unless the
disconnection is the result of a privilege password change. There are some
speed increases and GUI improvements. Users of a Locator Bot can now
"visit" other avatars using 3.2's teleportation capabilities. Finally, and
most importantly, this version offers something that was never before
available: ejection by citizen number, regardless of IP address. Citizens
with eject in worlds can now set up a continuous patrol that will keep
problematic citizens out of your world until you allow them to reenter.

However, I also spent 10-15 hours programming several new features that deal
with tourist property, all of which are now obsolete and I had to spend more
time removing from the program before I released it. This time could have
been much better spent on a variety of other activities instead of
programming software that is now useless. In light of these recent events,
I've decided to take a "watch and wait" stance, meaning that I've suspended
all development of all of my software until the current situation
stabilizes. Obviously, AW is in a grave situation right now to raise prices
so high, and whether people will still be around to use bots or whether
these bots will even be useful at all if AW folds in a year remains to be
seen. This doesn't mean that I'm going to stop all my activities FOREVER
and leave AW immediately like a lot of the overreacting citizens are
preaching now; it just means that I want to be sure that my programs will be
useful in the future before improving them further. I'm still going to help
out with the other organizations in which I'm involved, so I'm not
disappearing any time soon.

I've also written some new help files at
http://www.shoemakervillage.org/help that are long overdue and should help
with most if not all of the questions I'm receiving regarding the program.
Comments about the Utility are welcome.

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