GeoClock News
GeoClock Version 8.4 now shipping
GeoClock-Pro began shipping on 2002/02/02, and all pending orders should be shipped by 2000/03/09. Thanks
for your patience!
This release has only a few programming changes:
- Changes to screen saver to accomidate XP
- Increase in time zone capacity
New Web Page
We have been forced to move (and change) our web
site. You can always access the current site using the
perfered access URL, www.geoclock.com .
This URL will always get the current active site. The
old web sitwas taken down on 1999/12/08. Please
send comments
about the new page.
We appologize if you had problems finding the new site due to old
bookmarks or old search engine data.
The New Millennium
GeoClock of course has no problems with the year 2000
(or years between 100 CE and 5000 CE for that matter).
Everyone knows what the first day of the year 2000 is,
but there seems to be some confusion as to what the
first day of the third millennium is.
If you do not think about it at all, January 1, 2000
seems the obvious date for the first day of the third
Millennium. If you think about it just a little, January
1, 2001 seems the right date (since the first AD day of
the current BC/AD calendar was January 1, 1 AD).
However, a little thinking is often dangerous, and this
is one case where it leads to the wrong conclusion.
Until about 1200 years ago, the years were marked by
reference to some historical event (5 years after the
flood, 2 years after the new king, etc). A monk about
1500 years ago first advocated numbering the years
from the birth of Jesus, and this was adopted several
hundred years later. Since new years were marked at
the beginning of spring, the first date in this new
calendar was April 1, 1 AD. In 1582 AD, 10 days were
dropped from the calendar (due to errors between the
calendar and the sun's apparent position), and New
Years Day was changed to January 1. All the years
before 1582, including BC, were renumbered so that
January 1 was the first day of the year. (The "April
Fools" were the people who still celebrated New Years
Day on April 1.)
It is now well documented that Jesus was not born in 1
AD. There are good cases made for many different
years for Jesus's birth, and the latest is 2 BC.
So why should January 1, 1 AD be celebrated? It was:
defined about 525 years after the fact; changed about
1582 years after the fact; 3 months earlier than the
original first day of 1 AD; evidently a day like any
other day; not the birth year of Jesus. Is this really
something whose 2000th anniversary ought to have a
world wide celebration? NOT!
Since there is no reasonable start date for marking the
millennia (or centuries, for that matter), the only rational
choice is just to celebrate the zeros. This has been
called the odometer method. Regardless of how many
miles were on the odometer when you got the car, you
celebrate the zeros as they roll by.
The beginning of the second millennium was feared (in
the Christian world) because it seemed to be a likely
time for the second coming of Christ (1000 years after
what? - birth, death, resurrection, ascendance). The
beginning of the third millennium is feared for a much
more concrete reason (Y2K computer problems) and
also on a very specific date (Jan 1, 2000).
I am going to celebrate the new millennium on the
evening of December 31, 1999. I am going to celebrate
at home, because I am not sure about any software
except GeoClock!
Whats new in GeoClock
New in 8.4 versus 8.3
- Changes to screen saver to accomidate XP
- Increase in time zone capacity
New in 8.3 versus 8.25 (windows and DOS)
- The Nunavut (former NWT) borders are marked on all maps, including old maps.
- The VCR controls were improved to allow control of speed directly.
- An old bug in the customize feature was finally fixed.
- A few minor bug fixes and data base changes, and an update to the code and documentation to
reflect our latest business model.
We have also made major revisions to the annotation files, and added about 15 maps to the
Pro version to fill some coverage gaps.
New in 8.25 versus 8.2 (Windows Only)
Only minor program bugs and data base errors (for example, using
city look up to find the south pole) were fixed, and
changes reflecting our current business model were made.
New in 8.2 versus 8.1 (Windows Only)
- A feature to easily set the initial map was added.
- The virtual time can now be controled with VCR type controls .
This allows single step, reverse, etc, with buttons similar to a VCR.
- The maximum number of clocks in the clocks window was increased to 50.
- A problem in the sorting of gazetteer entries was solved.
- Code restructuring to support a future 32 bit version.
GeoClock 8.1 (windows only) adds:
1) GeoClock CD-ROM. This CD-ROM contains everything available for GeoClock
(except the HAM package, which is custom for each user). It has about 500
maps (many of which have never been released before), GeoGlobe, and many
extra programs and files. The CD-ROM price is $75 for new registrations,
and $50 if you have any prior registered version.
2) New commands (NETWORK and CONFIG) to support running GeoClock from the
CD-Rom while maintaining full customizability
3) Fix for Win98 screen saver bug
4) New form of LIGHT command
GeoClock 8.0 (windows only) adds:
1) Display view-from-space maps by shift-left-click on a point.
2) Display world map centered at a point by shift-right-click.
3) Integrate GeoGlobe (including screen saver) into GeoClock
provided optional GeoGlobe program has been purchased.
GeoClock 8.0 (DOS and Windows) adds:
1) New registration file (GEOCLOCK.KEY) which will solve problems
caused by some virus checkers. REGISTER.EXE will continue to work
GeoCLock 8.0 (DOS only) fixes:
1) Bug caused by error in turbo pascal run-time-library that can
cause errors on very fast machines (Pentium Pro 200+, Pentium II 233+)
