Apple users have been asking me for sometime whether I had any versions that run on the Mac.  Since I don't own a Mac it was a little difficult to compile some of my free programs that run on cross platform libraries for the Mac.  However I have just ported my Quick Jyotish program to Java.  A Java program will run on any computer that has the Java runtime environment installed.  Hence Quick Jyotish Java should run on an Apple Mac if it has Java installed.  This version is the same as the Linux, Windows and Pocket PC versions except that it also includes printing.  The Java version will also run on Linux and Windows if Java is installed.  On most systems if you have Java installed and unzip the archive you should see the QuickJyotish.jar program using a Java icon.  By clicking on it the program will run.  If you don't see the icon chances are you don't have Java installed.   Here's the program file for download:
Quick Jyotish Java


To install Java go here:
http://www.java.com/getjava/

This version will not run on the Pocket PC or a cellphone.  Both of those require a different version of Java.  Note I've included a little "easter egg" in the prgram where if you run it from the command line it will open a Jyotish Tools file:
java -jar QuickJyotish.jar MyChart.jtl

Enjoy the program and let me know if you find any bugs. 

I just added an updater for Jyotish Tools for Windows which fixes a bug that only affects some users.   It only affects users who see the  text garbled on the  Aspect screens on the MEP aspect section.  Here is an example:



Though I've had reports of this bug for several years it was difficult to fix as it did not appear on my system and any of my other computers until recently.  Some people found that updating their graphics drivers solved the problem.  Others may have not solved the problem but also never told me they continued to have the problem.  Until I saw the problem on my own systems (and graphic driver updates didn't help) I assumed that driver updates solved the problem.  The fix was simple once I could test it, otherwise I would have been poking around in the dark.  The 1.84 update does not fix or add anything else.  To fix a bug like that is somewhat trivial but adding features and more importantly having them properly tested is not.  So there will be no enhancements until version 2.0 when that gets developed.

If you have the problem shown you can find the update download on the website under the Support menu.  The full install also has been updated to 1.84 but because of the way the Microsoft installer works I don't recommend running the full installer unless you uninstall 1.83 first.  The updater makes this unnecessary.
JyotishTools Support Page

Feedback for Vista

If you see any problems with Jyotish Tools for Windows on Vista let me know.  All I know is that works with my Vista laptop, no problem.

Happy Diwali 2007 to everyone.  Hope you are all enjoying the holiday.  As a special holiday gift for those of you with Pocket PC and Windows Mobile Classic I have created a version of Quick Jyotish for that platform.   Quick Jyotish is a basic jyotish program which I've had available on Windows and Linux for a while.  The Windows Mobile version was built with Pocket PC 2002 so should work on all platforms including Windows Mobile Classic 6.  Note that Microsoft  Windows Moible 5 began calling the PDA version "Classic."   This version works with all display configurations including 240x320,  240x240,  320x240, 480x480 and 640x480 both portrait and landscape.   Like the original version the display which includes chart information, chart, navamshas and dashas is scrolled so that allows it to work in various displays.  It also works from 1600-2003 AD and uses the highly accurate VSOP 87 engine.

Note this version will not work with Smartphones.  I am going to attempt a Smartphone version but even if I release it I can't guarantee you'll be able to install it on your Smartphone.  Some companies require "signed" software for the phone and no way will I pay to have a free program signed.  I also plan to download and look at Google's open source phone OS SDK and perhaps that will be a great solution for third party software developers.

You can download Quick Jyotish for the Pocket PC and Windows Mobile Classic here:
Download Quick Jyotish Pocket PC
This is a setup program that you must run on your Desktop PC with the PDA connected.

DigiBuy Goes Bye Bye

Beginning in December Digital River will be shutting down DigiBuy but don't worry they've replaced it with SWReg which is a better service all the way around.  It will support PayPal for those of you who don't have credit cards (as well as other payment options) and there is better international currency support.  One nice thing is that you'll be able to access your registration key anytime without paying the extra for insurance or bugging me to look it up for you.  

Unfortunately for the rare few of you who can't download software for some reason or another (your workplace or Internet cafe bars downloads) there is no CD service.  I have no interest it in providing it either as the time and hassle especially for foreign shipments requiring customs forms is not worth it.  In fact once someone inquired how much I would charge for shipping a CD of Junior Jyotish in the USA and my quote was $25.  Needless to say the party quickly discovered that they had a brother-in-law who could download it for them.  

I've had folks who had downloads blocked at work found the IT manager was happy to download it for them and the same may well be true of an Internet cafe proprietor.  Remember the only files for the moment that will have a temporary link are the full versions for the Palm and Pocket PC.  For Jyotish Tools for Windows you are purchasing a key to let the 30 day trial run more than 30 days.  Always treat your purchased software as if you bought it at a store.  Make a backup and print off your key code.

After a report from a customer that Jyotish Tools for Windows would not run properly on Windows Vista I had to give it a try to find what was wrong.   I acquired a notebook with Vista installed and tried the program.  However it ran okay.  The same was true of the other Windows programs I offer with the exception of the Help file in Junior Jyotish.  That produced a warning that Windows Help was no longer supported on Vista.  So I replaced the Windows Help file in Junior Jyotish with an HTML Help file (CHM) and have posted that setup file as a replacement.  Unless you have Vista there is no need to upgrade if you already have Junior Jyotish.

As it turns out the customer with the Vista problem had a hardware problem and when that was fixed Jyotish Tools ran fine.

Personally I am a little underwhelmed with Windows Vista and it may well be a flop for Microsoft.  It is not all that intuitive and definitely has some quirks over previous versions.   As for security I guess they wanted to do it differently than Linux, Unix or the Mac so you get all kinds of little hand holding pop ups when you want to install software or change settings.  With Linux to do installs you have to log in as administrator so it is very clear to the user what is going on.  The interesting thing is Dell just announced they are going to start offering PC's with Ubuntu 7.04 (Fiesty Fawn) on them.  I upgraded to Ubuntu 7.04 last week and have been pleased with the changes.  Now fonts look better and the bug with my NVidia card and text which had been giving many NVidia/Ubuntu users fits has been fixed.

So I have to go look at Microsoft's chart and see if they are in for a downturn.

I've recently had some inquiries about running my Linux software on cell phones.  Since 2003 there have been cell phones sold which have Linux.  Two points here: first off my Linux software is for i386 CPU computers and the cell phones usually have some other CPU, often it is an ARM processor like is used in the Pocket PC or Palm OS devices.   In other words the i386 programs won't work on those processors.  The second point is for security reasons many of these phones can only run Java programs not binaries.  So no the Linux programs I offer will not run on a cellphone.

Also I recently updated my cell phone and plan.  I have decided I want at least a small Prasna program on the phone so will be experimenting with a Java based Prasna applet.  I'll let you all know if I have any success with it.

Software Backups

Most people when they purchase a downloadable program know to back it up immediately as well as print off a copy of the receipt.  Computers do crash and it is easy to lose your program that way or your installation file for your copy of JyotishTools for the Pocket PC, Jyotish To Go, or MoonCast.   For Jyotish Tools for Windows all you need to do is download the program again from the web site.  The key, provided you did print it off, allows the program to run for more than 30 days.   But the full PDA programs are only provided upon purchase.  You can purchase at order time the extended download service as well as the registration insurance but these are only good for one year.   Most people if they lose the program through a crash and don't have a backup simply reorder.   But there are those who seem to think that Jyotish Tools is a backup service.  We are not so if you lose your software and didn't back it just go to the site and reorder.  Next time I'll bet you will backup your download and print off the receipt.

Systems Approach Awards

Professor V.K. Choudhry recently announced that "the Management Committee of the Systems' Institute of Hindu Astrology hereby confers honorary titles mentioned against the names of following respective learned astrologers:

1.  Mr. David Hawthorne, Jyotish Bhanu.
2.  Mr. Thor Thorgeirsson, Jyotish Bhanu.
3.  Mr. Jorge Angelino, Jyotish Bhanu.
4.  Dr. Sankara Bhagavadpada, Jyotish Ratan.
5.  Mr. Andrew Schulman, Jyotish Kovid.
6.  Mr. Jagdiesh Sethi, Jyotish Kovid.
7.  Dr. Jonathan Miller, Jyotish Ratan.
8.  Dr. Ms Sloan Johnson, Jyotish Kovid.
9.  Mr. Nawal Kishore, Jyotish Kovid.
10. Mr. Rajiv Jamwal, Jyotish Kovid.
11. Col B K Kailash, Jyotish Kovid.  

Some more names are likely to be announced later.
Bhanu means a person who spreads the cause of astrology like Sun spreads the light.
Kovid means a learned person in the field.
Ratan means a person who made wonderful contributions to the field of astrology."

Congratulations to those receiving the awards and keep up the good work.

Also a reminder that the International Institute of Predictive Astrology International Conference will be held on the 24th and 25th of February in Gurgaon, India.  More more information click here:

http://yournetastrologer.com/gurconf.htm

Windows Vista and compatibility

Next week Microsoft's Windows Vista will be foisted on the public and I'm sure there will be few Jyotishis who will have to have it immediately (usually not a very good idea with Microsoft operating systems).  Now I have not tested any of my programs with Vista since Microsoft didn't send me a free machine with Vista or the development tools.  However from what I have read if you are trying to install a Jyotish Tools program on Vista you may get some kind of warning about compatibility.  Be aware if the program doesn't want to run to right click on the icon, select Properties and Compatibility (or something like that).  Yes just like Windows XP let you run older programs made for earlier versions of Windows you can do the same with Vista.  What seems silly is we know they could do this for you automatically so why the extra step is needed I don't know.  Apparently the Mac OS does this for you automatically.

Happy New Year and I hope everyone has a great one.  I have posted two new free programs are Windows and Linux versions of an older program called Quick Jyotish which has been available for sometime as my Linux program.  The difference with the new one is that instead of being built with the Fast Light Toolkit version 2.  The old version was built with wxWidgets but was a lot more complicated to program.  I like the simplicity of using FLTK2 but for the moment there is no printing available but for quickly looking up charts the program is pretty handy.  The FLTK2 group has a high priority of implementing printing which can be a bit diifficult for cross platform libraries especially where they want to keep their API lean.

Under Linux the program seems to work on a variety of distros without any additional libraries installed.  However I hope to have both Deb and RPM packages available later for instances where libraries are missing.  The Windows version comes with an installer. 

An additional reason to use Quick Jyotish is that it uses the same VSOP87 calculation engine that Jyotish Tools for Windows uses allowing more accuracy than Junior Jyotish and a broader date range.

Why my interest in cross platform libraries like FLTK2?  Well it takes too much time to learn the seperate APIs for each platform.  Astrology programs use minimal graphics and are mainly just text and line drawing.  FLTK2 like wxWidgets works on Windows, Linux and the Mac (though I have yet to acquire a Mac to compile the program).   More of the library is static so depends on fewer external libraries so it is more compatible.  There are also projects to port FLTK2 to Windows Mobile and with PalmSource going to Linux based OS in the future a version for that should be available then.

The result is I can create full products in a short time that can be available for multiple platforms.  That's important because unfortunately the small size of the Jyotish astrology market one should not spend too much time on developing Jyotish software or the cost will be prohibitive for the majority of jyotishis.

You can download the new programs here:

http://www.jyotishtools.com/dloads.htm

The other day someone emailed me that they couldn't download JyotishTools for Windows.  Usually this means that a firewall or a browser setting is disallowing the download.  However this user replied that some of the links worked and some didn't.  Since I use Firefox as my default browser I found that all the links worked but going to my XP machine some of the links on Internet Explorer didn't.  This was interesting as they worked fine the last time I checked.  However a few changes and they now work with IE.  I'm not sure what happened either than perhaps within the last week Microsoft may have posted an automatic update that corrected CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) standards error with IE.  This most likely due to IE 7 being released to the public this week.   Another site I maintain showed the same errors but even worse the banner was missing from the top.  What I did was remove the hack in the code that handled the banner display if it was being viewed by Internet Explorer.  I hope with this change Microsoft has brought IE up to CSS standards.  So some of you with your own web site might want to check to see that they still look right with Internet Explorer.

Since I have a chart of Rahu transits using the mean node calculation I thought I would publish it here so that folks can compare.  There was about a months difference between the two sign transits this time. Note that my commercial programs have both mean and true node options.

Rahu Mean Transits 1901-2050:

Li: May 20,1901 Vi: Dec 7,1902 Le: Jun 26,1904 Cn: Jan 13,1906 Ge: Aug 2,1907 Ta: Feb 18,1909 Ar: Sep 7,1910 Pi: Mar 26,1912 Aq: Oct 13,1913 Cp: May 2,1915 Sg: Nov 18,1916 Sc: Jun 8,1918 Li: Dec 26,1919 Vi: Jul 14,1921 Le: Jan 31,1923 Cn: Aug 19,1924 Ge: Mar 8,1926 Ta: Sep 25,1927 Ar: Apr 13,1929 Pi: Nov 1,1930 Aq: May 20,1932 Cp: Dec 7,1933 Sg: Jun 26,1935 Sc: Jan 12,1937 Li: Aug 1,1938 Vi: Feb 18,1940 Le: Sep 6,1941 Cn: Mar 27,1943 Ge: Oct 13,1944 Ta: May 2,1946 Ar: Nov 19,1947 Pi: Jun 7,1949 Aq: Dec 25,1950 Cp: Jul 13,1952 Sg: Jan 30,1954 Sc: Aug 20,1955 Li: Mar 8,1957 Vi: Sep 25,1958 Le: Apr 13,1960 Cn: Oct 31,1961 Ge: May 20,1963 Ta: Dec 6,1964 Ar: Jun 25,1966 Pi: Jan 13,1968 Aq: Aug 1,1969 Cp: Feb 18,1971 Sg: Sep 6,1972 Sc: Mar 26,1974

Li: Oct 13,1975 Vi: May 1,1977 Le: Nov 18,1978 Cn: Jun 7,1980 Ge: Dec 25,1981 Ta: Jul 14,1983 Ar: Jan 30,1985 Pi: Aug 19,1986 Aq: Mar 7,1988 Cp: Sep 24,1989 Sg: Apr 13,1991 Sc: Oct 30,1992 Li: May 20,1994 Vi: Dec 7,1995 Le: Jun 25,1997 Cn: Jan 12,1999 Ge: Jul 31,2000 Ta: Feb 17,2002 Ar: Sep 6,2003 Pi: Mar 25,2005 Aq: Oct 13,2006 Cp: May 1,2008 Sg: Nov 18,2009 Sc: Jun 7,2011 Li: Dec 24,2012 Vi: Jul 13,2014 Le: Jan 30,2016 Cn: Aug 18,2017 Ge: Mar 8,2019 Ta: Sep 24,2020 Ar: Apr 13,2022 Pi: Oct 31,2023 Aq: May 19,2025 Cp: Dec 6,2026 Sg: Jun 24,2028 Sc: Jan 11,2030 Li: Aug 1,2031 Vi: Feb 17,2033 Le: Sep 6,2034 Cn: Mar 25,2036 Ge: Oct 12,2037 Ta: May 1,2039 Ar: Nov 17,2040 Pi: Jun 6,2042 Aq: Dec 25,2043 Cp: Jul 13,2045 Sg: Jan 30,2047 Sc: Aug 18,2048

Rahu and Ketu are about to change signs again moving from Pisces to Aquarius on the 9th of November.  This is by true node calculation as they changed about one month ago using mean node calculation.  Rahu transits trigger the theme of the house that it is in.  For instance a transit in the 6th house may increase health problems or conflicts.  We can often find transit lists for the other planets but I found there were none for Rahu so I wrote a program to calculate them from 1901 to 2048.  Here is the list:

Li: Jun 6,1901 Vi: Dec 29,1902 Le: Jun 18,1904 Cn: Dec 15,1905 Ge: Aug 29,1907 Ta: Mar 4,1909 Ar: Sep 1,1910 Pi: Feb 21,1912 Aq: Nov 14,1913 Cp: May 10,1915 Sg: Nov 6,1916 Sc: May 9,1918 Li: Jan 20,1920 Vi: Jul 18,1921 Le: Jan 12,1923 Cn: Sep 15,1924 Ge: Mar 28,1926 Ta: Sep 24,1927 Ar: Mar 15,1929 Pi: Nov 26,1930 Aq: Jun 3,1932 Cp: Nov 29,1933 Sg: May 30,1935 Sc: Feb 2,1937 Li: Aug 11,1938 Vi: Feb 3,1940 Le: Aug 19,1941 Cn: Apr 18,1943 Ge: Oct 17,1944 Ta: Apr 11,1946 Ar: Dec 16,1947 Pi: Jun 26,1949 Aq: Dec 23,1950 Cp: Jun 19,1952 Sg: Feb 23,1954 Sc: Sep 3,1955 Li: Feb 26,1957 Vi: Aug 29,1958 Le: May 9,1960 Cn: Nov 9,1961 Ge: May 5,1963 Ta: Nov 16,1964 Ar: Jul 19,1966 Pi: Jan 15,1968 Aq: Jul 12,1969 Cp: Mar 14,1971 Sg: Sep 25,1972 Sc: Mar 22,1974

Li: Sep 20,1975 Vi: May 25,1977 Le: Dec 2,1978 Cn: May 28,1980 Ge: Nov 26,1981 Ta: Aug 11,1983 Ar: Feb 5,1985 Pi: Aug 5,1986 Aq: Feb 3,1988 Cp: Oct 19,1989 Sg: Apr 13,1991 Sc: Oct 12,1992 Li: May 28,1994 Vi: Dec 25,1995 Le: Jun 20,1997 Cn: Dec 18,1998 Ge: Aug 31,2000 Ta: Mar 1,2002 Ar: Aug 29,2003 Pi: Feb 23,2005 Aq: Nov 9,2006 Cp: May 6,2008 Sg: Nov 3,2009 Sc: May 4,2011 Li: Jan 15,2013 Vi: Jul 14,2014 Le: Jan 10,2016 Cn: Sep 9,2017 Ge: Mar 24,2019 Ta: Sep 20,2020 Ar: Mar 17,2022 Pi: Nov 29,2023 Aq: May 30,2025 Cp: Nov 26,2026 Sg: May 25,2028 Sc: Feb 5,2030 Li: Aug 12,2031 Vi: Jan 31,2033 Le: Aug 13,2034 Cn: Apr 13,2036 Ge: Oct 20,2037 Ta: Apr 8,2039 Ar: Dec 10,2040 Pi: Jun 22,2042 Aq: Dec 20,2043 Cp: Jun 16,2045 Sg: Feb 26,2047 Sc: Sep 5,2048

More on Pocket PC and Smartphones

I did a little more reading on the Pocket PC versus Smartphone issue and found there is indeed a lot of confusion on the issue. To be sure if you already own a cellphone which has Windows Mobile you can always try installing the demo of Jyotish Tools for the Pocket PC and see if it works. If you are planning on purchasing a Windows Mobile phone then see if the specs list it as having Windows Mobile for the Pocket PC. If you cannot find the specs check with the manufacturer. They need to make the spec more clear but I am beginning to think the manufacturers may be shying away from Smartphone OS only phones due to the large amount of software developed for the Pocket PC platform.