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Old News

28 Jun 2004

Version 1.3 final released. No changes have been made since the beta test version last month, so there's no need to upgrade if you're using 1.3 beta. I'm hoping to get 1.4 out of the door in the next day or two so watch this space.

You can now use the plugin as your screensaver, either by choosing it in the web interface, or by pressing 'play' whilst using the plugin.

26 Apr 2004

Version 1.2 released:

The code is identical to the beta test for Version 1.2 if you are using the beta version there is no advantage in upgrading.

Work is currently underway to enable the plugin to run as a screensaver. Watch this space.

11 Feb 2004

Version 1.1 Released. The 2 notable changes are:

9 Feb 2004

I've had a report that the problems regarding the plugin appearing as 'disabled' are now resolved. The plugin should now work for both Slimp3 and Squeezebox users on both Windows and Linux (and probably all other platforms).

If you try the plugin please consider mailing me at gordonj@newswall.org.uk and letting me know how you got on, either sucess or failure. Please indicate the OS, SlimServer version and type of player you are using. All reports would be appreciated.

6 Feb 2004

As part of an attempt to resolve issues using this plugin on a Squeezebox (rather than a Slimp3) I've made a _very_ small update to the code. If you were having problems please download and re-test. There is no advantage in upgrading if the plugin is already working for you.

1 Feb 2004

I've had a few emails regarding problems running this plugin on a Squeezeboz (rather than a slimp3). I don't have Squeezebox myself so it's a little difficult to test, however I would expect the behaviour to have been the same on both Squeezebox and Slimp3. I will try a fresh install of the server software and do some more testing over the next few days. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

14 Dec 2003

Updated Plugin for Slimserver V 5.0. Now compatible with Squeezebox.

25 Mar 2003

A new version released. Finally! Sorry for the big wait since the last time but I've been busy with things that pay the bills. The new ticker works with v3.1b4 of the server, the current version of the server at the time of writing.

You can find the new details below

14 Mar 2003

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please note that the current version of this ticker is incomatible with the current version of the server software, I will hopefully get this updated next week.

10 Oct 2002

Thanks to Andrew Hedges who mailed in to report that this works with Windows 98. He was also kind enough to send a couple of pictures of the ticker in action which you can find here.

9 Oct 2002

Added a 'wrap around', so if you are at the bottom of the news topics and press down, you'll now find yourself at the top and vice versa. If you don't want this feature set $wrap=0 in the code. Updated code is here: BbcNews.pm.
Thanks to Ian Henry for the feature request

7 Oct 2002

I've removed the dependancy on wget, this should now work on all versions on the SLiMP3 server. However I've not tested it on anything other than Linux, so if you get it working on Windows/MacOSX please can you let me know.

If you've already tried the earlier version relying on wget, then all you need is the updated version of BbcNews.pm

Background

Having recently purchased a SliMP3 I wanted to have a poke around with the code and see how to add new features and I decided for a project I'd implement a client for the BBC News Ticker. Here's how I got on....

After having a quick look through the code it appears the easiest way to add a new menu item is to add it as a new game. This avoids the requirement to add the option to the web front end (code I've not looked at yet). The SliMP3 ships with 'SlimTris' and 'Space Shooter' it seemed easy enough to add to these.