TPA Software News

  Coming soon: New contest, big prize.
  Friday, July 9, 2010 @ 11:42PM EDT by:  Kevin
I've been planning this for quite some time. It's a treasure hunt for Easter eggs.

"Huh?" You're saying.

Well, you know what a treasure hunt is. You are given clues and you search for treasure, only the treasure you are seeking are Easter eggs...but not the literal kind.

Easter eggs in the programming and software industry are little surprises and extras programmers build into their software.

Soon, I will send you out - if you wish to participate - on a treasure hunt for Easter eggs within some of the TPA Software programs. This will happen in three phases, which each group of Easter eggs leading you to the next phase. Finally, at the third phase, which will involve the TPA Software web site, you will need to use all the clues you've amassed to find the secret page and the login information. And before you get the idea to just source code the page for clues, forget it. I'm not that stupid. You'll have to work for this prize.

Once you've discovered the secret page and completed the final puzzle, you could be the winner of a substancial cash prize.

Those are all the details I am revealing for now. A set of rules and guidelines will be forthcoming in the weeks ahead to prepare those who wish to play. This is necessary to make it fair for everyone. Certain provisions have been put in place so that the sharing of information of easter eggs may not work for everyone. For example, let's say a friend you have shares with you the location of egg #4 in the first phase. While the answer for your friend will be correct, assuming he found it on their own, it might not be correct for you, based on your master screen name. I want the adventure to be unique to the user, and so that the sharing of information will be all but useless. Again, you need to *earn* the prize.

If you want a bit of a head start, Google terms like "software easter eggs" for an idea of what you'll need to do in effort to find these eggs. I'm already aware of the more common methods posted to those sites and won't be using most of them (maybe one or two to make it a little easy on you).

This should be fun. A basic set of hints will be available for *all* users. Additional hints can be purchased. The better the hint, the higher the price...but again, all of this will be explained in the rules (as I have to get my lawyer to review them so I'm not liable for anything, except the final prize). Short of giving away information to win, I will make this contest as transparent as possible in regard to the winner and how they solved the game.

There will also be a time limit. Maybe three months from the start date, maybe four. We'll see.

Details to come. Stay tuned.
  @wavman.com email addresses - Reservations Open!
  Sunday, March 28, 2010 @ 9:38PM EDT by:  Kevin
Some time back I suggested I might make available the @wavman.com email domain for a selected few members, First come, first serve and I would prefer you be a registered user of the program. If you are not and still want to be considered, I would need a good reason why.

I have made available 20 spots for @wavman.com email addresses. I will accept the first 20 as reservations. If you wish to reserve a spot, send an email to admin@wavman.com. You may choose any name you like as long as it is tasteful, legal, and does not promote hate. You may also not use trademarks that do not fall under fair use. For example, you could use cokeandwhisky and be okay. You could NOT use wavman or tpawavman...and the name 'kevin' is already taken. :-)

If you want your AOL screen name, you MUST send your request from your actual screen name. This will prevent confusion about who owns what screen name. Send me your name, your WavMan registration number (or reason you believe you should have one if not a WavMan user) and the first three name you would like. The first name would be your must-have while the second and third would be your runner up choices in case someone else has beaten you to the name. Other rules and regulations will be spelled out upon acceptance, they're fairly standard for all email address providers.

If I manage to fill twenty spots, I will open some more, depending on demand.

Finally, this is not a free service. This website will close in June if I do not raise enough money to cover that cost. The cost of the right to use wavman.com on my email server goes directly into keeping the website alive and maintained.

For one @wavman email address, the cost is $5.00 a month. If you wish to subscribe for a whole year, the cost is $50.00 (which amounts to two free months). And for those with money to burn (and personally, I know of none) if you want two years, it's $100.00 with a four months free.

Please note, applying for a name now does NOT mean you will be charged. It means you are reserving a name until I finish coding up the subscription web pages. When the service is ready to go live, those who have reserved will be given notice on how to sign up.

If enough folks are interested, more spots will become available. If these first 20 spots do not get filled, then this site will close in June. What happens to TPA and WavMan after that would be anyone's guess. The programs do not bring in enough income to keep the site running and I've paid to keep it up out of pocket for the last five years. I can no longer afford to do so.

Remember, first 20 replies get their spots reserved, guaranteed. Get yours now!
  Delay in processing
  Sunday, March 28, 2010 @ 9:14PM EDT by:  Kevin
For our customers who have submitted credit card orders recently, there will be a slight delay as I am in the process of switching merchant banks (I got a better deal). I was told my them once I fax my necessary paperwork to them Monday, it should take at least 1-2 business days to have the new system in place. So those waiting, you have two options.

1) Wait till Tuesday or possibly Wednesday at which time I will run all waiting orders. PLEASE do not send mail that is not a preformed order to that address, or FWD mail to it, or send ANY mail to it. It will be deleted or counted as a second orders. So for those of you who continue to do so, please, STOP. Thanks! :)

2) I will send you my PayPal alternative. It's a link that will take you to the page in which you would make you payment. To do this, you *must* send me that request from your master screen name. That would be the name at the top of the list on the sign on window. If you use any other screen name, your number won't work. I will then send back instruction.

After the new merchant account is up and running, things will go back to normal. I will post a news story to let you know when this is happened.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

- Kevin Provance


  Welcome to TPA Software v3
  Saturday, March 20, 2010 @ 10:35PM EDT by:  Kevin
After a decade of the same site design, I felt it was time for a change. Here is that change! I started it in late 2008 and worked on it a little bit at a time, here and there.

Now, before you deluge me with emails wondering about the status of removed items, here is a low down of changes you might notice:

1) WavMan 11 has finally, and needed to be sunset. It is no longer available. Please don't ask me to send it to you, because company policy prohibits TPA staff sending files through email. WavMan 11, also a decade old has run its course and had a lifetime over three times longer than any software normally enjoys. Most software lives to be three, maybe four years old and is replaced by a newer version. The only WavMan available and supported is WavMan Professional.

2) Same goes for Fade-It 1.x

3) WallPaper for AOL has also been sunset, but has been replaced with the revamped DesktopFade. In the next version of WavMan, the auto-start option for DesktopFade will be enabled.

4) AdBuster has been sunset. Since AOL has moved away from FDO content and towards web based content, it's all but irrelevant now.

Now, here is what is coming over the next year, provided I can afford to keep the site running past June (not enough money right now to do so).

1) I know I said Buddy Plus was finished, but there has been enough demand to change my mind. There will be a Buddy Plus 3.x. It will be somewhat different than the previous versions and will also be 5 dollars cheaper ($15.00 to $10.00).

2) Terminator might be revamped to emphasize on the auto-closing of annoying windows via the SmartKill feature, and will receive the one useful feature of AdBuster. Naturally, it will still serve as an anti-logoff tool, but will be "terminating" more annoyances that AOL has thrown our way (AOL Search window, anyone?)

3) I'm not sure what I'm doing with IMs Plus yet. There is n demand for it. If you are that one is a thousand person who is waiting for IMs Plus to be updated, say so now.

4) Look for some new programs that are not AOL based, but would serve a good purpose with other tasks one may do with their computer. Keep an eye on our Beta Central area for information as it becomes available.

Finally, the new site may have some growing pains. Please be patient as I iron them all out over the next few weeks. If you spot one, please feel free to let me know!

C. Kevin Provance
  New program available: DesktopFade
  Sunday, March 14, 2010 @ 8:58PM EDT by:  Kevin
DesktopFade (formerly Wallpaper for AOL) is now available. We've taken the older WallPaper program, redesign it, added new features - including compatibility for AOL 9.0 to 9.5, Windows Vista and Windows 7 - and gave it the TPA touch. Fade the AOL desktop in a variety of colors, styles and animation. The DesktopData feature lets you print any text to any corner of the AOL desktop, including preset variable to display and number of system variables or information.

Take this new app for a test drive: http://www.tpasoft.com/desktopfade
  WavMan Professional 1.0.35 now available!
  Monday, November 23, 2009 @ 8:40PM EST by:  Kevin
This update for WavMan contained Windows 7 compatibility and a brand new feature: Moderator's Tools!

To read more about Moderator's Tools and how the feature works, please be sure to read the Moderator's Tools help page. If you should discover any bugs or inconsistencies in this new feature, please be sure to file a proper bug report via the WavMan Support page...and please, be sure to indicate the specific steps taken under the appropriate section. That is *critical* information! Merely saying "it don't work" or "I turned it on" ain't gonna cut it! ;-)

Pertaining to Windows 7, I did not find much - so far - that needed fixing. I tweaked the way WavMan reads and writes data files (reading the source data from "All Users" and saving it to whichever Windows account you are using). This should solve the issue over attempting to move the original data files to the per user location at start up. If you encounter issues specific to the Windows 7 operating system, please use the same method in reporting them as outlined in the last paragraph.

So, if you're ready, head on over the the WavMan Professional Download page and grab your copy now!