This project is presently being worked on for free and at tremendous personal expense. Considering that and the fact that earthquakes claim perhaps ten lives or more per day averaged over a long period of time, the decision was made years ago to try to get something running as quickly as possible. To save time, detailed explanations regarding subroutine functions etc. were to be added once the program was available for downloads and people around the world could start using it. Additionally, if the program is as popular as I expect it will be then governments etc. might try to completely rewrite the code shortly after their scientists start using it.

At the present time, most of the development effort involves getting the various display screens and help files into a form where they are easily understood. A Startup.dat file has also been added that lets people customize the program for screen text and map size and color and the UTC correction time for their own location etc. Additional features are gradually being added to that file.

Another nice addition results from the fact that the latest version of the Gnuplot graphics program allows people to import a picture file, use it for a screen background, and superimpose their graphics on that background. With that feature, high quality terrain and fault zone maps etc. can be used for the screen background instead of a solid color screen. Efforts are underway to learn exactly how to use that feature. It is not actually running yet. The picture GIF files etc. apparently need to be converted to a specific type of binary format before Gnuplot will import them.

It is somewhat amusing that it took a while to even learn how to circulate updates for the program. It consists of a main directory that can be stored for use anywhere on a computer, on an external hard drive, and even on a flash drive, plus about a half dozen subdirectories for that directory containing three or four dozen programs and files. If only one file was updated at a time there was not a problem. If two or more were updated then it was found that the easiest thing to do was just circulate a copy of the entire directly system in a zip file rather than have people try to determine if they had the latest update for every file.

As planned, nothing besides that directory system needs to be downloaded. The program does not install anything on the computer. If the directly is deleted there is nothing left behind in the computer.