This project is now moving along surprisingly well. It appears that so many programming problems were encountered and solved over the years that there are relatively few left.

These are the latest program updates.

--- A retired professional computer programmer now has the Etdprog.exe earthquake forecasting computer program running on his computer. And he is starting to develop some of his own computer programs to use with it.

--- The latest update of the program itself is basically ready for download storage at my new Web site. The “help” files just need to be updated. And a decision has to be made regarding how and where to store it at the Web site. The zipped program package with all of the support files is presently about 12 megabytes in size. That should be quite reasonable and easy for people to download.

--- A special directory was created in the zip package that contains copies of all of the .exe, .lnk, and .bat files with their normal extension names removed. That is for cases where a person’s virus software will not let .exe files etc. get downloaded. A special command file in that directory can be run. And it will recreate all of the .exe files etc. with their correct extensions.

--- The most recent Etdprog.exe program update has a new option added that lets other computer programs generate data that will then automatically overlay on the charts and maps that the Etdprog.exe program creates. That option was added so that people can superimpose triangles, diamonds, and circles etc. on the charts to represent the times when earthquakes occurred and such. That should make it easier to develop an understanding of exactly what the chart data are saying regarding past and approaching earthquakes. It also enables people to create computer programs using whatever language they wish. They don’t have to modify the Perl language Etdprog.exe program code to have their own data displayed on the charts.

--- Repeated attempts to try to interest either the Perl or Gnuplot languages experts to compile a version of the Gnuplot program in the form of a Perl language module have been totally unsuccessful to date. And it looks like it is going to be a futile effort. Most of the people who have responded don’t even understand the concept of creating a special Perl module. It might eventually be necessary to convert all of the Perl – Gnuplot routines to some other language such as Python that already has special graphics software developed for it. That would be done so that earthquake researchers and government agencies have a more reliable program to work with. The Perl – Gnuplot “pipe” and data file type links are somewhat unstable. And it will be unfortunate if that change needs to be made. Perl is extremely versatile. And Gnuplot is an especially powerful plotting language that is quite easy to learn and use.

Planned Efforts For Future Etdprog.exe Program Updates

--- Develop “time window” code for the program that will indicate when there are especially high probability time windows for an earthquake to occur. For example, one such window would be when the sun and moon are in the same location in the sky. That happens roughly once a month.

--- Develop earthquake triggering profiles for specific fault zones around the world. For example, earthquakes in fault zones in some area that run north and south might be triggered differently that ones in that area in fault zones that run east and west.

Have an enjoyable and safe Labor Day holiday.