I can't say I'm happy overall with the company's progress. It's no one's fault. It was just so many things are interconnected that it was bound that things would get off track.

We got IconPackager 2.5 out which has the smarter packaging in it and the encrypted format so that we can protect our intellectual property better from quasi-warez companies.

We then followed that up with IconDeveloper.

Which we followed up with BootSkin.

But it has bene DesktopX 2.1, the hugely ambitious update to DesktopX 2 and the program that is getting a large share of our resources internally as well as externally that has bunched things up.

Basically 3 major issues with their status:

[X] ActiveX controsl turn black when you move them around.
[ ] ActiveX controls for Flash games and such don't accept mouse input
[X] Complex objects don't always have their scripts started (seems fixed)
[?] ActiveX control Z-order always goes to top of a combined object group

We need to get DesktopX 2.1 out in order to get Object Desktop 2004 out the door.

We need to get Object Desktop 2004 out the door to release Universe Metal 2004

We need to release Universe Metal 2004 to release the Aquarium theme

On the games side things are chugging along nicely. We got a new GalCiv build up today. We got the maps done. Pretty pleased with how those turned out. We did figure out that the minor races are a pain when dealing with the custom maps (they imbalance things).

The Political machine I am probably most happy about right now. They say in business that successful companies are about hiring really smart people and they'll make things happen. Cari and Joe and Scott and Paul are the kinds of people who "just make things happen" very happy about how that's going. We ironed out bunches of issues today.

I spent a considerable amount of time dealing with lawsuit stuff. I'm glad I have a staff of people who can help wade through that stuff and break it down into sizeable chunks.

Once Object Desktop 2004 is out the door we can then execute on our 2004 strategies more effectively. I just want to get that done. The marketing and PR is all waiting on that so we just have to get DesktopX 2.1 out the door. The direct marketing plan for that is moving along with brochures in the making on that.

We have a really big WindowBlinds focused project about to go out that will be a shock to many and one that will make WindowBlinds much more prestigious.

I need to make Stardock Magazine and send that out too soon. Looks like I'll miss getting it by January.