Softpedia >Windows >Office tools >Diary/Organizers/Calendar >Calendar Magic >  Changelog

Calendar Magic Changelog

What's new in Calendar Magic 19.1

May 16, 2017
  • Time Zones and DST:
  • Updated the time zone and DST information for the island of Cyprus. Northern locations under Turkish control are in the UTC + 3 time zone and do not use DST. The remainder of the island is in the UTC + 2 time zone but does use DST. Note that, in order to distinguish between locations in the northern Turkish controlled area and those in the southern area, the letters "NC" have been appended to locations in North Cyprus and "SC" to those in South Cyprus.
  • Corrected the DST rules for various Mexican cities and towns. All cities and towns in Baja California follow the DST start and end dates for the USA, as do Ensenada, La Paz and Tecate. In addition, Wai Hui identified a few other Mexican locations requiring Time Zone and/or DST updates.
  • Wai Hui also cast his eagle eye over the Time Zone and DST information for Canada, Russia and the USA, leading to a substantial number of corrections - an extremely impressive piece of work by one user for the benefit of others. Wai then turned his attention to research stations in Antarctica, leading again to a number of updates. Users should be aware, however, that it is far from easy to obtain definitive information about the Time Zones used by different research stations. Sources on the Web often provide contradictory information and it is difficult to identify an authoritative, up-to-date reference source.
  • Corrected the DST rules for Brazil. Normally DST ends on the third Sunday in February but, when Carnival Sunday (2 days prior to Mardi Gras) falls on that date, the end of DST is delayed by 1 week. This happens next in 2023, 2026, 2034, 2037 and 2039.
  • Corrected the DST rules for Morocco. It appears that DST is suspended during and around the month of Ramadan. For more details, see https://www.timeanddate.com/time/change/morocco. My thanks again to Wai Hui for drawing this to my attention.
  • Some further Time Zone and DST updates and corrections were also carried out for Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Northern Ireland, the Pitcairn Islands and St Pierre and Miquelon.
  • Equation Solver:
  • Added the solution of quintic (degree 5) polynomial equations. The Enter Key may now also be used as an alternative to clicking the Solve button.
  • Unit Converter:
  • Some unit names using diacritic marks were causing problems for users with Asian Windows system locales. When this is detected, a switch to alternative unit names is now made "below the surface".
  • Observed Days:
  • Added Earth Day and the 2017 date for Ada Lovelace Day to Observed Days under the category "various".

New in Calendar Magic 19.0 (Mar 20, 2017)

  • Time Zones and DST:
  • Turkey has abandoned its use of DST while, at the same time, changing its time zone from UTC+2 to UTC+3. Yet another Russian region (Oblast) has changed its time zone, the Saratov Oblast moving from UTC+3 to UTC+4. Tonga reintroduced DST late in 2016 while Mongolia has ceased using it. Egypt also decided "at the last minute" not to use DST in 2016 and there is no indication currently that it will be reintroduced in 2017. Haiti has recently decided to use DST in 2017.
  • Observed Days:
  • Updated the observed day information for Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Niue, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Thailand.
  • Editing and Deleting Reminders:
  • As an alternative to using a mouse for selecting a reminder to edit or delete, it is now possible to use the down arrow key to get to the relevant reminder followed by pressing the Enter key to select it. This feature exists primarily for the benefit of blind and visually impaired users.
  • Using Combo Boxes:
  • When a combo box "has the focus", the up and down keyboard arrow keys may be used repeatedly to move up or down through its list of items, selecting each one in turn. Similarly, the Home and End keys may be used to select the first and last items. Corrected a few cases where the latter was not occurring. Again, this feature exists primarily for the benefit of blind and visually impaired users.
  • World-wide Database of Towns and Cities:
  • Changed the spelling of "Tajikstan" to "Tajikistan". Added the following locations in Tajikistan – Isfara, Istaravshan, Khujand, Konibodom, Panjakent, Tursunzoda and Vahdat.
  • Islamic Month Names:
  • Changed the English name for the first Islamic month from "Muharram" to "Al-Muharram". Apparently the latter is a better transliteration although the former is more widely used. My thanks to Mohamed Al-Dabbagh for this information.
  • Fraction and Continued Fraction Calculators:
  • The Calculate command buttons were not functioning correctly. Fixed.
  • Prime Calculator:
  • Corrected a minor error in the Prime Calculator - testing the primality of the number 2 was causing an error message to be generated.
  • Calendar Magic Data Files:
  • Characters in various data files were causing problems when used on Windows PCs with Asian system locales. My thanks to Wai Hui in Hong Kong for his considerable help in both identifying problem areas and carefully testing a series of beta test versions.
  • Check for Updates:
  • After moving EuroSoft's web site to a different Service Provider, the "Check for Updates" function was no longer working properly. Fixed.
  • Contact Details:
  • Updated the contact details for EuroSoft.

New in Calendar Magic 18.9 (Aug 22, 2016)

  • Daylight Saving Time (DST):
  • Added a new menu item (Dates > DST Dates).For countries using DST in the current year, this menu item will generate a list of the countries and the DST begin and end dates for each country.
  • Updated the DST information for Azerbaijan, Belarus,Chile, Egypt, Greenland, Haiti, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,Mexico, Morocco, Palestine Authority, Paraguay, Syria, Turkey and Uruguay.
  • Worldwide Locations Database:
  • Eight Russian regions (oblasts) have changed their time zones in 2016.
  • The regions are Astrakhan, Ulyanovsk, Altai Krai, Altai Republic, Tomsk, Zabaykalsky Krai, Sakhalin andMagadan. On May 1, Venezuela also changed its time zone from UTC -4.5 to UTC 4.
  • Calendar Magic's world wide locations database has been updated to reflect these changes.
  • Big Numbers Calculator:
  • A new Mersenne prime number has recently been discovered, the 49th such number, and the Big Numbers Calculator now
  • supports its evaluation.
  • The new prime has the form 2^74207281 - 1 and contains over 22 million digits (22338618 to be precise). Expect itsevaluation to take days rather than hours.
  • Also forget any thoughts about calculating the corresponding perfect number! Made some changes to the underlying program code to speed up the calculation of the square roots of very large numbers.
  • Expression Calculator:
  • Copying and pasting data into the Expression Calculator has been improved. At the request of a user, added a saved history file to convert from kilograms to stones, pounds and ounces.
  • UK citizens of mature years still tend to think of weights in terms of these older imperial units. An equivalent file has also been provided for converting in the other direction.
  • Hindu Religious Festivals:
  • The 2016 to 2018 dates for the Hindu religious festival Maha Shivaratri were out by one day. All three have been corrected.

New in Calendar Magic 18.8 (Dec 16, 2015)

  • Enlarged Views:
  • Following a suggestion from a user, the method for displaying enlarged views of text output has been totally redesigned. Now an enlarged view will occupy as much screen "vertical real estate" as possible. For example, on modern screens with diagonal lengths greater than 15.6 inches, a full year calendar should now be completely visible.
  • The F11 function key continues to be used for toggling between enlarged and normal views.
  • Reminders:
  • When Calendar Magic is started up, different short sounds are now used to indicate if there is a reminder set for the current date and, if not, if there is one occurring within the next 7 days. For the former, a short sound is played twice; for the latter, the short sound is played once only.
  • This feature has been added primarily for the benefit of blind and visually impaired users.
  • Special Calendars:
  • Added an option “Swedish and Finnish Calendars for 1700 to 1712” to display the calendars used in Sweden (Finland was part of Sweden at that time) during this period. Remarkably the calendar for 1712 contains 30 days in February.
  • Factor Calculator:
  • Any unacceptably long factorisation may now be terminated by the Ctrl+T keyboard key combination rather than having to use the Task Manager to end the process yafu.exe.
  • Time Zones:
  • Updated the time zone information for North Korea. On August 15, 2015 it changed from UTC + 9 hours to UTC + 8.5 hours.
  • Winter Olympics:
  • Added data for the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.
  • World-wide Locations Database:
  • At the request of a user, added Gassa Chare, Ethiopia to Calendar Magic’s database of world-wide locations.
  • Observed Days:
  • Added Black Friday (4th Friday in November) to the list of Observed Days under “various”.
  • Translations:
  • Translated versions of the list of Calendar Magic’s main features are now available in Belarussian, Italian, Polish, Spanish and Thai.

New in Calendar Magic 18.7 (May 1, 2015)

  • System Tray:
  • As requested by several users, the main screen of Calendar Magic now minimises to the System Tray by default. There is a new Check Box (Options > General > Minimise to the System Tray) for turning this off, if you prefer to minimise the main screen to the task bar.
  • Date and Time Converter:
  • Added a "Date and Time Converter" (Time > What Time is it in? > Date and Time Converter) for converting a date and time from one time zone to another. This can be useful for arranging meetings when several time zones are involved or when participating in eBay auctions. Suggested by a user in New Zealand.
  • Accented Characters in Data:
  • Some Windows System Locales used in Asian countries trigger errors when Calendar Magic processes data files containing accented characters. These errors should no longer occur with Calendar Magic now switching seamlessly to equivalent data files with all diacritic marks removed.
  • Planning Calendars:
  • Added a new type of planning calendar "Calendar with North American Week Numbers".
  • Expression Calculator:
  • Added a function solve(f;x) for finding a real root of the user defined function f given a rough guess x of its value. For example, if a user defines the function poly(x) = x^3 + 3*x^2 + 7*x -15, a root near 2 of this function may be calculated by using the input solve(poly;2) to obtain the value 1.229494219409. More detailed information is available in the Expression Calculator section of this document.
  • The angle measure chosen (degrees or radians) is now a "sticky" value.
  • Equation Solver:
  • Altered the last section of output to make it, hopefully, more meaningful and easier to extend in the future to higher order polynomials.
  • Observed Days:
  • Added Kalevala's Day (Feb. 28) to the list of Observed Days for Finland.
  • Added Assumption (Aug. 15) and the Immaculate Conception (Dec. 8) to the list of Observed Days for Malta.
  • Added World Backup Day (Mar. 31) to the list of Observed Days common to many countries.

New in Calendar Magic 18.6 (Feb 4, 2015)

  • New Baha'i Calendar:
  • The traditional Baha'i calendar is being replaced by a new astronomical calendar with effect from sunset on March 20, 2015. Tabulated data for the new calendar has also been released for Baha'i years 172 to 221 (roughly 2015 to 2064 in Gregorian years). These changes have been incorporated seamlessly into Calendar Magic by continuing to use the traditional Baha'i calendar for Baha'i years before 172 and after 221. When further tabulated data is available for Baha'i years beyond 221, a further adjustment will be made.
  • When listing Baha'i religious festivals, the situation is similar except that the upper cut-off point is now Gregorian year 2064 rather than 3000. This also applies to any Baha'i contribution to "On This Day".
  • Equation Solver:
  • Added an Equation Solver to the list of Mathematical Utilities. This new utility will currently find all the roots of any quadratic, cubic or quartic equation with real coefficients. Other types of equation may be added later, depending on user feedback.
  • Prime Calculator:
  • When assessing whether or not a given number is prime, the Baillie-PSW Primality Test is now used via YAFU.
  • Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) Calculator:
  • The BAC limit in Scotland has changed from 80 to 50 mg per 100 ml of blood. The rest of the United Kingdom remains unchanged.
  • As a result, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are now treated separately in the BAC Calculator. A side effect is that any BAC Calculator "sticky" country value may need to be respecified.
  • Global Distances:
  • Distances between locations are now calculated more accurately using formulae which assume that the shape of the Earth is an ellipsoid of revolution rather than a sphere.
  • World-wide Locations Database:
  • At the request of a user, added Mukilteo in Washington State, USA to the Calendar Magic locations database. Also added Makkum in the Netherlands.

New in Calendar Magic 18.5 (Nov 17, 2014)

  • List of Reminders - When reminders are listed on the main screen, if two consecutive reminders occur on the same date, you may now reverse the order in which they are listed by left-clicking one of the two reminder messages and then using the Ctrl+UpArrow or Ctrl+DownArrow keyboard key combination as appropriate. Any such change is "sticky". This is useful, for example, for listing two "same date" reminders in the order in which the corresponding events will occur on that day.
  • Factor Calculator and Prime Calculator - Calendar Magic now auto-detects whether the Windows OS is 32-bit or 64-bit and then uses the appropriate YAFU executable. Before any YAFU based factorisation, old YAFU data and log files are now automatically removed. This helps to ensure more consistent run times when a factorisation is repeated. Updated YAFU from V1.29 to V1.34.
  • Time Zones and Use of DST - In October, 2014 Russia implemented major changes to its time zones and also abandoned the use of DST in future years. Belarus has also decided to remain on permanent "summer time". These changes have been incorporated in Calendar Magic.
  • World-wide Locations Database - Added the following Russian cities and towns - Baley, Bodaibo, Chelyuskin, Cherskiy, Druzhina, Dudinka, Evensk, Khapcheranga, Khasan, Khatanga, Mirny, Nikolaevsk-on-Amur, Okha, Othosk, Palana, Pevek, Provideniya, Salekhard, Tiksi, Tura, Turukhansk, Tynda, Udachny, Uelen, Ust-Ordynskiy, Vanavara and Verkhoyansk. At the request of an Ethiopian user, added the town of Gambella to Calendar Magic's database of world-wide locations.
  • Observed Days - Added Armed Forces Day (last Saturday in June) to the list of observed days for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
  • Travelling Salesman Problem - Added a data file (Commonwealth capitals.tsp) for the 71 countries and territories sending athletes to the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

New in Calendar Magic 18.4 (Jan 6, 2014)

  • Calculation of Mersenne Prime Numbers - Added an option "nth Mersenne prime" to the Big Numbers Calculator to calculate the nth Mersenne prime number, where the input n is any integer in the range 1 to 48. Mersenne primes are of the form 2^P - 1, where P is also a prime number, and only 48 Mersenne primes are currently known.
  • As n increases, the corresponding Mersenne prime increases in size very rapidly. For example, the 30th Mersenne prime contains 39751 digits and the 48th (the largest prime number currently known) contains 17425170 digits. As a result, for values of n above the mid-30s, the calculation times required can run into hours or even days.
  • Calculation of Perfect Numbers - Added an option "nth perfect number" to the Big Numbers Calculator to calculate the nth perfect number, where the input n is any integer in the range 1 to 48. An integer N is said to be "perfect" if the sum of its proper factors is equal to N. For example, the first two perfect numbers are 6 and 28 with 6 = 1+2+3 and 28 = 1+2+4+7+14. The next two are 496 and 8218.
  • As n increases, the corresponding perfect number also increases in size very rapidly. For example, the 30th perfect number contains 79502 digits and the 48th (the largest perfect number currently known) contains 34850340 digits. As a result, for values of n above the mid-30s, the calculation times required can run into hours or even days.
  • Significant Digits in Results - In the Expression Calculator and various other routines in Calendar Magic, the specification of the number of significant digits in results is no longer applied when the result is an exact integer. For example, when 3 is specified as the number of significant digits, calculating 3^3 + 4^4 + 3^3 + 5^5 will now display the correct result 3435 and not 3430.
  • Thailand Observed Days - Added 2014 information for observed days determined by the local Buddhist lunar calendar.
  • Time Zone Changes in Brazil - The state of Acre and the western part of the state of Amazonas are now in the (GMT-5) hours time zone.
  • DST in Israel - As approved by the Israeli Knesset on July 8, 2013, DST in Israel now ends on the last Sunday in October.
  • Other DST Information - Updated DST information for Brazil, Jordan and Libya. Jordan no longer uses DST and Libya is effectively on permanent DST, making its time zone (GMT + 2) hours.

New in Calendar Magic 18.3 (Jul 12, 2013)

  • Using Combo Boxes with Keyboard Keys - Based on input from a blind user,
  • it is now much easier to use combo boxes with various keyboard keys. When a combo box "has the focus", the up and down arrow keys may be used repeatedly to move up or down through its list of items, selecting each one in turn. Similarly, the Home and End keys may be used to select the first and last items.
  • System Locales - Made Calendar Magic more resilient on PC systems on which the chosen system locale is unable to handle accented characters with ASCII values greater than 255.
  • Country BAC Data - Updated the Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) data for various countries.
  • Thailand Observed Days - Added 2013 information for observed days determined by the local Buddhist lunar calendar.
  • Parsi Fasli Calendar - Fixed a bug in the calculation of year values.

New in Calendar Magic 18.2 (Jan 7, 2013)

  • ABSI Calculator:
  • Added "A Body Shape Index (ABSI) Calculator" based on research done by Krakauer & Krakauer. The authors argue persuasively that ABSI is a better predictor of premature death due to obesity than Body Mass Index (BMI).
  • World-wide Locations Database:
  • Updated time zone for Libya (now GMT + 1 hour).
  • Based on user input, added various locations in Australia to Calendar Magic's world-wide locations database.
  • DST Information:
  • Updated DST information for Armenia, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Falkland Islands, Haiti, Libya, Morocco and Nagorno Karabakh.
  • Fuel Consumption Utility:
  • Responding to a user request, added international nautical miles to the list of distance units.
  • Tip of the Day Bug:
  • If "Show tip of the day at startup" was checked (Help > Tip of the Day) and an opening screen other than the main screen also selected (Options > General > Opening Screen), the alternative opening screen was not being displayed. This bug has been fixed by ignoring the "Show tip of the day at startup" request whenever an opening screen other than the main screen is specified.

New in Calendar Magic 18.1 (May 5, 2012)

  • Reminder Message Length - At the request of a user, increased the maximum length of reminder messages from 40 to 60.
  • Reminders by Month - If Reminders by Month is running, possibly minimised, and is currently showing today's reminders (if any) or the message "Today's date", then, when midnight occurs and a new day commences, the list of reminders will automatically be updated to those for the new day. If no reminders have been set for the new day, the usual "Today's date" message will be displayed. This behaviour, requested by a user, will continue day by day provided that Reminders by Month remains open.
  • Checks for Imminent Reminders - The checks for imminent reminders carried out "one second after midnight" have been discontinued, since systems may be sleeping at that time. Instead, such checks (and the provision of audio and visual warnings when reminders are imminent) are now performed, if Calendar Magic is running, as soon as Calendar Magic detects that the last such check was performed on the previous day or earlier. In addition, if any set reminder is imminent, an appropriate message box is displayed. This functionality is required by users who do not switch off their PCs and who keep Calendar Magic permanently running in the background.
  • Egyptian Fraction Calculator - Added an Egyptian Fraction Calculator (Maths Utilities > Egyptian Fraction Calculator) for converting fractions x/y to the ancient Egyptian form 1/ a + 1/ b + 1/ c + ... , for example 7/ 31 = 1/ 5 + 1/ 45 + 1/279.
  • Geometry Calculator - Added a button to the top left-hand corner of the Geometry Calculator screen for displaying the various 2D and 3D geometric objects diagrammatically.
  • Scientific Calculator - The tool-tip text associated with any memory button not only explains its use but also now indicates the value stored in that memory location. Added a button to the top left-hand corner of the Scientific Calculator screen for displaying related Help information.
  • Time Zone Changes - On December 30, 2011 Samoa switched from being 11 hours behind GMT to 13 hours ahead of GMT. American Samoa is unaffected by this change. The number of time zones in Kazakhstan has been reduced from 3 to 2 and the country no longer uses DST.
  • Imminent Reminders Visual Indicators - Fixed a minor bug in the display of visual indicators for imminent reminders.
  • Javanese Pawukon/Pasaran Calendar - Based on new input from Kaboel Karso, made a slight adjustment to the leap year rule for Java years 1747 to 1866 inclusive.

New in Calendar Magic 18.0 (Dec 8, 2011)

  • Implemented a new routine (Calendars > Calendar Collector) for answering the question "Starting in any specified year, for how many years do I need to collect calendars to have a copy of all fourteen possible Gregorian year calendars?"
  • At the suggestion of a user, implemented a routine (Time > Revolutionary Time) for converting between normal and French Revolutionary time. The latter divides each day into 10 decimal hours, each decimal hour consisting of 100 decimal minutes and each decimal minute consisting of 100 decimal seconds
  • Implemented a simple Interval Arithmetic Calculator (Maths Utilities > Interval Arithmetic Calculator) for performing arithmetic on approximate values which lie within specified ranges (intervals)
  • A user pointed out that, when Calendar Magic's main screen (form) is minimised, there is no longer any visual indicator for imminent reminders. This has been rectified by changing the Calendar Magic task bar icon to a red or orange diamond shape whenever the main screen is minimised, provided that the visual indicator on the main screen has not already been hidden
  • Russian cities and towns are now on "permanent DST", i.e. clocks are no longer turned back one hour in late October. A few regions have also changed time zones
  • Improved the coverage of Russian cities and towns by adding 160 additional Russian locations. Also added the Alaskan locations Barrow Bethel, Kodiak and Kotzebue at the request of a user. The database now contains over 18500 locations
  • Based on input from a Serbian user, the observed day information for Serbia has been significantly revised
  • In the Javanese Pawukon/Pasaran Calendar, following additional information from a user in Yogyakarta, adjusted the code for calculating Windu values
  • With regard to the World Athletics Championships, added the venues for 2015 and 2017 - Beijing and London respectively
  • Updated the YAFU executables to V1.29.2

New in Calendar Magic 17.8 (Mar 21, 2011)

  • Countdown Timer
  • Implemented a simple Countdown Timer (Time > Countdown Timer) for counting down a specified time period, second by second, to zero. The countdown period may be specified in any one of the forms H:M:S, M:S or S, where H, M, S represent respectively hours, minutes and seconds.
  • You may also specify the music file to be played when the countdown period ends. A combo box on the Countdown Timer form lists the names of all cda, mp3, m4p, ogg, wav and wma files in the folder in which Calendar Magic is installed, so that you may choose any favourite music file you have copied to this folder.
  • Note that to play a music file, other than a wav file, Calendar Magic uses the music player software on your system associated with the file extension.
  • Once started, for the Countdown Timer to function properly, do not return to Calendar Magic's main screen while the countdown takes place.
  • Reminders
  • Following discussions with a user, "every year" reminder descriptions may now contain an optional year field of the form ‹YYYY› or ‹YYYY!›, where YYYY represents a 4-digit year value.
  • In the case of a year field of the form ‹YYYY›, when a reminder description containing it is displayed on the main Calendar Magic screen, the year field is replaced by the current year minus the specified year.
  • The following example shows why this might be useful. If Joe was born on December 21, 1995, the reminder description entered might be:
  • Joe is ‹1995› today
  • When this reminder description is displayed on the Calendar Magic main screen, it looks like:
  • Joe is 16 today
  • with ‹1995› replaced by 2011 - 1995 = 16, that is Joe's age in years at his next birthday.
  • The second type of year field, ‹YYYY!›, is also best explained by example. For a wedding which took place in 1986, you might create the reminder description:
  • Jack & Jill's ‹1986!› anniversary
  • When this reminder description is displayed on the Calendar Magic main screen, it looks like:
  • Jack & Jill's 25th. anniversary
  • with "th." inserted after 2011 - 1986 = 25. Depending on the preceding value, the characters inserted may be "st.", "nd.", "rd." or "th." to ensure grammatical correctness.
  • Reminder year fields are obviously most useful when creating "every year" reminders for birthdays and anniversaries.
  • A new check box:
  • Process ‹ ... › fields in reminders
  • for turning on/off the processing of year fields has been added to the Reminder Utilities form (Reminders > Reminder Utilities). It is "on" by default.
  • Sun And Moon Data
  • At the request of a user, the output now lists the local (location dependent) occurrences of blue moons for a period of 50 years from the year value in the input date. In this context, a blue moon is defined to be the second full moon in any (Gregorian) calendar month containing two full moons.
  • Note that the local dates and times listed are unadjusted for DST, if any.
  • Currency Converter
  • Modified output in line with changes to the currencies monitored by the European Central Bank (ECB) – the Estonian kroon no longer exists and the Israeli shekel has been added.
  • The daily ECB exchange rate data is now downloaded in xml rather than zip format. As a result, the file unzip.exe is no longer required to be present in the folder in which Calendar Magic is installed.
  • Big Numbers Calculator
  • Speeded up the calculation of quotients x/y where x and y are integers, y contains fewer than 6 digits and more than 100000 digits are required in the fractional part of the result.
  • When computing n! or x^n, increased the upper limit on n from 30000 to 100000.
  • Days between Dates
  • At the request of a user, the date difference is now not only expressed in days but also in (a) years, months and days, and (b) months and days.
  • Observed Days
  • In the observed day information for England, corrected the date of St. George's Day. Normally St. George's Day falls on April 23 but, if this date lies between Palm Sunday and the Sunday after Easter inclusive, St. George's Day is moved to the Monday following Easter Monday. Thus, in 2011, St. George's Day falls officially on May 2 – a fact ignored by many diary makers and organisers of St. George's Day events.
  • Updated observed day information for Thailand in 2011.
  • Religious Festivals
  • In Christian religious festivals, corrected the date of St. George's Day as described above.
  • Gregorian Analysis
  • Improved the wording and layout of the output.

New in Calendar Magic 17.7 (Dec 15, 2010)

  • Locations Database
  • Increased the number of cities and towns in Calendar Magic’s world-wide locations database from around 8000 to 18000.
  • Javanese Pawukon/Pasaran Calendar
  • At the request of a user, implemented the Javanese Pawukon/Pasaran calendar and added support for it in Dual Calendars, Month Calendars, Year Calendars, Calendar Comparison, New Year’s Days and This is Your Life. Dates may also be converted to and from the Javanese Pawukon/Pasaran calendar.
  • Current Date Display
  • Added a new check box Options > General > Show year in the display of the current date.
  • Current Time Display
  • Added a new check box Options > General > Show 24-hour clock.
  • Ease of Use Improvements
  • Reduced the number of occasions on which one has to re-press a Calculate button after choosing a new item from various drop-down lists.
  • Edit Reminders Find Capability
  • In Edit Reminders a find function is now available for finding occurrences of specified text strings. To initiate a new search, use the Ctrl+F key combination and input the text to be found. Use the “Find Next” button to run through the various occurrences. Alternatively, having found the first occurrence, exit the search form and press the F3 function key repeatedly.
  • Last File Backup Date
  • Added an item with this name to the Help menu. It returns the date on which important Calendar Magic files were last backed up using the File > Backup menu item.
  • Traditional Chinese Day Names
  • At the suggestion of an acupuncturist, when using Date Conversions to convert Gregorian dates, the traditional Chinese day name for the input date has been added to the generated output. This name is a combination of one of the 10 celestial stems with one of the 12 terrestrial branches, leading to a cycle of 60 day names.
  • World and European Athletics Championships
  • Updated venue location data for championships in years up to 2014. This data is used in the output generated by Date Conversions for Gregorian dates.
  • Currency Converter
  • To satisfy a user’s request, added a “Swap Currencies” button to interchange the two displayed currencies.
  • DST Updates
  • Added DST information for Morocco and Samoa in line with recent decisions in these countries.

New in Calendar Magic 17.5 (Aug 30, 2010)

  • World Clocks:
  • At the request of a user, added functionality (Time > World Clocks) for simultaneously displaying the local times at up to 12 different world-wide locations. The times displayed are continuously updated, minute by minute. The countries and locations chosen are “sticky” values.
  • Planning Calendars:
  • Also at the request of a user, added a new type of planning calendar (Calendars > Planning Calendars > Academic Calendar). An “academic calendar” shows 12 consecutive months but the first month may be chosen as any month of the year.
  • Statistics Calculator:
  • Any displayed plot (Box, XY, Regression Line) may now be viewed in “enlarged mode” by pressing the F11 function key.
  • Data input files may now contain times specified in HH:MM:SS format, for example 15:23:07. Such times are converted into decimal hours during data input. Also, if times do occur in a data input file, the field separator must obviously not be a colon.
  • Increased the limit on the number of data lines in a file from 1000 to 2000.
  • Strengthened the detection of errors in input data files.
  • Recurring Decimals:
  • Added a Recurring Decimals capability (Utilities > Recurring Decimals) for converting fractions to decimal form and vice-versa. For example 23/1400 converts to 0.016(428571), with rounded parentheses being used to indicate the periodic part which repeats indefinitely.
  • Password Protection:
  • Password input when starting Calendar Magic is now “asterisk protected”, improving overall security when passwords are used.
  • Dates:
  • You can now list the years and locations of modern Summer Olympic Games (Dates > Summer Olympic Games) and also Winter Olympic Games (Dates > Winter Olympic Games).
  • Date Conversions:
  • Added Winter Olympic Games locations information. Updated Summer Olympic Games data to include Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
  • World-wide Locations Database:
  • Updated time zone and DST information and incorporated recent major changes in Russia and Mexico.
  • At the request of users, added Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia and Lincoln, California, USA to Calendar Magic’s world-wide locations database.
  • Observed Days:
  • Updated information for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales for 2012 and added extra Bank Holiday in that year.
  • Where applicable, Daylight Saving Time (DST) start and end dates are now only displayed for the current year. With the many DST changes taking place throughout the world, maintaining DST data across multiple years was proving to be too onerous a task.
  • Use of Windows Clipboard:
  • Added code to address occasional copy and paste problems on systems running a Clipboard manager.
  • Scientific Calculator:
  • Improved detection of invalid keyboard input.

New in Calendar Magic 17.4 (Dec 30, 2009)

  • Statistics Calculator:
  • Implemented a simple Statistics Calculator (Utilities > Statistics Calculator). The initial release contains
  • procedures for the basic statistics of ungrouped data, the basic statistics of grouped data and several
  • types of 2-variable regression (linear, logarithmic, exponential, power, quadratic). Depending on user
  • feedback, other statistical procedures will be implemented in the future.
  • Data plotting capabilities are also available – Box plots, XY plots and regression line plots.
  • Data files must be plain text files in CSV format, although using a comma as the field separator is not
  • recommended. The default file extension is .sta. A simple Data Editor is provided for creating such
  • files but any text editor or spreadsheet program may be used.
  • For further information, consult the Statistics Calculator section later in this document.
  • Average Speed Based Calculations:
  • Added a new utility (Utilities > Average Speed) for calculating any one of distance travelled, time taken
  • and average speed, given values for the other two. Input may be expressed in various units of
  • distance, time and speed.
  • Calendar Magic Default Colours:
  • Changed the default colours for the various forms in Calendar Magic. For existing users, only “new
  • forms” in Calendar Magic will show the new colour scheme. To apply the new colour scheme to all
  • forms, use Options > Colour > Restore All Screens to Default Colours.
  • BAC Calculator:
  • Updated blood alcohol limit data for various countries.
  • Travelling Salesman Problem:
  • Modified the logical flow to bring it more into line with that adopted for the new Statistics Calculator.
  • Provided three .tsp files, “EU capitals.tsp”, “US state capitals.tsp” and “World capitals.tsp”, containing
  • respectively the data for all EU country capitals, all US state capitals and 222 world capitals.
  • Data File Backup (File > Backup):
  • Statistics Calculator data files (*.sta) have been added to the various types of files backed up, as have
  • Fraction Calculator saved history files (*.sff).
  • Observed Days:
  • Added additional Thai observed day information for 2010.
  • Miscellaneous:
  • Other minor enhancements and bug fixes.

New in Calendar Magic 17.3 (May 28, 2009)

  • Responding to a user’s suggestion, you may now password protect your copy of Calendar Magic by means of a new Password Manager (Options > Password Manager). Using it, passwords may be created, changed and removed. Any password created must be at least eight characters long and must consist of a combination of letters (a to z, A to Z) and/or digits (0 to 9).
  • If a password has been created, whenever anyone attempts to open that copy of Calendar Magic, he/she is prompted to input the password and Calendar Magic will not open until this has been done successfully.
  • Added new functionality to the Big Numbers Calculator – sqrt(x) , where x is a non-negative decimal number of arbitrary length, and the calculation of the mathematical constants pi, e and phi (the golden ratio). The calculation of these three constants is done using Steve Pagliarulo’s super-fast QuickPi program, distributed as part of V17.3 with Steve’s approval. By way of example, the calculation of pi to 1,000,000 decimal places takes around 2 seconds!
  • Implemented an algorithm for solving the Travelling Salesman problem (Utilities > Travelling Salesman Problem). The problem concerns a salesman who has to visit a number of cities/towns by air and who is keen to minimise the total distance travelled. The algorithm used is called “simulated annealing” and is based on the approach “nature uses” when a metal anneals or when a crystal forms. It was described by Shawn Carlson in the March, 1997 issue of Scientific American.
  • Implemented a Fraction Calculator (Utilities > Fraction Calculator) to calculate exactly the values of arithmetic expressions containing integers and fractions. For example, 22/7 - 355/113 simplifies to 1/791. Permissible arithmetic operators are + - * / and ^. Three types of parentheses, namely ( ), [ ] and { }, may be used and user defined variable names are also supported.
  • Implemented a Continued Fraction Calculator (Utilities > Continued Fraction Calculator) for evaluating continued fractions and for converting arithmetic expressions of various forms to continued fractions. The solution of linear Diophantine equations in two variables is also supported, as is the solution of Pell’s equation.
  • In the Big Numbers Calculator, rationalised the retention of input values when switching between different types of calculation.
  • In the Expression Calculator, improved the detection of invalid input.
  • Added a check box to the Calendar Options form (Options > Calendar Options) for suppressing seconds in the display of the current time. This applies to all forms in which the current time is displayed.
  • Extended the functionality of the Time Calculator by providing an option which supports the calculation of the positive difference between two date related times, for example 15:45:20 on Dec. 15, 2004 and 21:20:35 on Feb. 27, 2010.
  • When a form in Calendar Magic contains a single spin button (double red arrowhead in appearance), the keyboard key combinations Ctrl++ and Ctrl+- may now be used as alternatives to clicking the red arrowheads. Ctrl++ increases the value controlled by the spin button and Ctrl+- decreases the value. When a form contains more than one spin button, you must first left-click the control containing the value you wish to change.
  • Added new items to the File Menu for restoring backed up data files, namely Restore All, Restore Initialisation File, Restore Quick Notes and Restore Reminders.
  • In line with a user suggestion, the Display Fonts and User Fonts forms now contain “sample text” fields formatted using the chosen font specifications. This makes it much easier for users to assess the impact of choosing a different fixed width or proportional width font, changing font sizes etc.
  • Added Birkat ha-Hammah (The Blessing of the Sun) to the list of Jewish religious festivals. This festival is celebrated once every 28 years on a fixed date (March 26) in the Julian calendar.
  • Added Save buttons to various forms for saving results to a text file.
  • Improved the visual display of Moon phases on the Sun and Moon Data form and reworked the underlying code.

New in Calendar Magic 17.2 (Feb 3, 2009)

  • Added a Body Mass Index (BMI) Calculator (Utilities > BMI Calculator) in response to users’ requests. The indicated BMI category follows World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.
  • Any weight or height entered may not only be a numerical value but also a simple arithmetic expression. For example, someone in the United Kingdom, whose height is 5 ft 10 ½ ins, could enter it as 5 * 12 + 10.5 ins, since there are 12 inches in a foot.
  • Numeric input fields in many other parts of Calendar Magic may now be similarly specified, including the Financial Calculator, Geometry Calculator, Fuel Consumption, Global Distances, Paper Weight Converter, Unit Converter and BAC Calculator. The arithmetic expression may contain numeric values, rounded parentheses ( ), and the arithmetic operators + - * / and ^, representing respectively addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and raising to a power. Examples are 5 * 23.79, 11 * 14 + 6 and (2 ^ 0.5) * (7 / 8). The space characters on either side of an arithmetic operator are optional.
  • Implemented a “Big Numbers Calculator” (Utilities > Big Number Calculator) for performing calculations involving very large non-negative numbers. The calculations initially supported are x + y, x - y, x * y, x / y, x ^ n, x y, x mod y, hcf(x, y), lcm(x, y) and n!.
  • Whenever a result will contain more than 5000 digits, you are prompted to confirm that you wish to proceed. You may also terminate any calculation, taking an unacceptably long time, by pressing the keyboard key combination Ctrl+T.
  • Implemented a “Number Base Converter” in response to another user suggestion. Numbers may be converted between any two number bases in the range 2 (binary) to 100. A number to be converted may be of arbitrary length and may also be non-integer.
  • For inputting numbers in number bases greater than 16, Neugebauer’s notation must be used. For inputting numbers in number bases from 2 to 16, you may use either Neugebauer’s notation or normal mathematical form.
  • Note that, with the release of the Number Base Converter, the much more limited “Number Bases” category in the Unit Converter has been removed.
  • Another user requested an easy way to add the dates of Moon phases to his stored reminders. Now, whenever the Sun and Moon Data utility is run with a date in "this year" or "next year", a text file newrems.txt is automatically generated containing Moon phase date records of the form: day, month, year, moon phase description
  • Calendar Magic V17.2 Now Available
  • Enhancements and improvements in V17.2 are listed below.
  • Added a Body Mass Index (BMI) Calculator (Utilities > BMI Calculator) in response to users’ requests. The indicated BMI category follows World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.
  • Any weight or height entered may not only be a numerical value but also a simple arithmetic expression. For example, someone in the United Kingdom, whose height is 5 ft 10 ½ ins, could enter it as 5 * 12 + 10.5 ins, since there are 12 inches in a foot.
  • Numeric input fields in many other parts of Calendar Magic may now be similarly specified, including the Financial Calculator, Geometry Calculator, Fuel Consumption, Global Distances, Paper Weight Converter, Unit Converter and BAC Calculator. The arithmetic expression may contain numeric values, rounded parentheses ( ), and the arithmetic operators + - * / and ^, representing respectively addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and raising to a power. Examples are 5 * 23.79, 11 * 14 + 6 and (2 ^ 0.5) * (7 / 8). The space characters on either side of an arithmetic operator are optional.
  • Implemented a “Big Numbers Calculator” (Utilities > Big Number Calculator) for performing calculations involving very large non-negative numbers. The calculations initially supported are x + y, x - y, x * y, x / y, x ^ n, x y, x mod y, hcf(x, y), lcm(x, y) and n!.
  • Whenever a result will contain more than 5000 digits, you are prompted to confirm that you wish to proceed. You may also terminate any calculation, taking an unacceptably long time, by pressing the keyboard key combination Ctrl+T.
  • Implemented a “Number Base Converter” in response to another user suggestion. Numbers may be converted between any two number bases in the range 2 (binary) to 100. A number to be converted may be of arbitrary length and may also be non-integer.
  • For inputting numbers in number bases greater than 16, Neugebauer’s notation must be used. For inputting numbers in number bases from 2 to 16, you may use either Neugebauer’s notation or normal mathematical form.
  • Note that, with the release of the Number Base Converter, the much more limited “Number Bases” category in the Unit Converter has been removed.
  • Another user requested an easy way to add the dates of Moon phases to his stored reminders. Now, whenever the Sun and Moon Data utility is run with a date in "this year" or "next year", a text file newrems.txt is automatically generated containing Moon phase date records of the form:
  • day, month, year, moon phase description
  • an example being:
  • 4, 1, 2009, First Quarter
  • The data in this file can then be added to your stored reminders by using the “Import reminders” utility (Reminders > Reminder Utilities).
  • Implemented a facility (File > Backup) for making a backup copy of important data files containing, for example, set reminders, Quick Notes text, user customisations of Calendar Magic etc.
  • Added a check box to the Reminder Utilities form (Reminders > Reminder Utilities) for turning on and off the audio warning signal for imminent reminders. Suggested by a user.
  • Satisfying another user request, in any list of observed days for Israel and in any list of Jewish religious festivals, all the days of Pesach, Chanukah, Rosh Hashana and Sukkot are now explicitly listed.
  • Redesigned the Time Calculator and Unit Converter forms.
  • The output from Date Conversions now includes the number of Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays etc in the relevant year.
  • Updated the time zone information for locations in Brazil. On June 24, 2008 the Brazilian Government abolished the country’s fourth time zone (UTC – 5).
  • Updated the DST rules for Brazil. DST now begins on the third Sunday in October and ends on the third Sunday in February.
  • Added DST rules for Argentina and Mauritius.
  • Updated the BAC data for various countries and added data for 20 more countries.
  • Separate forms have been created for This is Your Life, New Year’s Days, On This Date, Factor Calculator and Magic Squares.
  • The standard Windows Common Dialogue is now used throughout Calendar Magic for saving output to a text file.

New in Calendar Magic 16.2 (Aug 16, 2006)

  • Added code and a command button for generating a magic square of order N, where N lies in the range 3 to 100. The numbers forming the magic square are the integers 1, 2, 3, � N2
  • The stopwatch now has a dedicated command button on the main screen
  • When a Religious Festivals or Observed Days list is generated, the relevant output data is now also stored in the CSV (Comma Separated Variable) text file results.csv. You may manipulate this file, using a text editor or spreadsheet program, to customise
  • Added two check boxes �Include Sabbaths� and �Include month starts� to the Religious Festivals form. These check boxes only become visible when Jewish festivals are selected. Their purpose is to enable more comprehensive lists of Jewish holy days to be ge
  • In Religious Festivals, the religion chosen is now a �sticky� value
  • In the Geometry Calculator, added the parallelogram and the trapezium (trapezoid in the United States) to the list of 2D geometric objects for which key attribute values may be calculated
  • In the Geometry Calculator, when calculating the various attribute values of the frustum of a cone, the slant height of the complete cone is now also calculated. This value is useful when creating the curved surface of the frustum of a cone from a plane s
  • In the Expression Calculator, added the function fib(n) for evaluating the nth. Fibonacci number and the function luc(n) for evaluating the nth. Lucas number
  • In Date Conversions, added the Thai day colour to the output generated when a Gregorian date is converted
  • In memory of the author Douglas Adams, added Towel Day (May 25) to the list of Observed Days under �various� from 2001 onwards
  • Added Cohuna, Victoria, Australia to Calendar Magic�s worldwide locations database
  • Based on input from Rafi Salasnik, made various minor updates to Jewish festival related information
  • Modified the calculation of the dates of Yom HaShoah, Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut in line with a change introduced by the Israeli government in 2004

New in Calendar Magic 15.9 (Jun 2, 2006)

  • Added a new category �Old British Currency� to the Unit Converter containing 18 pre-decimalisation British units of currency including some popular slang terms
  • Developed file driven functionality for automating the process of creating a personal unit converter database. The same functionality may be used to incorporate any additions and changes to Calendar Magic�s unit converter database into a personal unit con
  • The Iranian Government has decided to discontinue the use of DST (Daylight Saving Time) from 2006. Updated Calendar Magic�s DST information in line with this decision
  • Implemented a simple stopwatch function. To make the stopwatch visible, use the Ctrl W keyboard key combination from the main screen
  • Added the calculation of the solar noon time to Sun and Moon Data output. Solar noon is when the sun appears highest in the sky at any particular location on Earth. Solar noon is of considerable interest to sundial enthusiasts and to some Buddhists who ar
  • Added a �Create Solar Calendar� button to the Sun and Moon Data screen. Through this button you may create a calendar showing sunrise times, sunset times or solar noon times for every day of a year for any location in Calendar Magic�s worldwide locations
  • Added the dates of some Buddhist festivals to the list of Observed Days for Malaysia for 2006
  • Added Civic Day (first Monday in August) to the list of Observed Days for Canada
  • Added the city (Berlin) hosting the World Athletics Championships in 2009 to Gregorian date conversions output for that year
  • Restructured the output from �Days between Dates� to make it more tabular in appearance
  • Corrected time zone information for some cities and towns in Indiana in line with decisions made by the U.S. Department of Transportation in January, 2006
  • Corrected the time zone offset ( 3 hours) for cities and towns in Sudan
  • Corrected the definition of the date of the early May holiday in the United Kingdom
  • Reduced the height of the �Enlarged View� form to ensure it is completely visible on displays running at low graphics resolutions
  • Widened the current time box at the top left of various forms to prevent �text clipping� with some Windows time formats