I have this warm fuzzy thing spinning inside my brain...usually when this happens, i spend the next 23 months maniacally writing code...

OK humor me - think of AC Tool without the Decal stuff, no Companion, written more to be a general game macro script-handler for modern games where you can't access the packet stream ala Decal.

Not much would change, really. I have my own pet list of features I'd add to ACTool, script-writing tools more than anything else. there's not much to improve on, it's always been a great and stable program.

Just a crazy thought.

Nope, not crazy at all if you used something like wxWidgets it would even be cross platform. It could be done but the time it will take would be massive.

I am an advocate of wxWidgets for a couple of years now and it only gets better the longer the open source project goes. You should check it out but not without a nice IDE though.

Matter of fact the IDE I use (wxDev-C++) was written in Delphi but writes C++ code.

I was thinking about this for awhile actually but then the thought of going through what Cam did and going through the onslaught of skript-kiddies made me rethink it.

thanks for the info, I'll check that stuff out.

But also do me a favor, the next time I bring this up, please distract me by shouting "Man, look at that chick over there!", and crack me in the back of the skull with a baseball bat.

Hahahahahaha, will do.

Look at my gui and my color bar finder screen scrapper for my bot as they both were written in WxWidgets with only 1 routine in each being in purely Windows code.

I'll check those out as well.

I need to at least get my hands on a copy of Delphi, so I can fiddle with the AC Tool source and make my own 'custom' copy. Delphi used to be available free, but I'll be damned if I can find it anywhere.

Once I had Delphi 7 but it interfered with some of my C++ stuff and I uninstalled it and never looked back. Damn easy language to understand, imo, but I prefer C++ to basically visual pascal (Delphi).

I think this is a great idea...but I would never attempt it. I'd just use the source code that's already provided because it's time consuming and why work when it's already done for you?

If you guys do ever get it converted to C++, I can greatly help you improve on it though.

I think about it every once in a while but seriously reconsider every time. Would be a damn nice learning tool, which is what Cam used ACTool for as well.

Fact of the matter is that if I did it the cycle of getting it to where ACTool is would be about as long. It would be more generic though as Decal would not be supported. Could be done I think and if I did it the thing would be done in WxWidgets so the source would be a ton more friendly to other platforms as well.

Rich people spend how much would be satisfied?

For the wealthy, 2007 was the year that bigger was better -- from yachts and incomes to personal staff and art collections.

In 2008, the rich are likely to be uttering a new mantra -- downsizing. (world of warcraft gold)

The fallout from the debt-market crisis, along with growing concerns about inequality and the environment, are likely to usher in a year of moderation for the rich. Don't worry: Conspicuous consumption won't disappear.

Yet the recent surge in the population of millionaires and billionaires is likely to slow, at least in the near term. Buzzwords like 'mass luxury' and 'exclusive' are likely to be replaced by terms like 'authenticity' and 'sustainability.' In 2008, the rich will strive to be more down to earth, even as they take off in their new G550 private jets.

'I think there is increased anxiety among the wealthy,' says Peter White, a New York-based counselor to rich families. 'But I also think there is a greater understanding of the interconnectedness of things, that what they do in their individual lives can have broader implications.' World of warcraft Power Leveling

Here are some of the most likely trends among the super-rich for 2008.

Conventional wisdom today says the wealthy are exempt from the forces of economic gravity. Luxury real-estate sales are booming, say real-estate agents, even as the rest of the housing market craters. Neiman Marcus is outshining Wal-Mart. The rich will continue to spend, we're told, because they're receiving the lion's share of the nation's wealth and income growth.

This has held true -- so far. The rich (especially the super-wealthy) will fare better than the broader consumer, since they have more of a financial cushion. Yet because so much of today's wealth is tied to financial markets, the wealthy will feel the effects of any dramatic decline in stock markets, hedge funds and private equity. One key issue: Mergers and acquisitions -- the main drivers of big wealth -- could die down with tighter credit.

The rich have also been funding their lifestyles with debt -- from art loans and jumbo mortgages to jet financing. So if credit contracts further, high-end spending also will shrink. cd keys

Gregory D. Curtis, chairman of Greycourt & Co., a Pittsburgh-based wealth-advisory firm, says he knows several wealthy families who already have been burned by investments linked to subprime lending. 'The wealthy may have a bigger cushion between themselves and the wolf at the door,' he says. 'But they're not immune.'

The runaway prices for art, wine, vintage cars and other collectibles are sure to slow next year. The bubble may not pop, per se, since there is so much demand from the newly rich in China, Russia, the Middle East and Latin America. And so far, prices of collectibles have held firm. Yet the markets have become so overrun with financial speculators -- with art becoming the new 'non-correlated asset' and wine becoming the ultimate liquidity event -- that there's bound to be a correction. Look for price drops of 10% or more for some of the secondary artists and wine makers that rely on American buyers.

Private-jet makers are all touting their new 'green' programs, helping the wealthy ease their consciences about burning 600 gallons of fuel to fly to Florida. Carbon-offset programs will grow in popularity, along with efforts to reduce the number of jets flying empty on return trips. Runes of Magic gold

Green-friendly homes, or eco-mansions, will also make headlines, oxymoron or not. Look for more solar-powered home theaters, drought-averse (yet expensive) gardens and indoor bowling alleys made from recycled wood chips.

With the presidential election casting a spotlight on inequality, the rich will feel more like targets. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama vow to raise certain taxes on the wealthy and liberal billionaires like Warren Buffett and Bill Gross have said the rich don't pay their share.

Whether it's out of enlightened self-interest or self-preservation, the rich may tilt left in 2008 in an effort to damp the growing populist streak in American politics. As Mr. Gross, who made his money in the bond market, put it in a blog post earlier this year, 'Now is the time, long overdue in fact, to admit that for the rich, for the mega-rich of this country, that enough is never enough, and it is therefore incumbent upon government to rectify today's imbalances.'

Any mere millionaire today can buy a Bentley, Hatteras yacht or Gucci bag. Yet how many people can say they've been to outer space? wow power level

Experience and access are quickly becoming new status symbols for the wealthy. The most prized experiences have an educational or altruistic bent, which help deflect populist criticism. Rather than buying another house or Swiss watch, the rich are trekking with penguins at the South Pole, having lunch with Nelson Mandela in South Africa or visiting a village in Bhutan to help build a school.

The final frontier in conspicuous consumption: space. In the end it's all about quality dinner conversation, and a rare trip aboard the space station will always outshine stories of another yachting trip to Greece.