Linköping, Sweden (April 1, 1999) - Martin Blom, the world famous software developer from Linköping, Sweden, has decided to leave the computer scene for good, in favour of a song and music career.
Martin was probably best known for AHI, the de facto retargetable sound standard for AmigaOS, released under the Divine Software label. AHI can be compared to Microsoft's DirectSound component in Windows; both try to abstract the complex hardware of sound cards and present the resource to applications as a simple but yet powerful API. However, only AHI fully succeeds in that effort, and the success and importance of it can hardly be overestimated. But Martin also contributed to the Amiga community by releasing many other tools and ports from other operating systems, such as internet phone applications, X Windows display drivers and a port of Netscape's popular "What's related" functionality to one of the Amiga web browsers.
However, the Amiga platform was not the only one he worked on. He was also part of the development of the Alta.Resa travel system for Sun's Solaris and he developed part of the software in Saab Combitech Traffic Systems' free-flow toll stations for private highway operators. He also played a big part in the design and development of one of the most advanced and best selling application servers in the world, the Novelty Application Server from Mediate AB. The application server, being based on the new, powerful XML standard from the World Wide Web Consortium, allows corporations and enterprises to build dynamic, high-performance and flexible intranets, extranets, internet web sites and business to business integration applications at easy and performance levels yet to be seen from any of the competitors, including GemStone, Sun Microsystems' NetDynamics and IBM's WebSphere, to name a few.
"This is a great loss for everyone in the industry", said Einapr Ilscherz, technical director of GemStone Systems. "Even though he was a competitor in the application server market, we all respected him for his brilliant mind and previously unseen talent and competence. Still, he has an excellent, God-given voice and I wish him luck with his new career. I'm confident it will be even more as successful than his computer career."
Now, computing is all in the past. Starting today, all software development is halted and Martin is spending all his efforts on promoting his first album, "Mansgrismambo - pulcher, pulchrior, pulcherrimus", featuring 14 unique tracks. The theme of the album is Martin himself; what he is, what he wishes to become and why. The critics are lyric, and Martin has already been awarded a prize as the best newcomer of the first quarter of 1999.
"No one is untouched by my songs", Martin says. "For example, I've seen grown-up men cry like babies when they listen to my first single. I think they are touched by both the lyrics and my performance, although in very different ways. It is very encouraging.", he continues.
The first single is a very special special interpretation of the well-known Christian song "My Jesus, I love thee", originally written by William R. Featherstone and Adoniram J. Gordon. As a part of the promotion of the album, this track is also available for free download from Divine Records WWW page, located at <URL:http://martin.blom.org/dr/>.
Some might wonder what will happen to AHI in the future. Even though Martin will not participate in any future developments, he hopes that the system will be taken over by a group of highly skilled developers.
"The system is just to good to let it die", Martin says. "That's why I have decided to release the full source code under the GNU General Public License and the GNU Library General Public License. This way, the system will stay free and available to anyone. It will also permit other developers to take advantage of the advanced audio algorithms that is the foundation of the system."
The full source code release is available from the AHI audio system WWW page, located at <URL:http://martin.blom.org/ds/>. Martin is also hosting a CVS server for development purposes, where selected developers can get read and write access, in order to continue the development. Contact Divine Software for more information regarding this matter.
Martin Blom, Divine Records and Divine Software can be reached through e-mail at <martin@blom.org> or by phone: +46-12-77451999.
| AHI audio system WWW page | <URL:http://martin.blom.org/ds/> |
| Mansgrismambo/Divine Records | <URL:http://martin.blom.org/dr/> |
| GemStone Systems | <URL:http://www.gemstone.com> |
| IBM Corporation | <URL:http://www.ibm.com> |
| Mediate AB | <URL:http://www.mediate.se> |
| Microsoft Corporation | <URL:http://www.microsoft.com> |
| Saab Combitech Traffic Systems | <URL:http://www.combitech.se/traffic> |
| Sun Microsystems, Inc. | <URL:http://www.sun.com> |
| World Wide Web Consortium, W3C | <URL:http://www.w3c.org> |
Copyright © 1999 Martin Blom. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.