|
We astrologers and students of astrology are unbelievably blessed to have the wealth of astrology software that is available to us. The people that make these programs devote their lives to creating the best products possible, and are continually enhancing them. In this article, we will look at the problems that can arise in astro-computing, and how to resolve them. Astrology software is more accurate, powerful, and incredibly colorful than ever, but we must still learn how to use it, and how to avoid the pitfalls and the bugs. There are crucial issues that most astrologers are unaware of that can make using software a struggle, and cause inaccurate charts, missed events, and inappropriate conclusions. Additionally, errors can be found in new programs and in updates of even the best software. These bugs are eventually fixed, but the owners of the program(s) are almost never notified, either of the bugs or the fixes. The need to upgrade your programs regularly and to test the software you own for accuracy are therefore vital, and this article shows you where to upgrade online, and provides test data to help you to determine whether your programs are accurate. In answer to the question, "Why isn't astrology software (and all other types of software) more flawless?", these programs have literally millions of bytes of coding, and the chance of a typo, or of one function interfering with another, is all too likely. After all, we humans are also (genetically) coded, and have perfected over hundreds of millions of years, and yet we still have coding defects! In other words, it is almost a miracle that most astrology programs work as well as they do, and a testament to the painstaking care their creators take in polishing their creations. Important Note: the majority of the commercial and shareware programs priced at under $100 use very inaccurate algorithms, and therefore MUST be checked for accuracy. For example, the now defunct program Expert Astrologer frequently miscalculated the rising sign by two signs or more, placing all of the planets in the wrong houses! Among the companies that offer under $100 software that is accurate are Allen Edwall, Astro Communications Services, Brian Conrad (Jyotish Tools), Halloran Software, Cosmic Patterns, Matrix Software, and Walter Pullen (the Astrolog freeware). 1. A Basic Understanding of Your Computer System. The first thing all astrologers need to learn, according to the astrology software firms, is how to use your computer. If you don't know how to use Windows (or the Mac System software), you cannot optimally use any of your programs, astrological or otherwise. Read the manual, have a friend tutor you, or take a computer class. Learn how to create shortcuts, save files to a CD or DVD disk, and install new software. It won't take much time and you'll enjoy your programs all the more, as a result. If you want to learn how to use Windows by yourself, you can use the built in tutorials to get you up to speed. In Windows XP, click on the Start button on the lower left of your computer screen, then click on Help and Support, and then click on Windows basics to learn how to perform many basic Windows functions. Realize that both the operating system (e.g. Windows) and all of your programs come with excellent help screens that pop up before your eyes when you hit the F1 button or Help menu selection. This "online help" can be searched to find the answers to your questions and to teach you how to perform various tasks. Many astrology programs include full program manuals in the software itself. You can access this manual by clicking on the Help item at the top right of your menu. In many cases, this built-in manual is much more extensive than the printed manual that comes with the program, and you can also search it for specific works, e.g. like progressions, to find where in the program you can find each feature. 2. Protecting Your Computer and Data You should always regularly back up (i.e. make a copy of) your important data -- e.g. your astrological client chart files -- onto a floppy disk, (or tape backup, CD, DVD, removable hard drive, or Flash drive) in case your hard drive fails. Otherwise, you could lose all of your files and have to enter the data all over again. Hard drives fail, and with today's threats from computer viruses, etc. one should back up their files at least every few weeks. The best way is to install a docking port on your computer that allows you to load a backup hard drive into it (when the computer is turned off), and then use software like Acronis True Image to back up the entire hard drive. I do this every other week or so. If you use the internet, you also will need anti-virus software to protect you from computer viruses, a firewall to keep hackers out, and now also anti-spyware software to keep "malware" from installing itself on your computer and sending your private data out on the internet. (To read about free spyware protectors, click here) Unfortunately, nowadays (2008) those writing spyware have gotten much more sophisticated, and the free anti-spyware programs don't fully do the job. I recommend using Spyware Doctor to protect your system from spyware. 3. Learn Your Astrology Software While most astrology software is easy enough to be used without reading the manuals, you will get the most from your software if you do take the time to read the program documentation. There may be features that you don't know about, you'll learn how to customize your program, and you might find quicker methods of performing tasks. (Note: For a few programs, it is actually almost impossible to understand and use their features without studying their manual.) The bigger astrology calculation programs have so many features that you're better off learning them one feature at a time. Take your time and savor the power at your fingertips. Astrology software companies -- unlike the rest of the software industry -- provide free customer support. The biggest mistake you can make is to hire a local consultant (who doesn't even know your software) to help you when you encounter difficulties. Call (or email) the company that made the program instead, and you'll get free and expert help immediately. You can also call them to help you get started, not just if you encounter an error. Most of the problems you will have with your programs will involve neither the hardware (i.e. the computer, monitor, or printer) nor the astrology software itself, but instead will come from mistakes in the data that you've entered or settings that you have changed. I know this to be true, both from talking to the companies and from the customer support I have given, that the most important way to get the results you want is to double- or triple-check all of your data entry (including AM/PM, Daylight Savings, and the time zone), first and foremost, and make sure that you haven't changed any settings e.g. house system yourself. Next, if your data entry is definitely correct, write down the steps you took to get the incorrect result and any error messages that the software gave you (so that the support personnel can reproduce your work), and then call the company that made the program. It is much rarer for the problem to involve your computer or printer or monitor than the program itself. The astrology software firms want you to be happy with their products, and they want to fix and improve them, so please do contact them as soon as possible after a problem arises. Since the companies are market-driven, if you want to see a new feature added to your software, make sure you let them know. 4. The limitations due to birth times. I have just (February 2006) completely rewritten this section of the article, greatly expanded it, and retested all of the calculations. This is a very important article called Astrological Techniques and Uncertain Birth Times that every astrologer should read. You can read the full, new article by clicking here. [Side bar on rectification] One way to begin to rectify your own chart is to watch the transits of Venus (yearly) and Mars (bi-yearly) over your Ascendant. Start watching a month in advance for an increase in Venus or Mars energy – which should last for a couple of days when they are within a degree of your Ascendant – and you will begin to ascertain whether or not your birth time is correct. Always watch Saturn's exact transits to the angles, too, as these are much more palpable. 5. Limitations due to the accuracy of astronomical data. One of the world's experts on (and source of the algorithms for) planetary positions is Dr. Myles Standish of the Jet Propulsion Laboratories at NASA. In talking to him, I was very pleased to learn that the equations that exist today are quite accurate for the positions of the outer planets even for 1 AD. On the other hand, the position of the comet Chiron cannot be determined with any degree of accuracy before 720 AD (due to an encounter with Saturn on that date, re: Alois Treindl of AstroDienst). Additionally, many programs cannot calculate asteroid positions accurately before about 1800 AD. General test of software accuracy: For January 1, 01 AD (Julian date) at Midnight in Greenwich, England: Ascendant 5 Libra 50 Sun 9 Capricorn 22 Moon 13 Leo (different programs vary from 12 Leo 55 to 13 Leo 13) Mercury 14 Capricorn 25 Venus 25 Aquarius 10 Mars 11 Aries 0 Jupiter 9 Libra 7 Saturn 11 Gemini 19 R Uranus 26 Pisces 14 Neptune 19 Scorpio 40 (plus or minus one or two minutes) Pluto 27 Virgo 29' True Node 29 Sagittarius 01' to 04' Ceres 11 Taurus 18 Pallas 11 Aquarius 43 Juno 16 Libra 03 Vesta 24 Capricorn 51 For January 1, 2050 AD, midnight, London, England: Ascendant 7 Libra 32 Sun 10 Capricorn 45 Moon 18 Aries 41 Mercury 0 Capricorn 4 R Venus 11 Capricorn 15 Mars 17 Scorpio 43 Jupiter 1 Leo 41:30 R Saturn 27 Capricorn 34 Uranus 20 Virgo 44 R Neptune 23 Taurus 36 R Pluto 7 Pisces 32 True Node 29 Scorpio 30 Ceres 16 Cancer 37 R Pallas 3 Aries 43 Juno 2 Virgo 44 R Vesta 16 Virgo 32 Chiron 6 Sagittarius 35 If your software deviates from the above values by more than one minute of arc, it is not worth using and you should get a better program. Note: To test Vedic astrology software, with these tables, for accuracy, in your program, change the Ayanamsha to none or Tropical, if possible. (Remember to change it back afterwards!) If you are an astrologer who likes to do planetary returns other than Solar or Lunar, be aware that the Ascendant position and houses of the returns will often be in error. When planets are moving slowly (near their stations) it becomes impossible to calculate returns accurately – the astronomical precision simply does not exist. Additionally, it is very difficult to calculate the exact moment that a planet stations. If a person is born within twelve hours of a station, your software may mislabel the planet retrograde when it is actually direct, or vice versa. Test of Retrograde/direct at station Calculate charts for London, England on June 27, 1950: at Midnight Jupiter is direct, at 2 am, Jupiter will be retrograde. 6. Electronic Atlas Issues. If the electronic, or paper, atlas you use to find longitudes, latitudes, time zones, and time changes has errors, birth charts will be one hour off, or more. This difference will place, on the average, half of your planets in the wrong houses, and 50% of the time the rising sign will be wrong. A. No Time Changes. Many novices mistakenly assume that their software has an accurate time-change atlas built in. Most programs now include the ACS or another electronic atlas. But smaller programs and those created in countries outside of the U.S. often lack these atlases, and so all longitude, latitude, time zone, and time change data must be entered by hand, which must be done carefully or errors will creep in. B. Old Atlas Data. Many people buy software and never update it. This is a big mistake where atlases are concerned, because time zones and daylight savings are in constant flux in the world. If you have an electronic (software) atlas that is several years old, the changes in Eastern Europe and South America will certainly not be up-to-date and many of the charts you do for children will be wrong. Even earlier versions of major programs have out-of-date atlas data. Navigating the time zone thicket is an incredibly complex task, and professionals like Tom Shanks (of Astro Communication Services) and David Cochrane (of Cosmic Patterns) continually scrutinize the changes taking place in the world and update their software (the ACS atlas and Kepler). Update your atlas and software regularly. Up-to-date Atlas test: The chart for October, 1, 1999 for Lisbon, Portugal for 9:44 am should have a rising sign of 3 Scorpio 23 and a time zone of -1 (because Daylight Savings time is in effect). C. Limited Number of Cities in Atlas. A few programs, e.g. the Electronic Astrologer series, include the ACS mini-atlas, which is accurate for the several thousand cities included in the atlas. One cannot and should not assume that nearby cities have the same time zone, especially in areas with complex zone boundaries, like the state of Illinois. Nearby Cities Example: For the date July 1, 1946 in the state of Florida, Orlando and Tampa did not observe Daylight Savings time, while nearby Fort Lauderdale and Miami did observe Daylight Savings. Tests of Longitude, Latitude, Time Zone, and Standard vs. Daylight Savings Time: Missa, IL August 9,1958 Noon = Longitude:88w45 Latitude:41n6 Time zone: CDT (6 With Daylight Savings time) Ascendant = 26 Libra 44 Hong Kong, Hong Kong for same date and time: Longitude = 114e9 Latitude = 22n17 Time zone: 8 hours East With Daylight Savings time. Ascendant = 24 Libra 10 Perth,. Australia for the same date and time: Longitude = 115e51 Latitude=31s57 Time Zone: 8 hours east Standard Time. Ascendant = 28 Scorpio 12 D. Duplicate Cities. Another atlas issue is the presence of two or more cities with the same name in the same state! Many programs handle this correctly by showing you both choices, and indicate which city is bigger. But other programs fail completely, showing only one city perhaps even the smaller one! Always ask your clients, if they are born in a state with two or more cities with the same name, which county they were born in (i.e. don't assume that the first city listed in a program is the right one). Duplicate city test for August 9, 1958 at Noon: El Cerrito, CA Contra Costa county: Longitude 122w19 Latitude 37n55 Ascendant= 24 Libra 43 Riverside county: Longitude: 117n31 Latitude 33n50 Ascendant= 29 Libra 35 Brooklyn, NY Cattaraugua county: Longitude: 78w45 Latitude: 42n26 Ascendant = 25 Libra 17 New York City: Longitude: 73w56 Latitude: 40n38 Ascendant = 26 Libra 40 Delaware county: Longitude: 75w10 Latitude: 42n21 Ascendant = 22 Libra 29 E. Company-created atlases. While most mainstream U.S. astrology programs employ the industry-standard ACS PC Atlas, which is renowned for its accuracy, others do not. In the case of Cosmic Patterns, the makers of Kepler, they actually have incorporated both their own research and the ACS data, and so offer an incredibly up-to-date and comprehensive time change atlas. But many firms, in an attempt to save money by not paying licensing fees, develop their own atlas, which may or may not be as comprehensive or as accurate as the ACS or Kepler ones. Always test the accuracy of the atlases for programs that have chosen this path, using the tests in this article. New! The Advanced Atlas Test. Here are some cities that are particularly good for testing whether your atlas is completely trustworthy. Even atlases that generally do well may fail at some of these. If so, please make sure you have the latest version of your atlas/software, and if so, contact your software manufacturer. May 1, 1954 1: 42 am Clifford, Indiana (6 hr west time zone, DST observed) Ascendant = 4 Aquarius 27 May 1, 1954 1:42 am Clifty, Indiana (6 hr west time zone, No DST) Ascendant = 25 Aquarius 13 Oct 1, 1992 12:01 pm Managua, Nicaragua (6 hr westtime zone, No DST) Ascendant = 8 Capricorn 38 Oct 1, 1993 12: 01 pm Managua, Nicaragua (5 hr west time zone, No DST) Ascendant = 25 Sagittarius 34 Jan 1, 1998 9:30 am Windhoek, Namibia (1 hr east time zone, DST observed) Ascendant = 23 Aquarius 48 Apr 15, 2000 1: 30 pm Nazareth, Israel (2 hr east time zone, DST observed) Ascendant = 15 Leo 04 July 30, 2004 10:00 am Baghdad, Iraq (DST observed) Ascendant = 23 Virgo 45 Kepler 7, with its superbly accurate internal atlas, and all programs with up-to-date ACS atlas data calculate all of these correctly. When software authors choose to develop their own atlases, instead of using the industry-standard ACS atlas data, errors can creep it and places omitted. At the time of testing, December 2004, several major programs couldn't find a city or gave the wrong time zone for a place or two, but I'm happy to report that every manufacturer immediately addressed the issue. Please remember to get the latest atlas updates when they become available for your software. Important Note: If you are creating charts for newborns living in foreign countries, go to www.timeanddate.com to confirm the correct time zone. According to David Cochrane of Cosmic Patterns, this website is an excellent source for accurate contemporary time zone information. 7. Limitations in software design: A. Missed Events. A longstanding problem is the fact that if you rely on your astrology software to search for outer planet transits and you limit the search to only a couple of months, virtually every program on the market will omit very major events. (Note: Kepler's Time Line does not have this problem, and its hit listings can be configured to avoid this too by going to Dates and Times to Print, and changing "the number of months before and after printout to find: aspects in orb" to two months.) Important Addendum: Solar Fire Gold and TimePassages do not have this problem. They find events that have already entered orb but have not reached an exact hit. The problem is that Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto slow down and change direction twice a year, and near each station, they may approach an exact aspect for several months. If the beginning date of the transit search happens to be after the transiting planet has entered a one degree orb, and for the duration of the search the transiting planet never exactly aspects the natal planet, then the software will not list the event at all! Here's an example: Bill Clinton was in a period of Neptune opposed Saturn during September and October of 1999, but almost every astrology program completely omitted this transit if you select the period from September 1, 1999 thru November 15, 1999 for your search period, because at the starting date the transit has passed the entering orb, but doesn't reach the exact hit until November 27, 1999. This very serious deficiency in virtually all software can only be compensated for by setting your software to look for periods of at least three months at a time if you are using a one degree approaching orb. If you are an astrologer who uses much wider transit orbs, like 6 degrees, your software becomes won't find many major transits unless you do scans of two years or more. B. Stations within Orb. Only the IO Edition software for the Macintosh inserts planetary stations within orb into their transit graphs or listings. Others may list planetary stations, but not in relationship to specific transits. Since, often, the most powerful transits are ones where the transiting planet approaches a natal point and then stands still nearby before reaching an exact hit, this omission is significant. Always look to see if there are stations within orb of major transits, because your software will not show them. (Note: starting with Kepler 7.0, their Time Line graph shows a color change, from green to red or vice versa, when the transiting planet stations.) C. Inaccurate Interpretations. I just wrote (2008) an article called The strengths and weaknesses of astrological interpretation software exploring in depth the strengths and weaknesses of report writers, i.e. programs that generate interpretive reports. This replaces my previous short section on the weaknesses of interpretive software. You can read the article by clicking here. D. Weighting schemes. Whether one uses astrodynes, shad bala, kuta analysis, or proprietary natal (or compatibility) scorings to determine which planets and signs are strong (and whether people are compatible), they are all going to ignore factors that are not programmed in, factors that any astrologer looking at the chart would notice. For example, there is no method presently in use that gives extra weighting to "bucket-handle" planets – i.e. planets that are separated from every other planet by at least two houses on either side. And yet these planets are exceptionally strong in charts, and often indicate a person's greatest strengths. In other words, all planetary weighting schemes and numerical compatibility methods have serious weaknesses and cannot be relied upon. Simply put, chart analysis cannot be reduced to numeric values and still be accurate. Recently, every major software company that had a compatibility assessment method in their programs, and several other astrologers, submitted their compatibility analysis systems to a test: to see if they could distinguish between a group of between happily married couples and a group of bitterly divorced couples. Every single method failed completely! E. Ancient dates. In testing software for this article, I found that every program differed significantly from the others in the positions of the Moon and the outer planets for 1 AD. Be very careful about trusting the planetary positions of any ancient chart. 8. Common Software Bugs. Many bugs still exist in astrology software. Among the most common are: Applying vs. Separating glitches, i.e. where the label applying is attached to an aspect that is actually separating; 12:53 v.s. 0:53. Some programs do not realize that the time 12:53 am is identical to 0:53 am. Be sure to test the software you are using to see if both times give the same results. Orb overlap errors, i.e. where the orbs you set for two aspects overlap, e.g. set your software for an 10 degree orb for trines, and an 8 degree orb for sesquiquadrates, and see if your software alerts you to the overlap. (Both aspects are claiming the region from 127 to 130 degrees). Bugs in Vedic calculations. The formulae for Shad Bala and Kutas (comparisons) are incredibly complex, and the scores that you receive from one program to the next do not agree at all. 9. Conclusion: An incredibly large amount of time and effort is put into the creation and improvement of astrology software. The major calculation programs, for example, have many person years of development time. And yet all of this work is done for a relatively tiny proportion of the computer market. Instead of being critical of software that has a few bugs in it, we need to do our part to learn to use the software effectively, help companies to find bugs, and appreciate how lucky we really are. Most of the errors in our work are due to incorrect data entry or changes in the setup of our software, so we always need to double-check our work. Our chart files are priceless, and we need to back them up often. We also need to remember that we can't use some astrological techniques (e.g. astromapping) for charts with imprecise birth times. We live in a time of incredible astrological resources, for which I am incredibly thankful. I remember when the first programs were released, and how far we've come. Our charting tools are magnificent. Updating Your Software: One of the blessings of the Internet is that now most of the major astrology software companies are offering free updates and bug fixes via their websites. For these two websites, you will need your User ID and Password: For Matrix Software, go to http://astrologysoftware.com/ and log in. For Shri Jyoti Star, go to http://shrisource.dnsalias.net/sjslive/Login/login.asp and log in. The following websites allow you to immediately download updates: for Astrolabe, go to http://www.alabe.com/dlpage.htm for Cosmic Patterns, go to http://cosmic.patterns.com/updates.htm for Halloran Software, go to http://www.halloran.com/updates.htm for Astro Communication Services, go to http://www.astrocom.com/products/updates.php and for other companies, call them and see if they have online updates available. Personal Vitae Hank Friedman is renowned in the San Francisco Bay Area for his psychic, astrological, and transformative counseling work with individuals and couples. His in-depth astrology readings blend Western and Vedic astrological approaches with his intuitive gifts. Since 1978, Hank has assisted thousands of astrologers, personally and through his software reviews, to find the best software for their needs. Hank has helped all of the major astrology software companies to debug their programs, add new features, and lower prices. He is author of ASTROLOGY ON YOUR PERSONAL COMPUTER and has written software reviews for the AFA Bulletin, American Astrology, and The Mountain Astrologer. Feel free to contact him via email , call him at 510-525-3399, or visit his website: http://www.soulhealing.com where he has a monthly online column called SoftStar News with the latest developments in astrology software, and a monthly tutorial on metaphysical astrology. You can support this website by: Telling others about our website. Sending us your insights and feedback on astrology software, Alerting us to new programs and astrological resources, Linking your website to ours, and by purchasing your astrological software through this site. To visit my secure order form, click here. When you purchase astrology software through me, you will get: 1. My free expert guidance in choosing the right program. 2. The best pricing distributors are allowed to offer. 3. Free U.S. shipping (and for some programs, free Express shipping Worldwide). 4. Additional benefits. E.g. I offer a free transit report program for purchasers of Sirius, over 60 beautiful extra artistic wheels for Solar Fire Gold, etc. 5. You are supporting my website, allowing me to continue posting astrology tutorials, software reviews, and much more. 6. Your software is fully registered to you and shipped to you directly from the manufacturer, with their full customer support as well as mine. To go to my secure astrology software order form, click here. I do accept donations, and they will give me more time to write and to add to this website. Just click on the icon below to donate to me via PayPal. Click to Return to 
Send e-mail to Hank Friedman by clicking here Copyright © 2000 Hank Friedman |