Sophocles-Tim Sheehan anyone know where?

Mary,

I am an administrator on the Done Deal Pro screenwriting board.

We are aware of this issue involving Sophocles software. At this point, nobody knows what has happened. It does NOT appear to be an issue with a network server.

I have written a letter to Tim Sheehan, owner of Sophocles, asking him what is going on. That letter should arrive tomorrow or the next day. I am hoping to receive a reply from Tim or from someone connected with the company or with his family. Unless someone replies by email, it may be a matter of days or more before I receive a reply to the form and SASE that I sent.

The most recent activity of the company that we know of is that someone purchased Sophocles on March 21.

Please check the "Is Sophocles Gone" thread on Done Deal Pro at the following link:

http://messageboard.donedealpro.com/boards/forumdisplay.php?f=21

I will post any information there.

Roland Stroud
ComicBent / Administrator, Done Deal Pro
20 April 2008

Roland:
Wow. Thank you for your reply. I will check the referenced post and your foollow up posts. Let's pray Tim & everyone at Sophocles is ok.

Did you ever hear from Tim?

William Spiritdancer
spiritdancer@mydreampower.com

Hey everyone, glad to see other people are trying to figure out what's going on. I bought Sophocles last year. My computer crashed and I NEED the code to take the software out of trial mode. I spent over $100 on this software so I hope we can figure out what's up. If the software company has closed, could someone give me their code? I'm only asking because I'm afraid the company has closed and I cannot retrieve or print the screenplays I've written in trial mode.

I have the same problem as you. I had reformat my computer and now I can't reinstall my copy of Sophocles. :(((((( Please help.

http://kepler.sos.ca.gov/corpdata/ShowLpllcAllList?QueryLpllcNumber=200510210186

I have done a search at the california secretary of state office. Sophocles Software LLC. comes up as "active". It still shows Tim Sheehan as the owner. This information is updated weekly. If it was sold, This information should reflect that change.

Roland, I read through the thread on done deal. I do not see any reference to the software being purchased. Can you direct me there? Was there any documentation to back up the claim? Thanks!

m.

Hmmm...looks like a lot of us are having the same problem. I actually did find my unlock code, but for some reason it won't work. I tried every variation too. Luckily, I have it installed on my brother's computer. So I can retrieve the screenplays I wrote. Still, I can't use the software anymore which is a waste.

I've been lurking around this place for a while now hoping someone would have a solution or know how to get in touch with Tim Sheehan.

I got a new laptop months ago and haven't been able to write since then.

I have Final Draft, but I can't stand it. I haven't been willing to use anything other than Sophocles since a friend introduced me to it a couple of years back.

I tried to find "other" versions of it in the darker corners of the internet and got a virus for my troubles.

I'd be willing to pay for it again to have it back.

The old site is not only down, but the domain name has now expired, meaning anyone could just buy that name and start using it. This does not bode well, but I have yet to find any other software that I'm willing to compromise on, and I like Sophocles enough that anything else seems like a compromise.

I hope someone finds a way to get it back for all our sakes.

Hi Dave:
Sorry about your situation. You might ask John Woodruff or Roland if there is a legal way to obtain a copy of it. Someone posted a message at this forum or at the Screenwriter's Group re: the results of a search they did saying that Tim Sheehan is still listed asthe owner. So, maybe the office where he/she obtained
that info. would be able to help.
I have to buy a new hard drive for my laptop or a new laptop so I don't even know if the software will be transferrable when backing up data and reloading it.
I worked with someone else's Final Draft once; it is a biit confusing. But, maybe it's like any relationship-maybe you just need some time to get to know it. :)

Research Results:
Sophocles.com is registered to a man in Berkley, CA. He holds about 35other addresses.

My question about the Sophocles program sent to his email address remains unanswered.

The Sophocles.com site was created in Sept 1996 and last updated in Mar 2007.

Conclusions:
1. The current "owner" of Sophocles.com is probabaly a speculator who would be willing to sell the domain name, but is not in the scriptwriting software business.

2. There is not much point clicking on Sophocles.com, hoping for new information.

Pity...I tried the downloads of the other major programs before deciding on Sophocles. I think I'll look for some kinf of "Missing Persons" help on the WEB and see if Tim is still out there.

The domain name for Sophocles has never been "sophocles.com" but rather "sophocles.net"

You've got it all wrong.

I have been (and still am) using the Sophocles 2007 Beta.
My copy is unlocked already, and fortunately my computer is still working fine.
However, I have been trying to contact Tim as well, but without success.
I have left a couple of voice messages at the phone number I found online.
The messages remain unanswered.

Sophocles is in my view by far, the very best Screenwriting software tool ever created. I can't go back and don't want to.
I certainly hope the bright future this piece of software deserves will come to be.

In the meantime, I join you all in hoping that Tim is alive and well.
Tim, if you're reading this, please let us know that you're ok!
Thanks,
Yuval

Anyone have a copy of the Sophocles install program and unlock key. I too am a subscriber to the last version of Sophocles. I got ride of my last download, believing it would be available. I too am about to get a new computer and need to install it again.

Hey you screenwriters,

I believe Tim Sheehan is an anagram. Check it out and tell me if you've come to the same conclusion I have.

If what I think is true, it would make a hell of a screenplay.

Be happy.

PJ

Contact me.

There is a lnk that someone gave to me that is supposed to work to reactivate it but, I want to email him back and ask him to post it here. Is anyone else familiar with a link that has uk in it?

Hi everyone,

i'm in the exact same situation as you, i have a new laptop and needed the code to re-authorize sophocles.

I found a way to do it, i'll share with you in a sec, but two things first:

1) If you think this information shall not be posted here, please feel free to erase this post.

2) in order to do this, you have to have an activated copy of Sophocles on your computer.

Ok, so if your stuck with activation problems, do as follows:

1) In the "start menu" select "run" and enter "regedit".
2) this will open up the registry editor. Beware because is you mess with it, it will break your windows, and no ctrl-z.

3) in the regedit goto HKEY CURRENT USER > Software > Sheehan
4) select it, then file > export and give any relevant name. It will create a .reg file.

5) in the registry editor goto HKEY LOCAL MACHINE > Software > Sheehan
6) do same as above, give any other relevent name.

Now you can close the regestry edior.
Open up the Windows explorer and go to the folder where you saved your two .reg files.

Boot up the computer where you freshly installed a non unlocked version. Check the folder where you installed it.

Open the first reg file and look for any file path, and update it with the path of your new installed version. Do the same with the second reg file.

Ok, job's done, now the last step.

Copy the reg files on your unauthorised computer, and execute them. It will write their content into the registry entry. Open up Sophocles, and it should work like charm.

Hope that helps.

Seb

Hi All,

I'm Tim's brother Martin, I did a little marketing for him back when Sophocles was still active. I just wanted to let everyone know Tim is fine; he's had some personal problems I'm not really going to get into and that's why he hasn't been responsive. Tim ultimately burnt out on Sophocles and while he might come back to it later, for now the software project is on hold indefinitely.

I don't know of an email or phone number where he can be reached right now; but he occasionally makes it out to family events and I'll see what I can do about the unlock codes issue. Thanks for your patience.

-Martin

Martin
Thanks for the information about Tim. Unselfishly, I hope he can resolve his problems and move on. Selfishly, I hope that there is still a spark of Sophocles burning somewhere that he can rekindle. He has a lot of fans and I, for one, wish him all the best...all the way from Germany. I'll lift a beer in his honor later today.

Bill

Thanks for the info Martin. I'm sure of anyone, people here should know about burnout and needing time away from.. writing. Whatever's, up with Tim, I hope it works out for him. I think he's producing a great product.

Hello everyone! I too am saddened to see that my favorite little screenwriting proggie appears to have gone into hiding. I've been hooked on it since '99 and loved the direction the 2007 Beta was going.

So, here's what you can do to get your Beta going until Sophocles officially comes back to life :)

We're going to make a minor edit to the registry, as follows:

First, make sure Sophocles PM Beta is not running, if it is, exit before performing the following steps.

Click Start --> Run

regedit --> OK

Find [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Sheehan\Sophocles2\Settings]

Under that heading you will see a number of entries, among them MK1 and MK2.

Double click on entry MK1 and change the hex value to 41654d69 and click OK.

Double click on entry MK2 and change the hex value to 155 and click OK.

Exit registry editor.

Launch Sophocles PM Beta and enjoy as long as you can.

I discovered this workaround by accident and do not know whether Sophocles PM Beta is set to expire at a future time and date. Thus, religiously export your work before exiting to a format that you can open independently of Sophocles.

Also, this will only work for the free Beta and will not circumnavigate copy protection of any previously released versions of Sophocles.

Good luck and happy writing!

Hi everybody - thanks for all the information posted!

Can anybody with the setup file for the 2007 Beta upload it please (as I can't even access my scripts after a hard drive reformat earlier this year!)?

I apologize for not responding to a couple of posts above that were directed to me. Unfortunately, I did not come back to StoryLink but a couple of times right after I posted my original message back in April.

I am glad to hear, as I have from a couple of other sources also, that Tim Sheehan is alive and well.

Like others, I am hoping that he will eventually take up the Sophocles project again.

Roland

Do you need some money for this project Tim ? Well... it is if you ever read this thred...

Hi all,

I'm Dan Bronzite, creator of Movie Outline 3 and also a produced/working screenwriter.

I never actually had any dealings with Tim but am also saddended to hear about his situation. From one developer to another, I hope he manages to turn things around.

I am posting here because we have been contacted by many Sophocles users, including Carl Hose from the Writer's Inkwell, who were interested in switching to our application, which is a cross-platform scriptwriting program for both the novice and professional. It allows you to plan and structure your story, develop characters and format your script.

We are offering a 40% competitive upgrade discount to Sophocles users. All you need to do is email us your receipt. And feel free to call or email us if you have any questions about our product.

Carl Hose's Review:
http://www.carlhose.net/movieoutline.htm

Creative Screenwriting Magazine review:
http://www.movieoutline.net/csreview.pdf

Good luck with you writing!

Dan Bronzite
CEO, Movie Outline Software
Phone/Fax: (800) 475-1797
http://www.movieoutline.com
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