About Ambrosia The food of the gods in Greek mythology, Ambrosia epitomizes our commitment to supplying superlative products through an idealistic distribution method known as shareware. Thus we bear Ambrosia as our crest, a symbol of quality and a herald of our philosophy. Please read the shareware section below for more information, and remember only you can make it work. About Eclipse Eclipse is a Control Panel that automatically dims your screen after a specified period of inactivity. Your monitor can sustain "burn in" damage if the same image is left on it for extended periods of time, which results in the ghosting of images and decreased monitor clarity. Your monitor is a vital part of your computer system, and often an expensive one at that, so it only makes sense to protect it. After Eclipse notices that you have not used your computer for a period of time, it blanks the monitor and draws the current time at random locations on the screen to prevent burn in damage. Background tasks such as spreadsheet recalculation, database sorting, or printing will continue normally while Eclipse has dimmed your monitor. Why Would I Use Eclipse? Eclipse offers several unique features that should make it your screen saver of choice: • Your monitor is transparently protected from damage • Background tasks will continue unhindered, because Eclipse uses very little processor time • Eclipse has been extensively tested, so you can use it with confidence • While your screen is dimmed, Eclipse makes it useful by displaying the current time • Eclipse uses very little memory, approximately 5K, so you won't be wasting memory for such a basic task as monitor dimming Requirements Eclipse works on any Macintosh with at least 1 Meg of memory, running System 6 or later. Installation To install Eclipse, simply drag the Eclipse icon onto your System Folder icon. Under System 6, this will place Eclipse into the System Folder proper; under System 7, Eclipse will be placed in the Control Panels folder. To activate Eclipse after you have placed it onto the System Folder icon, restart your Macintosh. You will see Eclipse's icon appear along the bottom of your monitor to indicate that it loaded successfully. Once installed, Eclipse uses up 5K of memory. Configuring Under System 6, choose the Control Panel Desk Accessory from the Apple menu, scroll down to the Eclipse icon and click on it. Under System 7, choose the Control Panels item from the Apple Menu, scroll down to the Eclipse icon and double-click on it. Under either System, configuring Eclipse is identical: The Show Startup Icon checkbox controls whether or not Eclipse should display its icon at startup time after it loads. Eclipse will still load regardless of this setting, but some people prefer to not have this icon displayed. The Question Mark icon brings up this on-line help. The Monitor icon brings up a dialog box that allows you to choose from the various monitor dimming options Eclipse offers. Please see the Monitor Dimming Options section for more information concerning this dialog box. The On/Off icon allows you to turn Eclipse on or off. Monitor Dimming Options Clicking on the Monitor icon in the Eclipse control panel brings up a dialog box that allows you to set several monitor dimming options: The Dim after xx minutes of inactivity field allows you to specify how long your computer can be idle before Eclipse dims the screen. If the Don't dim if the modem port is active checkbox is checked, Eclipse will look for modem port activity such as a fax transmission or modem connection and not dim the screen if any activity is noticed. If the Don't dim if the printer port is active checkbox is checked, Eclipse will look for printer port activity such as printing to a serial printer and not dim the screen if any activity is noticed. The White background (for PowerBooks) checkbox is useful only to those who use a Portable or PowerBook Macintosh. These Macintosh's require a white background to properly dim their screens. The small Mac screen allows you to specify the dim now and don't dim corners by dragging the + and - icons to the corners you desire on the screen. When the cursor is in the dim now corner, Eclipse will dim the screen immediately. When the cursor is in the don't dim corner, Eclipse will not dim the screen no matter how long you neglect your computer. The Font and Size popup menus allow you to choose the font and font size Eclipse should use for drawing the current time while your monitor is dimmed. Using Eclipse Once you have installed Eclipse and configured it to suit your taste, operation is transparent. Eclipse will dim your monitor automatically after you have neglected your computer for the period of time specified. To wake your computer up when you wish to get back to work, click the mouse button, move the mouse, or type a key on the keyboard and you will be right back where you left off. If you would like Eclipse to dim your monitor immediately, move the cursor to the dim now corner of your monitor. If you would like Eclipse to not dim the screen for a period of time, move the cursor to the don't dim corner of your monitor. Problems? If Eclipse does not work, check to see if it displays an X-ed out icon at startup time. Eclipse will display this icon if it cannot load. Check the system requirements under the Requirements heading above to make sure you have an acceptable configuration for Eclipse to operate in. A Story On the island of Tomoka, a tribe of Indians called the Komanci dwelled. They were planning a huge celebration to commemorate the new year's dawning, setting up a huge cauldron to hold the sacred wine used in the celebration. The tribal shaman Arekba asked each participant to bring a cup of the wine and contribute it to the cause, so that they would have a bountiful supply of the wine. Many of the Indians, however, did not bring their cup to the cauldron, believing that there would be plenty and that their withholding would go unnoticed. Come the day of the celebration, the Indians were shocked to discover that the cauldron of sacred wine was bone-dry, the festival canceled. Shareware Eclipse is shareware; this means that you may use it without paying for it for a reasonable period of time (about 30 days) to ensure that it works for you and is worth keeping. If you do decide to keep Eclipse, we ask that you send us $10. Please note that you need to send $10 for every Macintosh Eclipse is used on. You may also freely copy Eclipse, passing it on to anyone you feel might benefit from it. I simply ask that you do not distribute modified copies of Eclipse to ensure that everyone gets a complete, unadulterated package. We spent a great deal of time developing and perfecting Eclipse. In return we appeal to your integrity, asking you to pay for Eclipse if you decide to keep it and use it. The only way you can ensure that we will continue to support Eclipse and develop new products is by sending in the $10 we ask. Simply click on the Print Registration Form button to print out the registration form, fill it out, and send it in to us with a check payable to Andrew Welch for $10. We here at Ambrosia have written several other useful programs as well; if you'd like us to send them to you, send us a self-addressed, stamped disk mailer and an 800K disk. Andrew Welch Ambrosia PO Box 23140 Rochester, NY 14692 Credits Many thanks to the following people for their contributions in making Eclipse what it is today: Larry Rabinowitz, Ron Hovingh, Marc Ziegler, Judd Stiff, Anthony D. Saxton, Derek Chee, Walter Ian Kaye, Gene Steinberg, Paul H. Ting M.D., Mark Elpers, Joe Vantaggi, Steve Yaste, Brett M. Bernstein, Michael James Gibson, Steve Witt.