Darkness is yet another extensible screen saver for the Macintosh, but don't hold that against it.
Why use Darkness (or any other screen saver)?
If an image is displayed on a monitor for a few minutes or more, it can "burn" into the phosphors of the screen. If burn-in has occurred, the image will still be visible when another image is displayed, and sometimes when the monitor is turned off.
I already use AfterDark™ /Pyro™/MoireCDEV!
I tried all of these screen savers at one time in the past, but each one has its quirks which annoyed me. My biggest problem though, was that these are all INIT's (some with CDEV's), and as every Mac user and programmer knows, or discovers at some inappropriate time, "INIT's are evil!" INIT's have too many compatibility problems when running more than two. Therefore, I found a copy of "The Programmer's Guide to Multifinder" and tapped into the most unused feature of Multifinder, background processes.
Multifinder Utility?
I'll state it again, "INIT's are evil!". I should be able to run as many little utilities as I please! Shouldn't I?!? I thought about this problem for a while and realized that Multifinder was highly under used. The only programs I ever run in the background are DAHander, PrintMonitor, and _Launch. So I wrote another background utility (_Launch was my first).
I double-clicked Darkness and nothing happened!?!
Darkness is different from most applications, Apple calls it a "faceless background task." If you use Multifinder, then you are already running a similar type of program called Backgrounder. There are two anomalies which come along with faceless tasks. First, the icon will not be dimmed in Finder. Second, Darkness is never included in the list of running applications found in the apple menu.
How to use Darkness:
- Darkness is a "faceless background task." It is started like any other program, by double-clicking but its icon will not be dimmed, and it will not be included in the list of running applications in the Apple menu. It can also be opened by double-clicking any of the "Blackout" files or the "SetDarkness" file.
- Like other screen savers, Darkness doesn't do anything until there is no user input for a set period of time, the default is 2 minutes. To force the screen to go black, move the cursor to the upper right corner of the screen. There is a 3/4 second delay before the screen is darkened. The screen will stay black until the mouse is moved out of this area. To prevent Darkness from darkening the screen, move the mouse to the lower right corner of the screen.
- When the screen needs to be darkened, Darkness launches another program to do the job; I call them "Blackouts". The default Blackout is named "Dark" and must be located in either the same folder as Darkness or in the System Folder. If there is no file named "Dark," then Darkness will beep.
- To change the "sleep-now" corner, the Blackout, or the delay time, move the cursor to the lower left corner of the screen while holding down the command (curly thing) key. This starts the SetDarkness program. You can quit the SetDarkness program by using the close box, switching to any other program, or waiting until Darkness darken the screen. All changes take be in effect next time Darkness is started, or when the Macintosh is rebooted.
- To quit Darkness is to hold down the command key and move the mouse into the "sleep-never" corner, or hold down the command, shift, and tilde (~) keys. Keep all three keys down for at least 1 second. When Darkness quits, the system will beep once and a small icon will flash once or twice in the menu bar over the apple menu.
The SetDarkness Program:
The SetDarkness program lets you set the timeout, Blackout, and corners. The Blackout MUST reside in either the same folder as Darkness or in the system folder. You can use a normal application rather than a Blackout by using the "Manual Select" button. You can choose any application on the disk, BUT it will not be launched by Darkness UNLESS it resides in the same folder as Darkness or in the system folder. (I will try to change this in the next version).
Changes in v2.0.2:
The quit hot-key was changed to be command/sleep-never corner.
To call up the preferences program, only the command key need be depressed.
The SetDarkness program has been cleaned up.
About the Author:
Lunarmobiscuit, affectionately "Luni" for short, is currently a Senior Math/CS major at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is the author of _Launch, another Shareware Multifinder utility, a few PD programs, and a bunch of other programs which he keeps to himself.
About the Shareware System:
No one would seriously go to a computer store, pick up the latest copy of Darkness, look at the $39.99 price tag (i.e. go and price AfterDark), and buy the program. There is also no way that I would put up with a publisher, distributor, etc. Therefore, to make promote the greatest happiness I am offering Darkness through the Shareware, a.k.a. Honor, system. Make as many copies as you wish and distribute it to all your friends. If you use the program, please write a check for $10 made out to Michael Libes and send it to:
Michael Libes
1071 Morewood Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
I also encourage everyone to write their own Blackout and send it along with your contribution. See "Dark_docs.mw" for information on writing your own Blackout.
Acknowledgments:
Many thanks to Tom Dowdy at Apple Computer for his knowledge, ideas, and sample Blackouts.
I must also thank all those who subscribe to the Usenet bboard comp.sys.mac.programmers since their knowledge saved me many days of work.
