◊ This program is distributed as Shareware: if you like it or use it please honor the shareware system by sending $5 to the author at the address above. Since collecting international cheques is very expensive, please send cash only. If you MUST send a cheque, keep in mind that the banks will gobble up more than half of it.
◊ NOTE: Getting some (usually very few) bucks is what you write shareware for, but getting a note, a postcard or anything else is a lot better than getting nothing. I'd like to know how far this program has gone, so remember that you can do something nice even if you don't have a couple of $$$ to spare.
• VoiceWaker is a cool new AfterDark™ module that will let any microphone-equipped Macintosh wake up at the sound of his master's voice (or anybody else's). It works fine with the built-in microphone of the new Macs and with Farallon's MacRecorder, as long as the MacRecorder Driver is installed in the Extensions folder.
• In screen-saver mode, VoiceWaker either dims the screen to a constant brightness or makes it follow the input volume. If the main monitor can't dim, it only obscures the screen. As soon as the sound input level gets higher than the selected wake-up volume, VoiceWaker wakes up your Macintosh by moving the mouse position. If the "Center cursor" option is checked, the mouse is centered on the screen; otherwise, it will move a few pixels away from its previous position. In 'Demo' mode, where moving the mouse doesn't terminate execution, you will see the mouse cursor either moving towards the top left corner or quickly switching between two positions at the center of the screen.
• In caps-lock mode, which is entered by toggling the Caps Lock key (as in Lunatic Fringe or Life II), VoiceWaker lets you monitor the sound input level and the wake-up volume by showing an input level bar and a clock icon that pops up whenever the level goes over the wake-up volume. This is especially useful when you activate the module with the 'Demo' button in the Control Panel, since you can easily figure out the wake-up volume that fits your environment's average noise. When you get back to screen-saver mode, the screen will be filled with a gray pattern (the screen contents are not saved when you switch to caps-lock mode). If the monitor can't dim, the module obscures it again.
• VoiceWaker doesn't generate any graphics, unless you're in caps-lock mode. If used alone, it will only fade out or black out the screen and wait for a sound input or any of the usual wake-up events. By using the MultiModule module, however, you can add the voice-wake-up function to any other module, including the Randomizer: just place VoiceWaker in the background and cover it with an opaque screen. If the "follow volume" option is checked, the other modules' brightness will also follow the sound input level (the resulting effect depends on the other modules you select: it can be nice with some modules like Spotlight and it can be messy with others). Note that modules that perform lengthy calculations may be kinda deaf... (you can approximately figure out how often the volume is checked by observing the level bar in caps-lock mode).
• P.S. There is one more thing you absolutely have to try out: bring an IBM user in front of your sleeping Mac and, before you sit down, wake it up with a simulated voice command…
• HAVE FUN! And don't forget to $$$ SEND YOUR CONTRIBUTION $$$ so that more cool utilities will see the light in the near future, at the low-low-low costs of shareware.
