SpinTime is a system extension that displays a color animated beach ball in place of the familiar MacOSｪ watch cursor. In addition to appearing in the Finder, the color ball appears in almost every program that uses an animated cursor. For example, SpinTime displays its color beach ball in Netscapeｪ, Adobe Photoshopｪ, and the America Onlineｪ client for the Mac.
The color ball revolves only when the underlying program tells it to, so you can always tell when the program has stalled. This is in contrast to other, similar products which can spin away, leaving you in the dark when your Mac has actually frozen.
SpinTime v. 1.05 has been tested for almost a year by users under a wide variety of conditions both in the U.S. and in other countries. All known conflicts have been resolved in version 1.7. But, if you find an incompatibility, please contact Cipherware at: cipherware@aol.com.
HOW TO INSTALL SPINTIME
Drop the file "SpinTime 1.7" in your System folder and restart. If installation was successful, the image of a spinning beach ball will appear in color during the startup sequence. If there was a problem, SpinTime's startup icon will appear crossed-out.
If you have a color or grayscale monitor and SpinTime still appears crossed out at startup, make sure you have set your Mac to display at least 16 colors or levels of gray. Apple's "Monitors" control panel allows you to set the number of colors your Mac displays.
ADVANTAGES
･ Easier to use than other animated cursor programs. Simply drop SpinTime in your System file and restart.
･ Runs on PowerPCs.
･ Only spins cursors when the underlying program tells it to spin. So, you know exactly when your program is running slow or has stalled.
･ SpinTime's cursors do not flicker.
･ Takes advantage of new features of the Mac OS available in System 7, and it's effect is targeted and specific to applications that already display animated cursors.
･ Experienced users who know how to replace animated cursors with ResEditｪ can install a color animated cursor in programs that ordinarily display a black and white animated cursor. Applications with an 'acur' resource can be customized with a different, color animated cursor.
･ SpinTime's primary cursor can be also be replaced with ResEdit by knowledgeable users.
LIMITATIONS
･ SpinTime cannot display animated cursors with more than 34 black & white or color frames.
･ SpinTime will only display color cursors in programs that implement b & w animated cursors in the manner that Apple recommends. Programs with unconventional implementations may display their original, black & white cursors.
･ SpinTime may not display animated color cursors in more than five programs running simultaneously.
SHAREWARE REGISTRATION
SpinTime is $15.00 shareware, but this fee applies to *all* future versions. Please do pay if you plan to use the program. SpinTime has been in development for more than one year, and it represents over 700 hours of programming and debugging, much of it in low-level assembler language. (Amazing as that seems to me. I thought this would be easy!) Your $15 fee will entitle you to unlimited upgrades for the life of the product.
To register, simply launch the "Register SpinTime" application included in this file and follow instructions. The registration module will allow you to register via modem, fax, 1-800 number or by U.S. Post. Once you have successfully registered, your copy of SpinTime will be "stamped" with your name and an identifying code number. You should copy SpinTime to a safe archive at this point so you do not lose the "stamped" version. You may need it to verify your registration in future correspondence with Cipherware.
SpinTime uses AutoPayｪ for shareware registration.
TERMS FOR THIS OFFER
The SpinTime program is offered "as is" without any express or implied warranties including warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. The user agrees to assume the entire risk of using SpinTime. Cipherware's liability will be limited exclusively to replacement or refund of the purchase price.
This offer is void where prohibited by law.
CONTACTING CIPHERWARE
Please send requests for the latest version, bug reports, complaints, ideas and suggestions to the following e-mail address: cipherware@aol.com.
RELEASE HISTORY
version 1.7 -- Aug. 1996. Fixed conflicts with QuickTime 2.5 and BBEdit.
version 1.05 -- Nov. 1995. First release.
COPYRIGHT & TRADEMARK NOTICES
The SpinTime system extension, its icons, cursors and associated screen views are copyright ｩ 1995-1996 by P.R. Peabody and Cipherware. SpinTime and Cipherware are trademarks of Cipherware.
Apple, MacOS, Macintosh, and ResEdit are trademarks of Apple Comuter, Inc.. Netscape is a trademark of Netscape Communications, Corp.., Photoshop is a trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc., and America Online is a trademark of America Online, Inc. Autopay is a trademark of Release Software Corporation.
