# This product 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.
*** WARNING: THE ASYNC FAMILY REQUIRES SYSTEM 7 OR LATER ***
* INTRODUCTION
# Most new Macs come with a definitely cool built-in microphone which can be used to record new system beeps, while older machines can use a variety of external devices that provide the same functionality. I've seen lots of new LC users plugging in their stereos like crazy and recording 10, 20 or even 30 seconds of their favourite music... until they realized they'd have to wait the same 10, 20 or 30 seconds each time their Mac beeped. That's way too much for any human being at work, but where else should one put his custom sounds? The system beep is still the one sound you'll hear most of the time.
# So here comes the Async Family. Drop Mr.Player and Mr.Beeper in your system folder, select a new system beep (a LONG one) in Mr.Beeper's control panel and restart your Mac... All your system beeps will be asynchronous, and if you have a Mac with the Apple Sound Chip (all Macs but the 68000-based have it) you'll hear more than one beep at a time. You may also drop AIFF and System 7 sound files on Mr.Drop to play them while you keep working (multi-megabyte files can be played without any trouble).
* IMPORTANT NOTES
# Because it uses temporary memory to store sound data, Mr.Player can't read compressed sound resources. The "Beep" and "Indigo" sounds that come with the system are stored in compressed format and cannot be played by Mr.Player, who will flash the menu bar instead. Don't worry if you can't play those sounds, there's nothing wrong with Mr.Player or the resources themselves;
# The Macintosh provides standard routines to play AIFF sound files directly from disk, but they only work on Macs with the Apple Sound Chip. Mr.Player will flash the menu bar if you try to play an AIFF file on machines that don't have it. You'll still be able to play System 7 sound files, as long as they fit in the available temporary memory.
* WHO'S WHO IN THE ASYNC FAMILY
# Mr.Player is an invisible sound-playing background application which looks and behaves like an extension but has none of the usual problems and incompatibilities; all other members of the Async Family need it to play their sounds;
# Mr.Beeper is a control panel that makes your system beep play asynchronously by sending sound-playing commands to Mr.Player;
# Mr.Dropper is a small application that sends file-playing commands to Mr.Player whenever System 7 sounds or AIFF files are dropped on it.
* HOW TO INSTALL THE ASYNC FAMILY
# Mr.Player goes in the Extensions folder;
# Mr.Beeper goes in the Control Panels folder;
# Mr.Dropper can be located anywhere, but it is most useful on the desktop.
* HOW TO USE MR.BEEPER'S CONTROL PANEL
# Long sounds are great as long as they don't hang your Mac. Mr.Beeper can use the default system sound that was selected in the "Sound" control panel (if the "Use Sound panel's beep" option is checked). But if you choose a long sound there and then you reboot without Mr.Beeper and Mr.Player installed, you'll either have to change the sound or wait for hours at every beep.
# To avoid this inconvenience, Mr.Beeper will use its own LONG sound when Mr.Player is installed and revert back to the default SHORT sound when it is not: just choose the long one in Mr.Beeper's control panel and the short one in the Sound control panel, and you wont' have to worry about it any more.
# Note: if the "Use Sound panel's beep" option is not checked, any sound you select in the Sound control panel will keep playing the one you chose in Mr.Beeper's panel; the default system sound will be modified correctly anyway.
* EXPERT USER'S UTILITIES
# Mr.PostOffice FKEY is an FKEY that supplies some basic user interface for the invisible Mr.Player application (with commands like play, stop playing and quit);
# Mr.PostOffice APPL is the same as the FKEY, but since it's an application you won't have to install it in your System file (you may drop it in your Apple Menu Items folder instead);
# Mr.Launcher is a one-step application that can relaunch Mr.Player without rebooting;
# Mr.Switcher is another one-step application that lets you toggle System 7's beep-enable flag on and off.
* HOW TO INSTALL MR. POST OFFICE
# The Mr.PostOffice FKEY file contains an 'FKEY' resource that must be copied and pasted into your System File with ResEdit (none of the other resources in the file has to be copied); if you have Suitcase[tm] or MasterJuggler[tm], you may want to keep the file open as a suitcase instead;
# If the above is too tricky, Mr.PostOffice APPL is a shell application that will launch the PostOffice FKEY without any installation; it can be located anywhere, so you may want to have it in your Apple menu for quick and easy access to Mr.Player.
* HOW TO STOP A LONG SOUND THAT'S PLAYING:
# There are three ways to stop all sounds currently playing:
- Click on the "Stop" button in Mr.Beeper's control panel;
- Launch Mr.Dropper and hold down either the Command or the Option key until it quits;
- Click on the "Stop Playing" button in Mr.PostOffice (FKEY or APPL).
* KNOWN INCOMPATIBILITIES:
# Farallon's SoundEdit[tm] (version 2.0.5 and earlier) is NOT compatible with the Mr.Beeper/Mr.Player combination because it plays sounds in a nonstandard way (it takes over the sound hardware directly and doesn't allow other applications to play sounds when it is in the foreground). Note that the problem is in SoundEdit, NOT in Mr.Player. To use SoundEdit when Mr.Beeper is installed, you may either turn Mr.Beeper off (no need to restart) or select the simple "Beep" in the Control Panel. Please note that MacroMind's new SoundEdit[tm]Pro works fine.
* DISCLAIMER:
# I've done my best to make this software bug-free, but I make no warranty on it. Use it entirely at your own risk. If you're having trouble in situations other than those listed above, please let me know.
* VERSION HISTORY:
# 1.14 - Mr.Beeper now checks System 7's beep-enable flag before playing. Added Mr.Launcher and Mr.Switcher to the family. First public release.
# 1.13 - More stable after a few bug fixes, especially in playing System 7 sound files.
# 1.12 - First complete and almost stable release, distributed to beta-testers only.
* THANKS TO:
# Fabrizio Oddone and Alberto Ricci, who did all the beta-testing and gave lots of useful suggestions.
* 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.
