Squeaky Toy is one of those extensions that makes you feel glad to be alive. Simply drop this on to your System Folder, restart, and your mouse turns into a squeaky toy. Not in the literal sense, but your Mac does make an alarmingly loving sound every time you click and release the mouse button.
It also has features. If you hold down the mouse button during startup, Squeaky Toy won't load. If it doesn't load anyway, you either have an old system (Squeaky Toy needs System 7 or later) or it couldn't load its sounds and install its patch.
By the way, it's free. Would anyone pay for this? If you would, don't let me stop you. I'm broke.
Why did you write it?
I was lying awake at four in the morning on Sunday (Easter Sunday) when I decided that I wanted to make the mouse squeak. I'd been at a meal that night with some family friends, and their dogs had a squeaky newspaper toy which was called something like the "Doggie News". Anyway, the coffee dessert kept me awake, and as I was lying in bed waiting for the caffeine to filter through (get it? filter? never mind) I realised this extension would be remarkably easy to write. I wrote the code yesterday, Monday, and cycled to the shops to buy the squeaky toy today for 79p, about $1.20.
I'd also like to take this time to ask someone to spot my talent and give me some work for when I graduate next year. I've got a long and varied Curriculum Vitae if you're interested. I also, seriously, have an idea for a new OS interface which could take the world by storm.
I've just tried Squeaky Toy. It's fun for ten seconds, then acutely annoying.
I know. But it's great!
Sometimes I click and it doesn't squeak.
You're not pressing the mouse button hard enough.
Don't give me that poor excuse.
Okay. I've patched _SystemTask, and some clicks don't make it through the event loop and into this 'idle' code. It also won't work in arcade games and during processor intensive tasks, as they won't have event loops.
You could have patched WaitNextEvent, or used an interrupt, or blah blah blah...
Oh, shut up. It's only for fun.
What else have you written?
Well, I never thought you'd ask. My latest work was writing Ambrosia Software's Bubble Trouble with David Wareing:
http://www.bubble-trouble.com/
A few years ago I released Maniac, a pac man and hangman hybrid, and before that I wrote several HyperCard extensions such as MusicBox, CommConnect, and Vocalise.
I also spend time dreaming up OS interface ideas, and I write software to help visually impaired users use the Mac interface (Audio Interface).
Away from the screen I enjoy snooker, skydiving, juggling, and squash. Regular trips to local pubs relieve the tedium of university work; I'm in year 3 of 4 of an MEng in Computer Systems Engineering.
How do I get in touch?
Alex Metcalf
Ty Yfory
Llanfair Road
Lampeter
Ceredigion, Wales
SA48 8JZ
United Kingdom
Fax: ++44 (0)1570 493636
email: alex@metcalf.demon.co.uk
Is there a disclaimer for Squeaky Toy?
Alex Metcalf is not responsible for the loss of or damage to anything resulting directly or indirectly from the installation and/or use of Squeaky Toy.
Is it true you've spent three times as long on this 'read me' as on the code?
I will never, ever lower myself to release anything with documentation as poor as most of the 'read me' files I see these days.
