Off The Air is an After Dark module that simulates a television that’s been left on after the station has stopped broadcasting. I got the idea for it after watching the intro to the latest Maxis game, RoboSport™ (which is excellent, by the way).
Off The Air requires After Dark 2.0u or later to run. (If you haven’t upgraded yet, do it. You need this upgrade to run under System 7 anyways.) It also requires that your main screen be capable of displaying 8-bit (256 color or greyscale) graphics. The “Set monitor depth” option requires System 6.0.5 or later. If you don’t use that option, it MAY run under earlier systems, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
Speaking of controls…
Off The Air runs in 256 color mode - it cannot run in any other depth. If you leave the “Set monitor depth” box unchecked, then Off The Air will behave like most other After Dark modules that require a particular depth setting — if the monitor isn't set right, it will display an error message and fall back to the default Starry Night module. However, if you check “Set monitor depth”, then Off The Air will set the monitor to the right depth and run normally. When you “wake up” your Mac, Off The Air will switch the depth back to where it was before.
Why not just do that all the time? Well, Mac DTS (Developer Tech Support) says you’re not supposed to switch the depth without asking the user first. So I’m asking. Also, this option might not be such a good idea if you’re using something like MultiModule. Depending on what order they run in, some modules may find the depth switched at a time when they figure it can’t happen. That could be bad.
“Colorful noise” was an idea that I had, so I tried it… and I thought it sucked. However, maybe you’ll like it. Maybe you won’t. Try it both ways and make up your own mind.
The sound control works the same as most other “noisy” modules. You can turn it off completely if you like. The sound was created using Farallon's SoundEdit software, which comes with the MacRecorder. It’s not digitized, though. I used the “Noise…” option, then the “Smooth” option, to create the sound. If you really wanted to, you could probably replace the ‘snd ’ resource with your own sound. However, it must be a format 2 ‘snd ’ resource (sometimes called a HyperCard™ sound).
Off The Air was written with Symantec’s THINK C™, the best C compiler in the known universe.
Future enhancements…
First of all, if there are any bugs, I’ll do my best to fix them. Beyond that, there may or may not be future versions of this module. That all depends on how many people are honest and interested enough to pay their shareware fees. But I promise if I get at least 50 shareware fees, there will be an update. This update will take the television analogy one step further — your Mac will display the flag and play the national anthem before going Off The Air…
“Did someone say shareware fees?”
Yes, I did. This module is shareware. If you use it, you are obligated to pay for it, just like any other software. The only difference is, you get to try it out first before you pay for it. All I’m asking for this wonderful product is $2.00 (US dollars). Even with postage, this is still cheaper than a meal at MacDonald’s. Sure, it won’t taste as good, but a Big Mac™ won’t prevent your monitor from suffering picture burn.
So, if you want that warm feeling in your heart that comes from knowing you’re an honest person, send $2.00 (US) to:
Guy T. Rice
1275 Hazelwood St. #101
Saint Paul, MN 55106
If you use GEnie or CompuServe, include your mail address with your check. If you're just dying to ask me something that can't wait for Snail Mail, you can send me Electronic Mail. Just send to:
“GUYRICE” on GEnie.
“76226,760” on CompuServe.
“Thomas Katt” on Artificial Reality (612) 774-3354.
If you decide not to pay, remove Off The Air from your After Dark. You may delete it, but only after you’ve given copies to everyone you know. If you continue to use it without paying for it, you will suffer seven years of bad luck, you’ll go bald, you’ll grow hair on the palms of your hands, and who knows what else may happen…
