What are Biorhythms

Every biological activity has a kind of rhythm as if it were controlled by a clock. This cyclical pattern of biological activity is called a biorhythm. Scientists have discovered more than one hundred biorhythms. The most important three biorhythms that affect our human body are: Physical, Emotional and Intellectual biorhythms. Each of these three biorhythms is a sine wave starting at a zero point of the positive phase the moment of birth and fluctuating throughout our life. The physical biorhythm which controls our energy state cycles every 23 days. The emotional biorhythm is a 28-day cycle influencing our emotional aspects. The intellectual biorhythm cycles every 33 days and regulates our intellectual performance.

Each biorhythm has three phases: High Days (Positive Phases), Critical Days (Transitional Phases, or Zero Days), and Low Days (Negative Phases). During high days of a biorhythm, things we do that require aspects of that biorhythm are easier and more successful. When physical cycle is in the positive phase, we tend to feel strong, dynamic and energetic. If emotional cycle is in the positive phase, we are more likely to be happy, creative, thoughtful and artistic. When intellectual cycle is in the positive phase, we think quickly and logically, and be strong in memory and concentration. One famous example is, Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone during the peak of his intellectual cycle. The reverse is true during low days. We are more apt to feel fatigue and sluggish when we are in the low days of physical biorhythm. In emotional aspects, we tend to be irritable, moody, agitated and gloomy. In intellectual aspects, we are inclined to be forgetful, scatter-brained, thoughtless and poor in judgment.

Critical days are often times when our body is in transitional and unstable state. During this period, the coordination of organisms is poor. We make mistakes and become ill more easily and are thus more accident prone. When two or three critical days coincide the state is even worse. More attention must be paid to his/her behavior and state when one is in Double Critical Days or Triple Critical Days. We may be able to prevent unexpected problems by just being aware of our critical days.

The science of biorhythms is a proven method from which many people and companies around the world have benefited: athletes, doctors, pilots, administrators, business people, airline companies, research institutions, insurance companies, sport teams, etc. They utilize biorhythms to get the best results in important events and things like contests, exams, operations, experiments, negotiations, investments, pregnancy, trips, and so on. Now you can predict and plan for your days and benefit from biorhythms which so many people have already used and gained from.


Life Cycles V2.0
   Life Cycles Version 2.0

Life Cycles is an application that you can use to view and query the states of biorhythms of physical, emotional and intellectual fluctuations for any day or any period, and to search for important dates such as dates when all three biorhythms reach highest points, double critical days, or based on any other search patterns and search conditions you specify. You can use Add/Remove Person dialog box to view biorhythms of more than one person at the same time, query biorhythms of all people and search for common dates of search results of all people.

To start, click on Action menu, then select item Person to bring up Add/Remove Person dialog box. Type in your name and birthday and then close the dialog box. You see that your biorhythm curves appear in the application window. The application window has curve, date, person, biorhythm magnitude, search corner and movie corner areas. The curve area contains three rectangles: the top, middle and bottom, which display physical, emotional and intellectual curves respectively. Each of three rectangles has an x-axis (in dark cyan) in the middle. When you move mouse within curve areas, the status bar tells you which biorhythm rectangle you are in. The magnitude area to the left of curve windows shows amplitude +½, 0, -½ and ticks for three biorhythms. In the date area, dates in red are Sundays, the date in yellow is current date which could be a date you just queried or moved to. Initially, current date is today's date. Other dates are in green color. The person area shows initials and curve types of all current people added. The mouse cursor changes to a calendar, or a three-people or a bulb cursor when the cursor is in date, or person or search area respectively.

You can enjoy your favorite AVI movie while viewing biorhythms by renaming your AVI file to "lifecyc.avi", and put it in the directory where Life Cycles files are. The movie corner plays a movie if a movie file "lifecyc.avi" is found. The movie is played in the whole application window when Life Cycles begins. At the end of movie, Life Cycles switches to a larger size application window and plays the movie in the movie corner. You can do so by pressing hot key <S> instead of waiting for the end of the movie. If you do not want to play a movie, simply remove "lifecyc.avi" file from the directory where Life Cycles files are.

Life Cycles gives you three ways to perform actions: menu items, tool bar buttons, keyboard and mouse. Many actions can be done very easily by a mouse click or a hot key. The hot keys and mouse actions let you quickly move biorhythm curves one day (or week, month, year) forward or backward, go back to today, open dialog boxes, toggle auto curve moving, toggle grid and change curve size. For example, You can press right (left) arrow keys to move curves one day forward (backward); you can click left mouse button on lower left corner, date area and person area to open search, date and person dialog box respectively; you can start or stop auto curve moving by clicking left mouse button on curve area or by pressing key <A>.

Help is also very easy to access in Life Cycles. You can always press F1 at any time when you need help. You may also get help from status bar or tool tip popup window, when you are browsing menus or placing mouse over a tool button.


Action Menu

Person

Allows to add/remove person whose biorhythms are queried. Same as press hot keys <Ctrl> + <P>, or click left mouse button on the person area of window.

Go to Date

Gets input for a date to go to. You can input any valid date. After Go to Date dialog box closes, the application window displays curves of the period of which the center is the input date in yellow. Same as press hot key <D>, or click left mouse button on the date area of window.

Today

Goes to today's date. The application window displays curves of the period of which the center is today's date in yellow. Same as press hot key <T>.

Search for Dates

Brings up Search for Important Dates dialog box. Searches dates based on the search pattern and search conditions. Same as press hot keys <Ctrl> + <S>, or click left mouse button on the lower left corner of window, where the mouse cursor changes to a bulb cursor.

Exit

Exits application. Same as press hot key <F3>, or double click left mouse button on the system menu icon at the upper left corner of window.


Move Menu

Day

Forward	Moves curves and dates one day forward. Same as press right arrow key ->.
Backward	Moves curves and dates one day backward. Same as press left arrow key <-.

Week

Forward	Moves curves and dates one week forward. Same as press up arrow key.
Backward	Moves curves and dates one week backward. Same as press down arrow key.

Month

Forward	Moves curves and dates one month forward. Same as press <Ins> key.
Backward	Moves curves and dates one month backward. Same as press <Del> key.

Year

Forward	Moves curves and dates one year forward. Same as press <PgUp> key.
Backward	Moves curves and dates one year backward. Same as press <PgDn> key.


Animation Menu

Curve Moving

Toggles on/off auto curve and date moving. Same as press hot key <A>, or click left mouse button on the curve area of window. While curves and dates are moving, you can adjust the move pace by selecting items in Move menu, or press related hot keys.


Options Menu

Grid

Toggles on/off grid display. Same as press hot key <Ctrl> + <G>.

Curve Size

Size 1	Displays biorhythms in thin curves. Same as press hot key <1>.
Size 2	Displays biorhythms in medium curves. Same as press hot key <2>.
Size 3	Displays biorhythms in thick curves. Same as press hot key <3>.


Help Menu

Contents

Help topics of Life Cycles application. Same as press hot key <F1>.

General Help

Introduction to Life Cycles application.

Keys Help

List of short keys to perform actions quickly and easily.

Search for Help on

Allows you to enter a help item and search for help on it.

How to use Help

Help on how to use help system.

About

Displays version number and copyright notice.


   Add and Remove a Person

Name (First, Last) Field:

Accepts first and last names in the field. Life Cycles shows initials in the Initials field. Beginning and trailing spaces are removed. Extra spaces except one between first and last names are also removed. First letters of first and last name will be in capital case when the name is added to the Current People list box.

Initials Field:

Shows initials of a person's first and last names. This field is read only.

Date of Birth (Month, Day, Year) Fields:

Accepts a person's birthday. When Month or Day field has two digits, the cursor moves to the next field. e.g. type "02" in Day field the cursor moves to Year field. If a birthday is not valid, an error message will be displayed.

Add>> Button:

Push this button to add a person. This button is enabled when name and birthday fields are not empty and birthday field contains only numbers. If the birthday is a valid date, after Add>> button is pushed, the person's name appears in Current People list box, and Name and Birthday fields are cleared.

Remove<< Button:

Push this button to remove a person from Current People list. This button is enabled when a person is selected in the Current People list box.

Close Button:

Push this button to close the Add/Remove Person dialog box. Press <Enter> or <Esc> also closes the dialog box.

Current People List Box:

This list box shows the names of people currently added for querying biorhythms.


   Go to a Date

Month, Day, Year Fields:

Accepts a date. When Month or Day field has two digits, the cursor moves to the next field. If the input is not valid, an error message will be displayed.

OK Button:

Click on OK button to go to the input date and close the dialog box. This button is available when date fields is not empty and each of fields contains only numbers. If a date is invalid, a warning message will be displayed when OK button is pressed. Press <Enter> is the same as push OK button.

Cancel Button:

Close the dialog box without going to another date. Press <Esc> is the same as push this button.


   Search for Important Dates

Person Drop List

Physical, Emotional, Intellectual Spin Controls

Start Date (Month, Day, Year) Fields

Search Covers Field

Range of Hot Spot Spin Control

Dates Found List Box

Search Button

Go to Button

Next Button

Close Button


Search Dialog Box - Person Drop List

Click on the down arrow to the right of Person list to select a person for search. The list contains all current people that were added via Add/Remove Person box. If there are more than one person, the last item in the list is Common of All. When this item is selected, search will look for the common dates of search results of all current people, based on the precision of hot spot specified in the Range of Hot Spot field.

Search for dates of each individual first before selecting Common of All to search common dates. If in the search patterns of any two people, one biorhythm has the same hot spot value, most likely, no common results will be found. This is because the two curves of this biorhythm for these two people have a fixed phase difference. This means the same hot spots of two curves, e.g. highest points will never meet unless the difference is zero or within the range of hot spot. For example, if two search patterns are: (High, Low, High->Low) and (High, High, Low), where the hot spots of physical field are both High, It is very possible that no common dates will be found. In this case, change the value of physical in either of pattern to Not Queried, or increase the value of Range of Hot Spot field.


Search Dialog Box - Physical, Emotional, Intellectual Spin Controls

Specifies hot spots of each biorhythm to search for dates when the specified hot spot is reached. Each of these three spin controls has five options: High, High->Low, Low, Low->High and Not Queried. The first four values are hot spots on a curve. When Not Queried is selected for a biorhythm, this biorhythm will not be considered in search. The values of three spin controls defines a search pattern. For example, if three values are High, High, Not Queried for the physical, emotional and intellectual respectively, search results will be all dates (within a period) when the physical and emotional reach the highest points (within a range of hot spot), and intellectual can be at any state.

Note: Changing any value of three controls defines a new search pattern for the person appears in the Person field, and search results in the Dates Found list box are cleared.


Search Dialog Box - Start Date Fields

Specifies the date that search is to start from. The default value is the current date which is the yellow date in the main window. If start date is earlier than the birthday of person in the Person field, a warning message will appear. Start date is one of search conditions.

Note: Changing any value of month, day, year defines a new search condition for ALL current people and ALL current search results of current people and Common of All are cleared.


Search Dialog Box - Search Covers Field

Specifies the length (in months) of the period (starting from Start Date) that search will cover. The default value is 200 months. This is one of search conditions.

Note: Changing the value of Start Covers defines a new search condition for ALL current people and ALL current search results of current people and Common of All are cleared.


Search Dialog Box - Range of Hot Spot Spin Control

Specifies the precision of hot spot. For example, if the precision is 1 day and the exact date when a High hot spot comes is 08/08/2000, then 08/07/2000, 08/08/2000 and 08/09/2000 can be all considered as dates when High points come. Specifying a smaller value you get more accurate but less search results, and specifying a larger value, less accurate but more results. The default value is 3. This is one of search conditions.

Note: Changing the value of this control defines a new search condition for ALL current people and ALL current search results of current people and Common of All are cleared .


Search Dialog Box - Dates Found List Box

Displays the dates found after search is done. The results are based on search pattern and search conditions. Double clicking on a date in the list box brings the curves and dates in the main window to that date. The number of total dates found is shown above the list box.


Search Dialog Box - Search Button

Click on Search button to start search. This button is disabled if Year or Search Covers field is empty, or any of Month, Day, Year and Search Covers fields has an invalid number, or during search. After search done, all dates matching search pattern and search conditions are displayed in Dates Found list box. Pressing <Enter> also starts search.


Search Dialog Box - Go to Button

If there is a date selected in Dates Found list box, clicking on Go to button brings curves and dates in the main window to that date. Same as double click on the date in the list box.


Search Dialog Box - Next Button

If there is a date selected in Dates Found list box, clicking on Next button selects the next date in the list and brings curves and dates in the main window to that date. Keep pushing Next button cycles through all dates in the list.


Search Dialog Box - Close Button

Push Close button to close the search dialog box. All search results will be cleared.


View Version Information

Click on Help menu then select About item. This brings up a dialog box which displays the version information of Life Cycles application. Click on OK button or press <Enter> to close the dialog box.


Keyboard Actions

<Ctrl> + <P>	Opens Add/Remove Person dialog box.

<D>	Opens Go to Date dialog box.

<T>	Goes to today's date.

<Ctrl> + <S>	Opens Search for Important Dates dialog box.

<F3>	Exits application.

<Right arrow>	Moves curves and dates one day forward.

<Left arrow>	Moves curves and dates one day backward.

<Up arrow>	Moves curves and dates one week forward.

<Down Arrow>	Move curves and dates one week backward.

<Ins>	Moves curves and dates one month forward.

<Del>	Moves curves and dates one month backward.

<PgUp>	Moves curves and dates one year forward.

<PgDn>	Moves curves and dates one year backward.

<A>	Toggles on/off auto curve and date moving.

<Ctrl> + <G>	Toggles on/off grid display.

<1>	Displays biorhythms in thin curves.

<2>	Displays biorhythms in medium curves.

<3>	Displays biorhythms in thick curves.

<S>	Stops movie playing in the whole window after Life Cycles starts.


Mouse Actions

Click left mouse button on person area:

Opens Add/Remove Person dialog box.

Click left mouse button on date area:

Opens Go to Date dialog box.

Click left mouse button on lower left corner of window:

Opens Search for Important Dates dialog box.

Click left mouse button on curve area:

Toggles on/off auto curve and date moving.

Move mouse in Life Cycles application window:

Displays information in status bar at bottom.


Distribution

Life Cycles for Windows NT, 95 and OS/2 Warp are SHAREWARE. By installing the Shareware version(s) of this software the user implicitly agrees with the utilization rules described in this help file and in readme.txt. Permission to use, copy and distribute this software and documentation without fee is hereby granted, provided that the original zip file is distributed in its entirety and unmodified form.

You are specifically prohibited from charging, or requesting donations, for any copies of Shareware version of this software, however made; and from distributing the software and/or documentation with other products (commercial or otherwise) without prior written permission.


DISCLAIMER

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. THE USER MUST ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING THE SOFTWARE. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR OF THE SOFTWARE BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANYONE ELSE FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, DIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR INDIRECT DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE POSSESSION, USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF THE AUTHOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.


Audio-video interleaved file.


The area in the middle of application window that displays biorhythm curves. Contains three rectangles for physical, emotional and intellectual curves respectively. Clicking left mouse button in this area starts or stops auto curve and date moving.


The rectangle at the left side of application window, where +½, 0, -½ values and ticks are shown for each biorhythm rectangle.


The lower left corner of application window. The mouse cursor changes to a bulb when it is in this area. Clicking left mouse button in this area opens Search dialog box.


The rectangle at the right side of application window, where initials and curve types of current people are shown. The mouse cursor changes to a three-people cursor when it is in this area. Clicking left mouse button in this area opens Add/Remove Person dialog box.


The rectangle at the bottom of application window, where dates are shown. The mouse cursor changes to a calendar cursor when it is in this area. Clicking left mouse button in this area opens Go to Date dialog box.


The lower right corner where the movie is played if the movie file is found.


Each of physical, emotional and intellectual biorhythms has five query options, four hot spots plus one option "not queried": High, High->Low, Low, Low->High, Not Queried. The combination of chosen options for three biorhythms forms a search pattern.


In search important dates dialog box, the combination of start date, search length and the precision of hot spot forms search conditions.


One of the following four important points on a biorhythm curve: High: the highest point on the curve. High->Low: the point where the curve crosses x-axis is going down. It is one of critical days. Low: the lowest point on the curve. Low->High: the point where curve crosses x-axis and is going up. It is one of critical days.


The date that search is to start from.


The length of a period that search is to cover, start from start date.


The precision of a hot spot allows an error from -n days to +n days, where 0 <= n <= 4.


The x-value difference between two corresponding points on two sine curves of same cycle.


Days when a biorhythm curve crosses the center line (x-axis). There are two critical days (or zero points) in a sine cycle: one when the curve goes from low to high, the other when it goes from high to low.


The period when a biorhythm curve is above the center line (x-axis).


The period when a biorhythm curve is bellow the center line (x-axis).


Days when a Critical Day of one biorhythm curve coincides with that of another biorhythm curve.


Days when Critical Days of all physical, emotional and intellectual curves coincide.