Deep Thought is a very simple System Extension/Control Panel that I wrote to display a stupid, humorous, thoughtful, etc. quote when you start up your computer. There are over 4,200 quotes included, most of which I got from a popular UNIX utility called Fortune. Note that I am not responsible for any misquotes, or material that you may consider to be offensive (*I* didn't find anything offensive, but I’m not you). Since I didn't write the quotes, Deep Thought is postcard-ware. If you really love it and can't live without it (like me!), please send me a picture postcard of your hometown. And yes, even if you live in the same town as me, I'd still like to get a postcard!
•• Installation
To install Deep Thought, simply copy it to your closed System Folder. However, it works best if it's one of the first Extensions to be loaded, because on some systems (usually the B&W Macs) it may cause the screen to be cleared, so I personally recommend using some sort of Extensions manager that allows you to control the order in which your Extensions are run in (Startup Manager, part of the NOW Utilities, allows you to do this).
If you don't have such a beast, System 6 users can simply rename Deep Thought so that it comes before your other Extensions alphabetically. System 7 users should put Deep Thought into their Extensions folder (inside the System Folder) and make an alias of it which you will put into the Control Panels folder (also inside the System Folder) so that you can still easily access the display options.
•• The Control Panel
Deep Thought's Control Panel interface allows you to set the various options that Deep Thought has, as well as see all the propaganda about Oasis Software. Click on the Settings button to get to the settings (bet you never would have guessed). On the top half of the dialog are two buttons that allow you specify how often Deep Thought will give you a new deep thought. "Every Startup" gives you a new deep thought every time your startup/restart your computer. "Once a day" gives you the same deep thought throughout the day.
The bottom portion of the Settings dialog allows you to control the font and size that the deep thought will be displayed in. Note that it you use Suitecase or a similar font-loading program, you will need to make sure that Suitcase loads before Deep Thought or else your selected font may not be available at startup... A small display area below the font menu gives you a sample of how your deep thoughts will look.
Click the OK button to save your changes or Cancel to not save changes. Obviously, you won't see any change until you restart (since that's the only time Deep Thought actually does anything...)
•• Version History
Version 1.0 was the first public release. It didn't have any options.
Version 2.0 was a major update, adding a Control Panel interface which allowed you to control the font and size of the display, as well as adding the option to display the same quote all day... This version never made it out of Chicago (I hope...)
Version 2.0.1 added a startup icon. This version was more widely circulated (unfortunately).
Version 2.0.2 was mostly a bug fix, although it does have a new feature which makes Deep Thought happier on large monitors. Many people had complained of crashes related to Deep Thought, and to the best of my knowledge, they have been fixed. Also the sample text display in the Control Panel did not accurately reflect the text displayed at startup. This has also been fixed. This version was only released to my beta testers.
Version 2.0.3 is the version included in this release. It fixes a settings bug which (I think) only I noticed. If you changed the settings and cancelled the settings dialog, the settings were changed anyway. Oops...
In the past, Deep Thought had a fixed-width window which it used on all monitors. The height of the window varied depending on the length of the quote, but the width stayed the same. People using large monitors complained that it looked bad, so now the window's width also fluctuates. The way Deep Thought decides how big of a window is as follows:
1. The window is stretched to cover the entire width of the main monitor (the one with the menu bar) minus an inch (~2.5 cm) margin on each side.
2. The quote is placed in the window.
3. The height of the window is adjusted to equal the number of lines in the quote plus a little margin space for clarity.
4. If the longest line of quote is shorter than the width of the window, the window is shrunk down to the size of the longest line plus a small margin.
5. The window is centered horizontally.
6. The window is displayed. Ta da!
•• Miscellaneous comments
While Deep Thought has been run on several computers with no ill effects, I'm not guaranteeing that it is without bugs. Most likely it is not going to go through and erase your entire hard disk, but if you have a problem or a suggestion for improvement I would like to hear about it.
For those of you who simply can't wait to read all the Deep Thoughts, I have included Deep Thought Viewer, which allows you to scan through the Deep Thoughts without having to wait the years it would take you to read them all the normal way... Just launch it and locate your copy of Deep Thought and read away!
I have also included an Extension named "Caps Lock", which pauses the startup process if the Caps Lock key is down. This is sometimes useful for reading very lengthy quotes. I did not write this Extension. It's name has several "diamond" characters in front of it so that it can load last (giving you plenty of time to press the Caps Lock key!) This should be copied into your OPENED System Folder so that it will load after the Control Panels as well.
•• The future of Deep Thought
In the future, I will be allowing you (yes, YOU!) to add your own favorite deep thoughts as well as erasing those that aren't quite up to snuff, but that's still a ways off. Maybe if I get enough postcards, I'll think about it...
You may use Deep Thought and its documentation without charge.
Deep Thought may be freely distributed, as long as neither the Deep Thought Extension/Control Panel nor its documentation are modified and no charge is made for it. User groups and other non-profit organizations may charge a nominal fee for duplication and/or floppy disks or downloading charges.
There are no warranties express or implied as to the fitness of the enclosed software for a particular task, and the author is not responsible for any damages which may be cause from the use or misuse of the enclosed software. So there.
