Basic Black is not in the Public Domain, but you may use it free of charge. Please read the legalese at the bottom of this document for licensing and distribution information.
Basic Black is provided “as is” and without any express or implied warranties, including, without limitation, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. I shall not be held liable for any damages whatsoever arising from the use, mis-use, or inability to use this Package.
*** What is Basic Black? ***
Basic Black is a simple, incredibly efficient screen saver. It doesn't have whizbang graphics, and thus lets everything blast along at full speed. It's incredibly small - it takes up only four kilobytes of memory after it's loaded.
*** How do I install Basic Black? ***
Just drag the Basic Black file to your system folder, and reboot.
Make sure to disable any other screen savers that you may have installed previously, as they may conflict with the operation of Basic Black.
*** How do I use Basic Black? ***
Basic Black is easily configurable. Just open the Basic Black control panel that lives in your Control Panels folder. It looks something like this:
Set it up to your liking.
Here's what the options do:
"Basic Black On" determines whether or not Basic Black will blank your screen after the specified amount of idle time.
"Startup Icon" determines whether or not Basic Black will display its icon during the startup process.
If "Clock" is selected, Basic Black will bounce a small clock around the screen, to remind you that your computer is on. If "Picture" is selected, Basic Black will bounce around a picture, instead of a clock.
"Fade To White" is mainly useful for PowerBook owners, for whom the color white is the monitor's "at rest" color.
"Zero Menubar" is a kluge to keep some old software from drawing things on the menu bar. You shouldn't use it unless you absolutely must. (If you use commercial software that requires this kluge, then write to the authors and tell them to start supporting the After Dark-defined screen saver Gestalt calls.)
"Idle Minutes Before Sleep" lets you set the number of minutes of inactivity that must pass before Basic Black kicks in. "Secs Between Refreshes" lets you specify the number of seconds between redraws of the clock or picture.
The sleep corner boxes let you decide which corners will have special properties. For example, in the picture above, the "Sleep Now Corner" is pointing up and right. As a result, if you move your mouse to the top right corner of your screen and let it sit for a second, your screen will fall asleep immediately. The "Never Sleep Corner" operates in a similar way, but if your mouse is in this corner, the screen will not fall alseep, even if the specified amount of idle time has passed.
The optional patches shouldn't be used unless it's absolutely necessary. The more you patch, the more system overhead there is. I typically leave the "InitCursors" patch in place, but I don't run any of the others. Basically, if you're running an older utility that puts something in your menu bar but doesn't check the Gestalt selectors *or* the menu bar height, you might need one of these patches.
When you change a setting (except for the optional patches), the change goes into effect immediately. (Note, however, that under systems 6.0.3 or earlier, you must reboot for any changes to take effect.)
*** Use the Source, Luke! ***
Basic Black's source code is available in a seperate archive. Learn from it, but pay attention to the license that's included with it.
Note that to build the cdev project, you will need to supply the object-oriented cdev files provided with Symantec's Think C compiler, or a suitable equivalent. The project files are in Think C 5.0.4 format. (Yep, that's all I have right now.)
*** Trouble starting up? ***
If, when you boot your Mac, the Basic Black icon has a red 'X' over it, then Basic Black has encountered a problem it can't correct. If this happens to you, then go into your Preferences folder, in your System Folder, and trash the file names "Basic Black Prefs." This should solve your problems. (You may also need to do this if you're switching versions, and the format of the version you're switching to is incompatible with the preferences file that currently lives in your Preferences folder. This won't normally be a problem, though.)
*** Known Conflicts ***
One of my beta testers has reported that Quicken 5 would occasionally quit unexpectedly when Basic Black woke up his screen. The problem could not be reproduced with any regularity, may not exist with Quicken 6 or newer. I don't know for certain, though. I'm guessing it's their problem, but I don't know for sure.
I've had a couple reports of crashes with Retrospect Remote. I've never been able to pin this conflict down, but it seems intermittent at best.
There have been reports that Basic Black ignores keystrokes while MicroSoft Excel is active. I haven't heard about this one in a while, so MicroSoft may have fixed their software. In any case, this is a problem with MicroSoft's code. MicroSoft doesn't follow the rules laid down by Apple for compatibility with the system, and consequently programs like Basic Black that expect applications to behave properly have several rude surprises ahead of them.
*** Why isn't it PowerMac Native? ***
The majority of what Basic Black patches belongs to the Event Manager, which, as of System 7.5.1 (and probably 7.5.2), isn't written in native PowerMac code. If I were to distribute a version of Basic Black that was PPC-native only, it would force mode switches when it ran, slowing your computer down. If I were to instead supply a fat version of Basic Black, the 68K routines would be chosen invariably, as the code they patch is still 68K and the Mixed Mode Manager tries to minimize mode switches.
There are two things that will have to happen for a native version of Basic Black to appear. First, Apple will have to supply a native version of the Event Manager. Second, I'll have to lay my hands on MetroWerks CodeWarrior Gold, which, even at the educational price, is out of my reach right at the moment. I do intend to produce a native version at some point, but it won't be soon.
*** For more information or to report bugs... ***
If you come across any bugs, you can reach me at <mason@acheron.middleboro.ma.us> on the Internet or 1:109/370.6 on FidoNet. You can also obtain the most recent versions of my software through the World Wide Web, at <http://www.cis.umassd.edu/~mason>.
I maintain a simple distribution list for Basic Black. If you're interested in being on it, send me mail, and I'll add you to the list. Everyone on the distribution list receives new versions through the mail, and they typically receive new versions before they're available on the archives.
If you want to beta test new versions of Basic Black, and thus get the new stuff before anyone else, email me.
*** About the author... ***
This is me:
I write quality Mac software as a hobby, which is why you're reading this right now. If you want to find out more about me, or more about other software I've written, check out my web page. (It's listed above, in the contact section.)
*** Beta Tester Appreciation Section ***
Many thanks to my beta testers, who never cease in their unending quest to find obscure and bizarre bugs. Basic Black wouldn't be what it is without them.
My beta testers are, in something approaching order: Ammon J. Skidmore, Anthony Chan, BrandonT, Dave, David Oberst, E.J. Chichilnisky, Farokh Irani, Ian Crew, Jason Holtzapple, Jeremy Keens, Jonathan Pool, LOTTSIM, Mark Andrew Nassy, Mathew Wilkins, Matt Christian, Matthew Pearson, Michael Lapson, Michael R. Erb, Michael W. Leach, Mike van Lammeren, Nick Burgoyne, PACS.AUX, Paul Smallwood, Phil Hudson, Rickard Andersson, Robert Pellerin, Ron Hirsch, Schei Lars, Thomas Reed, Tony VanderLee, and last, but not least, Wendy Taller.
If you're a beta tester and I've missed you, write to me. If you're not a beta tester, but you'd like to be, write to me.
*** Translator Appreciation Section ***
I want Basic Black to be accessible to everyone. To this end, friends of mine have donated their time and effort to translate the Basic Black documentation and interface to languages other than English, thus making Basic Black much more accessible to speakers of the languages in question.
I'd like to thank Robert Pellerin for translating Basic Black into French and for being an invaluable and most useful beta tester for quite some time now. I'd also like to thank Kate Lawrence for translating Basic Black into Spanish and for generally lifting my spirits and making me smile.
If you're reading this, and you're skilled in a language other than English, write to me... I'd love to have Basic Black available in as many languages as possible. I'm particularly interested in finding folks who can translate it into Japanese and German for me, but all languages are welcome.
*** The Legal Stuff / Basic Black Use And Distribution License ***
Definitions:
"Package" refers to the Macintosh Control Panel software "Basic Black," this "Read Me" file, and, in the case of the source distribution package, the Basic Black source files.
"Standard Version" refers to the Package if it has not been modified, or has been modified in accordance with the wishes of the Copyright Holder.
"Copyright Holder" is Mason L. Bliss, with a place of business located at 18 Beach Street, Middleborough, Massachusetts, ZIP code 02346-3718.
"You" is you, if you're thinking about copying or distributing this Package.
"Reasonable copying fee" is whatever you can justify on the basis of media cost, duplication charges, time of people involved, and so on. (You will not be required to justify it to the Copyright Holder, but only to the computing community at large as a market that must bear the fee.)
"Freely Available" means that no fee is charged for the item itself, though there may be fees involved in handling the item. It also means that recipients of the item may redistribute it under the same conditions under which they received it.
Terms and conditions:
1. You may make and give away verbatim copies of the Standard Version of this Package without restriction, provided that you duplicate all of the original copyright notices and associated disclaimers, and include an unmodified copy of this document.
2. You may modify your copy of this Package in any way, provided that you:
a) insert a prominent notice in each changed file stating how and when you changed that file,
b) give the non-standard version of the Package a non-standard version number, (If you're modifying version 1.5 of the package, then you might, for instance, use your initials and call the non-standard version 1.5xxx1.)
and provided that you do at least ONE of the following:
a) place your modifications (and their source code) in the Public Domain or otherwise make them Freely Available, and post said modifications (and their source code) to Usenet or an equivalent medium, or place the modifications (and their source code) on a major archive site such as sumex-aim.stanford.edu or mac.archive.umich.edu.
b) use the modified Package only within your corporation or organization.
c) make other distribution arrangements with the Copyright Holder.
3. The Package must remain Freely Available. You may charge a reasonable copying fee for any distribution of this Package. You may not charge a fee for this Package itself, or for support of this package. However, you may distribute this Package in aggregate with other (possibly commercial) programs as part of a larger (possibly commercial) software distribution provided that you do not advertise this Package as a product of your own.
4. The name of the Copyright Holder may not be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
5. Aside from the restrictions listed in section 2 of this license, you may use any part of the source code of the Package in your own projects, provided that:
a) your project is not a screen saver, and
b) you give proper credit for all source code originating in the Package.
Contact the Copyright Holder if you wish to make other arrangements.
6. THIS PACKAGE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER SHALL NOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER ARISING FROM THE USE OF, MIS-USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE THIS PACKAGE.
(In plain language: I've made every reasonable effort to ensure that Basic Black is free of defects, but I can't guarantee that it will run on your system. If it crashes and damages your system, I cannot be held liable. This is, after all, freeware.)
