Copyright: Copyright 1994, W. Scott Thoman


Contents
                      EarthSun 3.0 - April 19th, 1994

What is EarthSun?

Installing EarthSun	EarthSun and Screen Savers
Configuring EarthSun	Troubleshooting
Changing the icon's title	Acknowledgements
Current Date/Time window	Do YOU have any new ideas?

Author Information	Sounds and Talking clock/calendar
Revision History	EarthSun tricks!
Other related programs

Registering EarthSun


What is EarthSun?

     EarthSun is a shareware MicroSoft Windows 3.x program that displays the
current sunlit-side of the Earth in an icon.  You also have the option of showing
the Earth as seen from a point in space directly over where you live, so you can
watch the advancing and retreating shadow traverse the globe.

     You can specify the icon's title to display the current time and/or date
in many different formats, as well as changing the icon's background color
and rotation direction.  EarthSun even adjusts automatically for
daylight savings/summer time for users in the United States, the UK, and Europe.

     EarthSun can now be a talking clock/calendar if you have a sound card
installed in your computer.  This feature will "speak" the time and/or date whenever
you want it to, and it can also play .WAV files at specified intervals if your computer
supports sounds.  Finally, for international and non-English speaking users, the
icon title can be displayed in any one of many supported languages.


Installing EarthSun

     Simply use the Program Manager to create a New Program Icon in the group of
your choice and set the Working Directory to the subdirectory where you installed
the rest of the program files.  You may place the files in the subdirectory of your choice,
but the software must be able to find it's EARTHSUN.INI file there.

     If it cannot find the .INI file, then the About box will be displayed each
and every time you start EarthSun.  See the Troubleshooting section for more information.

     I also recommend placing the Program Icon in the Startup group so it loads
every time you start Windows.

     If you don't already have the file BWCC.DLL, make sure you copy it to your
Windows system subdirectory and erase any other older copies of it.  See the
file BWCC.TXT for more information.


Configuring EarthSun

     Before you can use EarthSun, you need to tell it where you live and how
to adjust for daylight savings time.  You can also select many different options
as well.  Select the following links for more information:

   Selecting the Language
   Viewing Perspective
   Setting your Time Zone
   Adjusting for Daylight Savings/Summer Time
   Animating the EarthSun icon
   Background Colors
   "Always on top" feature
   "Preserve icon's screen position" feature

     Once you have set all the above options, you will want to have a look at how
you can change the icon's title.  If you're interested in seeing other parts of
the world while viewing your location, the multiple instances section explains
how to set up more than one EarthSun icon at a time.


Selecting the Language

     Earlier versions of EarthSun have spread around the world, finding homes
in countries such as Austrailia, Germany and England.  As a result of this
widespread international use, a need arose for the ability to support people
who speak in tongues other than my native English.  I'm pleased to announce that
EarthSun can now display the icon's title in any of 18 languages.

     To select a language, use the Language list box to choose either English,
French, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Portugese, Irish, Danish, Swedish,
Norwegian, Icelandic, Polish, Czech, Romanian, Hungarian, Turkish or Latin.  The
names and abbreviations of the months and days-of-the-week that display in the
icon's title will now be appear in your selected language.

     Note that due to limitations in the characters that can be displayed, I had
to sometimes substitute accented characters with either similar accented characters
or with just the unaccented character.  This is especially true with the Polish
and Czech languages.  Also, some of the Hungarian months may not be correct; if you
know what they should be, please send them to me.  Finally, I am interested
in supporting as many different languages as I have access to, so if you know of
another language that is not currently supported, please send it to me so I can
include it in future versions of EarthSun.

     If you are interested in learning about the origin of some of the month and
day names, and how different languages have derived similar names, please read the
word origin section for a brief overview.

     Finally, to lay aside any question that I'm a expert student of world
languages, many thanks to the resources at Uris Hall and Olin Hall on the Cornell
University campus for providing me with the many "English-to-xxx" dictionaries
I used for this project.


Word Origins

     As an amateur astronomer and an English minor back in college, I developed
a great interest in supporting as many world languages as I could in EarthSun
after I received the German and Italian words from a helpful user.  I've known
for some time how the names of the days and months were intimately tied to the Sun,
Moon, and the planets of our Solar System, and thought I should explain some of
it here.

     Latin is, of course, one of the world's oldest languages, and it has heavily
influenced many languages that came after it.  For instance, Sunday in English
is equivalent to the Latin Solis, or "Sun-Day".  Notice how Sol in Solis is
in the word Solar.  Other examples from Latin follow for the other days of the
week.  Lunae is the English Monday, or "Moon-Day"; Lunar no doubt derives
from this word.  Tuesday is Martis or "Mars-Day", Wednesday is Mercurii
for "Mercury-Day."

     The rest of the days of the week are also named after planets in Latin.
Thursday is Jovis for "Jupiter-Day" or Jovian in English.  Friday is
named after Venus, as shown by the name Veneris, and Saturday is named
for Saturn, as shown by Saturni.  Other languages, particularly Italian, use similar
names.  Be sure to try all the available languages that EarthSun has to offer and
compare one language with another, trying to see how they relate to one another.

     Even the word month itself has an interesting origin tied to astronomy.
In the past, lunar cycles were very important to fisherman so they could better
predict high and low tides.  Since the Moon completes one cycle of its phases once
every 28 days or so, this period became known as one "moonth".  Since that time long
ago, the word was shortened to become the English month of today.

     The month names, too, have an interesting history.  March is named after the
planet Mars in Latin (Martius), and July and August were named after Julius
Caesar and Augustus, respectively (Iulius and Augustus).  During Caesar's time,
the current 12-month calendar was created amid much debate and confusion.  New
months were inserted in the existing 10-month calendar, and evidence of that can
still be seen.  Notice the months of September, October, November and December.
These were originally the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th months of the year.  Notice from
French the word for seven is sept, probably originally from Latin.  The
root oct stands for eight (remember the English word octagon, a shape with
eight sides), nov is for nine and dec represents ten (recall the English word
decimal).

     As you can see from this very brief look at the origins of the names for the
days-of-the-week and the months, it's interesting and educational to re-examine
some of the words that we all take for granted in our everyday lives, and realize
that most of them have existed for centuries and have been spoken throughout
modern history by literally billions of people.


Viewing Perspective

     EarthSun can display the icon in either of two ways: show the current
half of the Earth that is illuminated by the Sun, or show the Earth as seen from
a point in space directly above where you live.

     Normally, the icon to "rotates" slowly throughout the day, always showing a
full view of the half of our planet that is currently facing the Sun.  Only one
half of the Earth is ever illuminated at any one time.  In the morning, you can
watch your location appear on the far right, or eastern, side of the icon.  At noon,
your location will be shown near the center.  Finally, at nightfall, the spot on
Earth where you live will rotate out of view of the Sun and will appear on the
far left, or western, side of the icon as the Sun sets in the West.

     Clicking the View from Darkness Perspective button, however, will show the
same icon of the Earth all day long.  Note how the other buttons in the box are
only active when this check box is on.  The icon now represents the view as seen
from space looking down on your location.  As the hours pass, you will see a
"shadow" advance over the icon.  This shadow represents the advancing and
retreating darkness that seems to move as the Earth spins.  In the morning, the edge
of the shadow will be on the left, or western, side of the globe.  At noon, the
shadow will be gone since the Sun is high in the midday sky.  During the afternoon,
the shadow will once again appear, but this time from the right, or eastern, side.
At sunset, the Earth will be half covered in sunlight and half covered in shadow,
with the terminator running down the center of the icon and directly over
your location.  The shadow deepens during the night until midnight when the entire
icon is in total darkness.  As dawn approaches, however, sunlight reappears on
the eastern side, heralding the start of a new day.

     For more interesting and educational information, see the tricks section for
suggested configurations of EarthSun.


Setting your Time Zone

     EarthSun must know the time zone in which you live to display the icon
properly.  The default is the Eastern Standard Time time zone, which is
valid for cities in the United States such as New York City, Boston and Miami.
If you live in another time zone, you must select it yourself.

     When you first run EarthSun, the program's About box appears.  Here you'll find
the list box Your Time Zone containing all of the world's time zones.  Simply
select the one in which you live.


Adjusting for Daylight Savings/Summer Time

     There is a check box if you want the Daylight Savings Time (Summer Time)
adjustment applied or not.  Check this box if your area observes
Daylight Savings Time.  Just below this, there are four radio buttons to
determine which set of summer-time dates you wish to use.  Note how these
radio buttons are only active if the check box is selected.  If you select
Manual, the daylight savings time adjustment will be applied regardless of
today's date.  This means you must change the above check box twice a year
when the time changes.  You may need to select this option if your region is
not listed below.  Tables that list the daylight savings time start/stop
dates for the other radio buttons follow below.  If you select one of these,
the daylight savings time adjustment will be applied or not-applied
automatically based on today's date.  All daylight savings time adjustments
subtract 1 hour from the current time.

United States:
1994 - Start: April 3rd    End: October 30th
1995 - Start: April 2nd    End: October 29th
1996 - Start: April 7th    End: October 27th
1997 - Start: April 6th    End: October 26th

UK:
1994 - Start: March 27th   End: October 23rd
1995 - Start: March 26th   End: October 22nd
1996 - Start: March 24th   End: October 27th
1997 - Start: March 23rd   End: October 26th

Europe:
1994 - Start: March 27th   End: September 25th
1995 - Start: March 26th   End: September 24th
1996 - Start: March 24th   End: September 22nd
1997 - Start: March 23rd   End: September 28th

     If you live in one of these regions and the above dates are incorrect, OR
if you live in another region not listed above, please contact me with
the correct dates so I can update my software.


Animating the EarthSun icon

     You can also select an update interval for the EarthSun icon.  The default
is Real-Time, which shows the current sunlit side of the Earth.  Other
values are available to animate the icon, displaying a new icon once every update interval.
The values you may choose from are once every second, once every five seconds or
once every ten seconds.

     You can also have the icon rotate in the normal forward direction, or in
reverse.  Just click on the appropriate radio button.


Changing the icon's title

     You can change the title beneath the icon to whatever you like.  More
importantly, you can have the time and/or date displayed here as well.

     The About box has the default icon title set to ~1~a ~w ~m ~d~o, which is a
special "code" to display the current time in 12-hour format, have either "am" or "pm"
displayed after the time, show the day-of-the-week in 3 letters, show the month in 3
letters, and show the day-of-the-month followed by "st", "rd", etc.  For example,
"9:05pm Tue Apr 19th".  Note how you can add spaces between the various options to
cause them to "wrap" down to the next icon title line, if desired.

     If you prefer, you can change the title to be just a simple word or two, like
"Earth" or "Earth's Sunlit Side".  This may be necessary to work with
some screen savers.

All the available options are listed below:

   ~1 =	12-hour format
   ~2 =	24-hour format
   ~a =	"am" or "pm"
   ~A =	"AM" or "PM"
   ~p =	"a" or "p"
   ~P =	"A" or "P"
   ~w =	Weekday name as "Mon", "Tue", etc.
   ~W =	Weekday name as "Monday", "Tuesday", etc.
   ~m =	Month name as "Jan", "Feb", etc.
   ~M =	Month name as "January", "February", etc.
   ~h =	Month number (1-12)
   ~d =	Day of the month number (1-31)
   ~y =	Year as "94", etc. (Year without the century)
   ~Y =	Year as "1994", etc. (Year with the century)
   ~o =	Ordinal suffix of "Day of the month" as "st", "nd", "rd", "th",
etc. (as in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.)

Example icon titles:

   Title:	Displays as:
   ~2 ~W ~m ~d~o	21:05 Tuesday April 19th
   ~1~A	9:05PM
   ~W ~M ~d ~Y	Tuesday April 19 1994
   ~y.~h.~d	94.04.19
   Earth	Earth

Feel free to experiment with different combinations to suit your taste.


Background Colors

     You can select one of many different background colors.  The default is
black, but you can select white or a shade of gray if you prefer.  The
"transparent" color allows you to display the Earth with no background,
appearing on top of whatever is beneath it.


"Always On Top" feature

     You can click the Icon is always on top of windows button on to have
the EarthSun icon stay visible when other windows are covering it.  When on, the
icon will always appear "on top of" the other windows instead of being "hidden"
beneath them.


"Preserve icon's screen position" feature

     You can click the Preserve icon's screen position button on to have
the EarthSun icon remain in the same position on the screen the next time you
start Windows.  Usually, icons appear beside each other on the bottom of the screen
in the order that they are listed in the Startup group.  This option, however, lets
you move the icon to any place on the screen and it will appear there instead of with
the other icons.


Multiple Instances

     MicroSoft WindowsTM allow you to have mulitple instances of a program
running at the same time.  EarthSun supports this as well and is an interesting
feature for viewing more than one location at a time.

     For instance, say you live on the East Coast of the United States and you
want to see your location as well as the view from England.  You can set EarthSun
to have two icons on your screen at the same time, one that represents the view
from the East Coast and one that represents the view from England.  The first step
you need to do is to install EarthSun in two separate locations on your computer's
hard drive.  Next, create two separate Program Icons using the Windows Program
Manager.  In the first one, enter the full pathname to the first place you installed
EarthSun, set the Working Directory to that subdirectory, and name the icon
something like "EarthSun - East Coast".  In the second icon, enter the full pathname
to the second place where it's installed and name it "EarthSun - England".  This
way, there are two separate EARTHSUN.INI files on your system, so each one
can now be configured in it's own way.  See the Troubleshooting section if you
need more help installing EarthSun.

     You should now have two Program Icons, one for the East Coast and one for
England.  You now go into the About box for the East Coast icon and set it
up appropriately, namely set the Your Time Zone field for Eastern Standard
Time.  Next, do the same for the England, setting the field for Greenwich Mean Time.
If you did everything correctly, you will now have two views of the Earth, each seen
from a different point on the planet.  This feature is most noticeable if the
View from Darkness Perspective is on for each icon, since it will show the
same shadow from two different points.

     Experiment with different combinations of settings, languages and time zones.
EarthSun is not only informative by showing you the current time and date, but
it's main purpose is to be entertaining and educational.  See the tricks
section for more ideas on how to get the most out of EarthSun.


"Current Date/Time" window
Current Date/Time window

     When you select the Current Date/Time window, the current date, time and
icon are displayed in a small window and updated once a second.

   Press the Minimize button in the upper right corner to shrink the window back to
an icon.


EarthSun and Screen Savers

     In the default configuration, EarthSun displays a clock beneath the icon.
Since this will automatically update the icon's title once per minute, this may cause
some screen savers, which can sense such activity, to never activate.

     A simple solution is to change the Icon Title field in the About box to a simple
word or group of words, such as "Earth" or "Earth's Sunlit Side".  You will not be able
to use EarthSun's clock feature (although you could still display the date), but your
screen savers should work again.


Other related programs

     Look for MARSICxx.ZIP, a Windows icon that shows the current view of
Mars and GREDSPxx.ZIP, a Windows icon that shows the current view of the
planet Jupiter and it's moons, and SOLSYSxx.ZIP, a Windows icon that shows
the current position of the nine planets in our Solar System.  All three
have been released and are available at the Internet FTP sites oak.oakland.edu
and it's mirrors, ftp.cica.indiana.edu and it's mirrors, and at the Software
Creations BBS, (508) 365-2359 (2400,N,8,1), all in the USA.  All users
receive the shareware versions of these programs when they register.  The current
versions are MARSIC26.ZIP, GREDSP36.ZIP and SOLSYS10.ZIP.


Registering EarthSun

     Print out the file ORDER.FRM to get a quick order form for registering
EarthSun.  Remember, you can use File|Print Topic directly from that
window's menu, or send the file ORDER.FRM, included with the rest of the
program files, to your printer from the DOS prompt.  This shareware version is
not cripple-ware, nag-ware or free-ware, although it will remind you every 5
times to register until the evaluation period expires.  When you do register,
you will receive the latest executable version that allows UNLIMITED use of
the program with no reminder box and no expiration.

     All future versions/upgrades of this program are FREE to registered users.
When a new shareware version becomes available, just download it and copy
the new EarthSun files to the registered version's subdirectory.  It's that simple!

     The cost of the diskette and the mailing charges are all included
in the US $10 registration fee.  Personal checks, money orders and AmEx, Visa,
etc. traveler's checks are all accepted (sorry, I do not yet accept credit
card orders).  You also receive the full Borland C++ 3.1 source code and
Windows resource files used to make this program as well.  The source
code for each future version will be available free for registered users.

     If you find EarthSun useful, please upload it to other bulletin
boards and/or Internet FTP sites so other people can see the sunny side of
our planet!


Order Form
                    EarthSun 3.0 - Order Form

Return this form along with US $10 to:

                        W. Scott Thoman
                        41 Lee Road
                        Dryden, New York  13053  -USA-

Registered users are entitled to ALL upgrades AT NO EXTRA COST!
When a new shareware version becomes available, just download
it and copy the new EarthSun files to your registered version's
subdirectory.  It's that simple!

You will receive the latest executable version PLUS the Borland
C++ 3.1 source code and Windows resource files on the disk size
you specify below.  Personal checks, money orders and AmEx,
Visa, etc. traveler's checks are all accepted.  (Sorry, I don't
yet accept credit card orders).  You will also receive the
shareware version of 3 other related icon-programs, one for
the planet Mars (MarsIcon; MARSIC26.ZIP), Jupiter (GRedSpot;
GREDSP36.ZIP) and the Solar System (SolSys; SOLSYS10.ZIP).

   Name ____________________________________

Address ____________________________________________________

        ____________________________________________________

        ____________________________________________________

        ____________________________________________________

Internet/CompuServe Address: _______________________________

Can I e-mail it to you?  ___ .ZIP file ___ UUENCODEd  ___ No

Where did you hear about EarthSun? _________________________

____________________________________________________________

Disk size:   ___ 5.25"   ___ 3.5"

Comments: __________________________________________________

                           THANK YOU!


New Ideas

     If you have improved the existing icons, or have created any new icons to
improve the animation, please send them to me.  Any ideas for new features
or capabilities are always welcome.  If you would like to see other languages
supported, just send me the names and abbreviations of the months and
days-of-the-week and I'll be sure to include them in the next version.

     If I use your contributions, you will receive my thanks in the Acknowledgements
section and the latest registered version of EarthSun free.


Troubleshooting

     If you get the About box each and every time you start the program, make
sure you have the program icon's Working Directory set to the directory
where you have the EARTHSUN.EXE file.  This allows the program to properly find it's
.INI file.  Make sure your EARTHSUN.INI file is in the same subdirectory as the
EARTHSUN.EXE file; if it isn't, move it to that subdirectory.  This is the recommended
way to keep all of EarthSun's files together.

     If you prefer, you may also set the Working Directory to your Windows subdirectory
explicitly, or just leave it blank to have it default to your Windows subdirectory.  Again,
just make sure that EARTHSUN.INI is, indeed, located there.

     Finally, make sure the .INI file is marked as read/write (this is the default);
do NOT mark this file as read-only.


Acknowledgements

     Many thanks go to Peter Hayes (peter.hayes@uk.cray.com) in England for the
information he supplied to me on the daylight savings time issues in the UK
and Europe.  Thanks to Eric Rickin (erickin@umich.edu) for pointing me in the
right direction, namely to Don LeClair (71534.3255@compuserve.com) for help
on doing transparent backgrounds and having icons stay "always on top".  Thanks
also to Mike Andersson (anderss@u.washington.edu) for the idea of preserving the
icon position.

     Thanks also to Dr. Reinhold H. Uebbing (100337.1404@compuserve.com) in
Germany for the multi-language support he provided.  Also, his idea led to the
implementation of the darkness viewing perspective and multiple instances.


Acknowledgements2
Dedication

     Hi Mom and Dad, Linda, Grandma and Grandpa Cruver, Grandma and Grandpa
Thoman, Brian, Joe, and especially my wife, Robin.


EarthSun Tricks!

     One of the entertaining and educational tricks you can do with EarthSun is to
animate the icon without the darkness perspective feature on.  This shows how
the Earth actually spins in space during the course of a day by showing the side of
the Earth that is currently facing, or being illuminated by, the Sun.  Each "frame"
in the animation shows a time difference of one and a half hours from the previous
frame.

     Another interesting configuration is to animate the icon with the darkness
perspective on, and switching between Your View and Other View in the About
box.  Your View shows the current view of the Earth as seen from a point in
space directly over where you live.  If you set the Other Time Zone field to
another part of the world and select Other View, you can see the current
position of the shadow as seen from that part of the world.

     For instance, say you live on the eastern coast of the United States, and
you want to view the shadow as seen from England.  You would set Your Time
Zone for Eastern Standard Time and the Other Time Zone for Greenwich Mean
Time.  Now, when you click on the button Your View, you see the Earth as it
looks from space over the East Coast.  When you use the About box again
and click on the Other View button, you are now seeing the Earth as
currently seen from space looking down on England.  Note how the shadow is
different between the two views and remember that only one half of the planet
is ever illuminated at a time.

     If you have trouble visualizing this effect, go to a globe of the Earth and
shine a flashlight at it in a darkened room.  As you slowly spin the globe, watch
how different parts of the world enter the lit portion and how others exit into
the shadow.  With a little practice, you can learn how the rotation of the Earth
causes the Sun to seemingly rise and set at different times in different parts
of the world.

     EarthSun now supports multiple instances of itself on-screen at the
same time.  This allows you to set up two or more icons that each show the Earth
from a different point on the planet.

     Make sure you try out the sounds and talking clock feature, too.
If your computer can play .WAV files or has a sound card in it, EarthSun can
play sounds at specified intervals and can "speak" the time and date to you!

     Finally, try changing the Language field from the one with which you're most
comfortable to a different language.  By changing the ~w and ~m parts of
the icon's title to capital letters (i.e. ~W and ~M), you can learn how the
months and days-of-the-week are spelled in other languages.  Also, look at the
word origin section for some history on the words we all use everyday.


Revision History
EarthSun - Revision History

04/19/94 Version 3.0 - "International Edition".  Added talking clock/calendar
via DDE messaging.  Added support for many different
languages.  Added new "perspective" to show
the darkness covering the Earth.  Multiple instances
are now supported.  Added preserve icon position
feature.

02/05/94 Version 2.6 - Added support for transparent backgrounds.  Added the
"always on top" check box.  Added printable order forms
directly from the help system.

01/20/94 Version 2.5 - Added the on-line help system.  Improved dialog
box background.

12/03/93 Version 2.1 - Added automatic daylight savings/summer time support
for US, UK, and European users.  Added forward/reverse
rotation direction.  Added background color selection.
Increased evaluation period for un-registered users.
Improved the overall look of the About box.  Granted
free upgrades to registered users.  Added support for
display of the month number (1-12).

11/09/93 Version 2.0 - Removed TZ environment variable; all options are now
fully user-configurable on the About screen and saved
in EARTHSUN.INI.  Added support for all timezones,
daylight savings time, and update intervals.
Support for displaying date/time in many formats.
Improved all of the icons, added Antarctica.

10/28/93 Version 1.1 - Initial release.  Changed from OWL to straight Windows
API calls.  Added TZ environment variable support.

07/12/93 Version 1.0 - First version.  Used BC++/OWL as a framework.


Author Information

     Any suggestions, bugs, ideas, complaints?  Let me know what you think of this
program so I can improve it!  Please include the version number you are using
in all correspondence; this is version 3.0.

Mail Address:

   W. Scott Thoman
   41 Lee Road
   Dryden, New York  13053  -USA-

Internet E-Mail Address:

   thoman@law.mail.cornell.edu

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       Thank you for using EarthSun!
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What Is ShareWare
What is ShareWare?

     If you're familiar with the idea behind Shareware, then you know
that Shareware is the ultimate in money-back guarantees.

     Most money-back guarantees work like this: You pay for the product
and then have some period of time to try it out and see whether or
not you like it.  If you don't like it or find that it doesn't do
what you need, you return it (undamaged) and at some point - which
might take months - you get your money back.  Some software
companies won't even let you try their product!  In order to qualify
for a refund, the diskette envelope must have an unbroken seal.
With these "licensing" agreements, you only qualify for your money
back if you haven't tried the product.  How absurd!

     Shareware is very different.  With Shareware, you get to try it for
a limited time, without spending a penny.  If you decide not to
continue using it, you throw it away and forget all about it.  No
paperwork, phone calls, or correspondence to waste your valuable
time.

     Software authors who use the Shareware method of distribution feel
that Shareware is the best way to try a product.  You are able to
try it on your own system(s), in your own special work environment,
with no sales people looking over your shoulder. Have you ever
purchased a car and realized that if you could have test driven it
for 30 days your purchase decision might have been different?  With
Shareware, these problems can be avoided - you do have a 30 day
test-drive!

     After trying a Shareware product and deciding to continue to use
it, then - and only then - do you pay for it.  Not only that, but
Shareware is traditionally much less expensive simply because you
are paying for the software, not the advertising and marketing that
comprises the majority of the cost of most software (a one-page ad
in PC Magazine, one time, can cost upwards of $20,000).  If the
try-before-you-buy concept sounds like an ideal way to make your
purchase decisions, you're right!

     Some companies burden their products with annoying copy protection
schemes because they don't trust their users. Shareware developers
not only don't use copy protection, they freely distribute their
products because they trust their users.

     Someone once said that you should never trust software which
doesn't trust you. This makes a lot of sense - no wonder Shareware
is becoming so popular among users and developers.

     Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software.
Shareware is produced by accomplished programmers, just like retail
software.  There is good and bad Shareware, just as there is good
and bad retail software.  The primary difference between Shareware
and retail software is that with Shareware you know if it's good or
bad before you pay for it.  Registration of Shareware products, in
addition to being required, is also an incentive for programmers to
continue to produce quality software for the Shareware market.

     There is another significant advantage to Shareware - it allows
small companies to make software available without the hundreds
of thousands of dollars in expenses that it takes to
launch a traditional retail software product. There are many
programs on the market today which would never have become
available without the Shareware marketing method.  Please show your
support for Shareware by registering those programs you actually
use and by passing them on to others.

                       Thank you for your support!


Sounds and Talking Clock/Calendar

     A new feature for version 3.0 is the ability of EarthSun to be a talking
clock and calendar.  If you have a SoundBlasterTM or compatible sound card
and the program Monologue for Windows, you can have EarthSun "speak" the current
time and/or date to you.  If your computer can play .WAV files, you can have EarthSun
play any sound file you wish at the intervals you specify.

     First, you need to tell EarthSun how it should handle sounds.  From the program's
System Menu, select the Sounds/Speech option.  Next, in the Sound
Selection box, click the No Sounds button if your computer cannot play
sounds.  Most Windows installations can at least play sounds through the PCs
internal speaker, so only use this if you are sure you don't want sounds.  Next,
the Windows .WAV files button lets you play any .WAV file as an hourly, half,
or quarterly chime.  Finally, if you have a sound card and the appropriate software,
click the Enable DDE Speech capability button to have it speak the time and
date.  Notice how different parts of the dialog box are enabled and disabled as you
select different sound options.  This makes it easier for you to tell which options
are available based on the sound selection you choose.

     Once this is done, you can set many options to have EarthSun speak at certain
times and say various phrases.  The Sound/Speech Interval box lets you select when
EarthSun will speak or play sounds.  If you select Only right-click, it only speaks
when you click the right mouse button when the mouse cursor is over the icon.  Other
options cause EarthSun to play sounds or speak automatically once every hour,
every half-hour, or every 15 minutes.  Note that when you select Enable DDE Speech
capability and Only right-click, the corresponding .WAV file will play at
the specified interval instead of the speech for that time.  Also, when Windows
.WAV files and Only right-click are selected, the last-played .WAV file will
be the one that is played when right-clicked.

     To have it play sounds, enter the full filename of a .WAV file that you want
EarthSun to play at the corresponding interval.  For instance, EarthSun defaults
to playing the file CHIMES.WAV that comes with Windows on the hour.  If you have
another file that you prefer, simply type it in here.  The other filename fields
work in the same manner.  If you enter an incorrect filename, the standard "beep"
is sounded instead of your intended file.

     To hear it talk, select Sounds/Speech for the system menu.  Next, click
the Enable DDE Speech capability button.  If you are using Monologue for
Windows, set the Service field in the DDE Names box to MONOLOG and
the Topic field to TALK.  Other DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) speech
server software may require other Service and Topic names; if so, simply type them in.
Also, you must make sure that your speech server is running before EarthSun tries to
speak; it can't talk without help from this other software package.  If you are using
Monologue for Windows, I've included the file EARTHSUN.DIC, which is a small
dictionary of words that EarthSun can use to better pronounce the time and date.  See
your sound card and speech server software documentation for further details.  If you
have a specific speech program that doesn't seem to work with EarthSun, please
contact me and I'll see if I can help you and/or support it in future versions.

     The Speech Selection box lets you determine the order in which EarthSun speaks
the time and/or date.  You can have it say only the time, say only the date, say the
time then the date, or say the date then the time.  Simply click on the radio button
that matches your preference.

     Finally, the Time Options and Date Options let you select different word
and phrase combinations when the time and date are spoken.  Again, click the
appropriate buttons to suit your taste.

     In this version, EarthSun only speaks in English.  See the language section
for information on how you can have the icon title display in other languages.