Help Index

World Watch 1.0 Help Contents

Overview

What can World Watch 1.0 do?

Technical Information

HELP!  World Watch is not working!

Registering World Watch

About Shareware

Commands

File Menu

Display Menu

Time Menu

Glossary

Defined Terms


What Can World Watch Do?

What Can World Watch 1.0 Do?

The World Watch program allows you to see the time in any of over 25 cities of the world.  The clocks account for the currently known daylight savings times of the cities.  The large map display in the main window shows a map of the world with a light / dark pattern representing the areas of the earth currently experiencing daylight and darkness.

The program allows you to choose whether to display international borders, the international dateline, latitude and longitude lines, and clocks.


Technical Information

Technical Information about World Watch

The Seasons

The axis around which the earth rotates passes through the North and South Poles.  This axis is tilted about 23.5 degrees from the axis of revolution of the earth around the sun.  It takes one year for the earth to complete a revolution around the sun.  To an observer on earth, the sun appears to move north and south during the year because of the tilt between the rotation of the earth and the plane of revolution of the earth about the sun.  During the summer solstice, around June 21, the sun appears directly overhead at a latitude of about 23.5 degrees north.  This latitude line is called the Tropic of Cancer.  Similarly, during the winter solstice, around December 21, the sun appears directly overhead at a latitude of 23.5 degrees south, called the Tropic of Capricorn.  The sun appears to be over the equator during the spring and fall equinoxes.

World Watch changes the latitude of its "sun" every day to account for the north and south movement of the sun.  Solar days are slightly shorter during some parts of the year than others due to the elliptical nature of the orbit of the earth around the sun.  World Watch also takes this into account.

Daylight / Darkness Pattern

The border between daylight and darkness is shown at the point where the center of the sun is on the horizon.  Atmospheric refraction is not accounted for.  Therefore, some portions of the darkness area may be experiencing twilight or even a few minutes of daylight.  The curve should be accurate to within about 10 minutes of sunset.  Accordingly, you should account for mountains and hills.

Daily Movement of the Sun

The earth spins at a speed which causes the sun to appear to move through 15 degrees of longitude every hour.  Therefore, time zones are about 15 degrees apart.  If the World Watch screen shows darkness falling about 15 degrees east of your location, you know that you have about an hour of daylight left.


HELP!

This section of the help file explains some things which may not appear to work correctly and the reasons.

I Can't make the window bigger

World Watch uses more memory to display a larger window than a smaller window.  In cases where memory may be in short supply, you will be unable to make the World Watch window larger.  In these cases, World Watch beeps and makes its own window smaller.  In extreme cases of low memory, World Watch simply beeps and quits.

The Nightime Colors are Strange

Because of the way Windows handles the drawing of the nighttime color, some colors may look strange on your monitor.  To change the nighttime color, choose Colors from the display menu.


Registration

World Watch Registration

You are obligated to register World Watch if you continue to use it.  See About Shareware  for more information.  To register, send US $34.95 to

Express Technologies Corporation
ATTN: World Watch Registration
1500 East Tropicana Avenue, Suite 110
Las Vegas, Nevada  89119

Or Call 800-654-9548 to order with your credit card.

Please add an additional $2.00 for shipping outside of the United States.

Technical support is not provided to users who are not registered.  Registered users will receive information about low-cost program updates.

Registered users will also receive a version of World Watch which adds the following features:

1) A Screen saver which shows the maps and clocks.

2) Over 300 cities are available.
3) Add your own locations.

4) City names can be displayed on the map.

5) Other maps are available, ie "North America", etc.

6) A manual.

7) Other options which improve ease of use.


About Shareware

Shareware is "try before you buy" software.  That means that you are allowed to use a program for up to 30 days in order to decide if you'd like to purchase, or register, the program.  If you don't like the shareware program, simply delete all your copies of it and pay nothing.  If you continue to use the software, you are obligated to pay the author's registration fee.  Often, payment of the registration fee will entitle you to an enhanced version of the program or other special offers.  Registration also helps make the shareware concept work.  Registration encourages authors to continue to produce high quality shareware programs.

See World Watch Registration for more information about registering this program.


File Menu

For more information, select the File menu command name.

Exit	Exit World Watch.


Display Menu

The Display menu includes commands that enable you to change the appearance of the World Watch map.

For more information, select the Display menu command name.

Map Features	Specify which features you want on the map.

Colors	Specify the color shades, background for city names.


Time Menu

The Time menu includes commands that enable you to specify clocks which are visible at the bottom of the map and specify the current time zone, date, and time.

For more information, select the Time menu command name.

Clocks	Specify cities whose time will be shown.

Current Time Zone	Specify your time zone and whether you are observing daylight savings.

Set Date / Time	Set the date and time.


Exit

The File menu has an Exit command.  Choosing Exit allows you to end the World Watch program.  Exiting World Watch saves your settings, allowing them to be used by the World Watch Screen Saver.


Map Features

Map Features Dialog Box

Choosing Map Features from the Display menu brings up the Map Features dialog box.  This dialog box allows you to specify whether or not you want latitude and longitude lines, international borders, the international dateline, or clocks to appear on the map.  Each option is selected with its own check box.  In addition, you may select "No Features" which turns off display of all the above features.  When "No Features" is selected, all the other check boxes become grayed.

The clocks that are to be shown must be specified in the Time Menu’s Display Cities dialog box.

If International Dateline is selected, you may choose to display either the date or day of week on the left and right sides of the dateline.  This choice is made in the "Dateline" box at the bottom of the screen.  The format of the date is taken from the "International" section of the Windows Control Panel.


Colors Dialog Box

The colors dialog box allows you to specify the brightness of the green and blue daytime and nighttime colors.  The dialog box is available only if you are running World Watch on a system that has more than two colors.  It is opened by choosing "Colors" from the Display menu.

Brightness Box

The large green and blue box with scroll bars is called the brightness box.  The scroll bar to the left of the box controls the brightness of the green and blue for areas of the earth experiencing daylight.  The colors in the box represent the colors which will appear on the map.  The scroll bar to the right of the brightness box controls the brightness of the green and blue for areas of the earth not experiencing daylight.  The nighttime color can never be brighter than the daytime color, but it can be made the same color as the daytime color if desired.

Text Background Check Box

This check box controls the appearance of text on the map.  When unchecked, text is written directly on the map, without a background.  This option allows you to see more of the map.  However, the text may be difficult to read with some monitors and color settings.  Checking the box will write text over a contrasting background, improving ease of reading but obscuring more of the map.


Specify Clocks Dialog Box

The Specify Clocks dialog box is activated when you choose "Clocks" from the Time menu.  This dialog box allows you to specify the cities whose time will be displayed in each of the twelve available clocks.  The clocks will appear on the map only if the Map Features dialog box has been configured to display clocks.

Twelve Clock Boxes

The dialog box shows twelve boxes, each representing the city whose time is displayed by one of the twelve available clocks.  Each box contains a button with a number between 1 and 12 representing the clock number, the city name (or "None" if none is selected), and the daylight savings status.

Buttons 1 Through 12

Pressing one of these buttons brings you to the Choose City dialog box.  The Choose City dialog box is used to specify a city whose time will be displayed by the clock.

City Name

The city chosen in the Choose City dialog box is shown to the immediate right of the button.  The clock will display the time in this city.

Daylight Savings

Each of the clocks has a Daylight Savings drop-down list box associated with it.  The choices in this list box are Default, Yes, and No.  The World Watch program contains the most recently available daylight savings data for each of the cities available with the program.  However, cities and countries sometimes change the time of year they go into or out of daylight savings time.  The Daylight Savings drop-down list box allows you to over-ride the settings used by World Watch.  Choosing "Default" will cause World Watch to use its built-in data about when the city enters and leaves daylight savings time.  Choosing "Yes" will cause the clock to display daylight savings time regardless of the internal data of World Watch.  Choosing "No" will cause the clock to display standard time (not daylight savings).

Daylight Savings Indicator

A small indicator in the upper right corner of the display clocks signifies that the location is currently under daylight savings time.  The dates at which these adjustments take place are listed in the appendix of the World Watch User's Guide.

Time Format

The format of the time in the clocks can be changed to 12 hour or 24 hour format.  To change the format, run the Windows Control Panel International application.


Choose City Dialog Box

The Choose City dialog box is accessed by pressing one of buttons 1 through 12 on the Specify Clocks dialog box.  The dialog box contains a list box of over 25 predefined cities.  Highlighting a city name in the list box and pressing the OK button causes the highlighted city to appear on the Specify Clocks dialog box.  The clock associated with this action will then show the current time in the chosen city.

If you do not want the associated clock to appear on your display, press the "None" button in this dialog box.  The Choose City dialog box will close and the word "None" will appear in place of the city name in the Specify Clocks dialog box.


Time Zone Dialog Box

The Time Zone dialog box appears when "Current Time Zone" is selected from the Time menu.  The dialog box allows you to specify your time zone.  World Watch needs to know this information in order to correctly display the times in other cities and the daylight / darkness pattern on the map.

To use the dialog box, highlight your time zone in the list box entitled "Select Your Time Zone".  Also check or uncheck the Daylight Savings Time check box to indicate whether your area is currently observing daylight savings time.

Your computer's clock must have the correct date and time of day.  See Setting the Date and Time for more information.


Setting the Date and Time

Your computer must have the correct date and time on the system clock in order for World Watch to operate accurately.  You may set the date and time directly in Windows Control Panel or you may simply choose Set Date / Time from the Time menu.

If you choose Set Date / Time from the Time menu, a message box will appear alerting you that you will change the system date and time.  The purpose of the message box is to make sure you know that changing the system date and time can affect other programs.   If you respond "OK" to the message box or are running in Expert Mode, the Windows Control Panel Date and Time dialog box is automatically opened.  You may enter the current date and time in this dialog box by typing or using the scroll arrows.  Select OK to save your changes and return to World Watch.


Glossary

Daylight Savings Time

Equinox

Greenwich Mean Time

Latitude

Longitude

Solstice

System Date and Time


Daylight Savings Time

Daylight Savings Time refers to a seasonal clock adjustment that is observed in many countries.  During the summer months, clocks are moved ahead one hour in order to extend the evening daylight.  The country is said to be in daylight savings during the time when the clock has been moved ahead by one hour.  In the Northern Hemisphere, daylight savings is typically observed from April through October.  Southern Hemisphere countries may observe daylight savings from about October through April.  Some areas of a country may observe daylight savings while others do not.  For example, most of the continental United States observes daylight savings time.  However, parts of Indiana do not.


Equinox

Equinox refers to the time of the year when the sun appears directly over the equator.  This occurs once in spring and once in autumn.  The spring equinox is around March 21, and the autumn equinox is around September 23.


Greenwich Mean Time
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the time at 0 degrees longitude.  This longitude line passes through Greenwich, England.  Time zones to the west of GMT are considered to have a positive offset from GMT, while those to the east have a negative offset.  For example, Central Standard Time is +6 hours from GMT, while Eastern European Time is -2 hours from GMT.


Latitude

Latitude is the number of degrees north or south of the equator a point on the earth lies.  The value can range from 0 to 90 degrees.  The value is described as degrees north or south in order to avoid ambiguity.  For example, the latitude of Los Angeles is 34.03 degrees north.  The latitude of Rio de Janeiro is 22.57 degrees south.


Longitude

Longitude is the number of degrees east or west of Greenwich, England a point on the earth lies.  The value can range from 0 to 180 degrees.  The value is expressed as degrees east or west in order to avoid ambiguity.  For example, the longitude of Los Angeles is 118.15 degrees west.  The longitude of Rio de Janeiro is 43.12 degrees west.


Solstice

Solstice refers to the time of the year when the sun is as far north or south as possible.  The sun is as far north as possible on the summer solstice around June 21.  The sun is as far south as possible during the winter solstice around December 21.


System Date and Time

Your computer keeps track of the current date and time.  The date and time known to your computer are called the system date and time.  Most computers are equipped with a battery-powered clock that keeps track of time even when the computer is switched off.  The system date and time are used to keep track of file creation dates and in programs such as the Windows Clock and World Watch.  Some word processing programs automatically insert the current date in a letter being written.  Because World Watch is not the only program using the system date and time, it is important that you maintain it accurately.