Ambrosia Software, Inc. Product List

New 
Coming soon: Apeiron and Swoop, Ambrosia’s latest arcade games for the Macintosh.

Ambrosia Software now has a toll free 800 line; this line is used for placing orders only.  If you wish to purchase any of our products, you can use your Visa or Mastercard and call 800.231.1816.  If you are calling outside the US/Canada region, or need technical assistance, please call 716.427.2577.

We will process your order right over the phone, and give you a license code immediately if you are registering one of our products.  We will also take orders for sending disks with the Ambrosia Software products you are interested in, so that you can try them out and decide if you would like to purchase them (see below for more information).

Where to find Ambrosia Software, Inc. Products

America Online:  While you are signed on AOL, choose “Keyword...“ from the “GO TO“ menu, type AMBROSIA and hit the return key.  You’ll be taken to our forum, where you’ll find a message base (for comments and questions) and a software library stocked with the latest versions of our software products. 

CompuServe: On CIS a majority of our programs can be found in the System forum of the Macintosh forums, with the exception of our games, which can be found in the Entertainment Forum. Contact us if you need specific file names.

eWorld: While you are signed on eWorld, choose “Go to Shortcut“ from the “PLACES“ menu, type AMBROSIA and hit the return key.  You’ll be taken to our forum, where you’ll find a message base (for comments and questions) and a software library stocked with the latest versions of our software products. 

GEnie: Ambrosia’s support area is in the Macintosh Product Support Round Table, located on page 606. To get there, while signed on and in terminal mode, type M606 at any GEnie prompt. Our message base can be found by choosing option 1 from the page 606 menu. This will take you to the message boards. The Ambrosia Section can be found by typing SET 4.  Our software library can be found by choosing option 3 from the page 606 menu. This will take you to the software libraries. Then choose option 8 to set the software library to Ambrosia’s library, which is library 14.

Internet: Ambrosia Software’s products can be found at the “mac.archive.umich.edu“ or “sumex-aim.stanford.edu“ FTP sites. Contact us for complete Internet paths to our products.

And last but not least, you can obtain disks from us for a $5.00 shipping & handling charge.  You may place your order by indicating the name of the programs you are interested in and sending us a check via US mail, by faxing us your credit card number & expiration date, sending us your credit card number & expiration date via electronic mail, or by calling our toll free order line.

If you are interested in site licensing, have a problem or have a question, please feel free to get in touch.

US Mail:
     Ambrosia Software, Inc.
     PO Box 23140
     Rochester, NY 14692

Voice:
     716.427.2577 (technical support)
    800.231.1816 (orders only)

Fax:
     716.475.9289

E-mail:

America Online:
AmbrosiaSW

     Compuserve:
73424,1226

            eWorld:
AmbrosiaSW

              GEnie:
AmbrosiaSW

          Internet:
AmbrosiaSW@AOL.com

Ambrosia Software, Inc. Products

Belch! 2.0.0-free
Belch! is a little Extension that causes your Mac to have a case of indigestion: it lets out a nasty belch every once in a while.  This Extension is fun to put on your friend’s (or co-worker’s) Macintosh... sit back and watch the fireworks!

Big Cheese Key 1.2.1-$10.00
If life were perfect, people would be able to work nonstop all day, typing away at their computers happily without a break.  Unfortunately, that just isn’t the way things work; people in fact tend to work better if they take breaks every once in a while to space out their work.  But most bosses tend to not see things that way, so I offer you a tool for maintaining sanity in the Macintosh office: Big Cheese Key.

Big Cheese Key is a Control Panel which provides you with a quick and dirty way to make it look like you are hard at work if your boss decides to stop in and see you when you are in the middle of saving the planet Earth from invading aliens.

The idea behind the Big Cheese Key is simple; if the boss pops in unexpected while you are doing something that he might not be too happy about on your Mac, hit Big Cheese Key’s “hot key.“  When you type this keystroke (initially Shift-Option-Tab, but you can change it to be anything you like), Big Cheese Key puts up a phony Mac screen, freezing whatever you were doing.  Therefore, you look extremely innocent.  Then once the boss is gone, click the mouse button and you’ll be right back where you started!

Big Cheese Key can of course be used to cover up game playing on company time, but it also is quite handy at keeping prying eyes away from your confidential work.

Bomb Shelter 1.0.1-free
Bomb Shelter is a little INIT (it uses under 1/2 K of memory) that gives you some protection from System Bombs.  System Bombs occur when a program goes out of control due to programmer error and crashes the machine.  The Macintosh brings up a dialog box that says “Sorry, a System Error has occurred“ with two buttons in it, Restart and Resume.

Unfortunately, the Resume button will only be enabled if the application you are currently running specifically enables it.  Most don’t.  So I created Bomb Shelter.

Bomb Shelter makes sure that the Resume button is always enabled.  Clicking on the Resume button will cause the current program to terminate and put you back in the Finder.  Once there, you should save any files you may have on a RAM Disk and then Restart.

While this may seem like no advantage over clicking on the Restart button, it actually allows your Macintosh to do some clean up work which makes sure your hard drive doesn’t get corrupted.  Also, if the System Bomb was not a bad one, you may be able to continue working without restarting.

Chiral 1.0.1-$15.00
From the authors of the highly-acclaimed game Maelstrom comes a new action puzzler entitled Chiral! Webster defines Chiral as “a kind of symmetry found in atomic particles that is not superimposable on its mirror image.“ Ambrosia redefines this dry scientific adjective with a mind melter of a puzzle game.

Chiral continues Ambrosia Software’s commitment to pulse quickening, high quality Macintosh games. This latest Ambrosia program is the fruit of a collaboration between Macintosh developer Trevor Powell and Ambrosia Software’s prolific founder Andrew Welch. Chiral is an amalgamation of high resolution 256 color graphics, funky digitized sound effects and addictively puzzling game play.

A fusion between the scientific concept of atomic bonding and the addictive game play of Tetris, Chiral is based upon the ill fated tale of Molecular Tendencies Laboratories. Attempting to develop a new form of “clean energy,“ molecular chemists have created a machine that fabricates atoms out of thin air; or in the case of heavy atoms, not so thin air. Unfortunately for the chemists in the lab, and mankind in general, once the reaction has started there is no way to stop it. The result is the introduction of unattached, unstable atoms into our atmosphere. So much for clean energy, we should have stuck with windmills and water wheels. As an acting participant in this experiment gone wrong, the player must stabilize these newly formed atoms to avoid further turmoil in this already strife ridden world of ours.

Forming bonds between each atom to create inert molecules is the only safe way, but not to worry, a doctorate in atomic chemistry is not needed to quickly grasp the strategy of game play.

Chiral has six separate difficulty settings and twenty four levels of puzzling play, for a grand total of 144 screens of mind boggling fun and excitement. A combination of high resolution 256 color graphics, funky digitized sound effects and addictively puzzling game play, Chiral continues Ambrosia Software’s commitment to pulse quickening, high quality Macintosh games.

Chiral *requires* a color-capable Macintosh with a 256 color monitor (any size), and System 6 or above.

ColorSwitch 2.3.0-$10.00
ColorSwitch is a Control Panel that allows you to effortlessly switch between the available color modes of any attached monitors.  Instead of the inconvenience of using the Monitors Control Panel every time you want to switch between color modes, you can simply hold down the ColorSwitch modifier keys and click anywhere on the monitor you want to change.  A menu will pop up listing the available color modes for the monitor you clicked on; just select the color mode you want and ColorSwitch will acquiesce.

Under System 7 or later, things are even easier:  ColorSwitch installs a Monitor icon-menu next to the Balloon Help menu, from which you can simply choose the color mode you desire for your main monitor.

ColorSwitch also has a volume control, and offers the same convenience when setting your system’s sound volume. 

ColorSwitch comes in very handy for many day-to-day tasks.  Certain programs require that your monitor be set to a certain color mode in order to run, and using the Monitors control panel every time you need to switch color modes grows tiresome quickly.  Your Macintosh will also operate more quickly if you normally operate in black and white mode, switching to a more colorful setting only when you need to.  ColorSwitch makes switching color modes so quick and convenient, you will find yourself using it constantly to improve your quality of life at the computer.

Discolour 1.0.2-free
Discolour works only under System 7 on color-capable Macintoshes.

Discolour is a system extension for System 7.0 and later that rectifies a shortcoming in the wonderful Finder 7.0: floppy disk icons are displayed as the ugly old black and white icon while the rest of the desktop is bursting with color!

Discolour causes the Finder to display beautiful full-color icons in place of the black and white floppy disk icons when you are in 16 color mode or greater.  Just drag Discolour onto your System Folder icon and restart your Macintosh to activate it.

Discolour uses less than 1K of memory once it is installed, and was optimized so that it won’t slow your Macintosh down, so the cost of having beautiful color disk icons is minimal.

Easy Envelopes Plus 2.6.0-$15.00
Easy Envelopes Plus is a desk accessory that allows you to quickly and easily (hence the name) print out high quality envelopes from your printer using graphics and text in any font/size/style.

Easy Envelopes Plus also doubles as a quick and handy rolodex; you can store thousands of addresses in it with pages of notes for things like phone numbers, contacts, etc.  Because Easy Envelopes Plus is a Desk Accessory, you have instant access to it; you don’t have to quit what you are doing just to address an envelope or look up an address.  Easy Envelopes Plus allows you to search for any name and print out an envelope without retyping the address each time, or you can use Easy Envelopes Plus to print out a quick envelope to someone you haven’t entered in your database of addresses.

The idea behind Easy Envelopes Plus is to give you a quick, easy, and intuitive way to print out high quality envelopes and maintain a complete rolodex.  Easy Envelopes Plus is not designed to be a bulk mailing program, it is meant to be a personal correspondence tool.

Eclipse 2.2.0-$10.00
Eclipse is a Control Panel that automatically dims your screen after a specified period of inactivity.  Your monitor can sustain “burn in“ damage if the same image is left on it for extended periods of time, which results in the ghosting of images and decreased monitor clarity.  Your monitor is a vital part of your computer system, and often an expensive one at that, so it only makes sense to protect it.

After Eclipse notices that you have not used your computer for a period of time, it blanks the monitor and draws the current time, or a specified graphic, at random locations on the screen to prevent burn in damage.  Background tasks such as spreadsheet recalculation, database sorting, or printing will continue normally while Eclipse has dimmed your monitor.

Eclipse offers several unique features that should make it your screen saver of choice:

  • Your monitor is transparently protected from damage.
  • Background tasks will continue unhindered, because Eclipse 

     uses very little processor time.
  • Eclipse has been extensively tested, so you can use it with 
     confidence.
  • You can display your favorite picture while your monitor is 
     dimmed.
  • Companies can put their logo into Eclipse to have it displayed    
     while their Mac’s are idle
  • Eclipse uses very little memory, approximately 5K, so you
     won’t be wasting memory for such a basic task as monitor  
     dimming.

FlashWrite ][ 1.1.0–$15.00
FlashWrite ][ is a notepad desk accessory for jotting down notes, storing information, and retrieving it easily.  FlashWrite ][ allows you to have as many different note pages as you like, each note page may contain up to 32,000 letters and may be displayed in any font/size/style you like.

Each note page can be given any name you like, and an alphabetically sorted index of all of the note pages is provided so you can find the page you are looking for quickly.  FlashWrite ][ also has a handy Find facility that will find the text your are looking for no matter what page it is on.  FlashWrite ][ supports Undo, Cut, Copy, and Paste, and also has many other handy functions like Importing and Exporting of text, a word count facility, and a very easy to use interface.  And when you want to take your notes with you, FlashWrite ][’s complete printing will allow you to do just that.

FlashWrite ][ Opener, a companion to FlashWrite ][, is a little INIT that will open FlashWrite ][ up at any time when you hit a user-definable “hot key.“

INIT Tracker 1.3.0-$15.00
INIT Tracker is a INIT that you put in your System Folder which loads before all other INITs and lurks behind the scenes, recording everything that the INITs that load after it do to your system.  Using INIT Tracker, programmers can understand how other INITs work their magic and INIT Tracker is also extremely useful for debugging INITs and INIT conflicts.  Users can get a better idea what we crazy programmers are doing to their systems and also diagnose any INIT problems they may be having.

Not for Members Only!

Just because INIT Tracker is a tool for programmers, that doesn’t mean you have to be one to understand the reports INIT Tracker generates and benefit from the information that INIT Tracker provides.

Maelstrom 1.4.1-$15.00
Combining the best graphics seen on any home platform and addictive game play, Maelstrom is destined to quickly become one of the best games written for the Macintosh.

For a $15.00 shareware fee, you will be transported into the Maelstrom. Here you will face danger at every turn. Deadly meteors will fly at you from all sides, indestructible balls will try and drain your shields, and just when you thought escape was in reach the deadly Shenobi fighter will take you on, one-on-one. All you have to protect you are your shields, wits and, hopefully, razor-sharp reflexes.

The graphics are rendered in stunning 256 colors. This game has become the one by which all other Macintosh arcade games, shareware or commercial, are judged against.

Maelstrom *requires* a color-capable Macintosh with a 256 color monitor (any size), and System 6 or above.

Oracle 2.1.0-$10.00
Oracle is a Control Panel that you place into your System Folder. Oracle will present you with a random thoughtful quotation each time you start up your computer, or once a day, whichever you specify. Oracle has a library of over 1,000 profound readings, which accounts for its large size.  Although it takes up a fair amount of disk space, Oracle uses very little system memory (around 5K), and works on any machine under System 6.0 or later (yes, it is System 7.0 friendly).

Oracle also allows you to print out any quotations that you find of particular interest, for later contemplation.

Many thanks to Paul O’Brien and the folks at Visionary Software for allowing me to use the text from their Synchronicity product in Oracle.

Snapz 1.0.0 - $15.00
Snapz is the big game hunter of screen capture programs: it’ll capture the wild ones for you. No image is too fast, too tricky or too large: Snapz captures them all. Snapz grabs the images that cause other screen capture tools to tremble in fear: start up icons, pull down menus, games in the thick of the action, animation, video... not even your screen saver displays are safe.

Snapz is the professional’s screen capture tool: unlike all of its competitors, Snapz will capture anything that is on your screen at any time. The ability to take screen shots of a program in action—whether it be a spreadsheet or a flight simulator—allows reviewers and manual writers to capture the specific features of a program that they want to highlight.

To Do! 3.2.1-$15.00
To Do! 3.2.1 is a desk accessory that allows you to keep track of the myriad of things you need to do in an organized and easily accessible manner.  You can create as many topics as you like; each topic can contain as many things to do as you like.  Both topics and things to do can have notes attached to them, allowing you to elaborate on them or jot down relevant information.

To help you keep all this information organized, To Do! automatically sorts your topics and things to do alphabetically for you.  In addition, your things to do can be grouped into any of four different priorities.  When you have finished a thing to do, To Do! allows you to check it off but still keep it in the list of things to do, so you have a record of the tasks you have completed.  To Do! also supports extensive printing capabilities, allowing you to print out your list of things to do and take it with you.

Since To Do! is a desk accessory, it is always available to you—and the interface has been designed for maximum ease of use, simplicity, and usefulness.

Wacky Lights 1.0.1-free
Wacky Lights is a little INIT which plays with the lights on the Apple Extended Keyboard, bouncing them back and forth.  It is absolutely free, works under System 6 and System 7, and is smart enough to not load if you don’t have an Extended Keyboard.

To install Wacky Lights, just drag it into your System Folder and restart your computer.

Wacky Lights was written at the suggestion of Dan Greenberg because “none of the other ’light illumination’ inits worked properly on my system“ (his own words from his own fingers).

MicroLife 1.1.0-free
MicroLife is a blazingly fast version of the classic Life cellular automation simulation.  Cells live and die in a virtual universe by strict rules:

— If a cell has more than 3 neighbors, it dies of over-crowding
— If a cell has less than 3 neighbors, it dies of loneliness
— If an empty cell has exactly 3 neighbors, a new cell is born

From these simple rules, complex patterns evolve.  Fascinating to watch.

MicroLife *requires* a color-capable Macintosh with a 256 color 13“ or greater monitor.

That’s all folks!