Blaze 5.0 Unregistered User's ManualLEAD DESIGNER/PROGRAMMER ORIGINAL ALGORITHM |
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| A Note from the Author Blaze 5.0 improves on Blaze 4.0 with a more fluid interface, green flames, greater speed, and a minor bugfix or two. The code has been converted to a more solid platform, and the distributed size has been shrunk considerably. Some of the terminology has been changed to be more intuitive and friendly. Other than that, Blaze is a work of art, as it always has been: all the beautiful flaming patterns on the screen are drawn by a little jewel of machine language. Sometimes, David beats Goliath. |
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| Legal Junk We live in a world with lawsuits flying back and forth. I do not wish to be a part of them, so PLEASE be sensible. Since most of you do not enjoy legal documents, the condensation is: this is a trial version, give it to all your friends (and/or enemies). If it runs, great; if it doesn't, try the free technical support; if that doesn't work, email me; if it still isn't working, you never paid anything for it anyway. |
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| Usage Instructions and Quirks Because Blaze is intended to run on Windows 3.1, 95, and NT, passwords are entered in the configuration screen. Passwords are limited to sixty characters. (All ten of you that this inconveniences, please suffer in silence.) More seriously, passwords in Windows 95/NT are not secure, they just look that way; the next version of Blaze should address this shortcoming. Blaze does not work with McAfee VirusScan's ScreenScan or Energy Star monitor shutoff. ScreenScan causes Blaze to unexpectedly minimize and Energy Star is disabled while the program is running. Blaze does not coexist well with DOS programs. To be safe when running one, disable Blaze before you start it. If your DOS program hangs because of Blaze, you can restore order with a couple Ctrl-Alt-Dels, then shutting down Blaze manually. There is no cure. |
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| Contact Information Comments,
suggestions, notes of appreciation? softwaremills@iname.com |
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| About Me I grew up as a missionary's kid (MK) in Irian Jaya, Indonesia, until grade 10. Then, our family moved to Canada. I have two younger sisters, one three years younger and another nine years younger than I am. I started programming in BASIC in fourth grade, and I have been programming ever since. I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. My favourite hobbies, other than computer programming, are mountain biking and reading. I am attending the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and studying Computer Technology, but the classes are boring. Please help me get a job … I have programmed for a long time (8.5 years), but I have little work experience. I have experience in C/C++, Delphi, Visual Basic, assembly language, and I can do a good job with many common hardware tasks (like setup). If you have influence over your company's hiring and like what you see, please make me an offer. |
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| Frequently Asked Questions Q. Have you made any other screen savers? A. No. Pretty good for a first try, eh? I have some more ideas, I don’t like sharing what they are. If I get hopes up, then give up on the idea because it’s too complex, it’s better that no one else knew about it in the first place. Q. How long did it take you to make Blaze? A. Blaze 1.0 was developed November 9-11, 1997. Development tends to be sporadic on Blaze; I'll do a lot in one night and then come back to it a couple weeks later. Q. What further improvements do you plan? A. I plan to develop a Windows 95 version with better security and DirectX support. This would allow me to use higher resolutions as computers get faster, and it would also allow me to implement a better preview than the current static icon. In addition, a small window could show the effect of choosing given options, greatly increasing the intuitiveness of the interface. |
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Blaze 5.0 Fun Suggestions |
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| Suggestions The blue flame is best for relaxation. It also works for places like Florida where people really don't WANT to feel the heat rising from their monitors! In addition, masks work pretty well with blue - they tend to have a "bottom of the ocean" effect. The orange flame is probably the most true to a real fire, but not to our common concept of a fire. Orange gives a "burnished bronze" effect to masks, which often looks really snazzy (Like the "ENTER PASSWORD"). Green flames are pretty cool, but they don't mimic anything. The regular, classic colours are great for the feeling of heat. They don't mix terribly well with masks, but as you don't have that option unless you pay a meagre sum, you don't have to worry about that. Firebrands are best for their "WOW" factor. |
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License AgreementI hate these just as much as you do, but I have to protect myself. |
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| THE ARCHIVE IN WHICH THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT IS
LOCATED CONTAINS A DEMONSTRATION "UNREGISTERED"
VERSION OF SOFTWARE. PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY
BEFORE USING THE SOFTWARE. LICENSE AGREEMENT This is a license agreement between you (either an individual or an entity), the end user, and Anthony J. Mills. THE ANTHONY MILLS PRODUCT LICENSE 1. GRANT OF LICENSE. This License Agreement ("License") permits you to freely copy and distribute the Archive and the unregistered version of Blaze 5.0 found therein (the "Software"), provided that the Archive is passed along unmodified. 2. COPYRIGHT. The Software is owned by Anthony J. Mills and is protected by Canadian copyright laws and international treaty provisions. Anthony J. Mills retains all rights not expressly granted. In no way does this License act as an assignment and in no way does this License grant the purchaser of this Software the selling rights to this Software which are held by Anthony J. Mills. 3. OTHER RESTRICTIONS. This License is your proof of license to exercise the rights granted herein and must be retained by you. You may not loan, sell, rent, lease, sublicense or otherwise charge a fee for the Software in the excess of US$10.00, which shall apply only to the medium the Archive resides in and not the Archive itself. You may not modify, adapt, translate, create derivative works, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise reverse engineer or attempt to reverse engineer or derive source code from, all or any portion of the Software or anything incorporated therein or permit or encourage any third party to do so. EXCLUSION OF WARRANTIES USE THIS SOFTWARE AT YOUR OWN RISK! The Software was extensively tested in this and previous versions. Nonetheless, NO software is completely error-free and can be safely guaranteed to work. Support is available at no cost, but ultimate responsibility for any damage it causes must rest solely on you. As a result, this archive and the Software contained therein are provided "AS IS" and you assume responsibility for determining the suitability of the Software on your system and for results obtained. ANTHONY J. MILLS DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY (INCLUDING THOSE SET OUT IN ANY SALE OF GOODS STATUTE) OR OTHERWISE, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE ARCHIVE, THE SOFTWARE, OR ANY USE OF EITHER ONE, INCLUDING (WITHOUT LIMITATION) ANY WARRANTY OR CONDITION WHATSOEVER AS TO QUALITY, THE FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR USE OR THE MERCHANTABILITY OF THE SOFTWARE. ANTHONY J. MILLS DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE OPERATION OF THE SOFTWARE WILL BE WITHOUT DEFECT OR ERROR OR WILL SATISFY THE REQUIREMENTS OF YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM. ANTHONY J. MILLS SHALL IN NO EVENT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR LOSSES OR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THE SOFTWARE, INCLUDING (WITHOUT LIMITATION) ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, DIRECT OR INDIRECT DAMAGES OR ANY LIABILITY FOR EXPENSE OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY ANY DEFICIENCY, DEFECT, ERROR OR MALFUNCTION OF THE SOFTWARE, HOWEVER CAUSED, ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, INCLUDING (WITHOUT LIMITATION) PRODUCTS LIABILITY AND TORT, EVEN IF ANTHONY J. MILLS KNOWS OR SHOULD KNOW OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR LOSSES. These limitations and exclusions shall apply notwithstanding to any failure of essential purpose of any limited remedy. No dealer, distributor, retailer, or entity other than Anthony J. Mills is authorized to make any modification or addition to any of the terms and conditions of this license. This License Agreement is governed by the laws of the province of Alberta and the country of Canada. For more information about Anthony J. Mills' licensing policies, please send email inquiries to softwaremills@iname.com. |