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- The PenguinSoft Window Washer
-
- 20th July 1991
-
- by Simon Butcher, With Special Thanks to Tim Gladding for the samples.
-
- I'm dedicating this one to Special Agent Dale Cooper.
-
- Acknowledgments
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- David Butcher - for making caustic comments throughout developments.
- Matt Dillon - for DICE, on which this was written.
- Tim Gladding - for promising to do an Acorn Archimedes version, and
- for providing the sponge.
- Debbie Scanlan - for her extraneous advice.
-
- Introduction
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Have you ever wondered what happens on the inside of your
- monitor or television screen? You can clean your disk drives, the
- computer, the outside of your screen, but NOT the inside. Did the
- designers of this wonderful technology miss something?
- In the early days of televisions scientist thought not. Your
- actual screen is a vacuum container, into which no dirt or dust could
- get. (see fig 1.1) The only things inside the screen are the electrons
- (if they count as things). This is where the problem lies.
-
- Fig 1.1 - The Normal Cathode Tube
-
- stream of electrons
- /
- ____ /
- __/ X
- electron __/ / |
- gun \___/ / |
- |===|......./...|
- |___| |
- \__ . |---- phosphorous screen
- \__/ |
- /\____/
- /
- /
- suicidal electron
-
- Recently much research at the DuckSoft Institute for Science
- and Technology, has gone into the behaviour of these electrons.
- Many shocking revelations have come to light. In the words of
- Prof. Cyd Butcher, (No blood relative) head of televisual laboratory
- research at the DuckSoft Institute, in his highly regarded paper "The
- Psychology of Electrons."
- "It has been discovered that because the electrons shooting
- out of the electron gun, is such a traumatic experience that the
- effect can be quite dramatically disturb the electrons
- psychologically. They become obsessed with the idea of individuality,
- earthquakes and the ego state. They become unstable, and a small few
- suicidal. These unfortunate sub-atomic particles deliberately try to
- break out of the electron beam in an attempt to create a personal
- sense of freedom. Consequently they go careering off at the wrong
- angle, breaking under the magnetic stresses into smaller particles
- quantum physicists are either yet to discover or haven't got around to
- naming yet. The name for these remains is 'post-paranoic meson/muon
- residue'."
-
- Fig 1.2 - A tube with Residue.
-
- stream of electrons
- /
- ____ /
- __/ X
- electron __/ /|+---- layer of residue
- gun \___/ / ||
- |===|......./..||
- |___| ||---- phosphorous screen
- \__ . ||
- \__/ ||
- /\____/
- /
- /
- suicidal electron
-
- This is the point at which Window Washer picks up the story.
- The purpose of Window Washer is to clean up and dispose of the post-
- paranoic meson/muon residue. Providing a nice clean surface for the
- new electrons straight from the gun, to hit. This will give a much
- improved picture. (probably)
- Unfortunately, all of this is hard to prove as the dirt
- involved is invisible to the naked eye, and only a few angstroms
- thick, and the whole program does seem a bit pointless if you're using
- a LCD or alternative technology screen.
-
- WashWare
- ~~~~~~~~
- This program is WashWare, (yes yet another ShareWare
- derivative).
- WashWare is my alternative to ShareWare. Every time my
- program revolves several more inches of residue just think where you'd
- be without it. (Nowhere)
- Now I'm not greedy, I'm not asking much. Here's my system.
- If you wash your windows a lot (as any responsible user does) and and
- you feel I deserve some sort of reward, you can do something for me in
- exchange. So here's a list of possibilities.
-
- Favour
-
- Buy a copy of the DuckSoft Debugger. (soon to be released.)
- Say very loudly "PenguinSoft are Great."
- Write me a fan letter.
- Give me a fan letter.
- Give me a job.
- Buy any Blondie Album.
- Send me any software (except viruses) you've written.
- Write a letter of complaint DEMANDING the immediate filming of
- a third series of Twin Peaks.
- Send me a Cherry Pie.
- Get a copy of 2000AD.
- Buy Maus by Art Spielgelman.
- Watch the Magic Roundabout.
- Write Dougal a fan letter.
- Write Dylan the rabbit a fan letter.
- Send me some Public Domain.
- Get me a job in the FBI. But no I'll settle for one of those
- FBI jackets Special Agent Cooper wears.
- (Glasgow residents) Give me somewhere to live. (I wanna
- emigrate.)
- Say very loudly "PenguinSoft are Great." to your bank manager.
- Say very loudly "PenguinSoft are Great." to my bank manager.
-
- Alternatively, if you feel so inclined send an amount of your local
- currency, say around $5 equivalent or whatever you think suitable.
-
- Distribution
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~
- For the moment this program is distributable. Go on give it
- away.
-
- Warranty
- ~~~~~~~~
- DuckSoft, PenguinSoft, or anyone involved in creation of this
- program, or mentioned in this whole distribution, make no warranties,
- either expressed or implied to the suitability, quality, performance
- or fitness for any particular purpose. The entire risk as to this
- distributions quality and performance is with the user. Should any
- information provided prove defective, the user (and not the authors,
- or PenguinSoft) assumes the entire cost of all necessary damages, In
- no event will PenguinSoft or the authors be liable for, direct,
- indirect or consequential damages resulting from any defect in the
- information or use of the program even if they have been advised of
- the possibility of such damages.
-
- Running the program indicates automatic assumption of these
- terms.
-
- Contacts
- ~~~~~~~~
- You can contact me at:
-
- Rijon,
- Padnal,
- Littleport,
- Ely,
- Cambs.
-
- A cheaper but indirect alternative - via my Brothers E-mail Address-
-
- D.J.Butcher@ncl.ac.uk
-